Kern River Calif.

[whichwayout]

Hi to everyone
New to the site today and wondered in. We have set up a camping trip to the Kern River for June 5-8, about 230 miles from our house. Fished it as a kid but couldn't tell you much about it other than its time to go back. Also going as a rookie Fly Fisherman. I picked up an Okuma combo the other day and hope to give it my best shot. Any and All advice will be greatly appreciated. Local knowledge would be of great help I think, I just hate looking like a tourist running around asking lots of questions.
It looks like you have a great group of people on the site and hope I can share my adventures with you as well.
Wish me luck and I'll let you all know how it turns out......stayed tuned

[JohnScott]

whichwayout -

Welcome and greetings from SE Idaho.

Can't help you on your preparations to visit the Kern, except to suggest that they may have a bit of run off right now ?? You might want to check the current flows and trends before you get too far along.

No doubt someone with first hand knowledge of the area and the Kern will show up here shortly with some better information for you to work with.

Enjoy your stay.

John

[Backcastwards]

Used to fish there when I lived in socal. Here is a link to the only game in town. http://www.kernrivertroutfitters.com The river could be pretty high right now and it is a known killer. Another site that is chock full of info on the Kern, cuz the guy who runs it practicly lives there is http://www.goldenstatetrout.com

Good luck,
Gary

[Lew]

Welcome aboard Which a Way. Glad to have you. I've never fished the Kern. The closest I've come is the San Jaquine, and it was around labor day. We fished a tributary stream, and the fish were hungry, and it didn't matter much what you threw at them. Memorable trip. Good luck on your search.

[whichwayout]

Hey great thanks.
I checked the links and the flows seem good according to a report from yesterday. Were going to have a good 3 days, so I'll hunt around.

[DShock]

whichwayout,
I like your name! I have often thought those words.
Welcome to the BB!
Doug

[whichwayout]

DShock
Thank you for the welcome, its great to have so many fly fishermen as a resource as I am just about to step into this for the first time. Going to run over to a local pond/lake today and practice the casting. I hope I don't get to many bad habbits. As for the Whichwayout, that comes from me getting lost all the time. So I bought a TomTom GPS and it sure helps.

[TyroneFly]

WWO,

Welcome aboard! It's been years since I fished the Kern River area, but Backcastwards site suggestions are excellent sources. One of the guys at my local shop fished the area about 3 weeks ago and said the flow is more like what you find in July. I have found that to be the case when I was in Tuolumne county a month back. While the flows have been slow by comparison, watch out as you know we have had a cooler than normal spring and when the snow melt is on the flows can be dangerous.

Look forward to your report. Have a fun!

[whichwayout]

The River was running near max but as I overheard, although it has started to go down some. Lots of people fishing with some luck. I never did find a place to pull out the fly rod so I stuck with the spinning rig (Boring I know). I got one near keeper Brook Trout and a very small Squaw Fish. I hear that the Squaw fish is not something the fish and game want in the river. What the ---- is a Squaw fish anyway? I had the same one on 3 times and each time I got busted off. Nearly spooled me on the third hook up. So my score so far for fly fishing is 0, who keeps score anyway, I don't plan on it.