Took a client up to walk and wade fish Yellow Creek up the NF Feather Canyon yesterday. I hadn't been there yet this season, but every time I go am suprised at how beautiful this little creek is. Great trail along side it that is nestled in a beautiful forrest canyon. Granted it was still hot, but no where near as hot as the valley. We caught and lost a bunch of little wild rainbows on dries and nymphs, nothing special just standard attractors, and had a great day.
Spent Saturday striper fishing on my own. Hit a ton of spots across about 5-10 miles of river and lost one nice fish and hooked a bunch of dinks. There is actually still plenty of shad around (hooked about 25 monday night) so I think most of the bigger stripers are still munching on shad. Making it very hard to interest them in my 4/0 clousers. Usually we don't start catching those until the shad numbers dwindle down.
Today and tomorrow I will be guiding the Lower Sac for trout from Barge hole to bend bridge, my favorite summer float on the L. Sac. Beautiful scenery, usually no other boats, and no back yards. I'll let you know how it goes.
Over and Out
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
A Little Small Stream Small Mouth
Did some chores around the house and then went to a little local stream for some small mouth fishing. I love small mouth and on this stream it is all site fishing. Granted the biggest fish you catch is about 14-16" they are a ton of fun on a 4 wt. Fished two holes caught about 15 fish and then went to Costco for handles of tequila and margarita mix, burquettes, and tri tip. Nice way to spend a day. Back on the Sac for stripers tomorrow. Over and Out
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Striper - Shad - L. Sac 6-24-09
Guided the L. Sac last night outside of chico, CA for shad and stripers. We put 3 nice stripers in the boat and missed a few other nice fish. Ran into a nice pod of shad from about 8pm on as well. Put about 20-25 shad in the boat in an hour with a few nice females mixed in. River still has a bit of color but definately fishable. Other than that I have my first golf lesson today (getting tired of my father mopping the floor with me everytime we play - he shoots high 70's - I think one lesson should get me there ;), and then I am back on the river this afternoon to search for more stripers. Over and Out
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Cast Hope
A very close friend of mine, and exceptional guide, Ryan Johnston came to me about a year ago with an idea to start a non profit organization. I must admit when I heard the words "non profit" from some one who is in their mid 20's, who has a Business degree from Davis, and a Masters in Business from Chico I thought maybe ole' Ryan had hit his head or spent way to many days confined in a boat in the sun. I also began to question the quality of education the business department at davis and my alma matter Chico was cranking out. Basiclly I thought anyone that wants to buy a house, start a family, and not be completely broke while paying off student loans would not start a non profit, guys that have made fortunes and need tax write offs start non profits.
Well over the last year I have watched him build this thing he calls Cast Hope from a simple idea talked about over beers to a full fledged 503(c) IRS approved non profit with a .org website, T-Shirts, Stationary, a board of directors, big money donations, and most of all a living working business.
You ask what it does?? well this is how Ryan puts it, "Cast Hope is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization aiming to positively impact the local Northern California community through the donation of guided fly fishing trips on Putah Creek, Sacramento, Feather, Yuba, and Trinity Rivers. Through each guided fly fishing trip it is our mission to foster and deepen relationships; refresh hearts, minds, and souls; create long-lasting, joyful memories; and provide opportunities for learning, loving, and reaching out."
How I see it: Cast hope is a group of guides that takes youth and adults on guided fishing trips for free and helps spread fly fishing and a love for the outdoors to those that need a little of it in their lives.
Yes I am involved as one of the guides for cast hope, but don't think much of that as when a friend like Ryan asks me to do something there is little I would say no to.
Why I bring this up here on the board is a) I don't think Ryan would "toot his own horn" b) it is a great organization and idea Ryan has and c) I was reading on American Angler online and they were having a survey as to the "up and coming people" in the fly fishing industry. Tiers, guides, photographers, etc. and one of the qualifications was that the person must be under 40 years old. Now no knock on those around or over 40 but when 40 years old is the bench mark for "up an coming" you have a sport or industry that is in serious trouble and in need of youth. The bottom line is that more people are dieing that fly fish than that are starting and that is a serious demographic issue. In an age where kids are glued to screens, whether it be video games, cell phones, or computers, and if the sport doesn't have extreme infront of it most aren't interested fly fishing is loosing a generation. I believe what Ryan is doing by introducing fly fishing to a generation that may never know it is an admirable thing and one that is criticly important to the industry and those that love the sport.
