The Wild Browns and Rainbows Of The Middle Fork American   By: Dan Bacher August 11, 2008 More Articles by Dan

The Middle Fork of the American River, as it courses its way through the steep canyon walls of the Auburn State Recreation Area, means many different things to many people.

To the miners, it is a place to prospect gold with pans and suction dredges. To river rafters and kayakers, it is an exciting stream to test their skills. To families, it is a place to camp and swim in cold, clear mountain waters without driving far away from home.

To Senator John Doolittle, it represents the unfulfilled promise of the giant reservoir that he battled for years to put behind Auburn Dam. To Friends of the River and Auburn Dam opponents, the river's still mighty rapids and deep pools represent the fruits of their many years of hard political lobbying and protesting to prevent the dam from being constructed.

However, to savvy anglers, the river is a place where they can battle beautifully-colored wild rainbow trout, believed to be the descendants of the steelhead that ascended the forks of the river for thousands of years before Folsom Dam was built, and German browns.

Bill Templin, the coordinator of the Upper River Foundation, is one of those savvy anglers who sings the river's praises as a fishery.

"Most people don't realize what a wonderful fishery the Middle Fork is," said Templin. "The fishing on the river is some of the best I've seen anywhere. When anglers from the Sacramento area come down to the river with me for the first time, they often don't have a clue to what a good rainbow and brown fishery they have within an hour of home."

The best stretch of the river is the section from Oxbow Reservoir/Ralston Afterbay Reservoir down to the confluence, according to Templin. This is because water is diverted from the Middle Fork from below French Meadows Dam to Oxbow Reservoir to go through a series of tunnels and hydroelectric plants. The river emerges from Oxbow with the cold and clear conditions and food that trout like.

"The drawback is that the regulated flows below Oxbow are made at the expense of the upper stretch of river," said Templin. "However, that doesn't mean that there isn't good fishing in the upper river and its tributaries in the section between French Meadows and Oxbow, since healthy populations of rainbow and brown trout can be found above Oxbow."

Nonetheless, the section below Ralston is the area that produces the biggest and most trout. For example, Templin and Doug Masterson of Sacramento got into big numbers of trout when they caught 25 fish ranging from 9 to 14 inches while drifting crickets and nightcrawlers above the Drivers Flat Public Access on June 29. All of the fish were rainbows except one 10 inch brown.

"I kept one 12 inch rainbow, while Doug brought home a 14 inch rainbow," said Templin. "I release about 90 percent of my fish."

In the other 10% of the fish, he examines their bellies as part of an ongoing study of the trout populations on the river he is engaged in. "The fish we landed this weekend were filled with a lot of small midges and other insects," he stated.

On the day before, the mix of fish was much different when Templin, in a couple of hours in the afternoon landed a 22 inch and 18 inch brown, as well as a 10 inch brown and 12 inch rainbow, also while using crickets and crawlers. He released all of the fish except for the one rainbow.

The fish was the longest brown that he has ever caught on this river, though it wasn't his heaviest, since the colorful trout only weighed 2 pounds. Templin caught another brown measuring 21 inches and weighing 4 pounds on a previous fishing adventure.

Although the river has a robust population of rainbows and browns, these fish are not easy to catch, whether you choose to fish bait, lures or flies.

What is the reason for Templin's success? Timing, timing, and timing!" he emphasized. "This is a regulated stream, so the best fishing takes place generally in the middle of the day when the flows are up, washing insects, sculpins and other forage into the river. Fishing early in the morning here is usually not very productive."

As a general rule, the hydropower generation by the Placer County Water Agency takes place in 12-hour runs from 6 a.m. until around 6 p.m., although that can vary by day (http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?s=oxb).

Because this is a river where flows go up and down within the course of the day, paying attention to rising water conditions is essential for a safe trip. This was brought home to me after I attended a workshop, conducted by New Zealand mud snail expert Ken Davis, on how to look for the invasive snails with Templin and volunteers from the boards of the Upper American River Foundation and the Sac-Sierra Chapter of Trout Unlimited. After taking photos of Bill Carnazzo, fly fishing guide, I went downstream to see how Templin was doing.

