Tales of fishing outings, all true!
September 9-12 - Crowley Lake
Wanted to fish Crowley before the fish were traumatized by the Double Haul tournament. Had heard that fishing in previous weeks had been the best in years. Wasn't disappointed. They planted the lake late this year, doing it right after Labor Day, instead of the first of August. It took a while for the planters to spread out. Thursday and Friday were great fishing. Only one small fish. Everything else in the 15-20" range. Each day landed between 15-25 fish. My partners did the same. Saturday saw an increase in planters that were caught, about half and half, and by Sunday, mostly planters with only a few large fish. Fished the 6-Bay area, in float tubes, stripping streamers (Loeberg the best pattern) along the weed lines and also midged under an indicator from shore. Not everyone was having success out on the lake, however. My partners and I seemed to have it dialed in. Most folks fishing near us in tubes got 1-3 fish each. In general, the people who midged under an indicator did very well. Anxious to get back there for the club fishout. - Betty Rentz
Sept. 2nd, 2004 - Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja Mexico
Fishing alone on the bow of the Royal Polaris, I was soon joined by another fisherman and a deck hand. The other fisherman was working on a 60 to 70 pound yellowfin tuna and the deck hand was standing by to assist in the landing of the fish. I stopped fishing and watched. After straining hard for 15 minutes the angler got the tuna to within 80 feet of the boat. I could see the fish flash in the depths of the gin clear water.
As we were watching the battle, a shadow emerged from under the boat and headed for the angler's tuna. Then his line went limp. There was a slight bend in the rod as he wound up line. Now near the surface and only 50 feet from the boat we see his tuna has been cut in half. The shadow appears again and follows what's left of the tuna to within 40 feet of the boat. Now in plain view and 40 feet away I cannot believe what is unfolding before my very eyes.
Think back to the shark documentaries and/or Jaws, the movie, and recollect the biggest shark you have ever seen opening his mouth and rolling back its upper lip baring the most formidable set of dentures you have ever seen. The kind you have dreams about. Bad dreams.
I stood in complete awe as I watched what the captain, Frank Lo Preste said was the largest great white shark he had ever seen off these islands (and he has been coming down here for over 30 years). He estimated it at 3000 pounds and 20 feet plus. This fish came up from behind the tuna and took another bite, rolling back his upper lip exposing those pearly whites. They were massive. He was as wide as a Volkswagen, maybe even a Buick and just as thick. Can you hear the music?
By now I'm screaming for everyone to come to the bow to see it and burning film with my little disposable camera. (I will have to rethink carrying a better camera, this was a photo op chance of a lifetime.)
Anyhow those who were lucky enough to be there early got a good look at this magnificent creature demonstrating its power, patience, grace and fury all in plain view.
My pictures capture some of it but leave much to be desired. Oh for a Leica with a 100mm lens.
A footnote: I have been there before and there were always Mexican fishermen around. They would come to the boat in their pangas and we would give them hooks and line. I asked one of the deck hands where the Pangeros were this year. He said that they were abalone divers and that last year 8 of the poor souls were taken by sharks so they quit diving in the area. - Harry Petrakis
August 11th to 15th - Ketchum Idaho
My son-in-law Sam Cannon and his brother John and I spent 5 great days in Ketchum. We made daily forays to the surrounding streams and partook of the abundant great restaurants and shopping opportunities.
Since Sam and John had never fly fished, we hired a guide for the first day from the local fly shop. We fished the Big Lost River about 15 miles from Ketchum. I took pictures while the guide oriented Sam and John to the fly rod above the creek in the sagebrush. Then we descended on the river en masse.
As do most of the streams in the Ketchum area this one gets a lot of fishing pressure. We still found good numbers of native rainbows and a few cutthroats. John, Sam and I hooked fish, mostly on size 14 Elk hair caddis. The fish were 10 to 11 inches and strong for their size. John and Sam were enthusiastic pupils, embracing the long rod and ultimately hooking fish everywhere we fished.
The Big Wood River was our destination for the next two days. There were fish rising frequently and they liked some of our offerings, Elk hair caddis and Hopper-droppers in particular. Large attractor flies like a size 12 Royal Wulff worked well here and on all the waters around Ketchum. Something you rarely get to try in California-fishing these larger flies dry is great fun.
I managed to sneak away by myself for a morning, and an evening, to Silver Creek. The weather was absolutely beautiful if you don't count the storm cell that descended on the south end of the valley where I was fishing the first evening. It was one of the highlights of the trip. Within 15 minutes it went from clouds in the distance to rain and 40mph winds with gusts to 45, making it hard to stand up. Casting was a cinch though. I would find lee spots below the tulles and raise my rod and let the wind take the fly pretty much where ever I wanted. It was a fun game and I was pleased with myself but I caught nothing. After an hour things returned to normal and I began to dry off.
I looked for and found a spot I had fished 20 years earlier. I had it all to myself and soon realized why: again, I caught nothing but I fished some gorgeous and hallowed water. Silver Creek then turned her bugs on me. I clearly remember passing my hand through a swarm of mosquitoes directly over my head, then opening my hand counting 7 squished mosquitoes.
Talk about selective fish, at the conservancy portion I encountered fish rising but I did not have what they were eating whichÊwere very small nymphs, so I was told. If I had a week I might manage one fish. Call me crazy but I want to go back to Silver Creek and it looks like I might be bringing Sam and John with me as we decided to make this an annual trip. Hope we're still friends at the end of the day. - Harry Petrakis
Late July - Kenai River
My poker group went to the Kenai River at the end of July for the running of the "reds" (sockeye). During the run there are millions of 15-30 lb reds swimming up river, about 2-10 feet from the cut banks...there are also thousands of people fishing for them (combat fishing is not figurative here). Limit is 6 a day and natives are allowed to haul these out in 2 minutes with a net. "Fishing" is a relative term. Reds are plankton eaters and don't actually strike, so you snag them with 10 feet of line, a heavy weight and a large bare hook. This is really foreign territory for us catch & release types who enjoy the solitude of fishing. These sockeye put up a hell of a fight on a fly rod though and are the best eating of all salmon. For fly fisherman, this "slapping the water" type of fishing gets boring in a hurry, not to mention that it will give you bursitis after a few days. The weather is Alaska this time of year is also very dreary and foggy. My suggestion is that if you want to fish for reds, only plan on it for a couple of days, and then fly to some other part of Alaska for some diversity. - Dave South