Doublehaul Tournament 9-15-2007 and the Upper Owens the next day

[NulodPBall]

Well, Beresford and I check in on Friday with a half-hour to spare...he's #202 and 203 people entered if I remember correctly...he didn't get a hat, and they didn't have a t-shirt large enough for him...but there was a sale on flies at the Marina for the tournament

We also found some flies on sale for $0.50 each at one fly shop (and actually a cheaper sale at another shop but with limited selection), and I "accidentally" bought a $50.00 fly box for my midges...really, it was an accident, I picked up a box that had the same exact tear in it that I put on the box that held what I wanted...so I returned it the next day with a suitable refund.

I decide from all the reports that the North Arm is going to be crowded with rude people so I decide (without calling Frank) to fish McGee...the temp I think was in the 20's or teens I can't remember, but the water was about a hundred yards from where it usually is...people are walking their tubes there, so I check out the mud and am the first person to drive his vehicle there...5 or so trucks follow suit (later, three trucks get stuck for deviating from my path...I was the last one asked to help pull out the 2nd one, because I don't drive a "real" truck...guess who pulled him out )

We get in the water, and the water's about 50 degrees and the tournament starts...I'm stripping a Spruce-a-bu and a Vanderleach and not getting ANY hits so I find the steepest ledge that I can, and fish it....BAM! my midge goes under hard and I have to interrupt my conversation on my phone earpiece as I set the hook and start screaming because my fly rod is bent in half and my line is actually on the reel, and moving out...I get the fish in the net after a few tries and keep it docile and I quickly eyeball it's length and I add the two numbers and think that I come up with 21 So I am waving my orange flag and the judge tells me that I didn't need to wave the flag, he heard me from across the bay So he measures out 18 inches...well, it was a FAT 18 inches :P So I get my orange ticket certifying that I'm on the Board...and I get another hard hit but lose it, and then after another hit, and two short fish it calms down (I still haven't metered any fish below me), I had an extended conversation with the judge because no-one else in the bay had anything near a legal fish

Then I notice that Mark is back at the car, so I paddle the 400 yards or more back to see what's up...he's got a slow bleed/leak in the crotch area of his waders and it's making him cold, and his guts are wet, so he drys out and we hit the water again (we were a registered team )....then I make a tactical mistake to paddle over to Hilton bay where everyone else seemed to be, but I metered ALOT of fish near it's edge so I put away my streamers, and started midging again...but a few darn bugs started flying in my face :P No takers The water temp is about 70 degrees at times the wind kicks up about 1, so I start kicking back, and I find out that in McGee, the judge had only measured TWO fish!!!! So I was pretty excited....then after pulling that one large truck out of the mud with my tiny little compact Jeep, and the skinny rope that I had (the third truck got stuck while we were unsticking the 2nd one and the first one got stuck while I was fishing), Mark and I headed for the banquet hall to grab some grub and a seat before all the tables filled up.

Well, it turns out that 89 fish were checked and found legal so about 85 or so keepers were caught in the North Arm Most of the prizes ended up at one table (Women's, team, and longest fish) and one kid I believe has one his third Kid's category So pretty soon he'll have to compete with the adults :P

Top prize was 4 days with a guide at a lodge in Alaska.

Mark and I wander various fly shops, salivating over various things, and I almost picked up some good Simms waders at 40 percent off :P

I passed out several times while transferring my midges to my new fly box...Mark said that all of the sudden my head would fall to the side, and I'd be asleep...I guess it shows that before we drove up, I hadn't slept for 48 hrs...he said I also snored at the awards ceremony

We woke up Sunday morning and drove over to the upper Owens and I promptly got lost for over an hour...then at 7a, I used the "Call A Friend" option and backed up until I could turn around, and had Mark open up the METAL cattle gates that he had opened earlier to let us into the area...did I mention that at one point, my car thermometer read 12 degrees? Did I mention that Mark was opening METAL gates When we got the the camp at Benton Crossing, the Crabby Old, Spooky Lady's thermometer was reading about five degrees lower than mine...I think mine was reading about 23 degrees at that point Spooky, Crabby, Lady told us to go out the gate and wait until 8am to come back in the gate so we could pay her for the privildge of parking so we could fish...I exited the gate and kept going and found a dirt road and parked next to the river for free

In about 15 yards of river, I believe I got about six hits, and landed two...after that, it slowed down for me. Mark tried a dry fly, but no hatches were visible, so he tried various green streamers, and proceeded to get bit...I kept losing fish after actually having them under tension, so I started setting the hook hard, and then walking back, against the current to keep the pressure on the line so the barbless hook wouldn't come off...I started to land more fish after that.

