Rick here. Good to see you finally hitting the east walker. Back in 1980, I was the Fish and Game creek clerk for the east W. I knew and fished every inch of this river, with a fly rod and spinning rod. Go downriver for better luck jigging. The water year dictates the health of the fishery. Back to back droughts hammer the fishery. Fish do pass through the outlet from the reservoir. In November of 1980, F&G electrofished the river a few miles downstream. The numbers were incredible. I’m certain F&G still surveys the river and would share the latest info with anyone. Hopefully I’ll be down from Idaho next year to fish the east side. Keep on fishing Amani!!
Right on. That was some interesting historical information. I'm going to hit the river again before the weather turns south or the season ends. Whichever comes first. Thanks again for the insight gained by your experience.
I watched F&G electro-deal the river ,right at the bridge coming away from the direction of Bodie . It was 2008 and they recorded EVERY fish that bellied up & then released all unharmed . Pretty impressive for that small area . Have you ever gone down all the way to the Hot Spring on the Nevada side ? Totally washed out now , I don't think that you could get in there now on TWO wheels . The Elbow area of the river sure got some changes due to the snow melt last year and on the Opener last year , you couldn't even get to the Nine Mile ranch coming from Hawthorne , unless you had a canoe . This year will probably be the same
The footage of that last fish was among a bunch of other clips I shot that wouldn't upload onto my computer. I didn't want to lose that fight so I had to break it up into 30 second segments on my GoPro and then upload those. It didn't come out perfect but I got enough of it. I simply dumped most of the problem videos that wouldn't upload.
Ha! I was just there and thinking I don't think Wilderness with Amani has ever been to the East Walker. That's totally in your territory, great that you made it. "I'm having trouble reaching the East Walker river" - aint that the real truth right there! That river is almost all hard to get into, but great fish. Lots of good access after the highway crosses over the river and a good parking area too.
Right on. Yeah, besides going to the river closer to Nevada when it was almost entirely covered by ice this was my first shot at it. As you said, there was tons of growth blocking access. I'm going to scout a bit more as soon as I can get down there.
After reading an article about fishery declines in Montana and Wyoming, I remembered that back in 1980, fish and game shocking revealed about 4,000 to 6,000 trout per mile on the E Walker where we conducted the surveys. It was intense back then to say the least. Things change but at least 2023 was one heck of a water year! Rick
I love the E walker. Didn’t know there was carp there. I have caught some whitefish. Was curious if you use extra weight with your nymphs? The current is still strong looks like something heavy is needed. Congrats on all those beautiful rainbows, awesome to see you work the fly rod👍🎣👍🎣
There are definitely carp and they were on my jigs near the dam so I backed off. I don't use any weight on my nymphs. It sometimes takes a bit of work but I like to use the current to get my fly down where it needs to be.
I fought a giant carp for 20 minutes in which I got into the river up to my thighs and chased the thing downstream until a fishing guide told me it was probably a huge carp so I just broke it off. That clip of the fight was 23 minutes long but it wouldn't upload onto my computer like a bunch of other stuff I shot on this day so I dumped it. I lost about half of the footage I shot because of some glitch.
The E Walker isn't what it used to be for sure, they had a big die off back in the early 2000's?.......I use to have 10-12 fish days with the average size being 3-6 lbs, Browns and big bows....all big fish, not dinks, no planters, all big wild fish. My go to used to be a yellow and black marabou streamer fishing pocket water behind boulders in the fast water and under the willows along deep banks, and other times nymphs worked well, especially damsel fly nymphs or big hairs ears or pheasant tail, but larger size, like #8 or #6 stuff......the marabou streamers in white and black or yellow and black caught the largest fish for me....but that was 25 years ago!!!......after that die off that killed all the big trout I never have fished it again....I hope one day it gets back to the glory days!!
I read a lot about the river over the years and when I finally went it really didn't live up to the expectations I had built up in my head. I plan to fish it again when it gets colder before the season ends. I might hit it downstream in Nevada too. I tried to go near the NV area called "the elbow" last year and the river down there was almost completely covered with ice. I need to try that one again.
