Last Stocking of the Summer Today 7-8-13

[flyboy]

Conditions on the Kern really have gotten very poor. At the hatchery inlet river temps have touched 80 degrees in the afternoon. So before all of the hatchery trout perished the whole inventory was stocked from JDB to Kernville with fingers crossed that they would survive the transplantation process. It is better to unload the fish now and make a lot of people happy over the short term, then try and hold out longer when it becomes obvious that all the trout won't make it. For the first time in months big trout have been planted. Between the very low warm water and fishing pressure most of these trout will be harvested in the next week. Good luck and try and stay in the shade. Last year the same thing happened in late July and the fishing was great for a week or two.

[Rusty]

Thanks to Flyboy's post, I held off on buying a fishing license until after I arrived in the KRV, on Saturday the 20th. Good thing. Sunday and Monday were devoted to lounging in the river with the family. Monday was cloudy, and T-storms were predicted. Sure enough, Monday afternoon the deluge hit (deluge being a relative term, but it was a LOT of rain for the KRV storms that I've seen...). By Tuesday the river was not only low and warm, but the consistency of chocolate milk. Stayed that way until we left this morning (Sat 27th). So for a fishing vacation, it use another word. Never saw ONE FISH on a stringer being carried thru the campground. For a sit-in-the-river vacation, Saturday and Sunday were OK, but the rest of the week use another word. For a lounge in the A/C, reading a book, fishing lies around the campfire and Smores with the kids (we were in Rivernook, so the campfire prohibition didn't affect us) or otherwise enjoying the beauty of the KRV, it was great!

Oh, well, maybe next year I'll buy a fishing license.