Fly Tackle Dealer show...new stuff

I was fortunate of enough to spend the last weekend at the Fly Tackle Dealer Show in Reno Nevada. I have been going to "the show" for the better part of 12 years...the first time I went it was in Salt Lake City and I had my first run with JaegerMeister and the security of "The Temple"...bad mix. I was  21 years young and have never touched Jaeger again...thats how bad it was. The show moved to Denver and I made that jaunt for a number of years, missed a year or two, then the show went to New Orleans, and now landed in Denver.

The size of the show, number or dealers (brands), and retailers that show up has gone down like a 747 with out engines at 32000 feet. The reasons are complex and not something that I concern myself with but it was an eye opener as to how small the show has actually gotten in the last 5 years.

My main reason for going this year was that Cast Hope (www.casthope.org) was hosting a happy hour at the Scotts Fly Rod booth and as a Scott, Echo Rods, and Air Flo pro-staffer I needed to make an appearance to support the brands. The Happy Hour went great!!!! We handed out 200 Klean Kanteen Pints and killed a keg in 30minutes...impressive. Cast Hope got a lot of much needed promotion, was able to thank those that have supported us over the last 4 years, and we were able to introduce ourselves and our organization to much of the industry. Great event and one I am sure will help Cast Hope grow.

I was also fortunate enough to see all the new product coming out. Here is a quick summary...

Scott has released a 8' 8wt, 9wt, and 10wt in their S4S series...They are sick! great striper or largemouth rods for Northern California. I will ordering the 8 and 9wt to hopefully throw fall top water flies for the bass and stripers. Also the new L3H spey line of rods was a big hit. I am not a big spey guy so I can't talk to inteligently about them but I did cast them and liked them a lot.

Echo Rods has some really cool new new one piece salt rods in echo 3 line and value switch rods for 200-400$. Also the echo ion reel is a deal for the price! I ordered a few my nymph rods and basic trout rods.

Air Flo Lines has some cool new stuff as well. The Sniper Striper line is by far the best shooting head line I have ever fished and their Range Floating lines are pretty sweet as well.

Simms as always had some really cool new gear out as well. All there new gear is up on their website but the new Ocean Trek boot is pretty slick for wading for carp and over rocky bottoms like possibly the Yuba. The cold weather shirts are pretty sweet as well. May get in touch with my inner lumber jack this winter and role one of them on Butte Creek. The Fall Run Jacket (synthetic down jacket) is pretty sweet and warm looking as well.


NRS had a sweet inflatable drift boat on display and Adipose skiffs were there and they look really cool...not sure they could hang in the swirls on the Sac but they look great for the Lower Yuba and Feather.

Here we come Fall

It is going to be hot this week in Nor Cal but the days are getting shorter, salmon are in the rivers, and fall fishing is right around the corner. Here is what is going on right now and what is coming up…

The Lower Yuba is still around 2300 cfs and mid summer fishing is going strong with good nymphing during the morning and then on most days we are throwing hoppers against the bank from lunch on. All the big fish are coming on hoppers fished tight to the banks with a few 18-20” fish taken on dries over the last few weeks. This has been by far one of the best hopper years I have seen in my life and we still have a few weeks left of it I imagine.

We are seeing a few salmon in the river in the deeper holes and I expect the river will began to drop in the next month or so pushing more salmon into the river. The upper river will close August 31 and the egg bite on the Lower Yuba usually begins the last two weeks of Sept.

The Lower Sacramento for trout has been fishing very well in the lower river from barge hole down to Bend. The lower sac down low is a great mid summer fishery and even with the opening of salmon season down through here fishing has remained strong. Two of the best days I have had down here were the salmon opener and the day after the salmon opener. I have already hooked my first fin clipped steelhead on the L. Sac and August and early September are the time to chase steelhead down low on the sac through Los Molinos before the fish move into the tributaries.

Striper Fishing is going strong with good numbers of 4-8lb fish being caught. I have seen big fish but the biggest I have seen hooked are in the 11-15lb class. Striper fishing on the L. Sac should remain good through mid September but Right NOW is prime time and top water should be getting good any day as the weeds just showed up in the last week.

Lower Feather has plenty of salmon in the river and is shaping up for a great year of steelhead fishing. Prime time on the Lower Feather is Oct – Mid November. If anyone has the urge to tangle with a king salmon now is the time to go wade the Low Flow for catch and release king salmon fishing.

Butte Creek: While butte creek is more of a winter steelhead fishery its salmon run enters the river during the summer and from what I have heard and seen on a recent drive salmon returns are looking really good. Now we need some strong early winter storms to get the steelhead up.

With big salmon returns and good water levels this fall and winter should be great for both steelhead and trout fishing. If anyone has any questions or wants to book a trip give me a call or drop me an email.

Open Dates:

Aug: 26^th full Day. Evening striper trips ($225 for two anglers) 23, 24, 27, 31

Sept: 2, 3, 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30

Oct: 6, 7, 20, 21, 27, 28

Nov: 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 17-21, 24, 25

Dec: 1, 2, 8, 9, 14-23, 27-31

Up date

Ya it has been a while I know…Don’t judge.  I have been busy guiding, fishing, sampling fermented brews of sorts, playing music, and working on Cast Hope related stuff (www.casthope.org). Chico is in the midst of summer and fishing is good for those willing to get out and do it. Here some reports, ramblings, and declarative statements.

Lower Yuba River has been having a great summer. One of the best hopper years I have seen with great dry fly fishing throwing hopper patterns midday through the evening. Nymphing has been catching a few fish but most of the fish seem to be on the banks and not hanging in the riffles where most people nymph. Flows are hovering around 2200cfs so wading is a challenge and most of the fish have been catching are not in areas that are easily fished by wading. Ryan Johston had a client streamer fishing the other day and caught a few nice fish on streamers as well.

Lower Sacramento Trout fishing has been good on the lower floats from Barge Hole to Bend and I am thinking about going down lower this week as there should be some steelhead showing up soon, if not right now. The Sac should only start to fish m’’’’’l’river.

Lower Sacramento Striper fishing is good. With the opening of salmon season down through chico many of the stripers have moved out of the deeper water and are up on the banks chasing bait. As the shad have disappeared the stripers have gotten more grabby and both fishing subsurface and top water is catching fish. Now through August should be good to great fishing for stripers.

In other news…

Go buy the new Gas Light Anthem CD “Handwritten” …. Great American rock band. If you want a sampling check out this concert they did a the Ed Sullivan Theater.

http://www.cbs.com/late_night/liveonletterman/the_gaslight_anthem/video/?pid=0Ao51MeXfTWnwbR8AFs6fWg8pXt5KLTd&vs=Default&play=true