From the midwinter to late spring, the Merced river is one of the possibilities for good flyfishing available in central California. It can provide beautiful scenery and a chance at large resident brown and rainbow trout, in the section open to year-round fishing below Yosemite park. I hooked and lost a couple of good trout there, then drove into the park for better chances at a sketch.

The redbud trees bloom with the bright fuschia flowers before their first leaves show, for a striking first sign of spring. They line the banks below the park in March, but I have never seen them in the valley itself. As a painter I can put them there if I want, so I did.

framed size: 14" x 11.5"

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