#sickdays: Micro Rainbows on the Clavey

With Ally booked onto a work trip and still bit by the bug from the recent visit to New Brunswick, I made some plans to head out into Desolation Wilderness to follow up on a hot tip of a cold spring creek that pulled trout from a backcountry lake. As luck would have it, I broke a toe a few days prior to the backpack trip, so I had to let the permit go and look for an alternate less foot intensive option.

Having fished on the Tuolumne in years past I was interested to check out the Clavey river, out West of Yosemite. The Clavey is a small tributary of the Toulumne, and at the confluence lies the infamous class IV rapid, Clavey Falls, that put the fear in Brian and I last year. Upstream on the Clavey things are much more tame – especially in late July after all the runoff has cleared through.

Over three days, I fished the river in four spots, from it’s headwaters of Bell Creek in Bell Meadows to the more popular bridge access on Cottonwood road. After I returned home, I learned of one additional access further down river, but will have to save that for another trip. Other than the willingness of copious numbers of small trout to take dry’s, the thing that makes the river so special is that the fish are more or less untouched by hatcheries, planting and cross breading. These small rainbows are about as close to native as you will find out there. Most fish were caught on a classic Elk Hair Caddis. Even trailing a Caddis Pupah the fish seemed to prefer the action on the surface – which was just fine by me. Reaching these fish without spooking them was critical, and with the slow, low water they easily saw you coming.

The most beautiful boulder strewn stretch of water was accessed off Cottonwood road and felt like prehistoric pocket water. Wading through the river was magical, but sadly the area also attracts many folks to visit a swimming hole about a mile up stream called “Gods Bath." I’d be happy to share any river with people who love to get outside, but it’s hard to look past the trash and graffiti and feel like we are treating the place the same. Given the volume of people visiting the swimming hole on a Wednesday I can’t imagine the lack of solace an angler might find on a weekend.

None of the specific fish were all that remarkable, but all were fun none-the-less on a light 3wt rod. I’d love to get back and explore that access further downstream. In my imagination it’s strewn with big boulders and more prehistoric pocket water but lacks the scar of those who disrespect these gorgeous places.