ForbesOnTech

Beating the CA Trout Opener Combat Fishing Crowds-- Big Bites Now at Fuller and Manzanita Lake.

Woe is me, it’s the California 2012 trout opener weekend and I’m stuck at home nursing the worlds worse cold.

But my hacking and wheezing hasn’t stopped two friends in central California who respooled  their reels and restocked their tackle boxes and hit a couple of my all-time favorite California trout spots; Fuller Lake east of grass valley, CA on north of Highway 20 and Manzanita Lake in  Madera County CA.

I often write about Fuller Lake and my limits at this under fished Lake on the West slope of the Sierra recommend it more than any other spot in California.

Dam face at Fuller is at bottom of picture.

Fuller is a jewel it’s a shallow lake only 90 minutes from Sacramento and it’s the perfect place to introduce children to trout fishing. Over the last 15 years I have yet to go to Fuller and get skunked. Although I’m an experienced fly fisherman, Fuller is the kind of place that begs anyone to put a gob of chartreuse or corn floating bait on a #16 treble and toss it on a slider rig with a quarter-ounce weight into this lake’s crystal clear water.

One of the biggest reasons I recommend Fuller as a family fishing destination is that it’s seldom crowded—which means you can teach kids how to cast without worrying about them fowling another person’s lines by over casting. More importantly most of this lake has shallow shorelines—allowing you to take kids into the water while showing them where to  place their rigs in clear water away from aquatic vegetation shoals.

this is not my fish, damnit!

But the best reason to use Fuller as a teaching experience is that it’s loaded with tasty leaping trout. Although I’ve only once seen Fish and Game’s Trout mobile at the lake in all the years I’ve fished here, it has a large numbers of holdover fish that aggressively hit bait or spinner lures like light white or yellow Mepps spinners.

 

The two places where I’ve had the most luck t Fuller are from the face of the small dam on the downstream side, and from the shore just upstream of the dam. Another place to try at Fuller is the northeast corner of the lake where a stream empties into the Lake. The only place I’ve consistently caught hold over brownies at Fuller is fishing from a float tube in in front of the confluence of this stream and the lake.

There is a campground on the North end of this lake, if you want to make your trip to Fuller a family vacation.

Lake Manzanita is another family fishing destination I strongly recommend. Located north and east of Friant, CA near the town of North Fork. Mazanita is loaded with hungry stocker rainbows just waiting to be caught by a young or other fisherman on a no-frills West slope Sierra fishing trip. The place to go here is a small peninsula on Manzanita’s north shore near the face of the dam. There is a huge boulder near the face of the dam and trout seem to congregate in the deep between it and the dam’s face. If you’re throwing a lure in this lake, make sure you give it enough time to get near the bottom and use a twitchy return. On an average day you may be surprised to get hit by a two pound,20-inch, trout that’s been hiding in the deep cold water west of the boulder here.

th fishies at Manzanita hang out on th ight side of this boulder.

(Note, there are two Manzanita Lakes in California. The Manzanita Lake I’m writing about is in Madera County. The other Lake with the same name is much further north in Lassen County—jmf)

There is a nice campground at the east end of this lake.

typical Rainbw from Manzanita

I’ve never experience combat fishing at either Fuller or Manzanita. I’ve also always caught trout for the nightly frying pan at both locations. A valid California sport fishing license is required at both lakes, and if you’re 16,. or older, you need to buy a license.

It’s tine to restring your reels, buy some sharp hooks and clean up your old lures. I’ll be the old guy wearing a red, white and blue tie dyed t-shirt drifting by in a float tube, whipping the water with a proven fly, but carrying a bottle of floating bait, just in case. Tight lines, Jim Forbes on April 28,2012.

 

It's Early Spring and the Halibut are Here on the So Cal Coast-- Time to Spool up And Get a Line Wet

An unusually early spring, plus a sale on good fishing line has left me thinking that it’s time to get my 2012 fishing license, buy new fishing  line, plus other tackle and keen the tips of my stainless steel fishing hooks.

Although San Diego is known for its inshore yellowtail and overnight trips to the tuna grounds, it also supports a decent California halibut sport fishery. And I love catching flatties.

