Went up to "Red Rock" for the first time this year on Saturday morning. I usually target the bass up there and get the occasional trout. Got to the "First Pool" and pulled a couple small (8 inch) bass out on a wham crawdad. Then where the river enters the pool my friend Mark got a couple trout on the fly and I got one about 13 inches on a pins minnow. We hiked to the "Third Pool" and I got a nice bass on the Wham Crawdad (about 15 inches). At the "Fourth Pool" Mark gets another 15 incher on a 3 inch PowerCraw. At the "Fifth Pool" or "Rope Swing" Pool we noticed a lot of fish rising where the river enters so we went up there and Mark started slaying the trout on flies. I got one on the pins minnow but they weren't killing it like they were the flies. I borrowed a fly from Mark, tied it on my ultra-light rod, stood up stream and let it drift into the area and started hooking up also. We got like 2 dozen trout each with a few smallmouths thrown in until it shut down (couldn't believe it lasted that long). Most of the trout were in the 10-12 inch range with the biggest caught by Mark at 16 inches. We then hiked up to the "Sixth Pool" and I got about a 14 inch bass on a Rat-L-Trap. Where the river enters this pool looked similar to the other pool and sure enough it was. We caught another dozen trout here before we had to head home. All fish were released except for one trout which was hooked deep. All the bass were smallmouths.<P>Glad we got up there before Memorial Day. I'm sure all the barnies up there killing all the fish and leaving all thier trash everywhere will shut things down a bit. I have no idea why the National Forest (or who ever is in control) doesn't take care of that problem - it's such a beautiful place that it kills me to see it thrashed by all those assholes.

Good you got there early. I lease a cabin from the USFS that's on the cliff over the pool just upstream from White Rock. Maybe once a year I'll see some full-kit Orvis flyguy, but most times its just illegal immigrants making large stringers of 3" fish while their family washes downstream. F&G checks at White Rock parking lot maybe once a year, and bcs one guy has to cover so much area, a tip call is a waste of time. Huge holiday crowd, so since the water level is low and the fish are trapped in their pools, Red Rock is probably stripped by now. Here downstream, the moss is thickening, the water is fairly low, and a pebble pitched into the WR pool from 50ft up doesn't even get minnow checking it out. Having seen for myself when I was working on building the golf course, the very best SYR fish that aren't in the big bend above the Cachuma boom, are in the pools behind the golf course, particularly at the north end about where Stagecoach Road ends. The owner feeds them - only hitch is its private, and so illegal to fish. I asked the owner, and was told no rather bluntly; that he'll "fry" anyone he catches. No desire for prosecution or unmarked grave here! Sure wish I had the bucks to own such deluxe fishing holes! Sure glad the Cachuma ramp's only 11 miles from here - lot less effort and much better percentages than the river - even though I have a cabin on it, I only fish SYR right after the floods before the summer scum appear.

It's such a drag that so many assholes destroy that area. It's such a beautiful place but sometimes it's so difficult to ignore the tons of litter and graphiti. I thought the Adventure Pass was supposed to help - well it hasn't. I've written to the L.P.N.F. with some simple ideas to help clean the place up but never heard any response - nor have I seen anything done.

You can't catch tomorrow what you kill today - please practice catch and release.

Yep - the more you learn about people, the more you're gonna love your dog. Can't see any remedy - everybody bitches about growth, but damn few people are having fewer or no kids. I bet the birthrate would drop if you had to pay America through IRS to cover some of the cost to govt of your kid until it's a working adult ?? Oh well to paraphrase kipling-

"nations & empires have risen and turned to "spit" and history shows the naked cause of it - they fell because their people were not fit."

I grew up on the santa ynez river. Fished it for twenty years. When I was 5 the bass were awsome and the blue gills were huge.
The santa ynez river taught my brothers and I how to fish. Unfortanatly I saw my share of idiots who would rather brag about how many planted trout they killed rather than just enjoy "Gods country" as I refer to the santa ynez area. Check lake cachuma for a man named Niel Taylor. He is a 7 time world champion flycaster and fished the santa ynez with Zane Gray prior to the dam for steelhead. See ya - Enjoy and take care of my old back yard. PS. The US Forest Service and SB county sheriffs are reponsible for protecting us and the river from the new idiots. Jim.