October 8th - Sacramento River Delta
Two of us fished the Delta with Ed Marcillac on October 8th. It was the best fishing I've ever experienced in those waters. We caught good numbers of stripers in the 8-9 pound range, many in the 3-5 range, and many, many in the 1-2 category. Ed really knows the Delta and how to find the fish. You can't lose when you book a trip with Ed. - Dougald Scott
October 4 - Lower Sacramento River
I floated the Lower Sac in the rain with a couple friends Thursday, a week after Brian's presentation for our club. We put the whitewater raft in at the kayak launch above the Sundial Bridge and started wade fishing at the riffle straight out from the launch. I was dredging a glo bug and PT dropper through a seam when I thought I must have hooked a salmon. I put a deep bend in my five weight to raise this log that to my surprise turned out to be a huge rainbow or a steelhead. When it got a good look at me it turned and broke my tippet. I wish I had followed Brian's advice to use 2X tippet and a seven weight, I may have been able to land that fish. There were a few other fishermen drifting but not much catching from what we could see as we landed three fish between us.
Next we headed to the Lower McCloud. The October caddis hatch was evident by the thousands of shucks stuck to the rocks in the river. I think the trout were stuffed with caddis because the fishing was slow, with about one fish per hour landed if you were good (or lucky). Most of mine were caught with a stimulator or an October caddis pupa.
The leaves are turning, it is a beautiful time of year to be on the river. - Greg Foy
Mid-September - Salmon River
In September I flew to Idaho and the Frank Church "River of No Return" Wilderness to raft and fish the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. There had been numerous fires in the area all summer and launches were cancelled for a couple of weeks in August due to heavy smoke. You have to fly into a little dirt airstrip to begin the trip and the heavy smoke made it almost impossible for the pilots to see the landing strip even in mid-September when I was there. I was on the river for 6 days, all of which proved good for fishing. The water was clear, the cutthroat trout were feisty and we rarely had to resort to subsurface flies. The weather could have been better. It was smoky the first couple of days. Then it rained quite a bit, which was ok with me, but the hunters along on the trip (billed as cast-and-blast, I later found out) didn't like the rain because it meant the chukar didn't have any reason to come down to the river, having plenty of water to drink from the sky. I was happy not to have the little birds being blasted up all around me (not my idea of how wilderness should sound) as the fishing was more peaceful. This all made the six hunters a little cranky by the fifth day, however, and they opted to row out a day early. The four fishing-only guests remaining, had a great last night with six guides to fix camp and meals (which were very good, by the way, with lots of dutch oven casseroles and cakes). The fire damage to the forests was extensive, even a few trees still smoldering as we rafted down 80 river miles, so the scenery wasn't as green as it might have been. However, the fires couldn't spoil the amazing rock walls of the canyon. There were a couple of hot springs, caves with Indian pictographs, hermits' cabins, fun rapids every day in between stretches of fishing water, and lots of wildlife including bears, long horned sheep, eagles...and chukar, lots of chukar. It was an interesting adventure. - Kathy O'Hara
Sept. 11 - Yucatan
I was fortunate to get back for a second trip to the Yucatan for permit, snook, bonefish and more baby tarpon. What a great trip!
I have been looking for a 10+ lb. snook for several years, and finally had a chance to catch one about 12 lbs. What a thrill, sight fishing for these wonderful fish in clear shallow water! In addition, I ended up with 6 permit for the week, including a Grand Slam on the last day (tarpon, bonefish and permit)!
In one area, we poled through the dense mangrove jungle, pulling on limbs to move us through the dense vegetation. As we approached a small lagoon, maybe the size of your house, the only cast I could make would be with the boat well back in the mangroves and me at the very front of the boat, at the edge of the trees. There was no way to cast...normally, so I stripped out line on the deck, and made the "small trout stream" bow-and-arrow flip into the lagoon. Although the fly landed a mere 15 feet in front of me, the small school of 15 lb. tarpon were slowly coming my way. With the neutral buoyancy fly suspended in front of me, I waited and finally watched as the lead tarpon rushed and inhaled the fly. A quick strip-strike, and 6-8 jumps, and he was by the boat for a picture.
Several new fly patterns were "born" on this trip too, and I am anxious to get them into production later this year.
Unfortunately, I had to cut the trip short, due to hurricane Dean, which eventually hit further south. The outfitter was sure it would spoil the fishing, with high winds and stained water, so I "got out of Dodge" and headed home with memories to last a lifetime!
More pictures and stories can be found on my blog: http://leehaskin.blogspot.com/ - Lee Haskin