Halibut fishing is one of the most enjoyable things I do out on the coast. It doesn’t take a graduate degree in marine biology to target and catch California halibut. But it helps if you take a little time to understand where, when and why halibut appear.

I begin my yearly quest for flatties by driving up and down the coast. What I’m looking for are sandy beaches with kelp close to shore. My idea of an ideal beach is one where I can cast to within 20 feet of the kelp and count on a sandy bottom.

It’s taken about seven years to assemble what I think is an ideal halibut outfit: the basis of which is a nine-foot, two-piece,  rod with a medium tip, and a medium and a decent size spinning reel loaded with good 8 to 12 pound test monofilament. I make sure that the guides of my rod are clean, which helps me cast farther. Trial and error on the San Diego coast has taught me to always use wire leaders and very sharp hooks.

I use one-ounce pyramid sinkers and tie my wire leaders about one foot above the weight. From sandy beaches, I try to fish at slack water following the morning hide tide, and I use a six-foot sand spike to keep my line out of the surf. One of the shortcomings of fishing here in San Diego is the near absence of live bait such a anchovies in tackle stores. So I’ve learned to be content with frozen ‘chovies. I change bait frequently.

Besides, I think it’s good karma to give my unused bait at the end of the day to the gulls.

There are a couple of under fished halibut spots on the Orange and San Diego County coasts. One of my favorites is sandy beach on the coast in Torrey Pines near the Hilton, and Las Pulgas Beach at Camp Pendleton. Further up the coast, the north end of Crystal Cove State Beach is another productive spot to try your luck.

If you’re Driving Southbound to San Diego on I-5, I have another suggestion; look for lagoons that open to the Pacific then figure out how to get to the sandy beaches near the rail road trestles that span the lagoon openings. There are four such places between San Diego and San Clemente and they are the only spots on the southern coast where I and other fishermen have consistently caught strings of flatties. The thing about inlet fishing is: you want to try to get your gear just beyond the outflow channels and keeping your rig in place may require a heavy sinker.

It’s spring the halibut are inshore, plus they’re hungry, so string up with good line, use wire leaders and keep your hooks sharp. The minimum overall size limit for California halibut is 22 inches and the daily bag limit is five fish (south of Monterey County). A valid CA sport fishing license is required. Tight lines—Jim Forbes on 02/25/2012.

 

 

The Allison Gold Mine-- a True East Fork Treasure.

As soon as I’m confident spring really here, I’m beating feet up the San Gabriel Canyon’s East Fork to a spot I haven’t visited for more almost ten years, the abandoned Allison mine perched on the side of Iron Mountain.

I’ve been to the Allison at least five times. It’s a challenging hike, but it’s easily accomplished if you prepare for an appx. 900 foot elevation rise from the canyon floor and are prepared to slog your way up washes and an unmaintained trail to the site of the Allison. http://www.everytrail.com/fullscreen.php?trip_id=115514

I’ve written about the Allison in previous posts. I’ve just never been specific about its name or location. With gold at more than $1,600 an ounce, the last thing I want to do is kick off a mini-rush on the East Fork. But Iron Mountain appears to be auriferous and the Allison was a working mine. Two of my San Gabriel Canyon history mentors—Bill Sele and his Masonic Lodge buddy Sedley Pe ck, repeatedly told me the story of the Allison when I was a teenager.  They also warned me that hiking up to the remains of the Allison was thirsty work and to be sure to bring adequate drinking water.

The easiest path to the mine is to take the Heaton Flats trail on the East Fork. The mine is at the top of of Allison Gulch on the East Fork. The trail leads directly to the mine and was hacked into the side of Iron Mountain by the mine’s original owners, the Allison Family. There are a lot of artifacts at the mine. Old ore cars, a small ball mill (for crushing ore) and the remains of a four cylinder engine that was used to power the mill and a mine building were still there the last time I hiked up to the Allison ( in 2000). Going up to the Allison is a fun hike.

If you’re a gold seeker pay attention to the geological detritus that has accumulated in the nooks and crannies on the trail up Allison Gulch. The gold bearing ore is mostly granite, although I’ve seen quartz samples reportedly pulled from Iron Mountain.

