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Jesse's Hunting > Fishing Articles > Fishing Articles Archives > JHO Fishermen and Families Gather at Rock Creek
JHO Fishermen and Families Gather at Rock Creek
Dave Blake - JHO ProStaff
- Southern CA
August 30, 2004
Editor's Note: JHO Members' Handles are used in lieu of names in this article. To learn more about these folks, join the JHO Forums and get to know us!
The first annual JHO fly fishing trip to Rock Creek was a swishing success. Some JHO members like Qalhunter were there by themselves while others like Pigig and Fpscabs brought their whole families. It was fun to see the kids get to know each other and to get to know all of the adults there.
Camping rigs ranged from small tents to large campers. After finally learning how to work the heater in my tent trailer, I was able to warm up a little during the chilly nights. When I arrived I found the mosquitoes to be voracious to the extreme. Pigig was gracious enough to loan me some repellant so I could set my trailer up without being drained of my blood supply.
Since I arrived at 7:30 in the evening I wasn't able to get to the river, but I was able to sit around a couple of fires and get to know some new faces. Fpscabs arrived at about midnight with his family and camper. The site he had picked turned out to be a narrow track in the trees barely wider than the camper. After a couple of tries, we were able to get it tucked in to the small space. When I got back to my trailer and got in bed the sheets were freezing! I hadn't gotten the hang of the heater yet.
The next morning dawned to a nice hot pot of coffee on the trailer stove and breakfast. The plan was for some folks to go to Crowley and Convict Lakes and tube around a little, while Fpscabs and I went to Hot Creek.
Those who went to Crowley found that the lake had inverted, meaning that the water at the bottom of the lake traded with the water at the top covering the lake surface with thick weeds and algae. Since the fish swim around under the weed layer, it was tough to get a fly down to where they were.
At Hot Creek, Fpscabs and I found the fish willing to hit various nymph patterns and had fun netting a few in the pools just above a group of people enjoying the hot springs. On the way back to Hwy 395 from Hot Creek we drove straight into an imposing mountain storm. As it turned out, Colusaduckhunter and his friends were on McGee Creek at the time and saw the wall of snow come down the mountain. Pigig stayed around camp and had great luck in Rock Creek. In three casts he caught a rainbow, brookie and brown trout, one trout away from a Sierra Slam.
FPSCabs AKA Fritz on the Creek
Fritz pulls in a nice brown trout our first day on Hot Creek |
Between Little Woman's ribs, Fpscabs meatloaf, my flank steak and Westies bratwurst we had plenty of food for the potluck dinner that night. Todd, the camp host, brought several bundles of wood for the fire so we didn't notice the evening chill while we ate all of the amazing food and traded fish stories, old and new.
The next morning brought news that some bears had come into the campground and raided a couple of coolers, so we were all buzzing around about that. Breakfast was burritos made from leftover meatloaf and potatoes in Fpscabs camp... probably some of the best breakfast burritos I have ever had. I really enjoyed the hospitality showed by both Fpscabs' and Pigig's families the whole time we were there.
After burritos I went back to the trailer and started tying flies. Hronk dropped by and said that the fly of the day on Hot Creek was the little yellow sally in size 18. I tied a handful of those and Fpscabs and I returned to Hot Creek again. Hronk was right and the fish came up to the little yellow fly fairly regularly. Thanks Hronk!
We fished until dark and came back to the truck. When we got back to camp, everyone else had left. Fpscabs, his wife, and I cooked dinner and sat around the fire eating and talking. I couldn't think of a better way to finish a day.
Rainbows in Hot Creek
The author with a nice Hot Creek Rainbow during the Yellow Sally hatch. |
The great thing about JHO is that members don't just talk about getting together and sharing time in the outdoors, they actually do it. I love being outside and experiencing nature. Having someone there who loves it as much as I do is even better. Hopefully this was one of many JHO fishing events we will organize. Wherever the next one is, I'm there.
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