In all the years of fishing and camping near Bridgeport I only fished the Bridgeport reservoir a few times and only from shore, and all we ever caught were carp.
Your story about catching carp in the lake makes a lot of sense because this river had a lot of carp! I hooked several and was stuck trying to get them off before I had to net and handle them. Thank god I fish barbless. That's one reason I switched to the nymphs. The other reason were tons of people fishing. I'm going to head back when it's freezing out before the season ends.
Yeah, I fished with that thing forever. Got it at a garage sale for around $5. One of my Patreon subscribers got me a nice new reel that I'm currently using but this reel is on the bench waiting for the coach to send it in if there's an injury on the field! I think I'm using this old one in most of my fly fishing videos on my backcountry fishing playlist.
I actually lost almost half of the footage I shot on this day. A bunch of the video segments I recorded wouldn't upload to my computer. I had to break up some of the fishing clips I shot into pieces on my gopro before I could upload them. That last fish I got in this video took forever to prep. I had to break the segment up into 30 second clips, upload them, and then put them together as one continuous piece. I just dumped most of that footage that wouldn't upload but I wanted that last fish in there so the time it took didn't stop me.
40 yrs ago I used to say most of the "Trophy Browns" seen and hooked in that stretch of water were actually carp. Good luck on your return trip. If anyone can catch legitimate lunkers its you.
I thought I had a record brown when I hooked that first carp I fought for 20 minutes. I was so disappointed when I was running through the river past a fishing guide and his client when he filled me in on the carp factor. at that point, the fish had run so far downstream I couldn't land it anyway. I just grabbed the line and let it break off before I got spooled. Barbless hook surely fell out. There were a lot of carp near the dam outflow. So many I couldn't keep my jig in the water long enough to let the trout get it unless I fished really shallow and fast.
I lost a decent brown on a jig but I lost a bunch of footage do to technical difficulties and that fish was part of it. I didn't get it in the net so I didn't care much. If you are looking for your first brown maybe try the Owens. I have dozens of videos on my 'backcountry lakes and creeks', 'lakes and reservoir', and 'river' fishing playlists that have a lot of options for you to bag that first brown. Why settle for just one from one location! Go big!
@@wildernesswithamani1027 well listened and went to the Owens for a pit stop on my road trip and got my first ever brown in 30 min!!!! Thanks brother!!
Right on man. I love hearing that. More healthy fish for all of us to catch. I keep fish when I'm bait fishing but when I'm fishing artificial and have no intention of keeping fish barbless is the way to go for me. So much easier on the fish. This place has a lot of fishing pressure and a couple of the fish had jaw damage from being previously caught. We need more people like you fishing there!
There are some monsters in there. I lost half of the footage from that day including the 20 minute fight I had with that monster that finally ended with me chasing the thing downstream and then simply having to let the jig break off because it would have spooled me. I didn't know about the carp and thought I had some sort of new state record on the line! A fishing guide filled me in on what it was as I ran through the water past him and his client. I need to go back and investigate more. Maybe head downstream.
I have not. The extra fees for that place aren't in my budget and there are tons of places I can just fish for the price of time, gas, and food with my 2 state fishing licenses. I get there are big cuttys there but it's not that high on my list.
I used a streamer and lost that one nice fish. I mostly stuck with nymphs because there were people fishing in just about every decent spot so I was just drifting through the same stretch of water over and over. I might try driving further downstream from the dam next time. I'll come back when it's really cold before the season shuts down. I really want to fish the river with jigs but to do that effectively I need to be moving and hitting new stretches of water. Too many people there for that.
I keep fish to eat in reservoirs where there is a robust stocking program along with natural spawning and large lakes Like Lake Tahoe where there is strong spawning and a hearty sustainable fish population. Personally, I like to release all trout in rivers so there are more large fish to catch in every mile of the waterway.
