Gas tank holes, blown trailer bearings, fishing reports, and fly news

It has been a bit sense my last post and when that happens I have to sort through the randomness that is my “blog post material” for what I deem will be the most entertaining for those wasting time on their phone, in their cubicle, on their couch or my preferred blog reading station my couch during commercials. I am going to mix in some fishing reports, fly news, and random tales life to entertain…here goes.

Gas Tank Holes and Blown Trailer Bearings 

2 weeks ago I went out to my truck to go to band practice and I realized that my truck was really low on gas. No big deal I thought, I’ll get some gas on the way. I pulled up to the station and started pumping gas into my tank and heard the rushing sound of water…I looked down to see gas pouring out the bottom of my gas tank through a small hole. My first thought was that I punctured my gas tank while putting my boat in on the Yuba that weekend…then the guy next to me getting gas looked at my situation and said “someone drilled your tank and stole your gas”…I thought no way, not on my cul-de-sac in my neighborhood. I live in a nice neighborhood….oh wait that is where people go to steal things.

So, I drove home and parked my truck where it had been parked, got out and looked down to see a small curly cue from a drill and a small puddle of gas…shit. The only solace I took was that there was nearly no gas in the tank so at best the meth heads who stole my gas got a few gallons…when I began to think about it I bet they saw my big truck and thought they had hit meth head gas thief Valhalla and that there crappy econo line van with a generator they used to cook meth would run for years now. I even hoped that the next time they did it the friction from the drill would ignite the gas and blow them to smithereens.

With my truck out of commission I had to borrow Ryan J’s old suburban to guide…It has 290,000 miles on it and a miss firing piston that gives you a back message every time it idles and makes the check engine light blink on and off, which according to any car I have ever owned means “pull over immediately and get to a mechanic” but according to Ryan is fine.

Pretty crappy way to start a day

That Saturday I had to drive to the Lower Yuba to guide so I showed up and met my clients under the bridge and as I was driving away to launch my boat my client says “hey your tire is falling off your trailer…” I get out and to my surprise it was. I had blown a bearing on my passenger side trailer tire…Yes, I know they need to be lubricated, and yes I take my trailer to Les Schwab on East Ave in Chico ounce a year for service, but I will get to that…With a busted bearing I had to send my client home and call a tow truck. Luckily he lived just up the road in Nevada City and was fine with that. With that I called a tow truck and was told it would take 1hour for the truck to get there…I waited. Took a walk up river to watch some salmon, which there is a ton of, and waited some more. An hour and a half passed, so I called the tow truck company to find out the tow truck that was coming to tow me had broken down on the way and would be another hour or two…awesome. Eventually around noon a tow truck showed up and towed the trailer to a mechanic in Penn Valley my parents use.

Well Les Schwab on east ave had been lubing the front bearings on each tire only…not the back set as well and both sets blew. Thanks Les Schwab on East Ave in Chico, CA.

That said I got back on the road and the water this last week and here is the reports…

Lower Yuba River

The river is fishing really well. There is salmon on reds all the way from the bridge down to the Diversion Dam. Fish are eating eggs, stonefly nymphs, and small baetis and caddis patterns. One thing that surprised me was how many fish I saw in the flats eating what appeared to be small isonychia mayflies (found some schucks in the back coves and slack water that had washed off the rocks) and caddis. If I had brought dry fly rods I think the dry fly fishing would have been pretty darn good. We floated some nymphs in the film and got some grabs but not the same as getting a fish on a dry. We caught a few fin clipped steelhead on the days I was out there and lost a few big fish that I think may have been steelhead as well. Fish seemed to be spread out pretty well still even though the main food source this time of year is in the shallows where there are egg laying salmon. Fishing should continue to be good through the next few weeks as more and more salmon spawn.

Lower Sacramento River

I drifted from Balls Ferry to Jelly’s Ferry the days I was out there and fishing was good. There are fish piled in the reds eating eggs and in the riffles where there are spawning salmon at the top. Nearly all of the fish we caught came on egg patterns and in egg water. I was on the float with two other boats and both the other boats hooked fin clipped steelhead. We were not as lucky but it was good to see that they are out there and around. Fishing should continue through the fall and winter and crowds should begin to thin out as the Trinity picks up.

