For anybody looking for some great videos on tying flies, I found another blogger that has compiled a great list of video sites. Check them out and follow his blog while you're at it!
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
A heads up on a great blog and some fly tying video links
Monday, November 21, 2011
Merced River
Woke up at 330am this past Saturday morning and drove out to the Merced River. I had heard that the fishing was hot last week and the Beatis were coming off pretty thick.
The trip was supposed to be me and my buddy Martin but he bailed on me at the last minute which is par for my weekend trips this fall. It was probably for the best because most of the fishing on the Merced is pocket water and its tough getting around. Martin is a little older with a bad knee.
I fished some nice seams and pockets for about an hour before hooking my first bow. A nice fat 13 inch fish. I had gone down to a 6x tippet and size 20 brown micro may so he took me down river a little ways before I could find a nice slow spot to land him.
I thought I had figured out the formula but that was the only fish of the day. I fished just about every fly in my box, fished them deep, shallow and everywhere in between.
There was a nice little hatch around 330 of some small Caddis, BWO and midges and I saw some sporadic rises. I did get a fish to come up to my #18 spotlight caddis but that was it.
If you go, take some #18 and #20Para Adams and brown and olive Micro Mays. Maybe some very small midge dries and emergers because I think that's maybe what the risers were eating but I didn't have any so I can't be sure. Take this advice with a grain of salt...I did only catch one fish.
The trip was supposed to be me and my buddy Martin but he bailed on me at the last minute which is par for my weekend trips this fall. It was probably for the best because most of the fishing on the Merced is pocket water and its tough getting around. Martin is a little older with a bad knee.
I fished some nice seams and pockets for about an hour before hooking my first bow. A nice fat 13 inch fish. I had gone down to a 6x tippet and size 20 brown micro may so he took me down river a little ways before I could find a nice slow spot to land him.
I thought I had figured out the formula but that was the only fish of the day. I fished just about every fly in my box, fished them deep, shallow and everywhere in between.
There was a nice little hatch around 330 of some small Caddis, BWO and midges and I saw some sporadic rises. I did get a fish to come up to my #18 spotlight caddis but that was it.
If you go, take some #18 and #20Para Adams and brown and olive Micro Mays. Maybe some very small midge dries and emergers because I think that's maybe what the risers were eating but I didn't have any so I can't be sure. Take this advice with a grain of salt...I did only catch one fish.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Our Boy Is All Grown Up
This past weekend was supposed to be a 3 day trip to the McCloud River. I'd tried to fish this river twice this past summer but both times something came up and I couldn't go.
The plan finally came together so me and a buddy from work were on our way to McCloud at 4am on Saturday morning.
The forecast was 4 inches of snow above 3000 feet, rain snow mix below that for the entire weekend and that's exactly what we got. Allen and I fished in the rain all day on Saturday at Ash Camp. We couldn't get down to Ah Di Na because we were supposed to meet our other buddy Nathan and he drives a... ahem...Miata.
I caught fish on a size 12 Irresistable October caddis and a size 16 flashback PT and size 18 PT dropper. I probably caught a dozen fish but all were small, from 6-10 inches. I switched to a nymph rig to try and get my flies into some deeper pools but I didn't catch anything. On Sunday I nymphed with October Caddis Pupa #12, copper johns, PT and even some midge patterns and could only manage one small fish. We had a nice PED hatch and I had some fish rise to my 16 Para Adams but didn't hook any.
We had to leave around 2pm because Allan hurt his shoulder or some bullshit.
Nathan never showed on Saturday night because his ahhh....Miata got stuck on a paved hill with about an inch of snow on it. He got a hotel in McCloud and left his car there while we fished on Saturday. We picked up the Miata after Allen pussied out and went home and drove down to the Upper Sac. Our options were pretty limited with the new ride so we just fished in Dunsmuir. We managed a couple of nice feisty bows on FKA Prince nymphs.
We decided our best bet for Monday was the Trinity. We knew that the crowds were epic, even on Monday but we thought we could probably find a nice run with out a million drift boats or old retired guys sitting there dying along with the salmon.
Luckily I brought my switch rod and my new 6 wt Helios. Nathan used my 6 weight since he only brought trout rods.
I wanted to swing but forgot my Skagit line. I still swung a black bantum for about an hour for nothing. I got frustrated with my shitty rig so I switched to nymphing with a black stone and a copper john. We used a bunch of other nymphs also. Nathan and I fished the run for about 5 hours and Nathan managed one nice Steelhead, one little half pounder, and I managed a big sucker. It was Nathans first chromer so he's finally come of age. Congrats! Welcome to the world of jerking awake at night while you set the hook in your dreams.
The plan finally came together so me and a buddy from work were on our way to McCloud at 4am on Saturday morning.
The forecast was 4 inches of snow above 3000 feet, rain snow mix below that for the entire weekend and that's exactly what we got. Allen and I fished in the rain all day on Saturday at Ash Camp. We couldn't get down to Ah Di Na because we were supposed to meet our other buddy Nathan and he drives a... ahem...Miata.
We had to leave around 2pm because Allan hurt his shoulder or some bullshit.
Nathan never showed on Saturday night because his ahhh....Miata got stuck on a paved hill with about an inch of snow on it. He got a hotel in McCloud and left his car there while we fished on Saturday. We picked up the Miata after Allen pussied out and went home and drove down to the Upper Sac. Our options were pretty limited with the new ride so we just fished in Dunsmuir. We managed a couple of nice feisty bows on FKA Prince nymphs.We decided our best bet for Monday was the Trinity. We knew that the crowds were epic, even on Monday but we thought we could probably find a nice run with out a million drift boats or old retired guys sitting there dying along with the salmon.
Luckily I brought my switch rod and my new 6 wt Helios. Nathan used my 6 weight since he only brought trout rods.
I wanted to swing but forgot my Skagit line. I still swung a black bantum for about an hour for nothing. I got frustrated with my shitty rig so I switched to nymphing with a black stone and a copper john. We used a bunch of other nymphs also. Nathan and I fished the run for about 5 hours and Nathan managed one nice Steelhead, one little half pounder, and I managed a big sucker. It was Nathans first chromer so he's finally come of age. Congrats! Welcome to the world of jerking awake at night while you set the hook in your dreams.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Picture of the Day: World-Class Landlocked Salmon
Just one more thing to look forward to if I ever move back to WI!!
Picture of the Day: World-Class Landlocked Salmon
Picture of the Day: World-Class Landlocked Salmon
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