Hobby Sports

While not the giant, a more than respectable local fish.

After visiting the Orvis shop to use our $25 off coupon, Chul and I hit one of our favorite local water.  The last time Chul stopped by he saw a pair of gigantic trout at least 18 inches in a pool.  While he was unable to connect with any of them, we returned today to see if we could tag team them using a spotter above to direct the attack. 

Our plan was to fish known pools that held the big fish and skip all the pocket water and pools that weve only caught dinks or average fish in.  While driving up the mountain I saw a helicopter fly out of the canyon eye level with us.  I couldnt believe it and told Chul who was driving.  Once we arrived at the parking lot it was filled with paramedics, fire engines and US Forestry Search and Rescue.  I spoke with a group of hikers that saw what happened.  Apparently some gal fell 40 feet while try to dive into one of the deep pools.  She gashed her forehead pretty good among other injuries.  They told me the scariest part was no one there had a clue what to do.  Luckily there was student nurse that was able to get a hold of the situation before help could arrive.

We left the drama and headed to the trail.  After the first bend, Chul realized that he left his wallet in the truck and may have kept the truck unlocked.  So I took his fly rod and he went back while I went toward the the water to fish the first pool to wait for him.  I caught several dinks while I waited.  Chul finally arrived and I handed him his new Sage Z-Axis. 

We reached the pool that held the pair of giants and looked for them from above.  We found them circling in a section of the pool.  Even elevated twenty feet these monster looked huge.  Once Chul met a fellow fly fisherman that told him that he managed an 18 inch brown here, I initially thought that guy is full of shit.  Now I know better.  Before I went down, we broke down the pool into sections A-D so that I knew where the cast. Chul would stay put and spot me telling me which section to cast.  I made it through the ivy before hearing some rustling and seeing a tail.  Was this another rattlesnake encounter?  I wasnt going to find out and took a roundabout method to the pool.  Once I reached the water I could barely hear him with the moving water.  I casted where he told me and I over lined the fish and it spooked.  The pool proved dead after that.

Tiger Lily

We headed back to the pool with the pair of monsters.  I fished the right side and Chul fished the left where we last saw the pair.  I spotted a serious fish follow my fly and start to sip it and I over zealously yanked the fly out of its grasp.  I saw his sides as he splashed out of the water.  Most likely a 12 incher or better.  Afterwards we headed out after trying pointlessly to connect with those pigs.  I even tied a small mouse pattern to see if that would interest them but they had no interest.

On my trip to Japan last spring, I made some purchases at Sansui fly shop. Whenever Im in the Tokyo area I look for items that I cant get here in the US. One of such items was the TMC wingburners (the other items are posted here). When I came home I thought of a way to organize them on my fly tying desk. Since Lou is a fabricator, I asked if he could make me a holder. I gave him a general ideal on what I was looking for and he took it from there. As he is a rookie fly fisherman, I traded him some flies for the work. I finally received it yesterday when we went dog training.

TMC wingburners are unavailable here in the US. I have a total of eight of them. Each package comes with a pair of burners. I bought some caddis, mayfly and cranefly wingburners.

This holder is made from leftover material that Lou used for building his kennel.

More items not sold here in the US. This wing material that are used with the wingburners.

This is what the mayfly wings look like when burned.

I tied several of them last year but Ive yet to really try any of them. I always seem to forget to do so.

A close up look at one of those flies. The extended tail is made from tools also unavailable here in the US, I used the C&F Design Extend Body Twister.

If anyone I know ever asks me "Have you ever fished Puddingstone,"  my response will be "That place can suck my..."  Seriously, I dont think Ive ever hated a place more.  Chul and I hit this water one more time despite our last lack luster outing a few weeks ago.  Since Chul managed a bass on topwater and I missed two bass on my last two casts I have wanted some revenge on this lake.  Just like the last time we were harassed by Ricky Rangers that if they did not have a book of regulations their life would have no direction.  I have been on that pram more than half a dozen times when Ed owned it.  Our buddy Kyung has been on it a hundred times when Ed owned it.  Never had we ever been harassed about the decal colors or numbers on the boat, registration or anything like that.  And weve made thousands of drifts directly in front of the Coast Guard station at NHP. Never once did the Coasties who happen to be staring at us give us a hard time and yet the Ricky Rangers on this lake (who have no law enforcement capabilities) give us grief.  Fishing was poor despite seeing several good bass and monster carp.  None were willing to take a fly.  Chul missed a couple and I only had one strike the whole day that I missed.  I did have one eyeball my bluegill pattern a while but refused to even make a charge.  What a waste.  I rearranged my schedule and Chul missed out on sleep for this crap.  Never again.  I dont care if fish are jumping into the boat, I shall not return. 

Fried Chicken and Waffle Sandwich.

We hit Bruxie Waffle Sandwiches for lunch afterwards and while it was okay it was hardly anything to write home about.  My sister raves about this place and goes to the one near my house every time she visits California.  I really dont know why.  It wasnt bad but hardly impressive.

Funny, I started this blog three years ago, as my personal hunting journal.  Prior to starting this, I had hunted at least 30 days of the 90 (or 120 if you count the early mountain quail season) bird hunting season.  Since starting this blog though, those days dwindled to pathetic numbers, as seen by the number of actual hunting posts within this blog.  I hope to rectify that this year although, I dont think Ill be getting to the 30 days from the past, I certainly hope the hunting posts do increase this year.

The old man and I decided to take a day and half hunting trip to my usual locations.  We left here around 10am so that I could bypass all the downtown LA traffic.  We made good time as I decided to drive around LA, although it was longer in distance, the lack of traffic saved us much in headaches and time.  While reaching one of my honey holes, I noticed all the dirt roads that allowed access were now posted with "No Trespass" signs.  Great.  The only way to reach my spots legally, is to park on top of the mountain traverse ascend toward the public lands.  Well having forgotten our sandwiches in the car, not having breakfast, and not being in hunting shape, and the combination of higher altitude air, I quickly gave up this idea after about a half of a mile in.  We headed back to the Rover and I decided to hit another not as "honey" but good enough hunting hole. 

The drive to this area from the honey hole is not far.  We made it to to Joels Spring and parked as we ate our sandwiches to fuel up.  Within the first 10 minutes of the hunt Kaiser and I were on birds.  A covey of about five flushed wild in a an area that kaiser was working.  On my first shot, I managed to hit a female valley quail with my 20 gauge size 6 B&P F2 ammo out of my IC barrel of my Merkel 47e.  She fell out of the sky like a sack of potatoes.  Although some consider it too big, Ive decided to start using size 6 shot for quail.  By using it, I cripple less birds and most die immediately making the birds easy to find for the dog.  I can then spend less time searching for a downed bird and more time actually hunting.  Also if I run into chuckars, I will not feel undergunned.  For the rest of the day we were finding singles or pairs.  No big conveys.  Most of these birds were smart, holding tight, and flushing behind a tree or other obstacle so making it impossible for a shot.  We came home with only one bird this evening hunt.  While driving out, as the sun was making its last appearance of the day, a covey of 15 quail flushed in front of the road toward the safety of their roasting area for the night. We made no attempt to go after them as we had only a minutes of light left.  We headed to town for a nice hot Italian meal before we headed to out motel to rest up for tomorrow. 

I always check the crops of the birds I take.  Looks like this gal was feasting on Junipers.