Feather River

The Feather River is fishing good for fall steelhead. There are fish spread out in the Low Flow and High Flow sections of the river. Most fish are being caught on egg patterns and it pays to be the first guy through the run with an egg pattern. Salmon season closed October 15^th so the lower river should be a bit more open as the salmon anglers are cleared out. Fresh fish should move up river through October and rain will help. Best fishing is early and late or on overcast days.

My Flies…

With the all the drama swirling around the inter web and the water cooler in your local fly shop I wanted to fill everyone in on the status of the commercial production of my flies. For the last 9 years I have been a signature tier for Idylwilde. Idylwilde lost its production facility in the Philippines this last spring and was unable to deliver flies this summer. They worked hard all summer to get a new facility up and running to resume production and get back on track for 2014.

Signed and delivered

In the last few weeks though Idylwilde has entered in to a legal dispute and suspended production of flies for the coming year. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the future of Idylwilde and some long discussions with Zach Mertens, the owner and founder of Idylwidle, I have decided to leave Idylwilde as a signature tier. This comes with the blessing and understanding of Zach and in the end with Idylwilde suspending production and embroiled in a legal battle Zach thought it in my best interest to move on. I honestly can say that this was one of the harder things I have had to do. I have broke up with girlfriends that were easier…lets be honest though with my looks and addiction to catching fish I was usually the one getting dumped.

Over the last few weeks I have been fielding some offers from various fly companies, and have really struggled with what to do…I thought about giving up on the whole business of flies and just make up the income writing more articles or guiding more, but then people wouldn’t have my flies to fish and I may get kind of complacent and stop coming up with flies, which could affect my clients success on the river. In the end I decided to sign with an established company named Montana Fly Company. I have always respected Adam Trina at Montana Fly and thought they had some great patterns. Many of them I fish on a weekly basis.

The nuts and bolts is that I am sending in this week over half a dozen new patterns, and discussing what patterns I will bring over from my old catalog at Idylwilde. The goal is to have the new flies and some of the old ones in production by 2015. Most fly shops will be able to begin ordering flies this summer. Check out Montana Fly on the web or Facebook and hgb fly-fishing on Facebook or this blog for more information as it develops…

Weekend Report and Open Fall and Winter Dates

Still some great Fall/Winter Trout and Steelhead dates open on the Lower Sac, Lower Yuba, Feather, and Butte Creek 

Oct: 19, 26
Nov: 17, 24-27
Dec: 27-31
Jan 2-12, 18-20, 25-26

Lower Sacramento River 
The egg bite is on and fish are gorging themselves on eggs in the upper river. Like most times, some days are great, some days are good, and some days are average. Fishing usually depends on the crowds, weather conditions, and just the day. I have had some great days and some fair days over the last week or so. The egg bite should continue to be good through October and into November. There is still good numbers of salmon entering the river and the spawn should move down river through October. There are fair numbers of steelhead spread through the lower river and I have heard of a few fishing being caught on most trips below Barge Hole. Fall/Winter fishing will last through Jan as long as the river stays fishable and some of the biggest fish of the year are caught in December and early January. 

Lower Feather River 
The Low Flow 1000cfs. The High Flow 1529cfs
There are a fair number of steelhead spread throughout the high and low flow. Best fishing is during low light conditions when steelhead are up in the shallows where there are actively spawning salmon. Ounce the light hits the water fish will move off of the reds into deeper water or look for reds that sit in deeper water. Most fish are coming on egg patterns, but in riffles that don't have as many salmon fish will eat bugs. Best nymphs have been caddis pupa and mayfly nymphs. In areas where there are a lot of salmon fish egg patterns and more then normal weight to get below the salmon...it is cheaper to go through egg patterns on snagged salmon then nymphs. 

