My Secret Fishin' Hole

       Most every angler has one. That secret fishing hole where they always do well - where they always catch fish. And they don't want anybody else to know about it. The location of that special fishing spot is a closely guarded secret. If you take friends, they must be your most trusted friends. Or you blindfold them so they don't know where you have taken them.

My Favorite Hole

    I had a secret fishing hole. It wasn't a "top" secret place. People knew about it. But I could count on going and probably not see another angler.

    I always caught fish. Always. Sometimes I felt like it was so secluded I was a little worried about going alone.

       It required a little climbing. What if I fell and broke something? What if I fell in the river? What if a bear or mountain lion ate me? Who would ever know? How would they even find me?

  But I went anyway. The fishing was too good, and the beauty of nature too alluring.

    

Netting a trout

  Why am I telling the world about it?  Because my secret fishing spot is no longer secret!

   I recently took a few members of my family. I loved to fish the middle fork of the Yuba river, near Sierraville, CA.

   We came to a bluff where I could see the river below. It looked great. The water flow was excellent. The natural beauty was breathtaking.

   We drove down the canyon along a rugged dirt road - and came to a pond where there are a handful of campsites. Nobody is ever there.

 But as we rounded the bend - TENT CITY!

    There were people everywhere. Every campsite was full - and people were in the trees, and the meadow, and along the river. It was packed.

                                                                                    

A Nice Brown

    

There were anglers all along the river. Every few yards there was somebody fishing - and kids swimming - and dogs. It was a circus. No longer my secret fishing spot.

   I didn't catch a thing. It was a fly fishing only spot, but people were using worms and power bait.

    It was catch and release, but people had trout in their coolers and on the campfire.

  I didn't see a fish all day. Never got a bite. It was all fished out.

Got Another

    

      I have mentioned I have noticed a decline in fishing productivity in California over the years.

    I believe that due to the bad economy, people are turning to cheap, fun family entertainment.

    They are going back to camping and hiking and fishing - which is great. But they are not following the rules. They leave trash everywhere and fish illegally.

   With drastic budget cuts in California, I suspect they don't have the funding to stock fish as they once did.

   And I hear reports there are very few if any wardens on duty anymore. Some wildlife areas are patrolled by a single game warden, tasked with covering hundreds of square miles.

    I posted pictures of my former secret fishing hole, but not of the way it was the other day. I posted a few from the good times I remember, just a few years ago.