I’ve been waiting, and waiting, and waiting!
Okay let me back up a little here. I’ve been fishing in the San Gabriel Mountains since I was a little kid, and one of the places that I used to love to hike up to was Crystal Lake. The lake has been on lock down since late 2005 due to fires, then rain, then road damage, and now it’s open.
This place holds a special place in my heart. It’s where I caught my first Largemouth Bass as a young boy, and has always made me feel so far away from everything going on in the world.
So enough reminiscing, the point I’m trying to make is that I finally had the chance to make it back up there a couple of weeks ago.
I arrived early in the morning and the parking lot was still closed. So I parked on the side of the road, put my Adventure Pass in the rear view mirror, picked up my Okuma 9′ 5 weight and off I went to relive my childhood.
After about a 1/4 mile uphill hike, I arrived heart racing to see if it still looked the same. As I turned the corner it was like 14 years just rolled back, and there I was 10 years old with fishing gear in hand.
After a couple minutes I remembered that I was there to fish. I tied on a size 12 Beadhead Olive Flash-A-Bugger and after about three casts I was on a fish. I set the hook, the fish fought for a second, and then it came off.
I stood there in shock were there still Bass in here? Plus it fought like a really good one. I sharpened my hook and made sure I had completely mashed down the barb. After my next cast, another hit and another fish off.
I repeated this process about 5 more times with 2 more flies. What was going on? Do these fish have holes in their mouths?
By this time the sun had started to come up, and I decided to switch to a Hopper Dropper Rig.
One cast and I had a decent sized Green Sunfish in hand. This thing fought like a fish 3 times it’s size, and I couldn’t believe the girth for the length of the fish. Well at least the fish were healthy and abundant.
After about 5 Small Bass, 15 Green Sunfish and 1 missed Catfish, I decided to call it a day. People were starting to show up with their dogs and kids. Throwing rocks in the water and scaring away all the fish.
I packed up my rod and reel and started to head out, and as I turned the corner I heard a rustling in the trees and decided to investigate!
There was a small Pack (that’s probably not the right word) of deer, eating acorns (the deer were eating the acorns not the other way around) and moving toward the lake to get a drink of water.
What a day. I am so excited to see this little Lake in such great condition and please if any of you make it up there, pick up your trash and practice catch and release only!
I want nothing more than if I have children, for them to someday be able to enjoy this great little piece of my childhood.
Bob Marriott’s Flyfishing Store
UPCOMING EVENTS
Bob Marriott’s Free Educational Series |
Fly Fishing Tips & Techniques
Saturday, July 23rd 11am-2pm
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| Joe Libeu Sharing His Knowledge |
With Our Own Joe Libeu & Friends! One of the best things about fly fishing is that there is always something new to learn (or re-learn!). If you feel the same way, make sure you attend this month’s program on Fly Fishing “Tips & Techniques” hosted by our very own Joe Libeu and other friends of the shop.The format is simple: bring together several people skilled in the various facets of fly fishing and set them up in and around the shop and let the guests move about as they please, drawn to their stations of interest. Stations include:
Fly Tying – Fishing Long Rods – Nymph Leaders – Water Craft – Net Building – Indicators – Building Leaders – Fishing Knots – Rod Building – Fly Lines
Don’t miss this opportunity to improve your skills, and bring a friend!
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Have you ever met someone that was just meant to teach? I mean every fiber of their being loves telling people about things, and they are just overflowing with useful information.
That is so my Urban Fishing Buddy Dan. The guy just lights up if someone asks him a question, and the amazing facts that come out of this guy’s mouth never cease to amaze me.
A good example of this was at a recent Urban Fly Excursion to Alamitos Bay.
We arrived in the late afternoon and started working on a stretch of beach. Whenever I fish the Surf or Bay from the shoreline, I like to use what I call the “Fanning the Sand” Technique.
Basically what we do is start on opposite ends of the stretch we are looking to fish and make 5 casts about every 10-20 feet covering the entire 180 degrees of the section.
Most people step up to the Surf ready to haul out a 70 foot cast missing the fish that are right at their feet.