Yuba River 
Flows are up to 946cfs sense October 3 where they were 783. 
The egg bite is going strong on the Lower Yuba where there are spawning salmon. I have found that riffles that have salmon spawning at the top in the shallow water have fish that will eat eggs and during lower light conditions fish will be right up in the reds. Riffles or runs that do not have many salmon fish will eat stonefly nymphs, small may fly nymphs, and general caddis patterns. For the most part by Yuba standards there is a good number of salmon in the river with a fair amount of fish up on reds. The even better news is there are bunch of salmon in the upper river above the bridge. I walked up from the bridge this week to scope things out and saw a lot more fish on reds then previous years and there is still fish holding in deep water staging in the lower river, so the Yuba egg bite should last much longer then normal this year. 

There is a bunch of good to great fishing going on right now so get out and fish! If you are looking to get out I still have some dates in Oct open and a few in Nov and Dec. Winter trout and steelhead fishing on the Lower Sac and Lower Yuba can be very good so if you can't get out this fall don't miss out on the winter fishing. 

Have a great weekend!

Mission Peak Fly Anglers

I will be speaking at Mission Peak Fly Anglers this Wednesday. I will be tying flies at 5pm and the meeting starts at 6:30pm. I will be giving my presentation "Trout Flies: From Imitation to Creation" 

If you are in the East Bay Area or Peninsula Area come check it out. 

Location:

Silliman Center

6800  Mowry Blvd

Newark  CA

Friday Fishing Report

Feather River – The Low Flow has dropped to 1000cfs and should stay there through the fall. The big news is that the High Flow had dropped down to 1730 which is LOW for this time of year but should slow down the upstream migrating salmon and get the ones that are in the river up in the riffles cutting redds. I talked to a few guys that have been smallie and striper fishing out of Yuba City and have been seeing a bunch of fresh salmon coming up the river still so it should be a pretty good run this year of salmon. The hatchery opened up the gates this week and fish poured in. So there should be a great batch of fish to harvest eggs from this year.

Most people that have been getting out for steelhead have been getting a few fish here and there. The ones that I have heard that have caught fish are getting nice sized chrome bright adults. Salmon in the low flow are just starting to pair up so the egg bite is still a few weeks away and I think the High Flow is not far behind. All the fish I have caught have been on nymphs so the steelhead are not even really keying on eggs yet but that I would still fish an egg when out there.

Lower Sacramento River Trout/Steelhead – I was on the Sac this last weekend both days and had fair fishing both days I did a float that fellow guides did “amazing” on the day before. Typical should have been here yesterday deal as those same guides were on the float both days and said those exact words…That said that is pretty typical of this time of year as fish start to get on the egg bite and start to pile on food for the fall. The flows are down to 7650 coming out Keswick and are around this flow all the way down to Irvine Finch west of Chico. I caught my fish on beads, rubber legs, and small mayfly nymphs. Most of the fish came in typical, what we call bug water, I did not find fish up in the riffles looking for eggs but fish in the bug water ate beads so they know the eggs are coming. Most of the guides I know have all hooked a few steelhead so far and while I didn’t get any this weekend I know they are out there and on their way up river. I would expect the Lower Sac to be getting really good here any time.

Lower Yuba – Flows are low, down to 750cfs and fishing has been pretty good. Fish are moving up into the riffles looking for eggs and the last time I was on the river I got most of my fish on attractor nymphs and egg patterns which means they are eating bugs turned up in salmon redds and looking for juevos coming down river. I would say the Yuba is going to get really good here any day.

Bottom line is that fall fishing is days away and if you would like to get out I still have a few fall dates and plenty of winter steelhead and trout dates. If you have any questions or would like to book a date look over the list of dates below and shoot me an email or phone call.

Nov. 17, 24-27

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25-26, 

Idylwilde Update

I have been getting a lot of emails over the last few months with regards to the status of Idylwilde and my flies that they tie. There has been a lot of encouraging news with a new production facility up and running and the first few shipments of flies coming out of the facility over the last week.

