Kern River Fly Fishing Report 09-23-16
20-Mile Section of the Kern (From Kern River Fly Shop to Johnsondale Bridge)
Crowds are gone!!!
What a great time to fish! Fly fishers fishing the 20 mile section of the north fork are still doing excellent on late evening hatches of Caddis and various Mayfly imitations. During the day use a big Attractor Dry Fly with a Tungsten nymph below. Flows are down and folks are wading the river and having a good time fishing the pocket water runs and riffles. Best to use a dry/dropper and fish further up on the 20 mile stretch. The higher you go, the cooler the water. Temperatures are dropping down to the low 50s in the evening and mid 80s throughout the day. You will experience a 25 degrees cooler in the upper elevations. Feels like we are getting ready for our Fall fishing season! Very exciting.
Click here for the next “Beginner Fly Fishing Classes” on the upper.
Upper Kern River Flows
4 mile Wild Trout Section ( Above Johnsondale Bridge 4 miles) Special regulations- No BAIT OR BARBS on your hooks.
This section of the Kern is very popular with folks who want to have a wild trout experience. There are special regulations here and bait or barbed hooks are prohibited. Only artificial lures or flies with barbless hooks are allowed. Many tickets are issued here to anglers who disregard the fishing regulations. The DFW does not stock the North Fork of the Kern River north of the bridge for 50 miles and those 50 miles are managed as a wild trout fishery. The fly fishing is excellent here because of these regulations. Check your regulations before fishing here!
Water temperatures are usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler here and the fish are very wary to your presence. A stealthy approach is needed to catch these fish. Fishing is excellent as of today. Dry dropper techniques are getting the grabs as the days get shorter and the water cooler. Use a orange or yellow Stimulator in sizes 6 and 8 for the top fly and a Red Kern Emerger in sizes 18,16, and 12 as the dropper. You can also use BH Chartreuse Copper Johns in sizes 12, 14, 16, 18, Copper Johns sizes 18-22, Pheasant Tails sizes 16- 18, Tungsten Teddys size 12, Olive WD40’s Size 20-22.
You can also swing the Soft Hackle PMD’s size 16 and the natural BH Hares Ear size 20
The biggest Stoneflies in the world reside here and fishing the flies that imitate them can get you some great fights. Click here to check them out.
World Class “Forks of the Kern” Fly Fishing (Special Regulations-no bait fishing or barbs on your hooks)
The wild trout fly fishing here is world class and the dry fly fishing legendary. A must for the in-shape backpacker/adventurer/fly-fisher.
Here’s a secret for more catching more fish at the Forks of the Kern.
Tie on a Rio Suppleflex 9ft 5x leader with about 3 ft of Rio SuppleFlex 6x tippet on the end. You can put on a Stalcups Hopper Tan size 10, Stalcups Cricket size 12, T-Bug Black size 12 or a T-Bug Hopper size 12. After you tie on one of those flies, pull out a 3 ft piece of Powerflex 7x tippet and tie it to the hook shank with a BWO Pullover size 22 or a Drymerger Baetis size 24 on the end of that. Cast those flies up stream in the pocket water, get a good drag-free drift and keep a stealthy position so they don’t see you. This should give you more success. Other great top water flies are the Para X Black size 8, Para X Peacock size 12, Para X Royal size 12, Para X Orange size 12, Para X Yellow size 6 and the Black Stimulator size 12-14
Click on any of the products or flies to see the pictures or to purchase online.
South Fork of the Kern Open!
The South Fork of the Kern River is a special fishery and is home to our states freshwater fish, the Golden Trout. It is also home to the predatory non native Brown trout who considers the small golden trout a tasty treat.
A great fly to use on the South Fork of the Kern is the Parachute Adams size 22. Check out these videos from a few days ago. Please use barbless hooks on these waters.
Lower Kern ( Below lake Isabella) fishing excellent!
Major Caddis hatch around 7 pm. A bass fly anglers paradise! The lower Kern winds its way down the Kern River canyon from the Lake Isabella Dam to Oildale, approximately 80 river miles. This section has trout, bass, crappie and other species to catch on a fly. This section is fishing excellent for bass right now. Use big flies like White Jawbreakers , poppers or various bass flies to get into these fish. Guy Jeans’ guided fly fishing for bass clinics have become very popular and he does them weekly. Great fly rod to use on the lower Kern for bass is a 9 foot 6wt or 7wt Redington Vapen Black, Redington Behemoth 7/8 Reel and a Rio Small Mouth Bass Fly Line
Please check out the new Redington Rise Reels at our online store or up in Kernville. These reels rock.
Click here to look at the new Redington Rise Reels.
Please click here for Guy Jeans’ Evening Bass Clinics on the Lower Kern River. October 1 2016
The September 17th Bass Clinic is sold out, but there are other dates available. Please click on the link above.
Tributaries of the Southern Sierra
Open!
The small creeks are great for Tenkara fly fishing. Click on the link to find out more information. Tenkara information and gear!
Lake Isabella
Lake Isabella is not fishing well with the warmer temps and algae bloom. Stay out of this water till lake water temperatures drop.
Stoneflys are coming to Bakersfield Sunday September 25th @ the Kern County Fair ! See the Stoneflys perform @ 9:30pm