I'm not a young person and I have so many fishing locations in the hundreds of videos on my channel playlists it would take the average person over a decade to fish them all and that would take going over a dozen times a year for several years when the typical person might go once or twice a year. I've been at this for about four years now and the theoretical "stampede" you speak of at a fishing spot hasn't happened. Whether it's the many miles of water I fish in multiple rivers, 40+ alpine lakes I feature, the dozens of reservoirs, there isn't a spot getting stampeded because I have so much content. Have you ever done a basic internet search on fishing locations? Are you aware of the internet? I get most of the information on my fishing destinations in about 20 minutes the night before I walk out the door to hit the road. I simply type in something like "10 best short hikes near mammoth" and a list of trailheads and lakes come up. Type in a specific name of one of those bodies of water and you get everything you need to know about the fishing there. A heck of a lot more information than you get from one of my short clips. Combine that info with sites like "All trails" that has extremely detailed information on just about every trailhead in America and it really isn't very hard to seek out everything on my channel. Ever see the "fly fishing the Sierra" site? It has seemingly every body of water in the Sierra on it including fish species in the lake, directions to get there, what to use, and more. That's just one of many sites like it but that is the best one. I barely use computers and I find everything I need to know in minutes before I walk out of the door. I get it, my videos are an easy shiny object to point to.
Its because you BURN a different spot every day thats why you don't see the traffic. Try posting a video then go hit that same lake for the next week or 2 and you will see the damage you do!
Rick here. Good to see you finally hitting the east walker. Back in 1980, I was the Fish and Game creek clerk for the east W. I knew and fished every inch of this river, with a fly rod and spinning rod. Go downriver for better luck jigging. The water year dictates the health of the fishery. Back to back droughts hammer the fishery. Fish do pass through the outlet from the reservoir. In November of 1980, F&G electrofished the river a few miles downstream. The numbers were incredible. I’m certain F&G still surveys the river and would share the latest info with anyone. Hopefully I’ll be down from Idaho next year to fish the east side. Keep on fishing Amani!!
Right on. That was some interesting historical information. I'm going to hit the river again before the weather turns south or the season ends. Whichever comes first. Thanks again for the insight gained by your experience.
I watched F&G electro-deal the river ,right at the bridge coming away from the direction of Bodie . It was 2008 and they recorded EVERY fish that bellied up & then released all unharmed . Pretty impressive for that small area . Have you ever gone down all the way to the Hot Spring on the Nevada side ? Totally washed out now , I don't think that you could get in there now on TWO wheels . The Elbow area of the river sure got some changes due to the snow melt last year and on the Opener last year , you couldn't even get to the Nine Mile ranch coming from Hawthorne , unless you had a canoe . This year will probably be the same
Nice rainbow at the end. I do the same and stay out of the way of other people fishing the same water. Called fishing etiquette.
The footage of that last fish was among a bunch of other clips I shot that wouldn't upload onto my computer. I didn't want to lose that fight so I had to break it up into 30 second segments on my GoPro and then upload those. It didn't come out perfect but I got enough of it. I simply dumped most of the problem videos that wouldn't upload.
Ha! I was just there and thinking I don't think Wilderness with Amani has ever been to the East Walker. That's totally in your territory, great that you made it. "I'm having trouble reaching the East Walker river" - aint that the real truth right there! That river is almost all hard to get into, but great fish. Lots of good access after the highway crosses over the river and a good parking area too.
Right on. Yeah, besides going to the river closer to Nevada when it was almost entirely covered by ice this was my first shot at it. As you said, there was tons of growth blocking access. I'm going to scout a bit more as soon as I can get down there.
After reading an article about fishery declines in Montana and Wyoming, I remembered that back in 1980, fish and game shocking revealed about 4,000 to 6,000 trout per mile on the E Walker where we conducted the surveys. It was intense back then to say the least. Things change but at least 2023 was one heck of a water year!
Rick
Right on. Thanks for the the insight and perspective.
I love the E walker. Didn’t know there was carp there. I have caught some whitefish. Was curious if you use extra weight with your nymphs? The current is still strong looks like something heavy is needed. Congrats on all those beautiful rainbows, awesome to see you work the fly rod👍🎣👍🎣
There are definitely carp and they were on my jigs near the dam so I backed off. I don't use any weight on my nymphs. It sometimes takes a bit of work but I like to use the current to get my fly down where it needs to be.
Some very nice rainbows! All in the same spot looks like. I’ve fished around big carp before but never caught one. Like catching a log I guess.