I know many fly clubs and organizations are involved in spreading our sport to the younger generations and I commend your work. If it wasn't for groups like you I would not have ever known the sport. There was a small group of guys from Nevada City, CA that took a chance on me a punk looking skater kid they saw one day in the fly shop and taught me everything they knew and I will be indebted to them the rest of my life for that. I think because of that I feel a bit bound to spread the sport and help younger people get involved. So.... as long winded as this seems... kudos to Ryan and check out what he is doing....hire a young guide.....talk to the youngest person you see in the fly shop.....take a kid fishing.....spread the sport.....The sport we love, the places we cherish, the shops we frequent, and the companies we like depend on it.
www.casthope.org
Well over the last year I have watched him build this thing he calls Cast Hope from a simple idea talked about over beers to a full fledged 503(c) IRS approved non profit with a .org website, T-Shirts, Stationary, a board of directors, big money donations, and most of all a living working business.
You ask what it does?? well this is how Ryan puts it, "Cast Hope is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization aiming to positively impact the local Northern California community through the donation of guided fly fishing trips on Putah Creek, Sacramento, Feather, Yuba, and Trinity Rivers. Through each guided fly fishing trip it is our mission to foster and deepen relationships; refresh hearts, minds, and souls; create long-lasting, joyful memories; and provide opportunities for learning, loving, and reaching out."
How I see it: Cast hope is a group of guides that takes youth and adults on guided fishing trips for free and helps spread fly fishing and a love for the outdoors to those that need a little of it in their lives.
Yes I am involved as one of the guides for cast hope, but don't think much of that as when a friend like Ryan asks me to do something there is little I would say no to.
Why I bring this up here on the board is a) I don't think Ryan would "toot his own horn" b) it is a great organization and idea Ryan has and c) I was reading on American Angler online and they were having a survey as to the "up and coming people" in the fly fishing industry. Tiers, guides, photographers, etc. and one of the qualifications was that the person must be under 40 years old. Now no knock on those around or over 40 but when 40 years old is the bench mark for "up an coming" you have a sport or industry that is in serious trouble and in need of youth. The bottom line is that more people are dieing that fly fish than that are starting and that is a serious demographic issue. In an age where kids are glued to screens, whether it be video games, cell phones, or computers, and if the sport doesn't have extreme infront of it most aren't interested fly fishing is loosing a generation. I believe what Ryan is doing by introducing fly fishing to a generation that may never know it is an admirable thing and one that is criticly important to the industry and those that love the sport.
I know many fly clubs and organizations are involved in spreading our sport to the younger generations and I commend your work. If it wasn't for groups like you I would not have ever known the sport. There was a small group of guys from Nevada City, CA that took a chance on me a punk looking skater kid they saw one day in the fly shop and taught me everything they knew and I will be indebted to them the rest of my life for that. I think because of that I feel a bit bound to spread the sport and help younger people get involved. So.... as long winded as this seems... kudos to Ryan and check out what he is doing....hire a young guide.....talk to the youngest person you see in the fly shop.....take a kid fishing.....spread the sport.....The sport we love, the places we cherish, the shops we frequent, and the companies we like depend on it.
www.casthope.org
Lower Yuba
Guided the Lower Yuba yesterday and fishing was good. River has dropped 300 cfs in the last few days but that didn't seem to affect the fishing. there was a few caddis flying around during the day but most fish were caught on Yuba Pupas and Rubber legs plus a few new buggs I am working on. Always good when the new stuff actually catches fish for clients and not just me. Found most fish in deep slots and runs not accessable to wade fisherman during the day. In the evening fish seemed to move into more accessable water. Evening hatch was a mix bag and not super thick. Saw little yellow sallies, caddis, PED's, and few drakes of some kind. Most fish that were rising were one and done. I didn't see any fish come up consistantly. If someone wanted to pound likely water with dries they may get lucky and get a few fish in the evening but continued to catch good numbers of fish on nymphs so it was hard to change. Most of the fish were good size 14-16" and we lost one PIG 22-24" fish at the boat after a few huge jumps and LONG runs.
It continues to amaze me how well the river has been fishing for the end of June. Usually it is a one hour deal at dark this time of year. My only guess is that the mild weather has kept bug activity consistent through out the day and the fish keep eating. Who Knows.
Today I am back on the L. Sac for stripers. I have a string of striper dates this week and the river is looking in good shape. I'll let you know how it goes.
Over and Out.
It continues to amaze me how well the river has been fishing for the end of June. Usually it is a one hour deal at dark this time of year. My only guess is that the mild weather has kept bug activity consistent through out the day and the fish keep eating. Who Knows.
Today I am back on the L. Sac for stripers. I have a string of striper dates this week and the river is looking in good shape. I'll let you know how it goes.
