I went to check out another local stream - Bouquet Canyon Creek with my daughter today.  She took most of the pictures while I had fun trying to fish the tiny creek.

It was a tough weekend for your faithful newbie.  Massive back pain, a horrible sunburn, and a sharp learning curve.

It began with an innocent trip to Piru Creek for some fly-fishing with Hank (my Golden Retriever).

I remember when I was a kid, my family was camping somewhere here in California when I learned a lesson that I never forgot or thought would help me.  I was strolling up a rocky hill (if I remember right, to find a place to pee) when I came upon a rattlesnake.  I was somewhere between 8 and 10 years old and when the rattler sat up and started shaking, I took off back down the hill.  The problem was; the hill had rocks - sharp rocks - and gravity quickly outran my little legs.  I ended up with two bloody knees, two bloody hands, and my father yelling at me to "never panic!".

Here is the result (I will explain)...

Way back - on Feb 22 of 2009, I took a good friend fishing.  It was his first fly-fishing attempt and the results were pretty typical... maybe even a bit above average.  I've said it before, and I will say it again; If you want to catch fish today, don't attempt to learn how to fly fish.  If you want to enjoy a hobby that like golf or chess will be impossible to easily master; you've found what you are looking for.

The Arroyo Seco River is one of the most beautiful streams that I have ever seen.  It supports wild steelhead - a fish that I would love to go after next season - but, this season has already ended.  Be sure to check http://www.dfg.ca.gov for the current regulations for fishing this river.  There is an excellent campground nearby named (oddly enough) Arroyo Seco Campground, and it is very clean, green and quiet.

A gem of a lake located about 20 miles off the 101 freeway near Paso Robles.  There are lots of rocky points to target Bass and plenty of decent fishing from the shore.  The primary drawback are the sporadic and ballistic winds.  I fished from about 6am to 10am and it was mostly calm with the occasional gust out of nowhere, lasting about 2 or 3 minutes before going dead still again.

I learned about the Monterey Bay fishing scene from one of my favorite fly-fishing publications; The California Fly Fisher.  In the April 2009 issue there is an article written by Robert Keltey titled Monterey Bay Rockfish.  The article is terrific, but has a mistake and a slight ommission; Capitola wharf has a tricky ladder that you must climb down to get into your rental skiff, and Rockfish season doesn't open until May 1st.  Now that that's out of the way lets get to the good stuff.

There is a nice campground with a path that lead me to this spot.  Even though the campground is on the inland or east side of the PCH, there is a path which goes under the highway for safe access.  The campground is called San Simeon Creek Campground, and lies right against the creek.

Don't plan on fishing there unless it's Steelhead season though.  Check out the regulations at http://www.dfg.ca.gov - my understanding of the current regulations for steelhead fishing in this area is: Dec 1st through Mar 7th, but only on Sat, Sun, Wed, legal holidays and opening and closing days. Only barbless hooks may be used and there is a zero bag limit.