Fishing the East Walker river, march 2 2014

       So, this will be the first in a series of Blogs, that will cover everything from past fishing trip, fishing tips, advice, stories from my fishing adventures. id love to get into a weekly grove, really tell some of the stuff i have to say, and provide great content. so, here it goes! 

        this year we are really struggling with a drought here in the west. its awful, there is no snow in the mountains, and spring is just 2 weeks away. although I'm looking forward to the nice weather, and longer days, once summer arrives, flows are going to be really low! so this weekend i decided to take advantage of a river that could see rough times ahead if flows don't return to normal lever, The East Walker River.
        Its one of my favorite rivers to fish in the region. its a 2 hour drive south of Reno, with nice road access. it provides about 20 miles of amazing fishing, loaded with mostly wild Brown trout. the river appeals to me for a lot of reasons. its tucked away, far from any major city or highway, ensuring that few people fish it. its remote location, high elevation, and incredible scenic beauty, means a very good time.
        The river is a very manageable river. about 10 feet wide, with runs that are about 3-6 feet deep. every single hole has at least one brown trout 17 inches or larger, with many holes contain multiple large browns, and browns as big as 26inches. the means that a good day might mean hooking up with several Browns in the 2-4lbs range. 
         After a long 4mile hike at 8am, beautiful 45* temps, and slight overcast, we wadded into our first hole. with flows running at just 25cfs, i was worried for my favorite river. come summer, it wont be fish-able, not without risking the health of the beautiful browns. I started off running a size 14 golden stone, with a small blue midge, on x5 tippet. within 5 casts, i was snagged on the bottom. so, after losing my setup, i chose to run with a white steamer instead. i casted up into the riffles, and of course, my extra line was tangled on a stick at my feet. while i was fixing this situation, my streamer was dead drifting. as i pulled my slack tight, i came to find an 18inch Brown on my line. what a way to start your morning.

        Several more runs, and several lost chasers later, i hooked up another nice Brown. my Brother, who stuck with nymphs, had little success. at about 11am, i ran into a terrible patch of nothing, forcing me to fall back onto my spin cast rod. that change was what i needed, after just a few casts of a 1/4oz gold daredevil, a 20inch brown followed it right to shore.
        The rest of the afternoon was pleasant, mild spring weather, and alot of missed Browns. in all, i landed 4 nice, 17-20inch Brown trout. although my brother stuck it out with flies all day, he was skunked. after de-wadding, we hopped in the Jimmy, and raced back to Reno, making amazing time at 1;45min. 
        We always take great care to handle our fish. after several years of learning the do's and donts of C&R fishing, we take pride in not injuring our fish. pinch your barbs, use a rubber net, minimal fish fighting, only removing the fish from the water for a few seconds.