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All the other stuff — 2 Comments
26
May 12

Remembering on Memorial Day

For you American readers (that’s most of you, but not all), I wanted to send a shot out to our Vets. Thank you for your service.

When you think of Vets and fly fishing, Project Healing Waters comes to mind.  Here is a story about that fine organization from Outside Bozeman.

For almost a decade, news stations have inundated the American public with stories of wounded veterans returning from combat, only to face an uncertain future due to their newly-acquired injuries. We know that countless numbers of US service members return every day with life-changing wounds—both physical and emotional. But there is something most people don’t know: there are organizations right here in the Gallatin Valley that actively help wounded veterans recover and cope with their injuries.

 

Tactics — 2 Comments
24
May 12

Tips from Fly Paper

Check out Fly Paper for some tips about bonefishing from Water Cay. Pretty long post.  Check it out.

Let’s be clear, if fishing is your top priority and you believe that the only fisherman you should compare yourself to is the one you used to be, then the info below is your bell ringing.

All the other stuff — 5 Comments
22
May 12

Know Thyself!

I think it is important to have a view of yourself that is honest and takes into account your flaws. Sitting where I sit (as the guy who writes a bonefishing blog), it is easy for people to assume I’m an expert bonefisherman, that my casts are always true and that I’ve caught so many bonefish that I hardly celebrate or hoot when I hook up.

In the words of the Avett Brothers (The Weight of Lies):

I once heard the worst thing
A man could do is draw a hungry crowd
Tell everyone his name in pride, and confidence
But leaving out his doubt

Here are things I am pretty sure about myself, as an angler.

  • I continue to be a better trout fisherman than I am a bonefisherman.
  • My casting is better now that it has ever been in my life, but when you put me next to a really, really good caster, you know I’m not in the same class.
  • I am prone to put a 20% trout-set in my hook-set, the kind where you strip, but also sweep the rod a bit off to the right. Still screws up my hook sets.
  • There are some days where I just can’t see the fish.
  • I really suck a tying with deer hair, so I don’t do it.
  • My Merkins are getting better, but largely still suck.
  • I prefer a reverse Gotcha, but almost every guide selects the standard and most plain Gotcha’s, making me wonder if they are just creatures of habit or if I am barking up the wrong tree on those patterns.

In short, I know my faults and want you (the reader) to know that I have no super powers… really, I’m just a regular guy who loves the flats.

On the deck in Cuba.

 

Fish Tails / Locations — 2 Comments
21
May 12

Charlie’s First Bonefish on the Fly

One of the fun things about my last couple trips has been fishing with people really at the start of bonefishing.  Back in Andros, it was with Rebecca Garlock and in Cuba it was with Charlie Levine.  Now, they were both coming from different places.  Rebecca has been fishing the long rod for a while now, but hadn’t really done anything in the salt.  Charlie has spent a good number of days in the salt, but mostly in the deep, dark blue stuff with conventional tackle.  There were some parallels with the two experiences though.  Basically, both were kind of hard on themselves.  They felt the pressure to make it all come together. Of course, it all works better when you slow down and, of course, they both got it to happen.

Here’s Charlie’s story over at BDOutdoors.

Stoked in Cuba

Fish Tails / Locations — 2 Comments
18
May 12

My Upper Sac

After fishing the McCloud for a full day we stopped by the Upper Sac in Dunsmuir to assess the river.  It was high, but not tooooo high and, in the fading light of dusk, the sky was full of stone flies.  These weren’t the little dark stones of winter or the bright little Yellow Sallies, these were the big boys, the Pteronarcys Californica, the Giant Stonefly. I quickly put on a big, massive foam stonefly and had a few grabs before the light faded.  I knew we had to get to dinner anyway.

My folks bought dinner for Matt Hansen and I and then Matt bought a few more beers afterwards (on the drive back I got word that my divorce was finalized, so, we were celebrating), all at the Dunsmuir Brewery Works, which I like because it is open late and, well, its a frigging brewery.  What’s not to like? Matt liked the Pale Ale, I dug on the Porter and we both had enough that we had some sore noggins in the morning.

After I made some Mother’s Day breakfast we set off for the river.  The river was indeed high, but Matt started off the party with a little bow followed by a nicer one. The Upper Sac in high water is not unfishable unless the water is off-color.  High water just means the fish are out of the riffles and sitting on the seams in the more protected and slightly deeper water. You find those places, you find fish and we found fish, although the number of places we had to fish was greatly reduced.

Matt at Prospect

The Upper Sac is a wonderful river.  It has about 40 miles to fish and has access to just about every single bit of it.  Railroad tracks and the highway see to that. Because of the access and the tracks and the highway, it doesn’t maybe get the respect that more remote locations get.  It’s too easy to get there.

If you are fishing the Big Hole, odds are you either drove there or flew there and it took a long time. It took the opening of wallets and dedication of time.  To get to the Upper Sac you just drive up the highway… 4 hours from San Francisco.

Kinda purdy out here.

Still… it is beautiful, even in high water when the fishing is compressed and you can’t get in and wade around the place like you can in mid July.