Check out the Idylwilde Blog  HERE

Flossin and bossin in the Ville + Fantasy Football + fishing reports

So fall is slowly rolling in Northern California. The days are getting shorter, nights are getting cooler and the rivers are dropping to their fall levels filling with Chinook salmon and hopefully soon steelhead. I have been transitioning between summer and fall fisheries holding on to the last vestiges of summer but getting excited for some fall fishing.

Feather River – The Low Flow has dropped down to 1000cfs and is FULL of Chinook salmon schooling up in every conceivable hole and run in the river. This is a great sign but makes me wonder how many fish are left in the high flow or if there is any fish in the low flow. I took clients out on the river this last weekend and we hooked 3 fresh steelhead and landed one. I would say it is still a bit early but there are some fish around and the ones we hooked were wild chrome bullets. The flows at 1000cfs change the game a bit but not much just add water to the normal spots don’t really created any new ones. Extend runs and make spots in existing runs deeper and more likely to hold fish. With the amount of salmon in the river and the aggressive nature of them at this stage look for steelhead below the masses of salmon and in the deeper water below runs, just kind of hanging back. All our fish came on caddis and mayfly nymphs.

First Feather Steelhead of the Fall Season

Lower Yuba River – The Lower Yuba has dropped down to 760 cfs and has been stable here sense August 31. This is a normal fall flow, really the minimum flow for the river. This flow drop should kick the salmon that are in the river up into the riffles and get the starting to cut out some redds and get to the business of dropping some eggs. I would expect the egg bit to get going in the next week or two, but I am sure the trout will start moving into the riffles looking for eggs and eating bugs as the salmon cut their redds.

Lower Sacramento River Trout – The Sac has dropped down right around 8000cfs as of August 30^th. Fishing has been tough from what I have been hearing. Fishing up through redding area has been a few good fish at best and then a ton of smaller 10-12” fish for most people. Fishing down around Red Bluff has been good one day fair the next. Fishing in the lower stretches for steelhead should be picking up over the next few weeks and the egg bite is still at least a month away I imagine.

Lower Sacramento River Stripers – Fishing has slowed down a bit as flows have dropped substantially. I have heard of a few people catching fish but I have not been out sense the big flow drop so I don’t really have a handle on what is going on but I imagine fishing should remain decent until the weather starts getting cooler.

Guiding – I still have a few fall dates available and plenty of winter dates open as well. These will fill soon so if anyone wants to get out for fall or winter trout and steelhead let me know.

Nov. 17, 23-27.

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25, 26

Feb. 8-10, 15, 16, 22, 23

Tales from the ‘Ville

 Flossin and Bossin on the Feather

As October approaches we enter Feather River Steelhead season…I love the feather there is no better river for getting people into steelhead fishing. There are good numbers of fish in the river each year, it is close to the bay area and sacramento, and the fish are pretty willing to eat a egg or nymph pattern. That said it runs through the ‘Ville and as I began to spend time on the river a new blog column emerges …. Stories from the Ville:

With only one day on the river so far this year I already have multiple experiences to discuss…First is the “shit house spey crew” that plant themselves in Shit House riffle full with camp chairs and coolers for at-least 8-10hours a day. If I was to fish shit house for more then an hour I may shoot myself due to the repetitive nature of  fishing the run. Second of all, shit house is FULL of salmon this time of year to the point where we call it the Oil Slick … it is just black with the backs of salmon and the lose of gear would bankrupt me. Couple all that with the fact that the Low Flow is closed to Salmon Fishing and the warden station for the wild life area is just over the levy and if they see you fighting a salmon they will come down on you like the hand of god…that said most are pretty reasonable if you hook one and break it off ounce you know it is a salmon or even if you think you have hooked a state record steelhead and fight it all the way to the bank most wardens will look at your 5-7wt rod and indicator rig with egg patterns, trout nymphs, and 2-4x tippet and know you weren’t trying to break the law.

