Howdy...

Does anyone on this board do any fly fishing up the west fork of the San Gabriel River?

It seems reports on this little gem are scarce, period...


tight lines

My dad's fly fishing club, the Fly Fishers of OC, seem to think that place is real good. I'm not too on it myself, but I know it holds under 10" fish pretty good. I believe you need to do some moderate hiking to get to the good water.

I can't believe the water is very deep or wide, so I don't know about the nimphing thing...but you might get some little guys on small dry flies.

southernswimbait.com
BigBait Fishing in the South

i go fishing at the West Fork often. i dont have a fly rod but i have success using a spinning outfit with slamon eggs, mini-jigs, or spinners.

i have talked to and seen people fly-fish. either style works well here.

if you go at the right times, you could have a really good day. my personal best there was 10 trout-wild and planters.(all released)

i hope that helped.

I've panned for gold on the East Fork and all I can say is there are lots of little fish up there. Stream fishing all over down here has suffered with our lack of water the last 2 or 3 years. I fished Tujunga canyon last year and it was ok but this year its bad.

I've flyfished it 4 times, but not in the last 5 years. There are (at least were) native trout (brook and brown?), very small, in the upper catch and release section. The entire south side is paved for 7 miles as a handicapped access stream. A bike is essential. Strap your rod tube to the frame, and ride upstream the mile or two until you reach the c&r section. They plant below it, and the planters took flies as well. My recollection is there's some open spots, but often brushy and tight, riffles, pools, pockets, overhanging branches - lots of fun. In the open spots, I often saw holding fish that I couldn't get to take dry or nymph. 4wt (or under) worked great for me with size 16-20 elk hair caddis. Yellow body was killer. Fisherman's Spot in Van Nuys used to carry them. Don't bother going early in the am, since the canyon walls are deep and it will be shaded till quite late in the morning. I learned the hard way, getting there at 8am and no action till around 9:30 or 10am when the sun hit and the bugs come out.

Chuckwagon (formely the unregisterd SteveC)

I fished the san gab last year a couple times. if you right after they stock its wide open . i went with 3 friends and we averaged about 20 fish a day . we didnt fly fish tho. most of the planters with normal size. we fished with panther martins mostly but i did catch one a rapala. i also tried salmon eggs for the natives and caught one about 7 inches.

>Howdy...
>
>Does anyone on this board do any fly fishing up the west
>fork of the San Gabriel River?
>
>It seems reports on this little gem are scarce, period...
>
>
>tight lines


Ive never flyfished here, but I did look this up in my defintive fishing guide in SoCal. It lists the river as an 8 rating out of 10. The catch and release, with only artificials with barbless hooks section begins at the second bridge and continues to Cogswell Reservoir. Its rumored to have wild trout up to 18 inches...However the fishing isnt too great from MAy to October due to algae growth...