I fought a giant carp for 20 minutes in which I got into the river up to my thighs and chased the thing downstream until a fishing guide told me it was probably a huge carp so I just broke it off. That clip of the fight was 23 minutes long but it wouldn't upload onto my computer like a bunch of other stuff I shot on this day so I dumped it. I lost about half of the footage I shot because of some glitch.
The E Walker isn't what it used to be for sure, they had a big die off back in the early 2000's?.......I use to have 10-12 fish days with the average size being 3-6 lbs, Browns and big bows....all big fish, not dinks, no planters, all big wild fish. My go to used to be a yellow and black marabou streamer fishing pocket water behind boulders in the fast water and under the willows along deep banks, and other times nymphs worked well, especially damsel fly nymphs or big hairs ears or pheasant tail, but larger size, like #8 or #6 stuff......the marabou streamers in white and black or yellow and black caught the largest fish for me....but that was 25 years ago!!!......after that die off that killed all the big trout I never have fished it again....I hope one day it gets back to the glory days!!
I read a lot about the river over the years and when I finally went it really didn't live up to the expectations I had built up in my head. I plan to fish it again when it gets colder before the season ends. I might hit it downstream in Nevada too. I tried to go near the NV area called "the elbow" last year and the river down there was almost completely covered with ice. I need to try that one again.
In all the years of fishing and camping near Bridgeport I only fished the Bridgeport reservoir a few times and only from shore, and all we ever caught were carp.
Your story about catching carp in the lake makes a lot of sense because this river had a lot of carp! I hooked several and was stuck trying to get them off before I had to net and handle them. Thank god I fish barbless. That's one reason I switched to the nymphs. The other reason were tons of people fishing. I'm going to head back when it's freezing out before the season ends.
Love the old Orvis reel
Yeah, I fished with that thing forever. Got it at a garage sale for around $5. One of my Patreon subscribers got me a nice new reel that I'm currently using but this reel is on the bench waiting for the coach to send it in if there's an injury on the field! I think I'm using this old one in most of my fly fishing videos on my backcountry fishing playlist.
Great video mate
I actually lost almost half of the footage I shot on this day. A bunch of the video segments I recorded wouldn't upload to my computer. I had to break up some of the fishing clips I shot into pieces on my gopro before I could upload them. That last fish I got in this video took forever to prep. I had to break the segment up into 30 second clips, upload them, and then put them together as one continuous piece. I just dumped most of that footage that wouldn't upload but I wanted that last fish in there so the time it took didn't stop me.
40 yrs ago I used to say most of the "Trophy Browns" seen and hooked in that stretch of water were actually carp. Good luck on your return trip. If anyone can catch legitimate lunkers its you.
I thought I had a record brown when I hooked that first carp I fought for 20 minutes. I was so disappointed when I was running through the river past a fishing guide and his client when he filled me in on the carp factor. at that point, the fish had run so far downstream I couldn't land it anyway. I just grabbed the line and let it break off before I got spooled. Barbless hook surely fell out. There were a lot of carp near the dam outflow. So many I couldn't keep my jig in the water long enough to let the trout get it unless I fished really shallow and fast.
Ahhh I almost went to fish there today to catch my first ever brown haha
I lost a decent brown on a jig but I lost a bunch of footage do to technical difficulties and that fish was part of it. I didn't get it in the net so I didn't care much. If you are looking for your first brown maybe try the Owens. I have dozens of videos on my 'backcountry lakes and creeks', 'lakes and reservoir', and 'river' fishing playlists that have a lot of options for you to bag that first brown. Why settle for just one from one location! Go big!
Appreciate the advice brother! I’ll get on that! If you want to try some tiny stream fishing for wild LCT let me know, got the perfect spot!
@@wildernesswithamani1027 well listened and went to the Owens for a pit stop on my road trip and got my first ever brown in 30 min!!!! Thanks brother!!
Nice!!!@@patrickdavis6954
@@wildernesswithamani1027 now to watch your videos and try for golden next
because of you, i only fish barbless.
