Return of the Neuroticflyfisherman

My friend’s Rob and Regina Hirsch are having some fun in Groveland! Just look at their summer schedule for 2009! They own Mountain Sage Nursery in Groveland, Ca. located about 1 hour from Yosemite Valley on Hwy 120. Coming up this weekend is their main event The Sierra Earth Fest! It will feature workshops all day and friend’s The Trespassers will play some great foot stomping music! This is a wonderful place to visit with tons of beautiful people and it’s FREE! I hope you can make it! C-ya there! PM

Here I am with  Honey Graham Cracker kayaking at Lake Del Valle!

This week I have been posting about one of the sixty five parks in the East Bay Area Park District~ Beautiful Lake Del Valle! One of the California’s premier fishing lakes known for  it’s many species of fish. Regular plants of Rainbow Trout and Catfish keep anglers busy catching food for the dinner plate. I have also caught stripers, large mouth and small mouth bass, crappie, and bluegill.

 With it’s close access to the Bay Area and wide variety of activities Lake Del Valle has become a favorite destination for outdoor enthusiast’s. Some of the activities they offer are camping accommodations(including group camping), hiking and mountain biking trails, bird watching( if you are fortunate you may see the bald eagles!), Fishing of course, geocaching, watercraft excluding skiing and jet ski types, and windsurfing(I learned to windsurf here in High School) The park also has several large grass areas with picnic tables and BBQ’s and designated swim areas. As you can see there’s much to do in this beautiful park.

Del Valle Park is also the eastern gateway to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail where you can hike 28 miles  to Sunol Regional Park!

I find this scenic and peaceful atmosphere produces a climate where visitors are relaxed, friendly and enjoying themselves and each other and all just a short drive from the busyness of the Bay Area!

This little critter has been a regular companion of mine over the past year or so. My son Jason and I met him while fishing the south end of Lake Del Valle. The ground squirrels are doing damage at the park with their tunnels and I have even twisted my ankle severely in one of their holes. You have to walk looking at the ground in these densely populated areas. I’m not sure what kind of Integrated Pest Management the park is using to reduce the area of these vermin, however, in Jack’s case I have a soft spot.

Jack will come eat out of your hand! He’s absolutely fearless! Maybe because we appear half the size do to his disability,  maybe after surviving a close call with death, or perhaps just the ongoing food he has been handed by visitors.

So here’s the paradox…do I push for the eradication of these animals or except his eventual doom at the talons of a nearby Red Tail Hawk? They’re definitely cute AND destructive! PM

I went up to Lake Del Valle to scope out the water and get some literature about the Zebra/Quagga Mussel invasion and how they are combating it here locally.

Some things to consider~

1. Not only will there be large crowds Memorial Day Weekend, but expect a longer wait getting into the water if you bring any water craft including float tubes. Inspections are thorough and efficient. Please be patient! 

2. Fees for boat launch are $4.00 per day per trailered; $2.00 per day car-top or inflatable.

3. Non-refundable inspection fees~ $6.00 for motorized vessels; $3.00 for car-top or inflatables. Float tubes are free! (another reason to fly fish!)

4. Vessels must be CLEAN and DRY. A 5 day waiting period for those who don’t pass inspection. Follow these simple steps Clean, Drain, Dry!  Let’s Zap the Zebra!       

Please be informed about how damaging these Mussels Can be and what we can do to help resolve this important issue. Estimates are around 100 billion dollars annually because of the effects of all non-native species of both terrestrial and aquatic animals. The US Coast Guard estimates around 5 billion dollars annually for Zebra mussels alone. An adult female Zebra mussel can produce 1,000,000 million eggs in her lifetime!

Harmful effects of the mussels~ They clog pumps and pipelines and water intakes. They are believed to be responsible for the death of tens of thousands of waterfowl in the Great Lakes due to the spread of Avian Botulism. They have a damaging effect upon the food chain by reducing phytoplankton which larval and juvenile fish feed.

Here’s a little good news~ They do act as a filter removing pollutants.

Natural predators~ Crayfish, water foul and muskrats. Crayfish could have a significant impact on densities of 1-5 mm long Zebra mussels. An adult crayfish consumes an average of 105 mussels per day and up to 6,000 per season!

Hopefully this information will stir your hearts and cause you to be involved in our water’s conservation programs locally! Tight lines! PM

This is just a few minutes from my home. There was a  storm blowing in so I thought I would drive up to the top of the hill above Lake Del Valle to enjoy this sunset. I hear the Bass fishing is picking up here as well! Tight Lines! PM

                                 ’Golden Trout’ ~Photograph courtesy of Michael Johnson

All indications show that California’s native fish are in crisis:

• If present trends continue, 65% of native salmon, steelhead, and trout species will be extinct within 100 years.

• Sixty-five percent of the species headed towards extinction are found only in California.

• Of the state’s 22 anadromous fish species (which spawn in freshwater and live most of their adult lives in the ocean), 59% are in danger of extinction.

• Of the state’s nine living native inland fish, 78% are in danger of extinction.

Read more here~ California Trout!

Click Here DFG! for this weeks DFG fish planting schedule

Yes it’s that time of year again! The Falls at Yosemite are spectacular with snow melting and higher flows mean fantastic water falls. The water will be raging below Hetch Hetchy reservoir with flows around 6,000 cubic feet per second until Friday May 22nd when it will reduce to about 2,500 cubic feet per second so beware and respect the power of the high flows! Fishing should pick up once things have settled so look at fly fishing to be right on track around the Memorial Day Weekend! Tight Lines! PM

This photo is from my archives taken about 3 years ago on the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada at Rush Creek. I just used my cybershot to snap this off so the quality is not as good as with my newer Nikon D200.

Rush Creek has many attachments for me. First it is where My Pop used to spend his summer’s as a youth fishing and hunting with his best friend Bill. Second I spent time a kid in the cabin’s there with my family and third I fly fished it as an adult. Autumn I believe is the most beautiful time of the year to visit. Summer crowds have slowed down with the kids back in School and all the fall colors of the aspens are turning into yellow, scarlet, orange and green. It’s as if rivers of color are flowing down the steep Eastern sloping into the valley floor. Spectacular! There are many places to visit from Rush Creek here all the way down to the bristle cone forest in Big Tree adjacent Bishop. Many rivers and lakes offer excellent fly fishing. The opportunities to hike and view spectacular scenery are countless! You can spend two weeks here and never see all the sights! I love this place and can’t wait to visit it again! Tight lines! PM

The Clavey River is one of my favorite places to visit. This section of river was hard to access and took us a long time to reach, but was worth it. I took this photo in August 2006. As you can see by the time we arrived it was already noon, the sun was high, and the water crystal clear! We found many wild trout and were able to see them easily, however fishing was difficult at this hour.  There were no people around and because of the difficulty of reaching the water I believe this is one of those rare places in California that is kept pristine. Please help your rivers and be involved with the conservation so these valuable resources will remain for future generations! Tight Lines! PM