Explosive Stanislaus River Trout Action (Below Lake Beardsley Dam)

I return to the river below the Lake Beardsley Dam for the 2nd time hoping to hook into something big.
#rainbowtroutfishing #rainbowtrout #stanislausriver #troutfishing #browntrout #browntroutfishing

[@Marta_Lledo_Video_Channel]

that is the kind of action that keeps the adrenaline pumping!

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I second that. It was way better this time than the first time I fished there. I plan to get back out there if I have the time before the summer or late in the fall when it cools down.

[@Marta_Lledo_Video_Channel]

I have no idea why, but we never made it to Beardsley or that part of the Stanislaus. I had much of my indoctrination to fly fishing on the other side of 108. My father worked for a construction company that put in roads for logging and several summers were spent southeast of Long Barn on the Tuolumne or Clavey rivers and all the smaller tributaries like Lily, Bourland & Reynolds Creeks. They worked through several summers setting up camp where the group of workers would stay keeping trailers and the needed heavy equipment there all summer. When my dad had a little daylight left after he finished work, we could walk up one of the streams they just crossed. These places hadn't seen any fishing pressure because we were 30 miles back off the highway where there wasn't a road before! Very seldom did we find any monsters. Fish were mostly 8 to 11 inches, but they were not plants and there was an abundance of them always coming out of the water several times before you could get them in! Sometimes you would get one that would walk on his tail for several feet. It was a great way for a 10-year-old to spend his summers!

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

That sounds absolutely awesome. Your dad must have known some seriously remote waters working on logging roads. I can catch small wild trout like that all day and have a ball doing it.

[@jeeperguy4290]

My dad use to take me to Saddlebag as a kid to fish. Nothing like you were doing but worms off the dam, always caught some decent rainbows. I’m 52 now and definitely catching & release now, also doing the barbless. Thanks for your enthusiasm and great videos.🤙🏻😎

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Right on. We are certainly of the same generation. If I was going to eat them I might try some bait like you did back in the day. I just had no plans on keeping anything so I was rolling barbless/catch and release. Glad you enjoyed the clip. Hope it brought back some cool childhood memories.

[@leonardlopez5142]

TY brother

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Right on.

[@PeterGalles]

nice, dude.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

That action was smoking hot. I have hit some nice fish down there before but never was the action that non-stop.

[@terrymitchell7714]

Thanks for taking my advise from a few video's ago. The river below the dam can be unreal, I have caught some hogs. Best of luck, I love your show. The road into Beardsley is no piece of cake.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Right on. I'd been planning to go there for a while. I wanted to get it in before the pass closes and I have a lot on my plate. I fished there for my Patreon last year and lost a big brown. I fished all the way downstream to that buoy line and diversion dam. Fishing wasn't as good as this time but I got a nice brown and a bunch of smaller fish downstream where the river rushed in that big boulder section with larger pools.

[@CBeard849]

I used to fish that spot as a kid when I'd visit my Grandpa in Jamestown. Have you ever tried fishing Tiger Creek over by Pioneer?? Tiger also has an upper forebay reservoir where I saw a guy land an 11 lb rainbow long ago.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I have not fished it. Someone told me about it years ago but I never made it. It sounds interesting. If I can get to a point where I can do this full time and not have a job on top of it I'll be doing a lot more exploring.

[@michaellacy8510]

That was awesome! Sometimes you just can’t keep ‘em off your lure! Nice!

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

For the first half hour I was not liking how things were going. In the end, it all came together and I was feeling nice!

[@HuyNguyen-lu3zj]

Do you know if the road is open now even though the campground is closed? Can you camp anywhere downstream of the dam? Thanks for another great video!

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

The road was open when I was there. The campground was closed. I think some logging is going to happen up there but I can not give you any insight on what you might expect. I've done some dispersed camping in the area years ago but you probably want to double check the regulations on that. I'd start with a call to the nearest forest service/ranger office and ask them about the access. They should know.

[@colbymyers6278]

You should try fishing your jig under a indicator on your fly rod. Then you only need to bring one rod and the indicator will keep you out of the rocks. Since you love those jigs so much, you should try a streamer sometime on either rod.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I fish streamers quite a bit with my flyrod. Mostly whooly buggers. I fish 1/8 OZ marabou jigs because of the dozens of ways I can fish them and the far range I can cover with my casts. I can whip those things a mile on my ultra light 5' spinning rod. Deep, shallow, fast water, slow water, upstream, downstream, cross current, I can pick a river apart with those things. I can usually fish both sides of a river from one bank if it's not too wide. I just ran up to my car really quick and grabbed my flyrod for that one situation. I was there to fish jigs for big trout. I got nice trout, just didn't get the big one.

