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By Sean Fenner, December 7, 2009

I went up to the San Gabriel River to get in a little Rainbow Action this past Saturday, because the Urban bite has slowed down and all of gangsters and people wanting to swim the river have realized that it is now to cold to go up there.

I started off the day on the West Fork but the road was closed at the Second Bridge and there were fly fishermen on all my usual spots, so I decided to hike and fish the North Fork. Most of the fish caught on this fork are small in the 2-4 inch range, which is good to see because it means that the Rainbow Trout are still producing naturally ( since the river will not be stocked with fish for a while). 

However this heavy rain that we started getting today is making me a little worried, since all the recent fires in that area mean landslides and poor water quality. But, I decided to spend a few extra casts on each hole, and I was rewarded with 3 or 4 fish all in the 7-12 inch range (and if you don’t know that  is a good size for that section of the river).

The strangest thing about my catch of the day was that with every cast the fish just got bigger and bigger. Yet after all this fishing, I am left still wanting to hike up into the West Fork at least a few miles, there is just something about those fish. In my opinion they are the most beautiful Rainbows that can be caught in the San Gabriel Mountains!

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By Sean Fenner, October 21, 2009

I have had few moments in the time that I have been Fly Fishing where it seems like everything just comes together perfectly. I am notorious for losing a fly in a tree, breaking off a fish, or even snapping the photo on my camera just as the fish decides to make a last ditch effort to get away. Having said that my last trip up to the San Gabriel Mountains was just the opposite. My knots held up fine, none of the fish broke off, and I don’t think that I have been much closer to an honest sense of peace in my life. When you go up to the San Gabriel and you catch about 30 fish within a matter of a couple hours, let me tell you things are just going your way. I could barely even move, the fish were stacked up in holes, and they were almost all willing to bite. In my mind this had a lot to do with the recent rain, most likely stacking the fish and making easy pickings for my fly. I remember hearing a joke one time that they should rename fishing “tricking and killing”, well I can go for the “tricking” part but I rarely do any killing (especially not for Trout) except for the rare occasion at a water source over populated with a few tasty bluegills. Remember all forks of the San Gabriel River are no longer being stocked, so if you decide to fish up there make sure it’s catch and release only. I have no problem kicking over a Bait Fisherman’s holding bucket if he is taking wild fish. Let’s respect this beautiful resource so that we can all fish it for a long time to come!!!

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By Sean Fenner, October 10, 2009

It has been a while since I have caught a Trout, and the other day I was just itching to get out and see what the San Gabriel River was looking like in light of our recent fires. The opportunity presented itself when my younger brother Steven asked me to take him hiking. So, we got up early and headed out to the West Fork, it was closed for maintainance due to the fire coming all the way down to the reservoir and so we had to improvise.  We decided to do alittle adventuring around the West and North Forks. I did not see as many Trout as would have liked to, but they are there and it looks like less people are fishing it, due to the fact that it is not going to be stocked for a while. I managed a few 4-7 inchers on the East Fork, but just could not get a good hook set on any of the fish on the North Fork. I know I could have caught more fish with a nymph, but there is just something about fishing a mountain stream with a dry. I hope to make it back up to the San Gabriel Mountains a lot this fall and winter season, and get a lot of good pics to post on the site.

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By Dan Zambrano, August 11, 2009

Had a chance to get in a couple of hour of brown-lining yesterday and headed up to the Whittier Narrows portion of the San Gabriel River with my fishin’ buddy, Sean. I’ve been feeling a little bit of “river envy” since returning from Ohio last week and thought that some time on moving water might dispel some of that feeling.

Not that I got to fish in Ohio — we were there on family business and it would have been bad form for me to sneak off during the in-laws Golden Anniversary celebration to dabble in the local streams.

Don’t get me wrong. My wife’s family is great and I really like being around them. But I am already slightly behind the eight ball, being the “California Boy” from the land of “Holly-Weird” and while they are very understanding folks, they are categorically non-fishing and can’t fully appreciate why I might derive pleasure from traipsing around the streams and creeks nestled in the bottom lands between corn and soybean fields to catch fish that I have no intention of eating.

Anyway, after a week of driving around western Ohio and observing the multitude of waterways, including the awe-inspiring Ohio River, I was really “jonesing” for some fishing.

So yesterday, Sean and I hit the S.G. Narrows after church and a pleasant lunch of Thai food with our beautiful brides.

When we got to our usual parking area, first thing I noticed was the rhythms of Mariachi music and the smells of BBQ drifting over the river from some festival in nearby Legg Lake park – not in and of themselves unpleasant things to accompany the urban fishing experience.

Unfortunately, the next thing I noticed was the incredible amount of trash strewn along the riverbank and floating in the quiet eddies and pockets between the aquatic weed beds. Now, I’m no Polyanna when it comes to urban fishing – I expect encounters with guys in aluminum foil hats and gang-bangers tagging the undersides of bridges and psychotic Rottweilers and homeless encampments encircled by empty soda can perimeter alarms and half-submerged shopping carts…but this…this was overwhelming.

The worst part about it was that the majority of the trash could be identified as fishing related. There were plastic tubs that had held bait and old packages for hooks and tackle and lures. Wads of tangled monofilament lay on the ground and fast food wrappers were everywhere.

I can regrettably report that, based on observation of the trash seen yesterday, most of the people fishing the Narrows purchase their supplies from one particular sporting goods store and that coffee and double cheeseburgers are their food and drink of choice.

The problem of trash is always present in brownlining. These are urban waters receiving street run-off and debris blown in to them as they pass through heavily populated areas. I get that!

But yesterday was just…sad.

Last week, there was a news story published about huge mats of trash floating out in the middle of both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. One of these mats is roughly the size of Texas –yeah, Texas!

Please consider making a trash bag part of your regular fishing gear if you call yourself an urban fisher.

Oh, and just a reminder: if you ain’t fishin’ with yo’ Mama, you best be pickin’ up after yourself!

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By Sean Fenner, July 7, 2009

Below is an email that I received from one of our Followers Trent Marcus. If anyone sends us any fishing stories and photos we will be happy to post them on the website!!!

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By Sean Fenner, March 22, 2009

This morning I drove up to the San Gabriel Mountains to do alittle fishing on the San Gabriel River. My first stop was the East Fork. I fished there for about two hours and caught about 10-15 small Rainbow Trout in the 3-7 inch range. Most of the fish were caught on a size 16 Stimulator Fly. It was turning out to be a great trip, but I just could not leave without checking out the West Fork. I could not believe how many hits I got I must have got over 30 hits and caught about 15 more fish. Most were again in the 3-7 inch range, but I caught three that were over 10 inches a decent size for West Fork. This was the most fun that I have ever had out on the San Gabriel, and Spring has definitely arrived and the Trout know it. Please remember that if you visit the San Gabriel River do not litter, pick up any trash that you see, please don’t swim in the river, and please practice “Catch and Release”(the DFG wont be stalking the river until at least 2010, we don’t want to lose this great resource). If you want more information on the San Gabriel River check out my locations section . Here are some of the pictures from the trip!!!

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By Sean Fenner, March 4, 2009

This is a photo of a Green Sunfish that I pulled out of the San Gabriel River Bed at Whittier Narrows. This is a great place to go Fly Fishing in the Late Spring through Early Fall. I have seen everything from Bass, Carp, Sunfish, and Tilapia in the river bed, and the Sunfish are loads of fun on a light fly rod.