Now the “shit house spey crew” swings flies on large traditional spey and switch rods ALL day through shit house, which I have no problem with but lets be honest if you swing flies you are going to snag, floss, and hook salmon on every drift.  Now I have no problem if you want to try to catch a steelhead on a swung fly and in the process lose a fly every cast on a salmon, totally your deal. That said these guys hook salmon and fight them all the way to the bank, tailing them with helping hand tailing gloves one after the other while hooting and hollering up and down the bank …. So I have been watching this for a few years now and if they were legitimately fishing for steelhead there is no way they would be fishing with tippet heavy enough to land 15-35+lb king salmon and spey rods that belong  in Smithers not the Low Flow of the feather. Most of the time I keep my mouth shut and assume they just don’t know any better, but I couldn’t take it anymore this last weekend. So, as much as I wanted to row a cross the river and tell them what morons they were , I politely said to one of them that the low flow is closed to salmon fishing and that you are not allowed to target salmon…This guys response was completely over the top hostile with “I know exactly what I am doing” and he got totally defensive, while he was beaching a salmon mind you, so at that point I just said for get it…my client even said “wow you were really diplomatic about that and that guy was a total dick!!!!”  So tales from the ville began… dudes flossing salmon with spey rods. Stay Classy Oroville.

Beer Report

Biggest news in Brews is the release of the seasonal release from Sierra Nevada of Flip Side Red IPA. I have had this on tap and in the bottles so far. I am really liking it! Nice smooth red IPA with a little bitter aftertaste at first but the more you drink the less that bitterness lasts. I have also had a few bottles and a few pints on tap of the Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale. I am digging it but it is not amazing…good but not great. I also secured my self two tickets to October Fest at Sierra Nevada…Pretty pumped on that.

Gods Favorite Football Team

We opened up the season with a nice win over Temple at home. Tommy looked good at QB but was a bit lacking on 3^rd down conversions and lets be honest Temples Secondary is not world class. I was pretty impressed with the running back and recievers as well and of course the D was solid. Field goal kickers were a bit worrisome and in close games like we are bound to be in this year may be a bit of a concern. Bottom line is we will know what we got when we take on Michigan at Michigan this Saturday Night.

The Pictures I get from my friends when I text them "what are you up to right now"

Classy Friends I have...

The League...

So last year my fellow guide friends and I decided we needed to get into Fantasy Football...so we started a league. It started small last year with like 5 or 6 of us, we decided that fly guides can only be in a league with fly guys as we can't have any of those nerds that sit in front a computer all day checking fantasy stuff...plus we suck so we need other people in our league that suck. Hence the birth of the Nor Cal Guides Fantasy League...it has now grown to nearly 16 guides and we had our draft on Labor Day this last weekend at the Deelers house. Bottom line this thing is getting competetive this year. I have spent every bowel movement for the last month reading up on fantasy football, strategies, players, etc....Updates to come. 

Fishing Reports, palm muted power chords, and news on fermented beverages

Summer is on its way out of town and while the taillights are not over the horizon I can see those taillights pulling away…that said the headlights of fall are coming over the opposite horizon. Salmon are filling the Sac, Yuba, and Feather with hopefully plenty of steelhead behind them. The days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer and cooler as well. Personally I have been still out chasing stripers on the Sac, but I did pull out my steelhead rods, switch rods, and corresponding reels this last weekend and start getting organized. Here are some reports, forecasts, and ramblings…enjoy

Lower Yuba River – The Lower Yuba is sitting around 1600 cfs, which is a great flow for salmon and steelhead to move up river. I have been seeing school of salmon moving up river for over a month now and heard of the first adult steelhead being hooked this last week. I think if the flows stay this high it is going to be a great year for the Lower Yuba. I have not been out on the river lately but talking Ryan J. who was out earlier this week fishing has been fair to good with most fishing coming on nymphs.  The egg bit should get going around mid September but with these good flows mid August to mid Sept there is going to be some early steelhead hooked I am sure.

Lower Sacramento River Trout – Flows out of Keswick dropped from around 1200cfs to 10000cfs this weekend. I guided from Barge Hole to Bend Bridge on Saturday and fishing was fair. Areas that had been fishing didn’t hold fish like they did before the flow drop. It is always tough fishing the river the day of a flow drop but considering that fishing was pretty decent. I would expect fishing to get good again after a few days and fishing will only improve over the next month. The word on salmon is that there is a bunch of fish in the river but they are moving up stream fast. I have seen salmon up and down the river but most guys are struggling to catch fish. So maybe an early egg bite this year.

