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Fishing the pits
A few are little more than summer mud holes. Others resemble farm ponds. Some swallow 100 or more acres. Many are stunningly deep, clear and, in a few spots, surprisingly cold. Nearly all are fishable. "A couple of the lakes have trout in them," said Rob Rold, assistant fisheries biologist for the Department of Fish and Wildlife's southeastern district. "They're deep enough and cold enough to support them." My fishing partner John Durbin and I weren't looking for trout. And even if we had it would practically have taken downriggers to reach them, and we were armed with a couple of handcrafted bamboo fly rods from Durbin's workshop -- tools not really designed for deep-water probing. If the fish weren't near the top of the water column, they would remain safe from us.
Dog days best to fish mighty Kern
I love to fish for big rainbow trout. Now I'm not talking about planted fish that weigh two-to-the-pound, but huge, 19-26 inch long holdovers running 3-7-pounds that have spent several years swimming free since their release from a DFG planting truck. These fish feed on shad, crappie and whatever else floats into their river lie or deep-lake strata where they grow big, fat and sassy. .
Fly fishing rods are now available in raspberry
Standing on a rock outcropping that juts into Officer's Gulch Lake, Char Bloom resembled an orchestra conductor the moment before a concert. Instead of lifting a wand, though, she waved a fly fishing rod. With an audience of women surrounding her, Bloom brought her rod back and then gracefully rocked it forward, throwing her line into the lake with just the perfect amount of arc. The fly gently landed on the tranquil lake, creating only the tiniest ripple. "Make sure the fly hits the water first and not the rest of your line," Bloom said. "Otherwise, you'll scare the fish away." Too late: The 17 female anglers watching Bloom were wearing jingling beads around their waists and they were decked out from head to toe in bright colors such as turquoise and hot pink. Their rods? Raspberry colored.
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