Kern River August 15-18

[THansen]

Made one last trip to the Kern before kids/wife go back to school.
Stayed at Rivernook campground. I am not a fan of the over developed private campground but I gave in for sake of the family. My family has stayed at Rivernook for over 40 years,. I have changed over the years but is still large enough to have some of the rustic charm. There are deer that live in/around the campground. Kids (and I) enjoyed seeing deer every day.
Now for the fishing. Primary focus this trip was family fun so I had limited access.
Friday morning I ran up river to fish 2 different sections that produced trout a few weeks ago. No luck on trout. Water was a little higher and my holes were washed out. Did manage some smaller squaw fish. Spend the remainder of the day floating around rivernook and catching countless squaw fish. It is always fun to catch fish in front of people that have given up. I know they weren't the preferred species, but I handed my rod to a couple kids that were pumped to reel in a fish regardless of species.

Saturday: We decided to run up river to Limestone for the day. Fish cast and I landed a trout. Sweet. Had steady action on smaller (wild) trout. Far from wide open but I landed enough to feed my spirit. Funny thing is that the bite was better around 11am, than it was at 4PM once the sun was off the water.
We returned to the truck to find 2 citations on the vehicle. One for leaving an extinguished fire (we never started a fire). $400,. And a second for not paying to use the site. There is no camp host to pay, so they send someone around a couple times a day to collect. We never had a chance to pay before receiving the citation. Bulllsheet. We can fight the ticket if we want to come back to Bakersfield to appear in court. More bullsheet.

Sunday:
Ran up to Fairview campground as we didn't want another citation at Limestone,. Did more tubing than fishing. But caught 30+ squaw fish and 1 rainbow. I was happy with the one rainbow. Just like to prove to myself that it can be done.

Left Kern at 6 Pm and home around 10PM. There is something special about sleeping in your own bed after a camping trip. I love my outdoors but that memory foam mattress is hard to beat.

Had a great time. Nice to see water level was rising this late in the season. Don't get your hopes up thinking DFG will plant fish this year. That wont happen.
We will stay at Limestone next year and hopefully avoid citations.

[Gary C.]

Everyone that I've heard from say the trout are far and few between. Sorry about the tickets but it sounds like you still pulled out a good trip. Thanks for the report Tom.