Tales of fishing outings, all true!
July 20 - Loreto, Baja
The report out of Baja (via a telephone conversation from John Steele) had everyone catching fish. John and Harry Petrakis caught a "baker's dozen" of assorted sea creatures the previous day, including triggerfish, skipjack, lady fish, and several other species. The next day, John caught three good-sized dorado and Harry caught six. Pat Murray hooked a marlin, played it for over 45 minutes, until it shook off. The weather is hot, and so is the fishing, according to John. - Pat Steele
Mid July - Stanislaus River
The Hogye's made their annual Trek (not the bike, but Go Lance!) to the sierra last week to fish the Middle Fork of the Stanislaus.Ê Emily Hogye at 8 years old fished with her daddy the first night and hooked 10 fish on a "Patriot Wulff" pattern that the little wild Rainbow and Brown trout just wouldn't leave alone.Ê Daddy hooked and handed over several fish for Tommy Jr. and our friend Megan to reel in.Ê Our dog KK did her best land all the fish she could sink her teeth into and only got hooked herself, once.Ê Another great reason to make sure you are fishing barbless!Ê Great fishing for planted and wild rainbows using big #10 Golden Stone nymphs in pocket water that seemed to hold one or two fish in every hole.- Tom Hogye
July 3-16 - Montana
Spent 2 weeks (July 3-16)in Montana with Bruce Dau. Mainly fished the Madison between Raynold's Pass bridge and West Fork where the fishing was superb, despite almost daily thunder storms and lots of fishing pressure. We travelled around, fishing some of the
famous rivers, including the Gallatin, Rock Creek, the Missouri river, the Yellowstone River, Slough Creek and the Blackfoot River (which was so warm that it was more suitable for tubing and rafting than fishing. Montana fishing was everything and more than I had hoped: lots of big fish, fairly easy to catch. We had to use 3 and 4X tippet to avoid breaking off too many fish. I caught my first of many White fish, which are strong and fun to fish for; they run fast, straight and hard.
The scenery was gorgeous, and we saw a lot of wildlife I'd never seen outside of a zoo: bison, grizzly bear, moose, antelope and mule deer. - Jon Bowman
July 8-11 - Lake Almanor
Fished the last half of the Hex hatch. Weather had been cold for a week orso early in July which slowed the hatch and then it reappeared when the warm weather came back. Lots of folks out on the water. Got four fish one evening, all on a Hex nymph that I tied. Very little to no top water feeding. Beautiful evenings on the water--warm and balmy, flat calm water, glorious sunsets. These are incredible bugs if you have never seen them. Amazing how big and how yellow they are. All the local bug predators fishing with us: grebes, gulls, swallows, and nighthawks, and then bats when it got really dark. During the day, fished Crater Lake, about 45 min from Almanor. It's a little jewel of a lake in a volcanic crater. Crystal clear water. Terrible 5 miles of dirt road to get there. Caught a mess of planters, up to 14". - Betty Rentz
July 3 - 5 - Arnold-Bear Valley
Dick and I decided to brave the holiday mayhem for a chance to fish the waters of the Stanislaus River out of Arnold and Lake Alpine in Bear Valley. Much to our amazement, there was not the crush of people as we expected on the lake. On Saturday we float-tubed Lake Alpine. A major rain and lightning storm had pounded that area the day before, knocking out the water station that provided the lakeside campers with running water. The callebatis hatch, although very present morning and evening, didn't seem to attract the trout as it had the previous week. The fishing was extremely slow and frustrating until evening when the fish started feeding and I had a lot of fun "spot fishing" in the nearest cove to the dam. As the fish revealed themselves, I cast immediately and had moderate success with my callebatis dry fly, size 14. Those who were bank fishing with their worms and power bait (and remained fishless) could only cringe as I reeled in fish after fish, probably wishing they were in float tubes having as much fun as I. Who knows, that evening may have converted a few to flyfishing.
