The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Fished the Calaveras river on Saturday. Walked up to a great caddis hatch... possibly the first of spring. Not many risers and definitely really really low water levels. My buddy hooked into a couple right off the bat that were 14 inches. As the sun hit the water the fish disappeared. We fished the rest of the day with no luck.
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Next day decided to hit the moke. I fished the 'hopper, copper, dropper' rig. Didn't see any fish in the shallow runs. Caught 4 wild half pounders in a deep hole after about an hour of fishing. All of them hit the size 18 zebra midge. Hit another hole like that down the river after a beer break. Hooked into what felt like the biggest fish i'd ever caught. Saw a glimpse of it after about 5 minutes. Was that a steelhead??? I got overly excited and snapped it off of my 5x tippet. I hammered that hole for another hour. finally my indicater dropped below the surface. Fish on again! This one felt bigger than the last one. It sulked in the 5 ft deep pool for what seemed like a life time. I was determined not to break this one off. Eventually the acrobats began. It was a full grown male steelhead. My first confirmed steelhead since i began fly fishing over 3 years ago. so sweet! I carefully worked him into the shallows, but everytime he got close to me he'd rip line off and head back to his hole. Eventually he wrapped around a log and although i still had tension on the line and i could see him still hooked, there was nothing i could do. I didn't want to lose him, but didn't want to kill him trying to find a way to bring it in. I cut the line regrettably.

It was definitely the most exciting moment i've ever had watching this fish jump into the air. I really don't like the mokolumne all that much. It was the last place i expected to catch my first steelhead, but now this river will hold a special place in my heart. It was so awesome!!

Both the calaveras and the moke have mud snails. Gear was cleaned.

I seriously cannot figure out how some of you are able to pull in fish that big. I think if i had stronger line i would have been more confident in bringing him in. The problem was that i just didn't expect it and wasn't really fishing for fish that big.

Saw several salmon in the river

By the way... have never fished the Moke. Debated today between it and the American. Chose the American and got skunked by the fish (although I saw several) and robbed and vandalized!

Is the Moke' difficult to fish? How's access?

I have always found the moke difficult to fish. My guess is that due to angler pressure, the fish don't feed in areas where you would normally expect them to be. They always seem to be in the deep pools, out of site. (I've never caught one on a dry fly) The recreational parking area is pretty much on the river. From there you can hike up towards the dam and hatchery or down river where i think it eventually turns into private property. In addition to the fisherman, it seems like a lot of weekend warriors like to come and picnic, swim and what not.

The thing about this river is that it's one of the few that I don't mind going out for a day trip.

Here's a photo of a one of the bows caught during the caddis hatch on the calaveras.

no/msg

Next time you fish the Moke stop at the "W" Westerns burger in Clements and have a Penny Special. That is a good burger and great finish to a long days fishing.
I used to go there when it was a A&W and then became just W. We used to float the Moke a lot back in the day but it was more of a drinking float than a fishing one.
My parents live off of Peltier road so I was close to it during my non-FF days. Was a nice river when I fished it the first time in 1979. Then one year they opened the spillway on Comanche and wiped out one fork of the river. It has changed over the years but is still a neat section to fish.

Tight Lines,

Jet

Joe, the only thing I remember in Clements is the chocolate factory. I guess I blinked while passing the W.

And Sammy, shhhh, let's keep mention of the Moke and the Calaveras to a minimum. They're pretty fragile streams, and according to one local I met, they get poached pretty heavily. I did, in fact, once encounter a Warden on the Moke writing up some teens who had a small ice chest full of fish.

Cheers,
El Rey

Sammy - thanks for the tips on the Moke. Nice fish!!

You got it El Rey. mums the word. Funny, as i was gearing up, the guy fishing spinners and i were talking and he said. "I hope to be eating some smoked steelhead tonight."

Made me cringe. I hope he got skunked.