I took a 4-day trip on a whim to fly fish the Upper Kern River with some buddies (Craig Divine, Kevin Keens, Bob Roscuitto). None of us had fished the river before, but our SoCal friends had done their research and prospects looked promising. Unfortunately, timing was not on our side and the spring runoff was in full swing. Despite record low snowfall this winter across the Sierra, flows were in the range of 750-800 cfs and the water was slightly stained when we arrived.
We stayed at the
Durrwood Creekside Lodge B&B, a little known inn near the Johnsondale Bridge along the Upper Kern. The folks were friendly, the mood light and communal breakfast very filling. Some places seem to just fall off the map and this is one of them. I recommend a stay if you're in the neighborhood. Our evenings were pleasant fly tying sessions with cold beers, courtesy of Bob. The fly of the trip was the Kern Candy nymph, invented by local guide,
Guy Jeans. Pretty much the only thing the trout could see in those murky waters.
Only a handful of miles upriver was the Golden Trout Wilderness and Kevin was amped on catching a new species of trout. That, however, was not in the cards. The approach to the wilderness boundary required a 20-mile windy road, passing by the
The Needles, then a mellow 2.5 mile hike down into the canyon, dropping about 1,500 feet in elevation. Water conditions were rough to say the least and visibility often less than a foot in places, meaning you practically had to put the fly in the trout's mouth yourself if you wanted to land anything.
Spring in the Sierras can be beautiful in subtle ways. It's the maritime snowpack and moisture off the Pacific that drive the climate in this portion of the world. The heat of the summer can be stifling though and seasonal wild fires are pervasive in this neck of the woods.
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| Something in the wild orchid family. |
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| Pine cone of the California Big Pine, which can weigh upwards of two pounds. |
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| Fresh black bear tracks. |
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