REEL PARADISE BECKONS PIRU CREEK LURING MANY FLY FISHERS.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

In the arid mountains north of Los Angeles, a stream that runs year- round is an unlikely oasis for fly fishers.

For Chris Wagner, 57, Piru Creek is a weekly escape.

The glassy, slow current flows from the Pyramid Lake dam all the way to Lake Piru, offering plentiful fishing holes along its 10-mile length, which are regularly stocked with rainbow trout.

But for Wagner, who lives in Castaic and has a passion for the serenity of nature, the ever-flowing water, which runs year-round from the State Water Project, is worth more than its fish.

``Some old guy once told me, there's more to fishing than catching fish,'' Wagner said.

Wagner has been escaping to the creek since 1977, when he says it was still a wild place where kids would come to shoot and an old cowboy kept the peace from his trailer.

But times have changed, and now the most accessible spot on the creek - Frenchman's Flat - is littered with Coke cans, toilet paper and other waste. It is a big spot for weekend camping, but on weekdays the stream's soft sound and the distant roar of the interstate are the only sounds.

It is that solitude that draws many of the area's most committed anglers.

``This is one of the last local strongholds here for fishing,'' said Ira Nepus, as he dropped a bait fishing line into a shimmering pool.

Thursday morning, Wagner got into his routine, suiting up in waterproof pants, gravel guards, an Orvis vest, and felt-sole shoes to avoid slipping on the riverbed.

His vest is packed with tools, from scissors and a magnifying glass to a kit of handmade flies and a thermometer for testing the water, which is 45 degrees.

As he wades waist-deep, his facial expressions relax and his whipping line takes on a life of its own.

``You get away from everything here. Not a whole lot matters.''

Piru Creek is the closest fly-fishing spot to Los Angeles, according to John Stevenson, a member of the Sierra Pacific Fly Fishers and an avid visitor to the creek.

``There's a lot of guys who go up there every Wednesday,'' Stevenson said. ``It's beautiful - you get down in there and it's like, wow, this is just so close to L.A.''

And although there's better fishing farther away, Piru Creek is the only reliable fly-fishing day trip in Los Angeles, according to Jeff Ellis, co- owner of the Fisherman's Spot, at 14411 Burbank Blvd. in Van Nuys.

``We're just so limited here in Southern California,'' Ellis said.

The creek is accessible from the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5), just 40 miles north of the San Fernando Valley.

``Bigger water'' can always be found at Mammoth or in Kern County at Lake Isabella, but little else offers the ease and simplicity of Piru Creek. There are also some good spots in the San Gabriel River system in Azuza. But for Wagner, nothing compares to his little oasis.

Casting his line, he slowly makes his upstream, looking for water that is just slightly disturbed where the fish will feel safe from osprey, and well-positioned for food.

``It's hard to imagine that you're 40 minutes from L.A.,'' he said.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color in SAC edition only) Chris Wagner of Castaic shows off the flies he tied himself, at top. Wagner, above right, casts a fly at Piru Creek, where he's been fly-fishing since 1977.

(3 -- ran in SAC edition only) When Chris Wagner, 57, began fly-fishing at Piru Creek decades ago, he says it was a much wilder spot, though there's still ample solitude.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

Map:

Piru Creek