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Roostercomb Ranch, April 25-27, 2008
by Cecilia Stipes

The first Roostercomb Ranch bass fishout was comprised of 22 members: Tom and Sonia Deetz, Tom Bradley and son, Pearson, Elaine Cook and granddaughter, Lisa Lambert, Sam and Elena Bishop, Kent and Sharon Hull and grandson, Pippin, Mike and Cindy Phinn, Bob and Kennette Roberts, Mike Matica, Kirk Mathew, Efrain Montana, Doug Severin, Dick and Cecilia Stipes, and Christ Walters. Our ranch host, Scott Wilkinson, and two other men were along to assist us. As always, the atmosphere was spirited, weather was perfect, wildflowers abundant, and the fish-gods treated us well.
Due to an infestation of "duck weed" in "Tule", one of our favorite ponds, we were not permitted to fish it. Scott made an arrangement with a neighboring rancher who offered his pond to our group for the 3 days. The Eastman pond had an idyllic setting of lawn, tree house and swing, windmills and even a standup cutout of Mr. Eastman's image that greeted us from across the pond. The bass were willing takers of Kennette's "Midnight Cowboy" and Cecilia's deer-hair mouse imitations with which she caught her largest bass from under a willow. Pearson Bradley had an exciting experience when Mr. Eastman found a rattlesnake near the house, took out his gun and shot it.
Efrain, Mike, and Sam had a lot of success fishing "Pine". They couldn't throw anything at the bass that they didn't like. "Secret" also provided 3 days of good fishing for the Roberts and Phinns and Stipes. Elaine, Lisa, and Doug fished "Paradise" and Tom Deetz hiked to "Jack Rabbit", the 2 ponds outside of the ranch, and had record days. Elena, Sonia and Sharon enjoyed hours of bird-watching while walking the meadows and trails and even while sitting on the porch. Elena sighted 61 different birds during the 3 days.
For whatever reason, the fishing was completely off at "Buzzard" which has always been a good pond in the past that holds big bass. "Shadow" was not as good as it generally is. Tom Deetz and Doug had another record day at "Harvey", a small but deep pond that holds lots of big bass. Tom continually changed flies; they liked everything. Tom Bradley and Pearson had a great time riding around in a Jeep, catching some big bass and having a memorable father-son weekend. And Kent shared a good trip with his grandson, Pippin, who float-tubed for the first time and caught his first fish on a fly he tied, the "Chernobyl Ant".
And, as with other fishouts, once again, there wasn't enough food!

Sam, Sam, Mike, Mike, and Kirk were the team on Saturday May 10, fishing Palm Beach (Pajaro Dunes).

Sam, Sam, Mike and Mike would swear there were no fish, but Kirk helped us understand otherwise, landing nine Stripers and three Perch! Way to go Kirk, second time in a row you showed us it can be done!

Our next surf fishout is Manresa Beach on Saturday, June 7 at 06:15 AM. See you there! From Highway 1, south of Aptos, San Andreas Road heads southwest and continues to Manresa, the first beach access upon reaching the coast.

Last year, in the second week of May, the road on the way in to Dutch John, Utah, was snow-covered and hazardous to negotiate. This year, the road was dry and clear, so travel wasn't quite so dicey, but subsequent days of snow, rain and WIND made fishing a battle. If it weren't for the expert help we got from our guides, it might have been unproductive, but Denny and Grace Breer and Trout Creek Flies wouldn't allow that to happen.
Our party was smaller this year, numbering only eight: Kelly and Dave Lehrian, Tom Pelikan, Doug Severin, Elaine Cook, Kathy Powers, and John and myself. We were all able to stay together at the Trout Creek Flies lodging. Our meals were all delicious, prepared by Grace Breer and Doug Rolofson, who does marinated pork chops to die for.
John and I were scheduled to go out with our guide, Doug Burton, on Monday, but the weather and wind were fierce enough that day that Doug wisely postponed our day with him until Tuesday. Fishing from the bank of the river was difficult, as most of the fish were out in the middle. Usually, they are lined up along the bank, but this year, because of the low level of the river, they were further out. There were very few rising fish to cast to, so the only success to be had was by fishing with a dry cicada and a dropper.

On Tuesday, we bundled up and went on a drift trip down the upper part of the river, just below the dam, designated the "A" section. Doug Burton set us up with indicator rigs, and we did very well. Still, John prefers dry fly fishing, and later in the day, we managed to get some risers to hit on cicadas. As quickly as the dry fly action began, it stopped, so we had to resume the subsurface tactics. The wind was moderate, and we managed to cope with it, and had a relatively good day. Having a hot, fresh-cooked streamside lunch fortified us, too.
On Wednesday, we went on a drift trip with Gene Gautieri. Gene is a great teacher, and had us doing his "skimming" technique. He set us up with two different depth rigs, each with an indicator, two droppers, and some split shot. This setup is a nightmare to cast without tangling up-the only way to get it into the water in one piece is to water-load it on one side of the boat, and just dishrag-flop it over. Once that's accomplished, keeping it in the water is the best idea, so when in shallow water, where it might get snagged, Gene had us do a reverse mend (downstream) to lift it up off the bottom. I got more takes on the lower fly by skimming than I did when I had a good drift, which surprised me. John got more on the drift, but I think he was rigged shallower than I was. We doubled four times that day, and the icing on the cake was when Gene fixed some yummy, hot Philly cheesesteak sandwiches for us for lunch.
On Thursday, we were supposed to go out with Doug Burton again, on the "B" section of the river, but the wind was already up at breakfast time, so Doug suggested we go on the "A" section again, which, being down in the canyon, is more sheltered than the "B", which is more wide open. The morning was OK, with most of the takes on bead heads and other weighted, sub-surface flies.
After lunch, we did a bit of dry fly fishing while the fish were taking flies on the surface, but the wind came up with a vengeance, upstream, right into our faces, making casting impossible. I always think it's just me; that I'm a wimp, but when the guide grabs the rod and re-rigs it for indicator/midge fishing again, I guess it's the wind. I caught, landed and released the majority of the fish brought to the boat that day, which was very edifying. John almost caught up to me at the end, though.
On Friday, John and I went to Sheep Creek, where there are some spawning grounds. The rainbows were doing what they do to make more fish, and there were a few unsporting types taking fish, which I found upsetting, kind of like somebody coming into your bedroom with a shotgun. As interesting as it was, I didn't really want to stay around there very long.
We had a minor medical emergency with one of our party, who suffered a bit of heat exhaustion and dehydration. It was good to have Elaine, our resident nurse, to minister to the patient, who recovered in time to eat dinner.
Other than that, we all came away with a positive fishing experience, and we can't wait until next May to go do it again. The Green River is still a healthy, thriving fishery, in a gorgeous setting, so if you are the least bit curious about it, make plans to join us the second week of May 2009!

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