"He has two big browns to 22 inches that he's keeping alive for photos," said Dan Waligora, DFG environmental scientist and Sac-Sierra board member.

I waded out to the rock outcrop in the middle of the river that Templin was fishing on and took some photos of Templin and Waligora holding and releasing the gorgeous fish. Templin and I fished for a short while until he said, with some alarm, "We've got to get out of here. The water is rising!"

We made it across the river safely, but we might not have if we waited much longer. Thankfully, Templin was watching the water level by focusing on one rock and all was O.K. since we got out there in time.

The point to be learned here: never get so focused on your fishing or other activities that you're not paying attention to a rising water level. The river rises rapidly from flows of 200 cfs to 1000 cfs when power is being generated.

During the mud snail survey, we thankfully didn't find any of these pests yet, but signs are being posted to help alert visitors who may also visit contaminated areas (like the lower American and Putah Creek) that it could be a matter of time if we don't take precautions. Davis and the volunteers collected a number of invertebrates, including stoneflies, may flies, dragonflies and midges, as well as a couple of sculpins.

The diversity of macro invertebrates belonging to the orders Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera constitute the "EPT" Index of a stream, according to Davis. These orders are used as water quality indicators, since these macro invertebrates are highly sensitive to pollution. Their presence in the Middle Fork indicated high water quality.

The number of insects in the first area where the group surveyed was very sparse, possibly due to the daily extreme variations in flows. Fortunately, the second area yielded much better numbers, including golden stone flies, October caddies and one salmon fly.

Fly fishing can be very good on the Middle Fork. Templin likes to use Wooly Buggers and Muddler Minnows, as well as orange stimulator/prince nymph combos on a dropper set-up below a strike indicator, when he isn't drifting bait.

To get involved with the Upper American River Foundation, call Bill Templin at 916-601-9954.

Middle Fork American River Facts

Location: The Middle Fork of the American River and its tributaries arise in the Sierra Nevada in the Granite Chief and Desolation Valley Wilderness areas. The best section of the river for rainbow and brown fishing, from Oxbow Reservoir to the Middle Fork's confluence with the Auburn State Recreation Area (Auburn SRA) covers 40 miles of the North and Middle Forks of the American river. The park (which is 20 miles long on two forks of the American River) is situated south of Interstate 80, stretching from Auburn to Colfax. The main access is from Auburn, either on Highway 49 or the Auburn-Foresthill Road. Auburn, CA.

Park Administration: Auburn SRA is made up of the lands set aside for the Auburn Dam. California State Parks administers the area under a contract with the US Bureau of Reclamation.

Recreational Opportunities: Besides fishing, other recreational uses of the Middle Fork and Auburn SRA include hiking, swimming, boating, fishing, camping, mountain biking, gold panning, equestrian/horseback riding trails and off-highway motorcycle riding. Whitewater recreation is also very popular on both forks of the river, with Class II, III and IV runs. Over 30 private outfitters are licensed to offer whitewater trips in Auburn SRA. Access areas to the Middle Fork include its confluence with the North Fork, Mammoth Bar, Drivers Flat and Oxbow Reservoir/Ralston Afterbay.

Lodging, Camping and Supplies: Lodging is available in Auburn, while camping is available at Lake Clementine and Drivers Flat. Groceries, gas, bait, tackle and other supplies are available in Auburn and Foresthill.

Relicensing Process: The Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) that manages the water on the Middle Fork is currently involved in its hydropower relicensing process. PCWA began consultation in early 2006 with a broad group of stakeholders, including agencies, Indian Tribes, non-governmental organizations, and the local community, to collaboratively develop new license conditions for the Middle Fork Project. For more information, go to http://relicensing.pcwa.net/publicparticipation.htm.

Upper American River Foundation: call Bill Templin at 916-601-9954.

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