Majestic McCloud

May 18, 2017 By TB

A few days before we met our guide to fish the McCloud River, we decided to take a drive out to the stretch of the river we’d be fishing. As we drove along the McCloud Reservoir on narrower and narrower winding roads, with gallon jug size rocks that had fallen down the mountains onto the roads, we began to wonder when we’d get to the dam and then finally downstream to the river. At one point, we saw a sign pointing to Ah-Di-Na Campground (7 miles) and the McCloud River Preserve (8 miles) and decided to take it, having heard that some of the best fishing was there. About a mile into the drive, we decided the road was far too rough and scary and turned around, returning to the paved road that wound above the reservoir. Another several miles on the road finally brought us to the dam. We crossed the dam and headed down a gravel road, high above the McCloud River. As it wound further and further, we found several crossings of the Pacific Crest Trail. We decided to take the trail and it led us down to the river and to a foot bridge that crossed the river. As we’d been informed, the river was running high and fast, but we still had to “wet a line” even though we would not go with a guide until the next day. We caught nothing on that exploratory visit to the McCloud but were in awe of its beauty and majesty.

The next day we met our guide, Ernie Dennison, from The Fly Shop in Redding, CA, at 8am. We headed back to the same bridge, along the Pacific Crest Trail, we’d visited the day prior. This time, Barb hooked up with a small McCloud strain rainbow under the bridge. We stayed there and fished a bit more before checking out a few other possibilities, all of which were too dangerous to fish. As we learned from Ernie, normally the McCloud River flows at about 200 cfs (cubic feet per second); the highest he’d ever guided anyone on the river before was at around 700 cfs. On our river day, it was flowing up over 1000 cfs, which was the highest Ernie had ever attempted with clients. Safety was our biggest priority, and Ernie found spots that kept us safe, but allowed us to fish on the McCloud.

We decided to drive to the Ah-Di-Na Campground for lunch and off we went, down the same road that we’d decided was too treacherous the previous day. We figured, if Ernie was headed down, we were going right behind him, even though another angler we’d talked with, while recommending the fishing near Ah-Di-Na, also described it as “the road from hell”. Ernie later described it as the longest 8 miles of driving he’s ever encountered.

After about 25 minutes of bone rattling driving along “TRFH’, we made it to the campground, had lunch and hit the river near the campground. We both hooked into fish in this spot and had a great time. Next, we drove another mile to reach the trail to the McCloud River Preserve. The Preserve is another Nature Conservancy project similar to where we fished Silver Creek in Idaho. We hiked the Preserve trail for about 15 minutes before coming to a spot where the trail disappeared into the river, which again was raging downstream, so, we turned around and bid adieu to the McCloud.

We ended up heading over to the Upper Sacramento River since Ernie knew a spot he thought we might be able to fish. A couple of days prior, Matt Dahl had tried to get us on the Upper Sac, but it was too dangerous to even get close. While Ernie had found a couple of spots for us to test, the fishing just wasn’t great.

It was a gorgeous day, so we decided we’d sit down with Ernie along the Upper Sac and chat with him about the McCloud, and many of the other fisheries in the Redding area. Ernie has been guiding for The Fly Shop for nearly 30 years and really knows all of the waters nearby. We quizzed him on not just the McCloud, our focus for the day, but also all the other area streams. We know you’ll enjoy his take on fishing, life, beer, more fishing and having fun while learning on the water. Please click the video above to hear Ernie’s wisdom.

Ramble On

Guide Talk, Lower Sacramento

Sac Attack

May 18, 2017 By TB

We met our guide for the day, Matt Dahl from The Fly Shop in Redding, at the Chevron at the Castella exit off I-5. We’d already fished with Matt over on Hat Creek and were looking forward to another day with him on another river. After a quick discussion about where to fish, we headed off to Dunsmuir, CA, to a local park with several plaques commemorating anglers who’d made contributions to the community and to the sport. One of the biggest names in fly fishing in this area is Ted Fay, a master fly fisherman and guide. A fly shop in Dunsmuir still bears his name.

While the park in Dunsmuir was beautiful, one look at the cascading waters of the Upper Sacramento, or Upper Sac as it’s known, told us all we needed to know; don’t fish here, but, if you do, don’t step into the water for fear of getting swept away. We quickly decided to look for another spot on the Upper Sac we might approach. Down I-5 we went to the Sims exit, out by some railroad tracks, and we found the same situation, a raging river.

At this point, Matt indicated that finding fishable water on the Upper Sac was going to be difficult, so we headed down to Redding to fish the Lower Sacramento. Matt went and grabbed his drift boat and we met him at the famous Sundial Bridge. After getting our steelhead licenses (no we weren’t fishing for steelhead but because steelhead might be in the river we had to get them), we oared our way out into the Lower Sac that was flowing pretty fast itself, at 13,000 cfs. It wasn’t anything you’d want to try and wade into, but in a drift boat, it was safe and we were off.

Nymph fishing was the order of the day on the Lower Sac, so with a 3 fly rig, we starting searching for the big rainbows the Lower Sac is known for. Luckily, we found a few along the way and had a great day fishing with Matt.

Our interview with Matt was done right on the banks of the river with the Sundial Bridge in the background, along with some wind and noisy horses. We hope you enjoy our interview with Matt on fishing the Sacramento. We even tried to coax him into revealing some of his favorite “nunya” streams, but to no avail. Cheers Matt!

Ramble On

Guide Talk, Hat Creek

Matt in the Hat (Creek)

May 7, 2017 By TB

Our second California River, Hat Creek, and our second Matt… but this time it was Matt Dahl of The Fly Shop in Redding. We met at Hat Creek Park which is a small park dedicated to fly fishing. There is a major project happening on Hat Creek, the “Wild Trout Project” being done by CalTrout. We saw great stream side work being done to shore up the banks of the Creek, miles of paths providing great Creek access and even large trees placed in the water to provide trout with cover. It was impressive.