The entrance to the mine is easily found but I sincerely believe exploring abandoned mines is a sure path to disaster. But don’t be afraid to poke around Iron Mountain. If you do, you can’t help but notice where the Allison’s owners dug other places looking for “the color.”

Is there gold in Iron Mountain on the San Gabriel’s East Fork? Bet your butt there is. There is no doubt in my mind that the two nuggets I pulled out of the East Fork south of its confluence with the Iron Fork came from that mountain. But my interest in abandoned mines isn’t a quest for overlooked nuggets or fractional grams of flour gold. Since childhood I’ve been fascinated by California’s gold miners; how they lived, what they left behind and what caused them to stake a specific claim. Take time to explore the site of the Allison and you’ll come to understand how driven prospectors were. According to my grandfather and Sedley Peck, all of the Allison’s heavy equipment—including the power for its ball mill was hauled up by pack mules. Unfortunately the story of the Allison didn’t end well. Its mill and living quarters were washed off the side of Iron Mountain in a storm.

A final thought about hiking up to the Allison—if you hike in from the ranger station, you can count on fording the East Fork several times, before you make your ascent, change into dry socks—unless of course you really want nice blisters on your feet. The hike up to the Allison is one of my favorite East Fork Adventures.

The Allison is just one of several old mines in the San Gabriel Canyon. The Big Horn Mine is equally well known and is filled with rusting Southern California gold mining artifacts. An all but forgotten mine is located down canyon and is an easy 20 minute hike westward up a fire road near Morris Dam. The San Gabriel Canyon was a mining center beginning in about 1850 and again during the Great Depression.

There really is gold in the Angeles National Forest, but don’t look to me for GPS coordinates. Take the time and explore the treasure trove north of Azusa and try very hard to leave only soft foot prints as testament to your explorations .—Jim Forbes on 0128/2012

nb—a USFS day use pass is required in this section of the Angeles National Forest and if you fish, a valid California Fishing license is required. Two other suggestions; let someone know where you are going hiking and when you expect to return, and do not leave donuts or other treats in your car when you park. Mother Nature is regenerating the canyon and the (black) bears have returned—jmf.

 

Spooling up for 2011 Halibut Fishing-- Its Spring and the Flatties are Hungry and Horny

 
 

There are few things I like more than halibut fishing and Spring is when halibut here on the Southern California coast  are hungry and horny.
On a good day,Brown flatties  test your skill, and fishing tackle. On a bad day they test your patience and sometimes make you wish you’d taken up golf.My approach to halibut fishing is that of an experienced observational angler.
I cheat: I mark the locations on a map of the southern California coast where I've caught them in the past, and I note weather, water and tides on the map. That map lives in a plastic bag in my smelly tackle box.
Over the last eight years I've managed to routinely get decent legal California Halibut into my boat  and developed an appreciation for making sure I use the right terminal tackle when I’m stalking flatties.
The quickest way for me to reevaluate golf as a substitute hobby for fishing is when: I’m looking at 25 yards of expensive monofilament disappearing into the surf line, get a hit, start smoothly cranking, feel the fish  begin to fight, get it close enough to the shore (to see that it’s a legal sized, 24-inch,fish) and have the line go slack.
Oops. I forgot to use wire leader-- something I do at least once every couple of years.
My love of halibut fishing was fueled early in my youth by seeing 36-inch or larger halibut caught by family members.There are few species here in Southern California that fight like a flatty, or which taste as good.
And there still here, if you know where to fish and don’ forget to use the right bait or lure and always remember to use wire leader as part of your terminal tackle.
One of my favorite places to fish for halibut is aboard Camp Pendleton at Red Beach and Crystal Cove, in Orange County, south of Newport Beach offf the Pacific Coast Highway (“PCH”).
Camp Pendleton’s Las Pulgas (aka “Red”) Beach is under utilized and is a pristine halibut fishery. It’s also one of the prettiest camping areas in California.. It’s inner tidal zone is sandy with just enough structure to make your basic ambush feeding flatty very happy.   
The trick here is to get your bait or lure just beyond or in the surfline. I heave one and half ounce surf lead with four feet of leader connected to a whole shank-hooked anchovy. No bait is available at this  beach , so bring your own. I've had as much success in the last three years throwing a green and white spoon with a number two hook as I have had with bait  Also,  every flatty I’ve caught here or up the coast at Crystal Cove State park, has been on slack water right before an ebb flow in about ten feet of water.
Red beach is part of Camp Pendleton. to reach it take the Las Pulgas Road off ramp off of I-5 between Oceanside and San Clemency , CA) .
For more information on or camping permits for Las Pulgas beach call  the Camp Pendleton Duty Game Warden at (760) 725-3586 NO EARLIER THAN 1730 (5:30 P.M.) THURSDAY prior to a weekend to determine if the beaches are “open” for camping.  The Duty Game Warden is the ONLY individual who has the correct up-to-date information on whether the beach is open or closed.  Military policemen at entrance gates do not have this information.   Bee aware that beach areas may be restricted or closed at anytime due to military training requirements.  Therefore, campers are advised to phone the Duty Warden prior to leaving their residence in order to get the most up-to-date information
Warning; if you’re fishing Red beach in limited visibility and hear what sounds like one or more DC10’a and heavy machinery, reel in quickly and find a place nearby where you’re easily seen. This beach is often used by the Marines to practice amphibious assaults so it’s not uncommon to see giant air cushion or tracked landing craft lumbering ashore here. If you’re asked to leave by members of the Marine Shore Party. do so using the exit paths shown.
 
