The trip continued as we explored up stream from camp. All I have to say is, what a spectacular stretch of water! I mean the awesomeness of this part of the adventure was mind blowing!
It all started with the average boulder hopping that is the norm for this area. Everything is granite no matter where you look. It just varies in its shape and form depending on where you are. Below you can see an average area around camp.
As we fished our way up river, it was mostly your average western pocket water, with the occasional riffle, run, tailout combo......these where the good holes. Most were loaded with fish that were more than eager to rise....if.....if you made the right presentation. I don't want to say that these fish are hard to catch, but the big ones aren't stupid. They are wild....and they will let you know!!!
In the above hole I caught the colorful bow below. It is hard to see it in the small format of this photo, but the hot, red stripe down its side was unprecedented on the trip. Very beautiful to say the least.
As beautiful as the bow was, there is something about the browns! This one in particular had a striking appearance. We were careful to not admire for too long. Instead we snapped a few photos in hope of capturing the beauty and moved on. Like all other attempts, the true beauty escaped at some point....you know how it is?
Below is another brown caught, but this time with the fly in it's mouth. This fly produced most of my fish for the trip and many, many fish for others as well. It is a modified hopper pattern that I designed before going out this year. I knew what size pattern I wanted, knew that it had to float high, and be nearly indestructible. After some working and reworking, I finally got a good looking fly......and the good thing is that it fishes almost better than it looks....and my buddies will vouch for that!
Here is my friend Ben who fished this entire stretch with me. I dare say that some of the best fishing of the trip was had by Ben and I. It was on this day that we had a micro caddis hatch take place for about thirty minutes that we were able to dial in on........I dare say we owned those fish! They shut down on the big flies as soon as the hatch ensued. We got dialed in and pulled out some large fish, one after another until that magic moment.....you know....the moment when it all stops, just like it all started.
Ben landed some nice browns on this day!
The below photos were shot on a different day, but really capture some of the beauty of the river in this gorge section. This was an amazing granite gorge!!! At times we had rods in our mouths and needed climbing gear to get to the next hole. Sometimes you just had to throw your hands in the air and climb out, over, and around to the next access point.
The next three photos are much larger so that you can click on them and enlarge them for greater detail.
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This was my favorite stretch of the South Fork of the San Joaquin hands down! I can't describe for you here what it was really like. You just have to take my word for it or better yet, go experience it for yourself.
Until next time, tight lines!
Patrick "Flybum" Robinson
Head Guide
Steelhead Alley Outfitters
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