River Conditions

[robby2977]

Going to be heading to the Upper Kern pretty soon, and was wondering if anyone has any info on the flow conditions, and perhaps any pics? Been itchin' for some time to fish!

R.D.

[BIRDHUNTER]

Flows are around 200 cfs. You'll need to find the holes. Good luck.

[robby2977]

Thanks, I'll let y'all know how it turns out.

[robby2977]

Just came back from the Kern. A couple of things to note if you're going up soon.

First, it was very hot! Nothing out of the ordinary, but we had nights that didn't cool off any at night. This made tent camping pretty unbearable, so beware.

Second, there was a ton of people. We stayed at Headquarters, and the whole valley was busier than ever. One day we had the Sheriff, Highway Patrol, Park Ranger, and the Park Service come and speak with us about the rowdiness of some of the campers. People had been violating the quiet time, but not much that I saw. They mentioned that 3 preschool aged kids had been approached inappropriately by a man, who had gotten arrested a few days before, so it must have been pretty bad. Also, an accidental shooting and killing took place, along with somebody going all crazy on LSD and beating himself up. Guess things were turning into Lake Havasu. Too many people and the problems that come with the crowds are marring the valley.

Third, fishing was terrible. Still caught some, but we had to work a lot harder. Not even sure they had stocked that whole week.

On the upside, the river was a very nice temp, so you could spend all day in it without freezing.

Other than that, it was fun. Just be careful, and considerate of others if you plan on going up soon!

[BIRDHUNTER]

I have been fishing the upper Kern for over 40 years now and in the past 8 years or so the pigs have been slowly moving in causing problem and leaving thier trash behind. I was up there in June and around 3AM some drunk fool down river started shooting a simi auto of some kind. Then I was fishing at Riverkern and a family from Bakerfield, Lamont, or there abouts moved in and tried to take over the beach area, I put a stop to that. If they had been there first I would have never stopped. After I moved on to fish other spots I returned about 4 hrs. later and the area was full of trsh, including baby diapers. I don't know what the answer is but, it has to stop.

[Fishpole]

Thanks for the report robby. Sounds like kind of a typical time at the Kern River. Some people are just too sensitive. Glad you had an OK time.