Crystal Cove crystal cove map-- is where I really learned to enjoy surf fishing as a kid, is my other favorite halibut fishery. you need to bring your own bait.this California state park has everything a growing halibut wants: basic structure, sandy bottom and a surplus of tasty bait; including surf perch. Crystal cove is also the location of my biggest ever California Halibut sighting. While snorkeling just beyond the surf I noticed an irregular shape nestled down on the sand. I suspect the fish was 42 to 48 inches long and at least 45 pounds. i deeply regretted not having a spear with me. Snorkeling any beach where you intend to fish regularly for Halibut is a great idea because it lets you visualize the bottom and examine the fishery.
There are a couple of other great halibut fisheries on the Southern California coast. Highest on my list are Zuma beach in Malibu and the small sandy beaches between Oceanside and Carlsbad.
So don’t wait for the warm summer sun. It’s almost Spring so re-spool your reels with good medium weight monofilament, sharpen your hooks and don’t forget your wire leader and a pair fishing pliers. It’s halibut time on the Southern California coast--Jim ”Gone Fishing” Forbes- on 02/21/2011.

"Buenos Tardes senorita Ringtail, Make Yourself right at home in my Avocado Tree!"

Out in my orchard picking left-behind( aka "shiners") avocados and experienced the sensation of being watched.

Spied a nice plump 3-pound Reed avocado hidden back in a tree, reached in and got hissed at by 46 Ginsu 2000 teeth. "Buenos Tardes, Senorita Ringtail" Go right ahead make a nice den in my tree.
Oh the joys of living amongst wild things.

Summertime, and the Tuna Are Jumping-- OffShore San Diego Style

 

photo courtesy Red Rooster3
 

 

 

For diehard fishermen Southern California summer’s guarantee is nearly constant—affordable one day and over night fishing trips to schools of albacore, bluefin and yellowfin tuna now finning off the San Diego coast.

    A prime attraction for my move to rural San Diego was its outstanding tuna fishing. San Diego just can’t be beat if you’re a recreational sport fisherman with a desire to bring an occasional tuna family member over the side of a boat. It’s not that I limit my fishing to monstrous 100-plus-pound bluefin tuna or much sought after chunky albacore, In fact I’m just as happy landing the occasional halibut, toothy barracuda or fresh water whiskered fish from any one of the three local lakes near my home. 

San Diego is a fishing kind of town and summers are when many of us keen our hooks, restring our reels with premium line and start checking daily catch reports to see what party boat skippers are “on the fish” and how many fish are being taken by each boat.

Some of the fish reports for the various sport fishing operations make me resent my miserly ways. Multi-day trips (1.5 days) cost up to $400 (meals and berth included) and go up from there.

So what can you bring home from s multi-day fishing trip to any of the banks or sea mounts that range anywhere from 20 to 90 miles off the San Diego coast? On a good trip you can expect “mixed limits of tasty tuna, delicious albacore or yummy yellowtail. Plus sometimes there’s also the occasional line stripping Wahoo or ever-so-toothy barracuda. When the conditions are right---- warm water temps and somewhat flat seas—you can expect to have the fishing trip of your life and bring home s lot of fish.