Being left handed I usually start at the left end and Dan usually starts at the right end. We meet in the middle, then we fish each others section (almost always using different fly patterns).
This day the fish just weren’t cooperating with us. I caught one lizard fish and watched a Bat ray swim right next to my feet in only about 12 inches of water.
As we proceeded down the beach, I started to realize just how out of my element I feel in Saltwater. Yet Dan is the polar opposite, it’s like he was born to be in the ocean.
He would continuously reach into the water and pull out some disgusting looking animal (or whatever they’re called) and begin to give the kids on the beach a quick lesson in Marine Biology. Things like one of those slugs he picked up shooting out purple ink when it gets scared (I thought he was crazy until he squeezed it and purple went flying everywhere).
I learned about everything from Sea Slugs, to the fact that Snails lay eggs on the Eel Grass that my little Bass friends love to hide in.
It was cool to see Dan so in his element. Doing what he’s so good at.
Trust me it was part of the Fly Fishing Buddy application process. Point 1 was “Find someone who is good at Saltwater Fly Fishing, since you are so terrible at it”.
His knowledge has helped me a lot in learning to read my surroundings, and I’ve even started to catch a few nice fish.
Okay a few tiny Lizardfish, but hey at least I’m catching something!
Fly Fishing at night is definitely a whole new beast for me to learn to conquer. There have been knotted up leaders and a different kind of knot on the back of my head. Flies lost in astonishing numbers from trees and fish alike.
The first couple of times out felt like the most frustrating time I’ve ever spent fishing, not just fly fishing I’m talking freaking fishing in general!
I remember going home the first night, and stating to my wife just as I walked in the door “I’m never trying that again”.
Yet just a few days later, I found myself back in the dark, headlamp on, and more clothing than I needed to keep the mosquitoes away.
On the second night things started to turn around. I started feeling the fly on the back cast, and I had only hit one tree. After a couple of hookups, but no fish to net. I sat down on the bench and started to contemplate what I was doing wrong.
I started to realize that the fish were hitting a lot harder. I needed to set the hook with 
more authority and get the fish to the net as quick as possible.
The next night I brought my 6 weight, beefed up to a 3x tapered leader, tied on a heavier BH Flash a Bugger, and started working the fly just a little slower than usual.
One cast and I had a 2 pound Largemouth Bass on the other end of the line. So many things started flooding to my head. Why had I been sleeping every night for all these years? Was this a dream? Was I really starting to get the hang of this Urban Fly Fishing at night thing.
After dodging a couple of drunk teenagers, a homeless man sleeping on the bench, and a few hundred sleeping ducks (Apparently Urban Fly Fishing at night has just as many dangers as it daytime counterpart).
I cast out a couple more times to a new spot with no luck. Then a Thud. I stopped my fly for a split second, and all of the sudden the line started flying out of my hand. I set the hook and the fish changed direction. I started the chase running from one end of the pond to the other like a mad man (which I’m sure the drunk teenagers got a real kick out of).
After about 5 minutes. I pulled the fish to the net (at least what of him would fit). Flicked on my headlamp and could not believe my eyes. It was a 20 plus inch Bass (not hard to figure out as my net’s only 20 inches). I grabbed my phone to snap a quick pic, and pulled out the lip scale. The fish weighed in at just over 5 pounds!
This was my best Bass in a long, long, long time. I was shaking uncontrollably. I didn’t want to let go, but I remembered that I had to get this fish back in the water as soon as possible. I set him gently in, and “whack” a flip of the tail to my face and this big boy had a little retribution.
I sat there for a moment breaking down my gear, just taking it all in.
As I walked (maybe even skipped a little, wait did I just write that?) back to the Urban Fly Mobile, I was starting to enjoy this, as Dan says
“Addiction called Urban Night Fishin”!
Comments (5) 
I brought my mom up to Big Bear a couple of weekends ago for her birthday. Snow was in the forecast and all I could think about on the way up was “Why did I promise not to go fishing this weekend”. We made it up to Angelus Oaks at about 11:00pm, when we suddenly had to get out of the truck and put snow chains on in the freezing cold. The 25 MPH drive up the hill was so worth it, as we watched the snow decend upon the mountain in a blanket of white.
