The San Gabriel River's East Fork--It's Underfished and has Wild Trout. Labor Day Pick

Taking care of my an aging parent in declining health has slashed the time I spend fishing this year. But, when the stress reaches a critical point I try to carve out time to get a line wet and chase rain bow trout here in Southern California.

And no place is more relaxing or fulfilling to me than the East Fork of the San Gabriel River in Azusa Canyon.

AS Labor Day approaches, and the need to ferry my 93 year old mother to medical appointments swells, the East Fork has been calling me home.

This Los Angeles County riparian system is under fished but has feisty trout that are available year round-- although fire closures in the fall are common.

I’m pretty far removed from anyone’s image of a gentrified fly fisherman and my connection and experience with the East Fork strengthens my ties to my inner Huck.

First off, if you’re going to take a right-hand turn for wild trout fishing north of the San Gabriel Dam go prepared. Take drinking water, wear old clothes and know you will have to repeatedly ford a fast flowing stream. My fishing out fit is an old pair of high top tennis shoes purchased more than 30 years ago, cutoff jeans, and home made tiedyed shirts. My EF fishing gear is a seven foot rod, ancient fly reel, and fly wallet loaded with standards like midges and flies tied on number 14 to number 18 barbless hooks, and up to three packages of spare 3x tippets. But before I let myself get categorized as a Norman Fitzroy MacClean stereotype I confess to carrying a bottle of premium salmon eggs, and a couple of small split shot in my waist pack-- just in case I need to unleash my inner redneck and engage in “meat fishing.”

I routinely hike and fish a nine-mile stretch of the East Fork the bends its way into the San Gabriels nine miles from the EF ranger station and trail head parking lot to the confluence of the Iron and East Forks.

My most recent trip took me only as far as the East Fork Narrows, up stream from the Bridge to Nowhere, about eight miles, round trip.

I prefer to target wild rainbows, so unless I see an Orca-sized fish leap and empty a pool with a mighty splash, I don’t begin casting until I’m at least one mile from the nearest fish and game stocking point.

Like most “wild lands” streams, the San Gabriel’s East Fork can be productive-- if you take the time to read its waters and match your observations with common sense. With canyon temps hovering in the high nineties the trout here are chilling in cool waters and deep ponds. I approach this stream quietly and try to pick a trail that provides a view of shaded banks, deep rills and chilly ponds. With a bright sun overhead, I look for furtive fish darting in and out of cover. Then I approach from up stream and flick my midge into a position where the current will push it past the hungry fish. My three most productive flies for the EF are a #18 deer fly, a smaller midge and a #14 nymph.

I have a favorite pool on the East Fork I habitually hit with a couple of quick casts. It’s about 2.5 miles up the river from the end of the access road. I zipped my midge into the flow upstream of the pool and got a big fat nothing. I changed to my favorite hellgrammite-looking nymph, made my cast and got hit as soon as it dropped out of the rill and into the edge of my favorite pool.

There’s a world of difference between how a wild trout and hatchery-stock take a fly, and almost as soon as I felt my fly get hit, the line began feeding out down stream. After about one minute the trout was tail dancing trying to throw my fly. It succeeded and I reeled in and went upriver to some shaded undercut bank about three miles down from the Bridge to Nowhere.

By my count there are at least 12 good places to fish between the Heaton Flats cut-off and the East Fork Narrows up stream from the Bridge To Nowhere.

I made four more casts on my way to the shallow pools underneath Swan Rock.

Although I’m a creature of habit, trying to think like an East Fork trout can fill a creel. My rule of thumb is to carefully glass a likely stretch of this river from an overwatch on the trail up the canyon, zip a couple of quick casts into likely spots and if nothing hits, move on up the stream.

A sense of exploration is as important a part of fishing the East Fork of the San Gabriel as is a basic set of dry flies or nymphs. If you see a feeder brook or creek, hike up and look for pools.

Case in point, one of the biggest trout I’ve ever played was an 18-inch sky leaping rainbow that tail danced twice. The pool where it lived is still there, about 800 yards up Iron Fork from its confluence with the East Fork.

Two thoughts before I load my pack for this weekend’s hike beyond the Narrows:

1. I am absolutely convinced that steelhead DNA still courses through San Gabriel Canyon Wilderness wild rainbows

2. I’ll take the Azusa Canyon experience on Labor Day weekend over shoulder to shoulder combat fishing in the Sierra every time.

Tight lines and please leave the canyon as you found it.-- Jim Forbes on October 1, 2011.

 Note-- This post is dedicated to my boyhood friend, and fellow Gladstone High School Sixty-Sixer, the late Chuck Woerner.

Comments

[fly fishing tasmania]

Well if you take the time to read its waters and match your observations with common sense...Really lots of content...

[jim forbes]

fly fishing is technical fishing. It's all about selecting a lure thst matches food sources and taking advantage of the rivercourse, topology and lighting to present the lure in a natural way..
thanks for commenting,
tight lines
Jim Forbes