My favorite fish down here is the appropriately named Wahoo.  While not particularly tasty, Wahoo will make line scream off a smoking reel and are difficult to bring alongside a boat,

In a life time of fishing there’s only one species that’s ever fried one of my reels; a wahoo that completely destroyed a prized Ambassador spooled with expensive 40 pound test line. Capable of runaway freight train-like runs, my last tussle with a Wahoo ended with me seeing it about 40 feet from my boat before it turned  tail and thundered off to Cabo San Lucas, trailing about 300 feet of my line.

Hookups with finned powerhouses aside, the best deal in San Diego Party boat fishing are the approximate $75 all day trips to the Coronado Islands just south of San Diego. Fishing the Coronados has always been a treat for me; they have a large resident yellowtail school and halibut hookups aren’t uncommon, even in the summer.

My favorite blog on San Diego long range fishing is posted from the wheelhouse of the RedRooster3, a floating fisherman’s luxury hotel that steams up and down the Pacific Coast of Baja California. Want to know where the giant tunas are being caught. Read Captain Andy Cates reports at www.redrooster3.com.

The west coast forum on www.bloodydecks.com is another great source of information on San Diego offshore saltwater fishing.

So,, if you’re traveling to the south country,friends, come early and take a fsihing trip on the tuna side—right here off San Diego coast.—JimForbes;07/08/2010.

There Really Is Gold on the East Fork of the San Gabriel River-- But You Have to Know Where to Look!

Writing about fishing on the East Fork of the San Gabriel River is something I’ve come to enjoy. I learned how to fly fish on this year-round trout fishery and some of my most memorable camping experiences have been on the East Fork, north of its peculiar Bridge to Nowhere, which as you might suspect from its name, goes nowhere.

But camping and fishing aren’t the only activities associated with this stream and part of the Angeles National Forest.

There’s another highly addictive and sometimes rewarding hobby that’s ardently pursued there—recreational golf prospecting.

Growing up in eastern Los Angeles County in the tiny town of Azusa, I was exposed to a lot of myths about gold on the East Fork and I may have been the most gullible baby boomer ever to shirk my way into a pack when it comes to stories of Gold in this stretch of the canyon.

Rumors however are often based in truth and the ground truth about Gold on the East Fork is very true. There’s gold in this stream which is only about 40 miles from the Los Angeles civic center and there’s been more than one strike in this section of the Angeles National Forest. In fact there have been two rushes on the East Fork since the mid-19^th Century and the thing about gold is this: no one ever gets it all.

Don’t look to me to provide earth coordinates on East Fork gold deposits. The fun thing about looking for gold is the scientific part of the search.

Some background:  one of the richest strikes on the East Fork was made at the Allison Mine—located on the west slope of Mt Baldy above the confluence of Iron Fork and the East Fork, upstream from the Bridge to Nowhere.

Hiking into the remains of the Allison is not for the faint of heart, (or anyone else at risk of sudden cardiac failure). It’s a long climb up the side of Mt Baldy through never ending piles of decomposed granite and shattered breccia. There are no water sources on this “trail” but there are a lot of rattle snakes that really don’t like to be disturbed. But it’s a fun hike if you want to see the San Gabriel wilderness at its best; big horn sheep roam freely here and where there are bighorn, you also stand a great chance of seeing their predators. A word of warning; mountain lions are not benign kitty cats and this is the only section of the East Fork where I’ve shared the trail with more than one cougar in one day.

Now back to East Fork gold. Much of the East Fork’s gold was found in granite or other native stone, so if you’re interested in hard rock prospecting, do take the time to crack open ore you find deposited in natural slides, and catch basins coming down to the East Fork from Allison Gulch. I also suspect that the fine gravel in this watershed holds gold—assuredly not placer nuggets, but rather flour or large particulate flakes. How do I know this?

It’s where I’ve found gold and it’s where San Gabriel gold miner and historian, Sedley Peck, told me he had found gold there too.

