North Fork plug and streamer tips.

Fishing on the high altitude streams and rivers can be a tad different than your typical streamer fishing. The North Fork of the Stanislaus is the perfect place to break the rules.

Let me start out by saying I LOVE THE STANISLAUS RIVER! I grew up on it. I used to guide on it. I've been camping on it with my dad and brother for over a decade. If one can have a home river, this one is mine, particularly, for me, the North Fork of the Stan. It is a fun river to fish on, hike on, kayak on and fish on. (I know I said that twice). There are some rules that you can break on the Stan and there are some rules that you should break on the Stan. Up in the higher altitudes, I've never had much luck nymphing. Wet flies just don't produce for me, but I know people who knock 'em dead with nymphs. I probably just don't have the technique down well enough since I really favor dry flies and don't give nymphs much of a chance before I get impatient and try something else.

The North Fork is just a great river to learn on. They are mostly plants but every once in a while you may find a German Brown hanging out in the deep strong currents downstream of Sourgrass. You have a huge variety of insects, terrestrials and streamers. The terrain varies vastly from huge granite slides with green froth to babbling brooks to slow moving deep holes. There are cut-banks, grassy meadows, granite boulders and fallen trees. You can really earn your chops on a river like this, but at the same time, it's pretty forgiving.

Deep slow moving pools are a good starting point. there are invariably trout sitting in the murky depths waiting for a wayward crippled minnow to happen by. The best fly would be a dark brown or black Matuka. Carry lots of sizes and make you decision based on the size of the minnows in the area. I ALWAYS cast the streamers downstream of the fish I'm trying to hook and let it sink for a minute (being able to cast 30 feet at least somewhat accurately is preferable but not required). You really don't want to use weight in these holes unless the current is just so strong that it's the only way it's going to sink.

I like to get it between 4 and 12 inches below the surface and then I'll reel in slowly in a kind of jerky motion. Every once in a while I'll slightly twitch my rod to the left or right just to add to the crippled look. You'll get chasers for a while, but don't worry, when they get up the nerve, they attack HARD. Good luck and tight lines.

5/29/07

My brother and went fishing on the North Fork of the Stanislaus River Monday evening and this morning. Fishing was pretty good considering all of the pressure that the fish got this weekend. First thing after we got there, about 3:30 pm, the bite started. I started out casting a #10 Parachute Adams under a deep, dark cut-bank and pulled out a nice 10-inch bow. It was a nice fight and it was barely hooked. I was lucky. The PMD hatch was HUGE. In one pool, my brother and I counted more than a half-dozen rainbows between 8" and 12".

I got them chasing a #8 Brown Humpy with a couple lack-luster hits then hooked one on a #12 Blue winged Olive. It was heartbreaking when I got him within a foot of me and he dove. I had stupidly stripped this nice fish in instead of reeling and setting my drag, so you can guess what happened next.

This morning I redeemed myself by landing two beautiful bows. First thing in the morning there was no surface action so I tossed a little brown Matuka (without any weight) downstream into a five-foot deep hole, I just let them sink naturally (makes for fewer lost flies here where submarine logs are plentiful) and stripped in. I probably cast three times when I got a feisty strike and reeled in a beautiful, chubby 12" rainbow. I headed up stream from the big pool and cast into some cut-banks with a #14 and #12 Bird's Nest with a single split shot and a strike indicator. Nothing was taking it, but since this is normally a pretty productive spot, I tossed in another Blue Winged Olive then a bright green comparadun and various PMD patterns. Nothin'. So I walked upstream and came upon a HUGE morning PMD hatch, but there were no fish anywhere (this section is pretty easy to spot fish in.)

I walked back to camp to find Sam getting geared up. We did a little cleaning, some journaling then headed back to the pool that produced so much heat the night before. Sam was casting streamers while I was trying to scare something up with a bead-head #14 Hare's Ear and a strike indicator. There was very little surface action still and it was getting to be kind of late for a good bite but we persisted. We could see all sorts of fish and we threw everything at them from dries to terrestrials to nymphs to streamers and only got them to chase a Matuka but they really weren't in the mood. But again, we persisted. Finally, getting desperate I started casting a #12 Bright Green Comparadun into the leaves above a little cut-bank where I had seen a fish sipping everything that hit the water. Then after over a hour of pressure on this pool, I got a hit. She was a fun fight but easily stripped in. I didn't waste time measuring it because it had taken me so long to get it untangled from my net, but it was probably 10".

All in all, it was a good trip, except that the mosquitoes were atrocious!

Tight lines!