Great stuff DS.
"and found fish completely stacked under the undercut, away from the actual splashing of the water from above."
Do you mean the undercut immediately ahead/upstream of where the water from the falls hit the water of the pool?
We typically got a couple fish from each pool, maybe a couple more from the bigger pools, and then the bite in the pool would shut down. I'm guessing now that we caught/scared the ones in the feeding lanes, but there were many others under ledges, etc., like you saw.
I'm gonna bring the snorkel mask too. It was hot last weekend, and we often took dips in the pools after we fished them, so might as well put on a mask and look around a little!
Lack of biomass up in the mountains confirms my thoughts. Most of the fish we caught were pretty skinny, compared to the bulkier fish in the lazy, muddy, meadows of the Owens, for example.
The undercut BEHIND the 'water fall' held the most amount of fish. Sorry for the drawing, as it looks like a 1st grader's art project. The red "dots" are your trout:
Good luck getting a cast through and behind a waterfall. Roll cast maybe? ;-)
You know the biggest eye opener, tho?
The fact that you had half of Tulare County swimming in a pool, and the fish were still actively feeding and looking for food. Grant it, the bigger ones were wary of the swimmers, but not necessarily spooked, but the little ones? All you had to do is shuffle your feet, count to 5, and then look down to see half a dozen 3" trout nibbling at the sediment.
And of course, these wild fish have some amazing coloration once you get to their level in their habitat. The crystal clear snow melt made for some fantastic visibility.
What was also surprising is how the undercuts from the main channel on the river held zero fish. You'd think you'd see one or two just chilling in them and zero. Also, my body could definitely tell the 'colder' areas of the river, and although it's common sense, it was good confirming that you could look at a river from above and guess where the 'colder' water would be. And obviously, the fish would be there since it's their comfort zone.
Oh, and with the amount of micro currents UNDERNEATH the water (let alone on top of it), I can see how people drown when water levels are up. In fact, the back side of the waterfall where all the fish were stacked can be a death trap, because the current will reverse itself and keep you spinning in that one spot, which can be pretty disorienting. With the water levels down, it was a safe venture, but there's no way in hell I'd do that with water levels raging.
