With all of the high water about our rivers, I decided it would be a good time to head into the American River basin, below snow level for some creek fishing.  Three of us headed off for El Dorado Creek, a trib to the Middle Fork American.

Past fishing here has been outstanding.  Lots os fish and decent size.  It rarely gets fished because of the extreme hike into and out of the canyon.  It's a 2.5 mile, 1800' vertical in and out of the canyon.  Good conditioning is a must for this one.

We got into the canyon, and to make a long story short, 3 guys all emerged with a big white stripe down our backs.  I've had 40-50 fish days here every previous trip.  This time, conditions were good, water temp was perfect and there were multiple hatched of PMD's, March Browns and mayflies coming off.  Lot's of bugs on the water but not one rising fish seen all day.  For that matter, not one fish seen all day.

I walked through pools where in the past I would see plenty of fish.  This time, nothing, no fish scattering or moving about.  No signs of life, no minnows, no nothing.  It was spooky.  I don't know what had happened.  It looked like the canyon had a big rush of water down it earlier in the year as there was flotsam hanging in the trees 4 feet over my head.  I wonder if the fish got pushed down or what?

The only thing we had to hang our hat on was the beauty of the stream and canyon, as well as the excellent workout that we had making that hike.  Notice no fish being caught!

 Bob