We hiked up to Mossbrea Falls and then decided to head back South. It was a good day on beautiful water.  The fish were there, but largely stayed hidden in the bigger water, despite those massive, impossibly large awkward flying stones that passed by like slow moving hummingbirds. Had a couple grabs on the big bug, but the fish were largely elusive. We had a few fish to hand, but nothing big and not too many.  Such is the fickle river.  Maybe she was a little upset that I waited until May to visit her. She’s open all year now and must have noted that I fished Cuba before I fished the Upper Sac in 2012.  Sorry honey.

Mossbrea Falls… part of it, anyway.

A great trip.  The McCloud, the Upper Sac… my rivers.  I miss them and I look forward to seeing them again.

Locations — 2 Comments
17
May 12

Found vid – Some dramatic music and Deadman’s Cay

Yeah, well, I was out with an old college buddy last night, so instead of something thoughtful, you get a YouTube vid. Good news is that no fish appear to be wildly mishandled in this one.  Some dramatic music for some pretty relaxing times.

Fish Tails — 3 Comments
16
May 12

A weekend on the home waters

I love bonefishing and tropical places but I really can’t get away from being a mountain boy at heart. My rivers are still dear to me and I was glad to share them with one of the guys I met down in Cuba this past weekend.  I picked Matt Hansen up in Santa Rosa after work on Friday and kept heading North until we arrived in Dunsmuir, my home town and where my parents still live.

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the house with my folks and then we ran down to the Ted Fay Fly Shop to talk to Bob and hear how things were fishing. The Ted Fay Fly Shop is a great shop, key to my entry into fly fishing, and I’m glad they moved downtown a few years back.  Bob told us that someone had stated, “the McCloud was the most crowded I’ve ever seen.”  That wasn’t good news as the McCloud is sometimes referred to as the McCrowd for its tendency to have an angler in every run at certain times of year. It didn’t sound ideal, but that is where I wanted to go, so we went anyway.

I-5 to 89 to the lake to the dirt road headed down toward the river. We got down to Ah Di Nah and decided to take a tour of the campground to see how bad things were.

There was almost no one there.  Two tents and one still had the people in them. We stopped there and started off upstream.

The McCloud is one of the most beautiful places you can hope to see or experience. I know Montana is wonderful and Oregon is beautiful and then there are the flats of Andros and the expanses of Cuba and the mangrove lined channels of Belize… but I’d put the McCloud up against any of them.

Luckily it isn’t only beautiful, it has pretty little fish and they started cooperating almost immediately.  The crowded river was ours. We picked our way along the banks, up and over the boulders, through the brush (avoiding the staggering amounts of Poison Oak). We didn’t see another rod waving above us for 3/4 of the day.

After I felt I’d caught “enough” on nymphs I decided to put on a stimie and see what would come up.  The answer was very un-California like. Fish started rising at 2:00 to a big, bushy dry fly.

The Elusive Blurry McCloud Rainbow (I need a better camera).

I sometimes feel like my rivers have personalities and, maybe even feelings. I think they get a little mad when I don’t see them, when I ignore them. They can act a little hurt if they feel slighted.

I was glad the McCloud wasn’t upset with me.  In fact, it seemed to welcome me back with open arms.

We fished up the canyon from pool to run to riffle, tracking back toward the source.  We turned one bend and found the sun hidden by the steep walls of the canyon and something seemed to have switched off.  Despite putting decent numbers in the book, I just had a feeling the fishing was done.  Matt had a similar feeling and we just decided to find the trail and head back.

A wonderful day.

Matt really appreciated the beauty of the place and it is always nice to share something special with someone who gets it.

The McCloud... Upstate California, from a trip in 2011.

Next up… the Upper Sac where the pictures were better and the fishing was slow.

Fish Tails — 5 Comments
14
May 12

Me, in Cuba

This is me, fishing with Avalon down in Cuba in the Jardines de la Reina.  This is back in the mangroves… deep in the mangroves and Matt Hansen was Johnny on the Spot with the video.  What you’ll see here is me botch two bonefish in about 4 minutes.  It was pretty difficult stuff to fight a fish in, but it was exactly what I wanted to be doing.

Warning… there is some profanity, in case you are worried about your ears bleeding.

Fish Tails — 5 Comments
13
May 12

Heartbreak

I just got this photo from Cuba taken by Matt Hansen.  I know exactly what happened here and I think this picture pretty much sums it up.

We were pushing through the back country looking for bones and we had just emerged into a little lagoon.  Off to the left flashed an impossibly large bonefish tail. I made the cast right on its nose and it ate almost immediately. It went streaking across the lagoon, pulling off 100 or so feet of line and then it took a slight left detour, brushing up against the clump of mangrove right below where my rod tip is.  The fish came off.  This fish was my immediate reaction to losing the fish.

It probably would have been my biggest bonefish ever.  That tail haunts me.

 

Gone.

Tactics — No Comments
12
May 12

Rajeff on casting down at Andros South

Yes… Tim Rajeff talking about casting in the wind and the various situations you face out there. Some good advice in this Deneki bit.

Check it out.

In saltwater you need to deal with 4 distinct wind situations – in your face, at your back, from the left and from the right – and Tim takes us through some quick pointers on how to deal with each of those situations.  Have a look!

Rajeff, a man who knows casting

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