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Surf Fishout
by Sam Bishop

The Devil Mountain was with us May 9th. Yep, the Mt. Diablo Fly Fishers were there with us, plus a couple members from the Peninsula Club. Altogether I counted 15 people! Most everyone caught or hooked up on fish. Richard Gillan, not in our group (yet), caught a 29" Striper on a fly. We are recruiting him into the Club! Enjoying the morning were:
Mike McGuire PFF, Stephen Sykes PFF, Kirk Mathew SC, Casey Mathew SC, Jim Hall SC, Al Baltz DV, Rich Hughett SC, John Armstrong DV, Michael Diciano SC, John Gerk DV, Tom Bradley SC, Kirston Koth DV, Mike Matica SC, and others who did not sign in.

Pictured, Richard Gillam, non-member and Pat Marshall member. Pat is using a fly on the spinning rod he built, then he shifted to his fly rod.

As luck had it, our fishout coincided with the only rainy weekend sandwiched between two gloriously sunny, perfect fishing weekends. But, true to tradition, the spirit of this fishout on the Roostercomb Ranch was not dampened. All 20 members had a wonderful adventure, four of which were new to the Roostercomb experience and two who had never caught fish on a fly before.
The two ponds outside of the ranch property, Paradise and Jack Rabbit, fished well for those who made the hike. Chris Walters shared his very impressive handmade poppers with everyone, which added to our arsenals.
The "catching" was slim for many of us but no one went home skunked. Reg David broke his dry spell catching his first two fish with a rig using an uncommon bass fly: a size 18 parachute Adams submerged with a split shot. That has to be a first! Creativity is the Mother of invention, so it is said. Way to go, Reg!
Of course, it is never a complete adventure into the wilderness without a little car trouble and Chris Walters had his share with his Sportmobile popping fuses all the way out of the Henry Coe Park. Thanks to our host and rancher, Scott Wilkinson, Chris got help.

Those who came on this trip were: Elaine Cook, Lisa Lambert, Marcel Hamilton, Mike Matica, Stacey Murphy, Bill Seaman, Doug Severin, Chris Walters, Efrain Montana, Melody and Reg David, Bob and Kennette Roberts, Victor and Judy Inouye, Harry Schoonbaert, Sam and Elena Bishop, Richard and Cecilia Stipes.

John and I drove out to Utah and arrived on Saturday afternoon, May 9th. We checked in, and went to the fly shop to find out what the latest conditions were. We were told the downstream button-pushers were about to make a large release from the dam, which never bodes well for fishing. Our guide, Doug Burton, came over to talk to us about moving our first scheduled trip with him, originally on for Monday, to Sunday, to get ahead of the rising water. We agreed to go on a drift trip on Sunday.
Over the weekend, Rob Dumford and his girlfriend Molly came by to say hi and catch us up on their news. Rob recently moved to Colorado and is beginning his guiding career on the Gunnison River this season. Ray Dow dropped by and fished with us one day, too.
Sunday started out slow, we fished sub-surface and got a few, and later, managed to hit a few more on dries, mostly beetles and cicadas.
Monday, several others of our party went out, and reported that fishing was tough, but there were quite a few seen along the bank, and moderate success was had just below the dam. Further down, there was a lot of debris in the water, and it was quite roiled up from the increased flows.
Tuesday, a 40-50 MPH wind was blowing, so most of us stayed off the river. Several of the SCFF went to Jones Hole, which, because of its location, is protected from the wind. It's at the bottom of 2,000-foot-deep gorge that runs along the border between Utah and Colorado in Dinosaur National Monument. The creek is fed from a number of small springs at the head of the canyon and along its sides. It's a beautiful, brushy little brook, and is home to many healthy rainbow trout, ranging in size from 12 to 17 inches. Elaine Cook and Kathy Powers, and Dave and Kelly Lehrian had good luck there, and raved about how pretty it was.
Some of the others in our group went to Antelope Flats, a launch ramp area at the Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The rainbows were spawning up close to shore, so they were very cooperative. Bob Peterson and Tom Pelikan, and Andy and Jeannie Moreland had fun landing and releasing many fat fish there.
We went to Antelope Flats ourselves on Wednesday, then did two more consecutive days of drift trips with our guide on Thursday and Friday. Friday was especially productive in the morning, but we only brought one fish to the boat after lunch.
All in all, our group, John and I, Kelly and David Lehrian, Kathy and Dave Powers, Elaine Cook, Tom Pelikan, Doug Severin, Bob Peterson and Andy and Jeannie Moreland, had a lot of fishing fun, and found new places to fish in the area when the river was not as productive. To say we were fed well by Grace Breer and her crew would be a gross understatement. Ask Tom Pelikan about the meatloaf!
Despite a tragic accident that claimed the life the Trout Creek Flies proprietor, Denny Breer, our favorite outfitter and guide service is still in business, and John and I are very thankful they still are able to provide us with the best guiding, lodging and personal attention they've always given us.

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