Over and Out.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Turning 30 and never wade fishing again...
Well I turned 30 years old yesterday...Crazy. I went up to Almanor to play 54 holes of golf with my dad on Friday (36 holes) and Saturday (18) morning. Turned out I came home to a huge suprise party that my parents, wife, and in laws had put together. Totally suprised...no freaken clue.... So cool though...I couldn't believe it.
So with that as my theme ... I also went wading fishing on the L. Yuba Wednesday. I had a few great guide dates in the last week there and I wanted to pull on some fish myself. Flows were about 2000cfs and I remember as a younger man tromping all over the river at flows up to about 3000. First of all, forget walking on rocks like that, about 500 yds into my hike down river I remembered why I fish out of a boat and hadn't actually walked and waded this river in so long. I wade it often but not more than 10yds from my boat. I don't consider myself out of shape either as everyday I don't row I ride my life cycle, but wading acrross the Yuba at 2000cfs was not as easy as it use to be. I fished for about 2 hours and caught one fish and realized that when this river is over 1000 cfs it is a truelly a drift boat river.
Thursday after mowing the lawn and what I know now were chores my wife was making me do to get ready for my own party, I went striper fishing out on the Sac. The river was still muddy from all the thunder storms and rain and I didn't hook a single fish...I did see a few monster blow up on pike minnows though which kept things interesting. I will be back out there tomorrow to see how things are going and then I have a few guide dates mid week for stripes.
More to come. Over and out.
Hogan
So with that as my theme ... I also went wading fishing on the L. Yuba Wednesday. I had a few great guide dates in the last week there and I wanted to pull on some fish myself. Flows were about 2000cfs and I remember as a younger man tromping all over the river at flows up to about 3000. First of all, forget walking on rocks like that, about 500 yds into my hike down river I remembered why I fish out of a boat and hadn't actually walked and waded this river in so long. I wade it often but not more than 10yds from my boat. I don't consider myself out of shape either as everyday I don't row I ride my life cycle, but wading acrross the Yuba at 2000cfs was not as easy as it use to be. I fished for about 2 hours and caught one fish and realized that when this river is over 1000 cfs it is a truelly a drift boat river.
Thursday after mowing the lawn and what I know now were chores my wife was making me do to get ready for my own party, I went striper fishing out on the Sac. The river was still muddy from all the thunder storms and rain and I didn't hook a single fish...I did see a few monster blow up on pike minnows though which kept things interesting. I will be back out there tomorrow to see how things are going and then I have a few guide dates mid week for stripes.
More to come. Over and out.
Hogan
Monday, June 15, 2009
Slide Shows...stomach flu...trout
Started the week by heading down to the bay area for a slide show presentation tuesday night at the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers. Great Club, by far one of the best I have spoke at. Headed back to the hotel full of Mexican food and talked out. Had a few Coors Lights and called it a night....thinking I would wake up early get go to Amoeba Records in Berkely and spend some dough on CD's then head into the City and see Keith W. at Leland and then mosey my way down to San Jose for my presentation at the San Jose Fly Club....Awesome Day....Well my plan took a huge diversion when I woke up at 330am feeling like a WWE match was going on in my stomach. Very quickly I was laying in bed with cold sweats and running back and forth to the toilet...Sorry house keeping at the Danville Best Western....
Well I had to cancel my presentation and go home as I had gotten a bad case of the stomach flu... as did my whole family. Wife and 1year old Oliver. So for wednesday and thursday me and my wife laid around eating saltines taking turns changing some really disgusting diaheria diapers. Fun.
Back on my feet by Friday - Got business taken care of to get back on the water Saturday.
Guided the L. Sac for trout on Saturday. Fishing was fair. River is blown out above Cow Creek and Posey Grounds is closed so there is like maybe two floats open on the whole river. this makes it a bit crowded. Sunday had planned to guide the Sac for stripers but the river was blown out so I had to move the trip the L. Yuba for trout. Definately a great day on the L. Yuba. I will insert a report here below but lets say I am headed over there for all my trout fishing until the weather gets smoken hot. Gonna try to get up to the NF Feather this week for some trout fishing as well. I told the wife it is my Birthday week. I turn 30 on Saturday. WOW. Where does all the time go. Over and Out
YUBA REPORT
Flows are stable and gin clear at 2000cfs or so which makes wading a little tough that said we did catch fish in wadeable spots. The last few days we have had about 15-20 hook ups and put about 10-15 fish in the boat. Good spread on size from 12-14" to a few 17-19" fish hooked and/or landed each day. Been fishing from about 10am to 7pm and fishing has been consistent all day with the cooler temps. Hatches have been sparse to fair with mainly caddis coming off in the evening but we have risen and caught plenty of fish on caddis dries throughout the day when there are just a few flying around (usually smaller fish though). Most of the fish caught on dries are in the riffles or against the bank, areas where I get clients out and wade fish them. We have also caught plenty of fish on nymphs - stoneflies and caddis pupa have been the best. Best thing though has been that there is no one on the river, I have had to move my striper trips to trout trips on the Yuba as the Sac has blown out. River should fish great as long as temps stay in the 75-90 degree range with cool evenings.
