Howdy,
I just moved to San Diego from Durango and I am looking for a "close" place to do some fly fishing in a river or crick. I like hiking and I am willing to cover some miles to get somewhere even if it's just for the hell of it. In fact, I prefer it, but; any decent trout fishing spot that you could recommend would be great. A bonus question would be if you think a lot of people are into what I am talking about in So Cal or do they stick to saltwater or easy access freshwater holes.

John

P.S. I am not into lakes.

Here's a pretty helpful website:

http://www.sandiegotrout.org/

My "go to" spot would be the West Fork of the San Gabriel River, just up Azusa Canyon. It's about a 40 minute drive from Pasadena, and a ways off from San Diego. You basically park your car at the trailhead, then follow a paved access road along the river. (The road was built for a dam far up the canyon, so this would be considered a "tailwater.") Anyhow, some people fish the East Fork also, but it's a lot more populated early on, unless you venture farther up the canyon towards the Bridge to Nowhere.

There are some feeder streams up in the backcountry of Big Bear, too, but I've yet to find time to get up there and explore around.

Gusto

flyfishing in so cal reminds me of ice climbing here. are there opportunities? Yes! are conditions good? sometimes they are great, sometimes okay, but usually not so good. however, not a year goes by that i don't release a few trout back to their homes. west fork san gabriel used to be my go to spot. you could ride your bike up the road to the damn, making the 6 or so miles of fishinf quite pleasant. there is bear creek too. my favorite was the east fork. it is crowded up to the bridge to no where, but the fishing above it was always great. if you hike down from vincent gap, and hit the headwaters of the east fork, you should find solitude, deep pools and some fine trout on the larger side.

now that i have moved though, i am closer to the san jacinto mountains. there are some secret spots on the n side of the mountain, and the fishing on the n fork and south fork of the san jacinto is good in a couople of areas. but the enviro-whackos want the trout removed and the mosquito fish put back...

deep creek in the big bear area has seen a few fish returned. anything in the SD area? i don't know...

Thanks for the info, looks like I may be doing some driving. Damn gas prices are killing me though and I live 500 feet from the ocean.

Upper Kern River east of Bakersfield in the southern Sierra has some nice spots

POLUKO wrote:Thanks for the info, looks like I may be doing some driving. Damn gas prices are killing me though and I live 500 feet from the ocean.

Like Dude (<for effect), You need to get into some saltwater fly action! You can kill the Albies, Yellowtail, makos, slimers (barracuda) and Calicos!!!

Feel free to PM me on the saltwater scene in SD. It's an international hot spot.

Goldenhopper-

Bra, I would love to get into some SW fly fishing but I am broke broke broke. It's on my bucket list of things to master off of the back my boat--- on said list. Although, the money I would spend driving/camping in the Sierra could probably get me a used set up for the salt. Right now, I have a bait-casting reel or a little spinning reel that I throw on a Penn powerstick so I have been getting out there. I grew up in Jersey catching doormat flukes so halibut are my target. No luck yet.

Have you ever tried fly fishing from the shore? The fish you mention sound epic, fer sure.

Good suggestions above.

You'll need to explore around. Check out maps, and look for small year round streams. Lots of those in the San Gabriels, Berdoos and San Jacintos. Look for small streams draining into the desert, also. Get a brush rod, learn to crawl on your belly and just dip the line. I always had luck with big black gnats.

Hike, get away from the roads and the planters. There are some beautiful native rainbows in the San Gabriels.

POLUKO wrote:Goldenhopper-

Have you ever tried fly fishing from the shore? The fish you mention sound epic, fer sure.

I used to do a lot of shore fishing, but mostly for corbina and perch. I live in the LA area, but fish out of San Diego quite a bit. You should go down to Fishermans Landing/H&M/Point Loma and watch the boats come in off the multi-day trips into Mexican waters.

http://www.fishermanslanding.com/

http://www.hmlanding.com/

http://www.pointlomasportfishing.com/

BTW - you can catch some nice fish on that light tackle you have...