Dry Fly Fishing West Fork of the San Gabriel River // Summer 2020

In this episode, I took my buddy Jake on his first fly fishing trip to my local small stream in Azusa, Souther California. He caught three beautiful wild rainbow trout and I had some as well. And all on dry flies, does it get any better?

[@germicanlifestyle9069]

I miss this place...I grew up in these mountains and watched go down hill all the trash left behind/graffiti and gang members committing crimes...I spent most of my time on the east fork prospecting for gold,camping and fishing...I caught a huge rainbow on the North fork in a tiny puddle... what an awesome place...I rather be in those mountains than in the city...fun times

[@pointdrago4350]

Interesting story what made you leave?

[@germicanlifestyle9069]

@@pointdrago4350 the drug & gangs...then marriage & kids... raised the kids up in a nice place with great schools...everytime I go back to Los Angeles it's looks worse than the last visit... mountains on the east coast don't compare to the mountains in California...snowboarding in the morning and surfing in the evening...it's a beautiful place that is not so beautiful anymore

[@pointdrago4350]

@@germicanlifestyle9069 checks out, thanks for the insight!

[@HookontheFly]

it's still beautiful you just have to go a bit further to get away from the people nowadays

[@DylanWOWilliams]

@@HookontheFly I guess there’s beauty to be found in the darkest places. I left when I graduated high school. And I agree, every time I go back it gets worse and worse. They destroyed the west fork a couple years back with all that mud water. It’s just bad management and corruption in the governing bodies. I still try to fish it at least once every time I visit, but it’s been a year or so since my last chance.

[@JasGoode4484]

Great music and cool underwater shots!!

[@HookontheFly]

thanks! new short edit out next week!

[@CalledCollectiveMedia]

Man what a great video! This popped up on my suggested videos! I am very impressed with the editing the camera work and the music! I am glad I found your channel and I am loooking forward to the next video!!

[@HookontheFly]

thanks dude!

[@RogerRabbitt]

I need to get up there. So close to home but haven't made the trip. I went a few months back somewhere up there but didn't catch anything. One guy down stream caught 1 but that was all the action we saw

[@HookontheFly]

It's been really hot and lots of people have been fishing the area this year. you have to get up super early before the water warms up and find someplace that is off the beaten path to catch any fish right now. I'm just waiting til Fall when the weather cools off, and the fishing pressure is a little less. til then it's kern and Owens for me.

[@GregJfreeinJC]

Great, thanks for the info!

[@HookontheFly]

You bet!

[@brett9382]

Nice video. Just wondering if it's still closed up there. I heard since the fires you can't park and can't even get back to the river right now.

[@BaxterElkins]

yes it's closed. i think it must have damaged the road because i've gone up there twice to check and there were road crew guys stopping people from going in because they were working.

[@GregJfreeinJC]

Ok thanks for the info. Any recommendations?

[@HookontheFly]

Not locally, I've been only fishing the Owens and Kern lately because they've been on fire the past 4-6 weeks. So I'm not sure how the other local waters are faring right now.

[@chadricrichardson669]

What part of San Gabriel was this? Nice video these are wild trout?

[@HookontheFly]

yes! on the west fork. its closed now

[@chadricrichardson669]

@@HookontheFly why is it closed?

[@HookontheFly]

@@chadricrichardson669 there was a big fire, lots of damage.

[@nartron3000]

@@HookontheFlystill closed?

[@HookontheFly]

@@nartron3000 open on weekends now

[@roansvids5610]

Is that still photo of the river running through the canyon actually on the San Gabriel?

[@HookontheFly]

no. that's the intro to my series, it's just pieces of all the vids I've done.

[@soccercoach9803]

Want to take my 7 year old..how far is the hike down..manageable? Thanks!

[@HookontheFly]

very manageable. from the parking lot there is a paved bike path that runs along the river and there are entry points all along the path (tho sometimes the spots next to the parking lot are full of swimmers on warm days). I think it's all closed right now because of the Bobcat Fire, which burned most of this area in the past few weeks.

[@Paiseandplay]

have you been back this year? been thinking about hitting the section over by the bridge to nowhere

[@HookontheFly]

yes, west fork was closed off, rest was super low/warm, didn't get a bite.

[@sgutin1]

what dry fly were they biting best

[@HookontheFly]

they couldn't get enough of the elk hair caddis

[@egld2020]

Get out there again and make a new video for us

[@HookontheFly]

West Fork hasn't been fishing as good since they've been doing construction on Cogswell. Did you check out my last one I did on the San Gabriel Mountains? it's rad! Got one on the Owens River dropping next week as well.

[@egld2020]

@@HookontheFly I personally fish somewhere near by can’t burn my spot for the same reason people ruin things . I’ll check it out and subscribe as well for replying 🤙🏻 like the content as well🤙🏻

[@egld2020]

@@HookontheFly any info on lytle creek fishing ?

[@HookontheFly]

@@egld2020 awesome, thanks!

[@HookontheFly]

@@egld2020 no i haven't been there in awhile

[@GregJfreeinJC]

is it still fishable?

[@HookontheFly]

no. the water is warm, low and muddy. a construction worker said as long as they are working on cogswell dam (which could take another year) the stream won't support fish.