If you’re idea of succumbing to the Gold bug is to spend a couple of hours washing pans of pay dirt, the East Fork north of the Iron Fork Confluence is the place to try. Over the years I’ve pulled out a couple of nice two- and three-gram nuggets from this area and I’m very sure there’s still gold there and further down closer to the East Fork narrows. Camping high up on the East Fork is extremely pleasant. It’s unlikely you’d share a campground (at the Narrows or at Iron Fork) with anyone else and both stretches of water here have hold over populations of tasty native rainbow trout.

There’s another section of the East Fork I believe is auriferous—the stretch of water right at the base of Swan Rock (which is downstream from the Bridge to Nowhere).

The trek to Iron Fork may be one of the prettiest hikes in the San Gabriel Mountains. It’s an approximate nine-mile hike to Iron Fork and the first six miles requires multiple river crossings, so bring extra socks and sturdy tennis shoes. Always check in and out at the East Fork Ranger Station and let a friend know when you expect to return. A Forest Service Day use Pass is required and can be purchased at the information kiosk on highway 39 at the mouth of Azusa Canyon.—Jim Forbes 05/01/2010.

In Praise of Remarkable Fuller Lake-- My First Back-to-Back Double Trout Hookups

My life works. After 450 miles of 106 degree heat on California’s Interstate 5 blacktop back bone, past  hot stinky cows, wonderful roadside fruit stands is a small lake where it’s possible to still experience Sierra trout fishing in an isolated setting that’s easily reached within two hours of Sacramento.

Let’s talk Fishing at Fuller Lake (near Grass Valley, CA but north of Highway 20):

First  it’ss very goodythis year. Fuller is one of the jewels of the Western Sierra. It’s a small pine and granite impoundment filled with chilly Yuba Riverwater. It’s regularly stocked by the Department of Fish and Game. The water is clear, the trout feisty, and the lake is seldom fished by more than 10 or 12 people at one time. And, it has a resident German Brown trout population that results in an occasional surprise catch.

Fuller is my favorite California Sierra trout fishery.

I started last week’s brief trip to Fuller by tying a midge fly on a 4x tippet, wading into the east shore shallows on the east shore above of the dam and cast towards deeper water beyond the inshore weed line.  I quickly had two hits, released the small trout (less than 10 inches) and changed to a deer fly pattern on a #14 hook. 10 casts and two fly pattern changes later the fish had moved to deeper and colder water.

I changed strategies, and tied a cheese and egg rig in front of a 3/8 ounce sliding sinker and soaked some chartreuse floating bait and salmon eggs. The Fishing deities took pity on me and I had a double hook up in about 10 feet of water almost as soon as I had adjusted my line. The idea of simultaneously catching two rainbows was pretty far from my mind as I felt the fish dart around on my line. But then I felt something  trying to pull my line in different directions at the same time.

The realization hit me—I had a double hook up, so I grabbed my net, waded out to a point where the frigid water reminded me I was crotch deep and saw the two fish about three feet away. Surprising me -- after my first encounter with a small trout-- both fish were definite keepers so I went back to shore and threaded them on my stringer.

I rigged back up with a salmon egg and some chartreuse floating bait and got back in the water, this time making an effort to get both hooks out farther from the shore.

There was just enough time to light my short Hemingway cigar when my rod tip slammed down and the line tightened.  I put the cigar carefully down on a flat piece of granite that appeared to be as old as time itself, and patiently reeled in. About halfway into the shore, I felt the line take another sharp hit and knew immediately I had scored yet another double hookup.

That’s only the second time in my life I’ve had two successive double hookups, so the fish went on the stringer with the others, and I put my gear back into the water and watched the cigar smoke swirl through pine tree boughs.

And that’s why I love and recommend Fuller Lake (which is between Auburn and Truckee,CA). It’s got it all: fragrant scenery, lively trout, and crystal clear blue skies. But don’t forget to bring your stringer and some floating bait.

One other thing about Fuller that’s unique.  If you’re west bound on Highway 20 Right before the turnoff to this gem-like lake, look quickly to your left at the base of the hill you just descended.  What always makes people do a double take is the optical illusion of fast moving water in a hydroelectric open feeder channel flowing up hill. It has to be seen to be believed, but if you think you’ve just glimpsed water going uphill, you’re at the Fuller turnoff.