Well I had to cancel my presentation and go home as I had gotten a bad case of the stomach flu... as did my whole family. Wife and 1year old Oliver. So for wednesday and thursday me and my wife laid around eating saltines taking turns changing some really disgusting diaheria diapers. Fun.
Back on my feet by Friday - Got business taken care of to get back on the water Saturday.
Guided the L. Sac for trout on Saturday. Fishing was fair. River is blown out above Cow Creek and Posey Grounds is closed so there is like maybe two floats open on the whole river. this makes it a bit crowded. Sunday had planned to guide the Sac for stripers but the river was blown out so I had to move the trip the L. Yuba for trout. Definately a great day on the L. Yuba. I will insert a report here below but lets say I am headed over there for all my trout fishing until the weather gets smoken hot. Gonna try to get up to the NF Feather this week for some trout fishing as well. I told the wife it is my Birthday week. I turn 30 on Saturday. WOW. Where does all the time go. Over and Out
YUBA REPORT
Flows are stable and gin clear at 2000cfs or so which makes wading a little tough that said we did catch fish in wadeable spots. The last few days we have had about 15-20 hook ups and put about 10-15 fish in the boat. Good spread on size from 12-14" to a few 17-19" fish hooked and/or landed each day. Been fishing from about 10am to 7pm and fishing has been consistent all day with the cooler temps. Hatches have been sparse to fair with mainly caddis coming off in the evening but we have risen and caught plenty of fish on caddis dries throughout the day when there are just a few flying around (usually smaller fish though). Most of the fish caught on dries are in the riffles or against the bank, areas where I get clients out and wade fish them. We have also caught plenty of fish on nymphs - stoneflies and caddis pupa have been the best. Best thing though has been that there is no one on the river, I have had to move my striper trips to trout trips on the Yuba as the Sac has blown out. River should fish great as long as temps stay in the 75-90 degree range with cool evenings.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Trout???
I haven't been trout fishing in weeks but yesterday I helped my buddy Ryan Johnston out by rowing two young men down the river for his Cast Hope organization. This is a great non profit Ryan has started to introduce young people to fly fishing and do a little youth missionary while on the river. I am one of the guides involved and so proud of what Ryan is doing that I can't even began to explain it. In an age where kids are plugged into screens and our sport continues to be stagnant it has become an imperative that we introduce young people to our sport. Ryan and his board of directors are deeply committed to this mission and I am happy to be a part of this organization - Stay tuned for more info as Cast Hope Develops
With regards to fishing - The trout fishing on the L. Sac was tough but both young men caught their first trout on a fly rod and lost many more. The lower river outside of chico is still muddy but I am going to try to get out this afternoon to poke around for some stripers. Tomorrow I hit the road for some club presentations at the Diablo Valley Fly Casters and the San Jose Fly Club.
Over and out
With regards to fishing - The trout fishing on the L. Sac was tough but both young men caught their first trout on a fly rod and lost many more. The lower river outside of chico is still muddy but I am going to try to get out this afternoon to poke around for some stripers. Tomorrow I hit the road for some club presentations at the Diablo Valley Fly Casters and the San Jose Fly Club.
Over and out
Friday, June 5, 2009
June....really??
The weather the last few days has been crazy. One of the coolest lighting/thunder storms I have ever seen in CA the other night. Scarred the crap out of my dogs but didn't even wake up Oliver. Went out yesterday on the Sac outside of chico with a guide buddy of mine and managed a few small stripers and my buddy beat up on some shad while I drank a few wheat sodas. There wasn't anyone on the river and the fishing wasn't that bad for the river coming up about a foot and all the weird weather. Striper fishing should pick up again once the weather stabalizes and warms ups. Shad are still around so if anyone is still jonesing for shad they are here in numbers. Still no really big fish but what ever. Going to be back on the water Saturday and then some trout fishing on Sunday. I will down at the Diablo Valley Fly fishers on Tuesday and at the San Jose fly club on Wednesday giving slide slow presentations if anyone wants to swing by. Over and Out.
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