Right on man. I love hearing that. More healthy fish for all of us to catch. I keep fish when I'm bait fishing but when I'm fishing artificial and have no intention of keeping fish barbless is the way to go for me. So much easier on the fish. This place has a lot of fishing pressure and a couple of the fish had jaw damage from being previously caught. We need more people like you fishing there!
A chubby with a perdigon dropper. Usually works most of the year round. Even the shallow riffles.
Right on.
Will you be taking out the boat soon? Winter is coming 🥶
I plan to soon. Definitely before October is over. It's getting cool enough. I hate sitting in that thing when it's hot out.
That was creel clerk, not creel creek. Or fish counter! Lol.
Right on.
You got some waders? 😊
I do, just didn't have them on this day.
Got a 7lb brown on a sculpin streamer there in the 90's
Yeah, I've heard about big browns. It's an easy stop off on my way home from the Eastern Sierra so I hope to hit it before the season closes.
What nymphs were you throwing
I was using pheasant tail bead heads.
Caught my biggest karp same place.
There are some monsters in there. I lost half of the footage from that day including the 20 minute fight I had with that monster that finally ended with me chasing the thing downstream and then simply having to let the jig break off because it would have spooled me. I didn't know about the carp and thought I had some sort of new state record on the line! A fishing guide filled me in on what it was as I ran through the water past him and his client. I need to go back and investigate more. Maybe head downstream.
#48👍🏻🎣👀
Right on.
Have you checked out Pyramid Lake?
I have not. The extra fees for that place aren't in my budget and there are tons of places I can just fish for the price of time, gas, and food with my 2 state fishing licenses. I get there are big cuttys there but it's not that high on my list.
@@wildernesswithamani1027 yup you're right it's pricey. That lake for some reason is ideal for growing monsters.
Try a streamer next time
I used a streamer and lost that one nice fish. I mostly stuck with nymphs because there were people fishing in just about every decent spot so I was just drifting through the same stretch of water over and over. I might try driving further downstream from the dam next time. I'll come back when it's really cold before the season shuts down. I really want to fish the river with jigs but to do that effectively I need to be moving and hitting new stretches of water. Too many people there for that.
Never understood catch and release. Never fished because I wasn’t hungry.
I keep fish to eat in reservoirs where there is a robust stocking program along with natural spawning and large lakes Like Lake Tahoe where there is strong spawning and a hearty sustainable fish population. Personally, I like to release all trout in rivers so there are more large fish to catch in every mile of the waterway.
@@wildernesswithamani1027 Like I said, I don't fish unless I am hungry.
Why do modern young people talk about where they fish? A great way to insure that lots of others will stampede in and trash the place.
I'm not a young person and I have so many fishing locations in the hundreds of videos on my channel playlists it would take the average person over a decade to fish them all and that would take going over a dozen times a year for several years when the typical person might go once or twice a year. I've been at this for about four years now and the theoretical "stampede" you speak of at a fishing spot hasn't happened. Whether it's the many miles of water I fish in multiple rivers, 40+ alpine lakes I feature, the dozens of reservoirs, there isn't a spot getting stampeded because I have so much content. Have you ever done a basic internet search on fishing locations? Are you aware of the internet? I get most of the information on my fishing destinations in about 20 minutes the night before I walk out the door to hit the road. I simply type in something like "10 best short hikes near mammoth" and a list of trailheads and lakes come up. Type in a specific name of one of those bodies of water and you get everything you need to know about the fishing there. A heck of a lot more information than you get from one of my short clips. Combine that info with sites like "All trails" that has extremely detailed information on just about every trailhead in America and it really isn't very hard to seek out everything on my channel. Ever see the "fly fishing the Sierra" site? It has seemingly every body of water in the Sierra on it including fish species in the lake, directions to get there, what to use, and more. That's just one of many sites like it but that is the best one. I barely use computers and I find everything I need to know in minutes before I walk out of the door. I get it, my videos are an easy shiny object to point to.
Its because you BURN a different spot every day thats why you don't see the traffic. Try posting a video then go hit that same lake for the next week or 2 and you will see the damage you do!
Some monsters in their
I couldn't get past the carp near the dam but I'm going back. I've heard too much about the monster trout in there to turn my back on it!