When the fishing is slow I get to wondering about how some of the features we see on our favorite rivers came to be. Yesterday I noticed something surprising, next time you're up at the Middle Fork Stan below Beardsley keep your eyes opened for this interesting sight. About 1/4 mile down from the spillway of the afterbay there are two very large boulders, each about the size of a small shipping container. Look into the pool formed under these boulders and you will see two submerged trees, one of which is about 3' in diameter. Consider carefully what you are looking at and you will realize that the ONLY way this tree could be in that position is if the boulders fell on the tree, there is no way it could have become lodged there during high flows. On the north bank of the river just a few feet down stream you'll see another large tree that is still standing, but when it was young it suffered a horrific event which left it scarred for the lower 20' of it's trunk. It's pretty clear that these boulders separated from the walls of the gorge in the very recent past. This happened long enough ago that the trees and shrubs that were knocked down on the slope have rotted away and new ones have taken their place. The logs that were submerged in the river were preserved well beyond any logs from trees that were knocked down when the rocks fell and were left exposed to the elements on the dry slope. Measured on a geologic time scale, this time frame would best be described as "DUCK!!!".
Sounds like an avalanche knocked all those trees into the river some time ago. They do provide cover for the fish though. Having a little bit of geologic education is fun when out and about. Last week I noticed a huge metamorphic rock/boulder that must have rolled down the mountain after undergoing numerous changes. Hat Creek and even the Little Truckee are undergoing man made placement of rocks and trees for the fish habitat. So how was the fishing? Areas in and around Truckee have had hatches of Green Drakes, PMDs, Stoneflies, Callibaetis and various Caddis. So many rivers, so little time!!
Hot Creek - plenty of action on WD40's and Scuds in the morning.
Lower Owens - mostly small nymphs & typical drys were productive - caddis & mayflies patterns, nothing unusual, though after having some frustration with no hits on drag free drifts I accidentally discovered that swinging the dry fly would prompt a hit. Go figure!
Rock Creek - bushwacked between the campgrounds and found 1 trout in every hole, you would get 2 or 3 swats at your fly and if they didn't take it, then move on to the next hole. Changing flies occasionally produced, but walking to the next hole produced even better. I just focused on stimulator type patterns & the occasional yellow humpy for a change-up.
East Walker - I had caught enough smaller fish on the trip before arriving here and decided to focus on targeting big browns. It would have paid off if I had thought to bring a 7 wt rod with some 1x tippet. After flailing the water for a couple hours with my 5wt with 5x tippet and nothing to show for it the magic time hit right as I got to a particularly interesting stretch of river. I was chucking a scudzilla and got a head shaker that broke off within a few seconds. The second cast to the same hole got another hit that came so hard and fast the line just went "PING" before the rod had much time to bend. 3 casts later the 5x lasted long enough for me to get a good look at a rainbow that would have been around 3lbs, likely the smallest of the 3 fish that hit. At that point I chucked the leader (brand new that day) and replaced it with another brand but I didn't get any more hits. It seems that 5x and streamers don't go well together, time to dust off the 7wt and get some schooling on knots because I like the kind of attention those streamers were getting, even if I have to suffer a few hours of unproductive casting before anything happens.
Middle Stan - what can I say, I got skunked here for the first time. I think I would have caught something if I put my head down and worked it but I was getting antsy by then and ready to head home. There were fish feeding in areas, you could see them taking nymphs just below the surface, a few splashy rises here and there. Mojo was off, I lost my hat, my sun glasses fell in the water and disappeared in the rocks in some rapids, and I dropped my weights into a deep hole. I did see a river otter swim by and make numerous dives in a large deep fish filled pool.
The East Walker is an amazing fishery! I lost a huge fish in the whirlpool below the dam this year. That's what you get when you are fishing the Walker with small flies and light tippet. I looked up the scudzilla and will have to give it a try. This year the fish have been chomping on a rojo beaded zebra midge in sizes 18-20.
I enjoy sierra geology, and being able to see why things are how they are. Its nice to sit on a river and put the puzzle peices together, You can literally see how the glaciers shaped our rivers. On another note heres some new info on the middle fork stan at beardsly, The campground has been totally rebuilt, and is much better in some ways, theres more sites, and they are more seperated, and marked. Its going to be 20 bucks a night starting next june. There is going to be running water soon. There is also going to be a new campground up along beardsly road, about half way down I think. Its going to be called black oak campground. The afterbay is NO LONGER OPEN YEAR ROUND, It now follows the general regs. There is no longer a 14 inch size limit. I dont recall what the bag limit is since I don't keep fish. The day use area is also being rebuilt below the dam. Also a new boat launch us being built. The sandbar flat campround down river is closed for the season as it is also being rebuilt. I guess it's good to see the forest service putting money into these type of improvements.
-- Edited by shon42073 on Wednesday 19th of June 2013 06:41:10 PM