On Sunday, July 4th, Dick and I tried the Stanislaus River...BIG MISTAKE! Groups of partying picnickers, sunbathers, swimmers and bait-fishers were all crowding and splashing the waters. It was such a different scene from the week before during the Damsel Fishout when we virtually had the river to ourselves. Without wasting time, Dick and I headed for Beaver Creek, 8.7 miles from the Calaveras St. Park entrance. We lucked out. The pretty little creek was "far from the maddening crowds" and we had it to ourselves. The fish were 5" at best, but very eager and willing to take our dry flies. Beaver Creek is a small open stream, perfect for flyfishing. Beautiful wildflowers dressed the banks in yellow, orange, blue, violet, pink and white. The wild azaleas had fresh perfumey blooms that turned your head when passing. A nice discovery. On Monday, we arrived early and stayed late at Lake Alpine hoping for a better day of fishing, but were sadly disappointed. It was worse...one fish in 8 hrs.! - Cecilia Stipes
June 25-28 - Bear Valley
I have never experienced a better time with five other women before, and in such a beautiful setting! We stayed in a great dome house near restaurants, groceries, fuel, atm's and even a fly fishing shop where the owner was very helpful with knots and local fishing information. We enjoyed each other's company, great food, thunder and lightning storms, mosquitoes, lakeside snow, a forest fire, and surprise - fresh bear scat! I loved gazing at the flowing waters and granite boulders of the Pacific Creek and the Stanislaus River, and admiring the aquatic and terrestrial insects at the edges of Alpine Lake and Mosquito Lake. Oh, yeah and there were fish caught too! Lots of little ones played with and chased my flies each time I reeled in, and a slightly larger one was actually hooked which I believe was a brook trout. My flies had a real workout, and some found new homes. Although challenging at such a high altitude, listening to the birds and smelling the pine forest, and feeling the warmth of the sun was a very nice change of pace for me, and I truly enjoyed the experience! - Carrie Kojak
June 12 - O'Connell Bourdet Ranch
Bass fishing on the O'Connell Ranch...what a wonderful day Cecilia arranged for us. Rode up over the ridge with Elaine Cook and Coleman Segal and dropped down into the ponds. Got the float tubes blown up. It was Coleman's first time in a float tube and he did great. His grin as he caught the big bass was just tremendous. Of course when I hooked into that lunker everyone had left the pond for lunch...or is that just another fishy tale? Thank you, Cecilia for another amazing fishing experience. - Lee Fitzsimmons
June 11 - 23 - California to Montana
June 11: Lake Margaret, which is part of the Wilderness Unlimited group of Lakes, near Bidwell. Not much size, but caught all the 12-14" fish I wanted. Three people on the lake that day.
June 12: McCumber Lake. Good day on the lake, using stillwater nymphs and stillwater callibaetis nymphs. Largest a 17" brown. A few rainbows in the 15" range and also lots of smaller 10-12" planters.
June 13-14: Davis Lake. Fishing was slow in the afternoon, better in the morning. Didn't see any hookups around me, fishing at Fugawi Point (Jenkins), Eagle Point, and Camp 5. Only hooked into two, but they were big fish. One flew into the air and spit the hook, and the other I landed. Nice 22 incher. Used a new articulated damsel pattern.
June 15-17: Headed north to Western Wyoming to fish the Greys River. Found water conditions too high to fish, so we decided to head on to West Yellowstone. Had one good day of fishing on the Firehole River in Yellowstone Park. Nothing big, largest 15", but a fun day. Elaine, as usual, outfished everyone.