Lower Sacramento River Stripers – Flows dropped to 7700cfs at Ord Bend. Striper fishing has been really good. We have been hooking really good numbers of fish in the 3-7lb range and having shots at 20+lb range on most days. Fishing both sinking and Intm. lines and smaller clousers seems to be the ticket. With salmon traffic being high it is important to know when and where to go to find feeding fish. Fishing should continue through August into mid September. Fishing can get a bit tougher when they decide to drop the flows for the fall though.

Nice L. Sac Summer Striper

Lower Feather River – Flows in Low Flow section are 2500cfs, this is very high considering most years it is 600cfs. The river channel of the low flow is more then capable of holding a flow of 2500cfs so it does not have the characteristics of a “blown out” river. 2500cfs is a much more “normal” flow actually for the river channel the low flow moves through. The high flow is flowing at 5500 cfs, this is pretty high for the high flow. Now with the high flows coming down the low flow a lot of the salmon are moving up through the high flow and into the low flow and not getting held up in the outlet and high flow. My guess is that the steelhead are moving up river quickly as well. Both these flows should change by October, but I think the low flow is still going to be higher then usual this year due to issues involving a fire earlier this year in one of the generators/pumps. I am going to try to get out and float the low flow in the next few weeks to check things out. Reports to follow but expect a good and early steelhead season on the Feather.

Beer Report – So I have been drinking some really good beers…granted they have all been from Sierra Nevada. I went through a case of the new Beer Camp release and was a bit disappointed, I guess I shouldn’t say disappointed but just not totally impressed. The 3 beers that are part of this release are an IPA, Belgian Style Black IPA, and an Imperial Red Ale. None of them really jumped out at me as amazing, they were all good, but not great. My favorite would have to be the Belgian Style Black IPA as it had a pretty unique flavor. I have always thought the Beer Camp releases are pretty hit or miss, some good some OK and some have even been bad. I also was lucky enough to get a bottle of the limited release “Barrel Aged Ruthless Rye” which is Ruthless Rye aged for 3 months in bourbon barrels…I have not tried this yet but I am pretty excited, and have some pretty high hopes for it. I am thinking this week I may pop the cork on this baby. Also I am excited for the coming release of a new seasonal brew from Sierra, Flipside Red IPA, which will be coming out this late summer/early fall.

Tunes Report – I have been listening to some oldie but goodies after I heard one of my favorite bands from the formative years of high school was getting back together. Knapsack from Davis, CA is a great pop/punk/emo band that I loved and really still do. I would say I like Blair’s (lead singer and songwriter) new band The Jealous Sound just as much but there a simplicity and rawness to Knapsack that is not part of the Jealous Sound. Knapsack made me want to palm mute power chords and then play them really distorted and loud and then palm mute them again…

Sports Report – The Giants are bad. Like 16 games back and in last place in the worst division in baseball. One nice thing about this is that the bandwagon is empty and only true fans remain. I still watch every night and have been overall accepting of where we are as a team…injuries, lack of production from key players, and pitching that has not delivered are hall marks of this season. That said there are some positive signs and I will watch to the last game. Curious to see how we handle Boston as they come in this week for a inter-leauge home stand.

The Irish open the season ranked between 8-11 on various poles which to be honest a is a bit high…apparently no one who votes or ranks has watched Tommy Reese run the football…tough to run the spread with a small slow white guy. We will see what we are made of week 2 at Michigan. I am pumped though for the season. I think we have some good young talent and I am confident in our ability to get back to the BCS…maybe not the championship but at least a BCS game.

CAST HOPE - Check out the 2nd Annual Cast Hope Barn Dance coming up on Sept 21. If you are in chico this is a blast of an event. Great food, Great Beers, Amazing Auction items (flyfishing and non fly fishing), dancing and bands! 

ONLY A FEW FALL GUIDE DATES LEFT...

Oct. 26, 27

Nov. 17, 23-27

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25, 26.