Fuller is that kind of a place and if you try it just once, you’ll want to come back again and again.—Jim Forbes on 07/20/200-9.

Voles Not Guilty of Causing Shocky Avocado Trees-- Irrigation System Problems.

I’ve been unusually quiet on this blog for the last week because I’ve been tied up, working  in  my yard: My most serious problem was that two of my avocados trees were on the verge  of going in to fatal shock.

Want to get my attention in a hurry? See what I do when I notice my beloved two new Pinkerton and Reed avocado trees look like they’re yearning to be compost. On Monday, I noticed a both trees were defoliating and had increasingly poor leaf color.

The first thing I suspected was shock due to root damage caused by voracious burrowing rodents  The signs seemed to  be all there:, entrances to vole runs beginning about 15 feet from the trees; And Shallow runs wandering towards the tree but slanting deeper as the animals neared their tasty targets. Also, the trees showed all the symptoms of a gopher or vole attack—lightening in the color of leaves, drooping branches and general shock.

So, I set about trying to kill the voles and eventually all the evidence of rodent activity around the blossoming trees ceased.

In my haste to blame the damn gnawing rodents I was blind to the much more obvious symptom of my problem; simple overwatering.

For the last week, I’ve awakened at 3:32 every morning. I didn’t make a connection until Wednesday night when I recognized the subtle noise of an  irrigation solenoid next to my bedroom clicking on at 3:30 in the morning.

My problem was that the solenoids were broken and not turning off until about 5: 30 AM. My avocados and stone fruit trees are all watered by drippers that I’ put directly over the root structures. And the drippers were set for high volume, but not shutting off. So, $200 worth of localized avocado cultivars were getting too much water.

Two days later, after an application of an avocado/citrus feed with low nitrogen but mid range Phosphorous and Potassium numbers. My avocado trees are coming back, and my peaches and apricots have never looked better.

I also replaced two irrigation solenoids with equipment that is much quieter.

For the last four nights, I’ve slept all night and awakened at a much more reasonable hour.

Small victories in my gardens and front orchard are the important battles I fight today. Eliminating the damn voles that chew up my gardens and fruit trees is just one important side benefit in my little war.—Jim Forbes 05/09/2009.

Rat Victorious Over Cat, Gets Eaten by Venomous Serpent-- The View Outside my Office Window

The Good life at Rancho Bizarro

 

        I have two indoor cats that were adopted as kittens.  Apparently they were traumatized young by animals that would otherwise have been their prey. The results of this are sometimes hilarious and other times very scary.

            Like this morning just after sunrise, my cat “Lizzy” is seated all turkey like on a rug in front of the sliding glass door in my office. All of a sudden, this tortoise shell lets out a blood curling scream that’s the feline equivalent of “You killed my mommy.” Causing me to roll my chair back from my desk and glance out to my patio.  The cat is by now all flat on the floor, tensed to spring and shooting laser beams out her little eyes.

On the other side of the glass is a quite  handsome silveryblack wood rat with twitching whiskers, a slowly flicking tail, staring intently back at my cat.” This rat has been hanging around my rose since the long-tailed mommy weasels killed all the gophers in my lower garden and moved away in search of easier prey.

I kind of admire the rat. It’s found a niche in my ecosystem and exploited it, apparently gaining about six ounces along the way (which answers the question “who’s been gnawing on my sweet yellow corn?”)

So the rat scurries away from the sliding glass window and the cat Lizzy follows it window by window, room by room, screaming all the way. In the fullness of time, everyone in my house is awake, accusing me of torturing the cat and ignoring my explanation of her being insanely angry at the rat.

Dog Perro enters, sees Brother Rat, charges the window, bounces off the glass anad goes whimpering back to bed.

Rat retreats to safety of ice plants where rattlesnakes live in their recently remodeled serpent condos.

I haven’t seen the rat in the last hour but there is a two-foot rattlesnake out in the early morning sun with a big bulge in his otherwise slim profile.

Poor Brother Rat, He taunts a cat, backs away from a protective

Chihuaha

and gets killed and eaten by an urban venomous serpent.I guess Mother Nature can be ironic.—Jim Forbes 08/02/2008