June 19-23: Fished Kipp, Hidden, McGee, Mission, Duck Lakes. These are only a few of the lakes scattered on the Blackfeet reservation, and didn't try any streams--Cut Bank and Two Medicine creeks are beautiful looking water, though, and supposed to be filled with native cutthroat. As advertised, there are big fish in the lakes. All the lakes had great weed beds and lots of feed. Best success was at Mission Lake. Had two days when I caught nothing under 17". 1X and 2X tippet are mandatory, and even then you will occasionally get broken off. These are big, strong, and very heavy fish, with large girths, and great fight in them. Largest was a 24" brown that went about 8 lbs. My backing saw the light of day many times. Best fly was a stillwater nymph, tied on #12 3x hook. Sheep creek nymphs also very good, from size 12-16. This was my friendÕs 18th year fishing these lakes--always at the same time in June. The East Glacier/Browing area really didn't have a spring, and weather conditions have been colder than normal. Many of the hatches (particularly the damsels hatch in all the lakes and the caddis hatch on Duck Lake) really hadn't begun to happen yet. When this caddis hatch occurs, it's strictly dry fly action in the evening at Duck Lake. I did get a small taste of what it could be like one evening. Almost no caddis showing, but I put out a large stimulator and got two hits--one was explosive, as a huge fish smashed into my fly. Hooked him, but came unbuttoned. The Blackfeet Reservation is a long way away, but I'd definitely go back. Great fish to be had, and the views of the eastern front of the Rockies is breathtaking. Unless you are there with someone who knows his way around, you would need a guide. Lakes can be hard to find. Maps are very, very sketchy, and many of the lakes are down miles of bad dirt roads that go through the pastures. Glad I went. Betty Rentz
June 1st - Santa Cruz
At the beginning of June Jim Lazarotti hit the jackpot fishing our local surf. He was out there at the crack of dawn searching for surf perch, of which he found a number of small ones. Then all of a sudden in a very small rip, he cast a fly expecting nothing, saw a swirl, set upƒ and wow, he was hooked up! His 5-wt. rod and 6-lb test were put to task. For 15 minutes Jim tapped his years of experience and carefully played and landed a 12 pound striper. So you ask, "what fly did he use?" See the July "Fly of the Month." - Elaine Cook
May 30 - Owens Valley
The Hogye family headed east over the Sierra to one of our favorite spots over the Memorial Day weekend - Bishop and the Owens Valley. While the trip was mostly fishin' for mules and donkeys, I made it out for a couple hours of good quality time on the river by myself. Currently, the Owens is a picture of its slower meandering self of some eight or nine years ago when Mona and I first stumbled on this great river. Much less flow this year. I fished size 16 bead head hares ear, hooked eight nice brown's and landed four in just about an hour. I stuck a 15" fish in some faster water and then realized I left my net in my garage. Got a nice look at it, before the current would help me release the fish hands free! Later that night, we took some friends of ours and the kids out in the desert for fishing. Nothing happening until it was dark enough you couldn't see your fly. The hatch was on and the fish were rising. I threw a #16 Blue Winged Olive on the water and kept raising my rod tip every time I saw a rise until I finally hooked a nice 12" fish that all the kids had to get their hands on before I released it. For the most part I was like an alcoholic in rehab in a liquor store. Fishing all around me, but more time spent with my children and wife than fishing. It's nice to see at least the waters are still there waiting for me and the fish are getting bigger and the addiction isn't so bad after all! - Tom Hogye
May 29-30 - Deer Creek
Zeke and I fished upper Deer Creek, a tributary to the Sacramento River, on May 29-30 and caught many small rainbows. We were relatively near Barkley Mountain, in proposed wilderness on the Lassen National Forest. The creek was lovely; very little fishing pressure, cool riparian canyon, and no people at all, once the creek side trails end. The only hard part was backpacking while wearing waders! - Sus Danner
Klamath River at Copco (above Irongate)
For the 12th consecutive year Dick and I returned to the Klamath River to camp and fish the wild trout at the California-Oregon border. We join 7-8 families annually to fish "the stone and salmon fly hatches" that occurs generally at this time. This year due to the earlier hot days in April, we missed the hatch by 1-1/2 wks. The caddis, mayflies and midges were everywhere. There were some successful takes on yellow and orange stimulators by Dick, but I had more success and more fun with the Henryville caddis or copper Johns. We were fortunate one day to fish with permission on private land that offered us a perfect stretch of water. The riffles and slow waters were very productive. Trout ranged mostly 12 - 16 inches. - Cecilia Stipes