Kern Valley Canyon Connection Community Forums

Well...i waited till now to post this picture since my digital died and i had to wait for the paper pics from the throw away i was happy we had. We stayed in a rental in Kernville the day before Thanksgiving til the saturday after. We fished our brains out and nothing. Day before we left we decided to go up river to try all our camping spots that usually provide some fun fishing. We did hear that day before we left that they stopped stocking. At the time we didnt know why, assumed it was the low water. It rained like heck the day we got there but the river was clear and beautiful. As for the no stocking, i wont even go there except its just stupid and i feel sorry for the revenue that kern will lose. We already are looking for camping and fishing closer to home. Part of camping with the kids is catching fish. Anyhow, we left that Friday morning for the upper river. We stopped at one place we never fish or even pull over...Chico Flats. Looked nice and easy access for the three little ones. Fished about 10min and Mark (dad) told our little boy to throw his lure on the other side of a big boulder. He did, perfect throw and i saw the lure hit the rock, slide down into the flow and bam, i saw his pole tug. He knew right away he had a fish thinking it was a dink. We kept coaching him "keep your line tight", seemed like a hundred times. By now we are all around him and what seemed like forever, he got it up to the shore and we all took one look and it was "GOOD LORD". From there the little guy was done and handed it over to dad. I stood behind a rock watching Joshua praying Please God, Please God...havent we all said that...hehe. His big brother got in the water in hopes we wouldnt lose this one. We saw the colors and knew it wasnt a white fish. With the help of Dad and big bro, we landed it. OMG is all i can say. 20+ yrs of fishing the Kern and ive never seen a fish taken that big in front of me. And of course, Mom forgot her camera at the rental. I even joked on the way to fishing "watch, someone will get a big one cause i forgot the camera". Well, here is the picture. It was 19", 9" around and im going to guess close to 4lbs. Joshua was using a 1/8oz super duper (mom's fav) 6lb test and when we got that fish out of the water, the lure fell out of his lip. UNREAL. So glad we landed it and got some pics. Hopefully i can get it in the Fresno Bee fishing picture forum. As for any other fish, that was it, no bites, nothing. Take care and happy fishing. Bobbie, Mark and family.

Great post and a very nice fish. Even if the fishing was slow a smile like the one on your son makes up for it. As for the end to the stocking it really won't have much effect on the fishing for sevaral months. The DFG normally stops stocking durring the colder months once the river temps drop below something like 40 degrees and stays that low. Durring the winter the crowds go away and the fish get tight lipped so there are still plenty of fish in the river. Once the water warms up and the masses come back it's going to get bad though.
Gary C.

Thanks for the report. What a catch! I'm glad to see someone is getting out and catching something.
Merry Christmas!
Pescador

Can someone educate me as to why the fish don't bite much when the water is colder(fall/winter).

Ther matabolism slows down and they get lethargic. The fish still need to eat but they are not as willing to expend a lot of energy. Sometimes if the water just warms a couple of degrees the bite will improve. That is why it's often better fishing in the later part of the day durring the winter. Most often you need to get your bait or lure right in front of them to get a strike.
Gary C.