[@colbymyers6278]

@@wildernesswithamani1027 have you tried a sculpin or jig sculpin instead of the marabou jig? They swim better. Try a balance leach in place of a Woolly Bugger sometime. Also a bobber or indicator works great with jig or big nymphs in slow and fast moving water. You don’t have to worry about getting it hung up, so you can fish it very slow or just leave it out there. I feel very limited in every way when I fish spinning gear for trout. These are just a couple ideas that you might enjoy trying sometime. I grew up fishing fly’s under a bobber because I didn’t have a fly rod, very effective. After learning how to cast a fly rod I’ve never looked back. Nice video!

[@oceansky9220]

Appreciate the long video.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Right on. Lately I try to include more of the day's adventure in my clips. Bring you along for the struggle to get one in the net. This clip was twice as long before I edited it down. Glad you enjoyed it. I had fun making it for sure.

[@CaptainCompassion1]

Good action. Never fished that water.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

It was on fire. I fished the West Walker off HWY 108 for my Patreon the next day and got two brookies right at 16". I measured one of them. I didn't even know those were in there. I'll put one on my next highlight clip.

[@CC_Marauder]

#111👍🏻🎣👀

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Better than I expected.

[@joanlynch5271]

I found some really tasty flies at an outdoor store in Sutter Creek. I hooked into a nice rainbow but it got away; that was at convict lake in June.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Now that it got away you must go back seeking revenge! You must get closure some day in the future! That's the opinion of a crazy man!

[@fishingtimeletsgo598]

Hello Amani, that was some nice action, mixture of rainbows and browns, is there a trophy in that stretch, have you tried the Merced downstream from Yosemite, good stuff as always, catch you next time 👊🎣👍

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I haven't fished the section of the Merced you speak of. I think there has to be some monsters lurking in the depths here.

[@PaulVang]

I'm curious what kind of jig are you using?

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I'm using cheap marabou crappie jigs now. I have a clip on my fishing tips playlist where I detail the different types of 1/8 OZ jigs I have had success with since I first started using them a few years ago. I'm still refining my technique.

[@PaulVang]

@@wildernesswithamani1027 Awesome. Thanks for sharing!

[@josephedwards6919]

I remember driving solo to Stanislaus river in 1989 and caught trout every cast with spinner. Black yellow dot mepps

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Nice memory. Great days of fishing stick with us forever.

[@josezepeda5087]

I hope you checked yourself for ticks.i was there 3 weeks ago at beardsley set my wet rag down then placed it in bucket and when i put my frozen gatorade inside and under rag i noticed two ticks at bottom of bucket. Just be aware

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I'm always on high alert for ticks. I use 100% deet and they don't seem to like it. There are ticks everywhere I'm breaking through brush when it's warm but I haven't had one in my skin in over a decade. Found a few crawling on me though over the years. Worst, creepiest feeling when those things are crawling over your skin. Know what it is immediately without having to look.

[@jeeperguy4290]

Dude, I’m hitting that stretch maybe this weekend. Last time I was at Beardsley I got a nice brown by the boat launch but the gate was closed to the river and I was unsure if I could walk around it or not? Water was too violent in June. Definitely got to get there before it closes for the year.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Yeah, I saw the boat ramp was closed this time too. They closed the campground the day I was there because of logging they are going to be doing. The road down to the river is open. I want to hit Beardsley earlier in the year. Maybe take my boat. all depends on the pass.

[@JoeD.294.]

The brown that got hung up was quite the ordeal and made good video content wondering if you were going to lose it or land it....your persistent paid off!

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

We were wondering! I thought I was doomed!

[@joeteixeira284]

19:06 thank you for your videos I appreciate the effort and enthusiasm you put into your videos. My question for you is. What’s the weight of your jigs, and line, you make it look easy to cast on a spinning reel&Rod. Have a great day

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I use an ultralight 5' ugly stik with 6lb mono. Jigs are 1/8 OZ. If you go to my fishing tips playlist, I have a clip detailing the types of 1/8 OZ jigs I have had success with and clips for all of the tackle I use as well.

[@coleslaw3422]

Thanks man, I was going to ask about your tackle @@wildernesswithamani1027

[@JayMS916]

You know that action is good when the video is 20 minutes long.

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

I edited out the half dozen fish I lost!

[@ashtianresburg5349]

If you ever want to do a video together I’ve been trying to set up my KZbin Chanel and I could talk to some one that’s already doing it. I’m 17 minutes from the lake haha would love you show you some euro nymphing. Started following you because my home towns tahoe. Anyways just a thought let me know! Haha

[@wildernesswithamani1027]

Right on. I usually fish alone unless I link up with old friends, friends from work, or family. Out of the over 600 videos on my channel I'm alone in nearly all of them. I'm not saying I know what to do when starting a channel but if you look at my channel playlists it might give you ideas on how to expand your content. If you want my insight on anything ask in the comment section and I'll try to give you my point of view. Make sure it's a new comment so I will be sure to see it. If you want to be better than me start by fully understanding how to use your camera, learn to use newer editing software, and actually have a plan when you walk out of the door!