Sometimes the beauty of it alone is worth the trip!

Wife some friends and I headed out to San Diego this past weekend.  I got to sneak off for a bit and do some pier fishing, which is way out of my normal fishing routine.  Wife found me a cool spot though.  At Crystal Pier, there is a small kiosk that rents pole, buckets and provides bait for $14.00 all day.  Not bad at all.

The best part was the wonderful scenery.  Particularly since I didn't catch a thing!

Days that just click.

Last Saturday a buddy and I were able to head out of San Gabriel River West Fork for a little fly fishing.  As I titled the blog it was a transitional day in my fly fishing journey.  I'm a beginner, but I felt much calmer.  Casting felt good, fish were where I thought they would be and I was able to set the hook on more than I would have normally.  My friends at work have talked about the moment that "It Clicked" when they refer to recent times golfing ect...  This day of fly fishing was like that for me.  Felt really good man.



I also tested out my new Kodak Playsport camera.  I learned alot and there are plenty of tips for this cam...  Like blowing on the mic after the camera takes a dip.

New camera on the way!

The last time we went to SGR I brought all I could in my day pack.  I ended up using it all though like my first aid kit on a hooked friend.   At one point I took a dip a little deeper then I had expected -beyond my waist- and I was thankful that I had packed my camera and my phone in my backpack which saw no water the whole day.  That dip lead me on a journey to buy a dedicated fishing camera.  Something a little more robust in terms of water exposure...

Cutting the gear down = Tenkara?

   If you follow the Fly Fishing online scene you no doubt have heard of Tenkara.  Tenkara, is what I'd call the traditional Japanese style of fly fishing.  At the very least I can say it is a simpler form of fly fishing.  Remember simpler or simplistic in design is never a bad, Tenkara is a prime example.

San Gabriel River, Saturday.

We had a craving for fast moving water and wild trout. That meant we were heading north to the San Gabriel river west fork.  For those that might not know it can be found off the of the 210 fwy heading north on Azuza.

Carefully wading up stream

SGR was a new experience for all five of us.  There were lots of high points to the trip and everyone was able to catch (and release) some beautiful wild rainbow trout.  The downside to the trip was sadly the impact from humans.  The massive volume of trash and graffiti absolutely infuriated me. In a few instances I saw a bag of trash complete with dirty diapers left on the ground and weighted down with rocks...  I couldn't FATHOM a situation were it made sense to bag up trash weight it down but not just carry it out?!

Any Given Day.

Last week was tough to say the least.  My wonderful grandmother passed away and there was miles of road that needed to be covered to take the wife, sister and I up to where the family was.  The week was filled with emotions but short on energy to get it all done.

We got home late Friday and I was beat.  That didn't stop me from wanting to get out and do any kind of fishing on Saturday however, so when a fishing buddy recommended El Dorado park in Long Beach I jumped at the chance...  I also jumped into the water.  I guess I actually slipped and slid into the water. 

Composing myself from my dip

Fly fishing El Dorado is tricky from any spot but some on the second and third lake (the paved areas).  However, there is nothing IN the second or third lake that is catchable from the areas its easy to fly fish at least in summer.

That means getting closer, hoping on reeds, standing on rocks and really trying to nail some clean side casts, roll casts and almost anything possible to get the line out.  Regardless of the complications the bluegill were eager and I completely forgot to take pictures!










My buddy did manage to get a shot of the winner of "Small fish for the day" though and assorted sneaker shots of me post El Dorado baptismal.

Massive beast fish

Regardless of my wet shorts, soaked money, soggy chucks that sloshed as I walked it was still a hell of a fine day of fishing and remembering my grandmother.

Love you Nanny.

Notice the shorts

Downey Fly Fishers

I discovered the Downey Fly Fishers website when doing a search for fly fishing shops and clubs in my local area.  I was initially interested in this club first due to its impressive website and local meeting area.  So on Tuesday the wife and I stopped in. Couldn't have been a friendlier group of anglers in the whole county!

The meetings are broken up into a fly tying demo, introductions for the new people, fish tales, raffle and a guest speaker.  The time seemed to fly by and after meeting many of the members it was clear I that I would be stopping by again.


Check out their site for meeting times and events.  From the sound of it, its a club that has been active for many years and they cover every aspect of fly fishing!

The demo of the night was salt water flys!