We ran across someone who was chumming, and it actually seemed to be working...just as Mark was telling me that the fish won't bite my fly because they're getting plenty of "free" food, I stuck a fish, and the family on the other bank laughed Marked worked a pod of fish below that area and I went around the bend...I heard the splash of a large object hitting the water, and I look up to see that Mark had a fish hit his fly so hard that it actually flew into the air, but it spit his fly shortly after hitting the water

The bite slowed down so we left around 11 am (it felt like it was almost 80 degrees by this time) or so...between us, we I believe we limited out for both of us (that section has the higher daily limit), so we headed home, had lunch at Jack's, let the owner of Brock's tell us a few interesting stories (including information that we needed) and high-tailed it home.

Overall, it was a really fun weekend...next time I will have to follow Frank's advice and pre-fish for at least a couple of days before the tournament...I got to use my floppy leather hat so all is good with the world

[Homeslice]

great report ray. so enough with all the horse sh!t, what erick schats bakery goodies did you get everyone???

[FishSlayer]

Its already that cold up there? I was thinking of trying to get in one last trip before the season ends but now maybe not...

[Portbowrules]

You kicked from McGee all the way to Hilton???

In a tube that's got to kill an hour? One way?

Nice going on your measurable fish.

From the coldest part of the morning to 80 degrees in a couple of hours is pretty wierd. Gotta love the high desert.

I went halibut fishing this weekend instead.

[Beresford13861]

fun trip, my first trip with ONLY a fly rod, so confidence building it was. i got 3 fish on Crawley, 7" on the midge, 13" on the midge, and a 16" on a perch fry.

on the owens i stuck 3 or 4 fish only, had alot of hits. caught them on a Olive emerger, olive/lime chilli pepper, olive/crystal matuka... was alot of fun, but there were alot of people on the water too!..oh and 12 deg.
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[MOBassman]

Awesome report Ray! Sounds like fun.

[NulodPBall]

Originally Posted by Homeslice

great report ray. so enough with all the horse sh!t, what erick schats bakery goodies did you get everyone???

===

Hey, how did you know we stopped and Schat ourselves :P
I picked up three loaves, a can of preserves, and a bag of cashews...if you can catch me before I finish them, you're welcome to share...otherwise you're Schat out of luck

Originally Posted by FishSlayer

Its already that cold up there? I was thinking of trying to get in one last trip before the season ends but now maybe not...

===
Actually Russ, it's not bad once the sun hits the water...the water unfortunately can be warm unless you have either a small lake, or a cold feeder creek/river, so if you were to tube Crowley with only a single hook, barbless lure, I'd fish the North Arm...Green Banks, in about 6 1/2 ft of water with something red

Originally Posted by Portbowrules

You kicked from McGee all the way to Hilton???

In a tube that's got to kill an hour? One way?

Nice going on your measurable fish.

From the coldest part of the morning to 80 degrees in a couple of hours is pretty wierd. Gotta love the high desert.

I went halibut fishing this weekend instead.

===
Well, the water level is down about 14 ft as you know so it's not as far as it usually is, and I just entered the area and metered alot of fish so I stopped there...that's why, when the wind started kicking up, I headed back right away...until I metered more NON-BITING fish in about 8 ft of water...which means I'm only about two hundred yards from McGee's shoreline

Well, I got lucky on that fish, it was my very first one, and on my 3 wt of course, so it started taking line off my reel immediately

BTW: I'm glad I bumped up to a 5wt on the Owens...the fish were stockers but in the current they felt a lot larger than they looked

I think next time I get lost on the Upper Owens, I'm stopping to fish


I'll have to look for your halibut pics

[spooky007]

Very nice report Ray!!

Al

[BeachBear]

Great report Ray and nice pix Beresford.

[FishSlayer]

the Owens looks really full, I thought that it was a low water year?

[NulodPBall]

Originally Posted by FishSlayer

the Owens looks really full, I thought that it was a low water year?

===

It is, but the Owens feeds LA :P Can't you read all the "Private Property, LA City" signs in the background

[FishSlayer]

Originally Posted by NulodPBall

===
It is, but the Owens feeds LA :P Can't you read all the "Private Property, LA City" signs in the background

what does that have to do with the water level?

[Portbowrules]

Originally Posted by FishSlayer

what does that have to do with the water level?

Irrigation, Hydroelectric power.

[imprezafan]

Hi Ray, nice report! I was fishing the North Arm the day of tourney. I didn't make it to the ceremony (got sick). Great job on the qualifier! - Mo