We took out hiking our way downstream, looking for some “fishy” water and found some where Barb landed a really nice size and colorful trout. Matt was even excited seeing the size of the rainbow in his net. Downstream, I got a hit and landed a much smaller rainbow, but it was still a fish. Unfortunately, those were the only fish we landed that day.

While the “hooking and catching” was tough, the fishing, scenery and great coaching from Matt were awesome. We tried some dries to rising trout in an area of Hat Creek Matt described as “church”, which really meant that these fish were REALLY hard to snare. However, trying to get one of these Ph.D. level fish to think the fly attached to your 6x tippet, was a blast.

Matt worked really hard to get us on fish, but as we talked to other anglers that day we found that in catching one each, we’d had a pretty good day. Afterward, we had a chance to interview Matt in the cool shade of a tall pine. We know you’ll enjoy hearing how Matt got into fly fishing and why Hat Creek is so special.

Ramble On!

Fall River, Guide Talk

Fall River Spring

May 7, 2017 By TB

When we first arrived in Northern California, we drove out to the location we were going to meet our guide for the Fall River. We were meeting him at Glenburn Church just outside Fall River Mills, CA. Many of the fields were flooded, but not because of weather, but because they were rice fields. Turns out the area is known for its wild brown rice. It’s also known for the Fall River, which we found was a slow moving river that meandered through the farms and fields.

The next day, we met Matt Mitchell, our guide from The Fly Shop in Redding. It was a beautiful, warm spring day in the Fall River valley. He met us at the church at 8am and off we went to put in. Instead of the drift boats we usually find ourselves in, we were in a “john boat” outfitted with a regular and trolling motor. The boat was really special, it was originally Matt’s granddad’s. The “speed limit” on the river was 5mph so we also slowly worked our way upstream. The river is really more like a giant spring creek, and that morning it was like glass and gin clear.

As we made our way upstream, we had to go under several farm bridges, which required us to duck in most cases, except one where we had to lay down in the boat to make our way under it. Matt described how he’d once not ducked quite low enough, showing us the mark still on his ear. Once under that last farm bridge, we setup our fly fishing rigs and proceeded to hunt for Fall River rainbows.

After a day on the water, we had a chance to interview Matt about fishing the Fall River. We hope you enjoy the interview as much as we enjoyed our day on the water with Matt. I just wish I had that fly line tangle picture still. You’ll know why if you watch the video.

Ramble On!

Guide Talk, Missouri

Mighty “MO”

April 23, 2017 By TB

The Missouri River and Craig, Montana, are two of our favorite places. We were introduced to the river by Bozeman friends Sue Doss and Dud Lutton. So, while we’ve fished the Missouri before, this was our official “River Ramble” guide trip on the river.

We pulled into Craig at 8:30 on a beautiful, cool Saturday morning. The forecast for the day was excellent, so, it wasn’t a surprise that Craig was bustling. Trucks with drift boats were everywhere and anglers were anxiously waiting to meet their guides and get on the river. We met our guide, Shane Wilson, at the Headhunters Fly Shop, one of three in Craig. Once we got the paperwork completed, we were off to the river.

We put in at Craig which was new to us, as we’d always embarked from just below Holter Dam. It was also kind of fun, given that we simply had to drive about 100 feet from Headhunters, past the one “sit down” restaurant, Izaaks, to the water, get in the drift boat, and head off. At lunch, we interviewed Shane, on his drift boat, as we’d dropped anchor on one of the many islands that dot the river, many of which this time of year have geese on them (as you can hear in the interview).

Please click the video above to hear Shane describe why this river is so very special.

Guide Talk, San Juan

San Juan Streamin’

April 3, 2017 By TB

We met Chris and Samantha at the Fisheads San Juan River Fly Shop in Navajo Dam, NM, on a cool morning. Chris would be our guide for the day, and Sammie, his sidekick, was a beautiful and well-mannered Golden Retriever. We were setting out to fish the “quality” water section of the San Juan.

When we put in at the boat dock, we were joined by a few other drift boats and a couple of fishermen already having waded out into the river. Chris had tied on a couple of streamers that were actually setup to be fished like you fish a jig… long strips followed by pulling enough to keep the line straight and tight. This was necessary so we’d feel the strike of the fish and then….. strip set!

We missed several fish because we were still in our normal raise the rod tip mindset. Eventually, we got the hang of it and started getting into some fish. We had a great day on the water with Chris and Samantha and know you’ll enjoy this “Guide Talk” video interview with Chris, highlighting how to fish the San Juan and cutting in some great shots of fish and Samantha. Enjoy!

Colorado - Lees Ferry Reach, Guide Talk

Lees Ferry Fanatics

March 28, 2017 By TB

When we were planning our trip to fish the Lees Ferry Reach of the Colorado River, we contacted Lees Ferry Anglers in Marble Canyon, AZ. We were excited to fish with them because the owners of Lees Ferry Anglers are Terry and Wendy Gunn, who have written several fishing guide books that are must reads. While we are currently fishing our way through the Trout Unlimited Top 100 list, Terry and Wendy have written books on the 50 Best Tailwaters to Fish and one I’m sure we’ll be fishing our way through, 25 Best National Parks to Fly Fish.

Our Lees Ferry Anglers guides for the trip were Skip Dixon and Kevin Campbell. I say guides because we were joined by Dan McCormack, James Kelly and son, Andy. It must have been a tough decision for Skip and Andy to determine who got Barb and me and who got the “guys”. It ended up, Barb and I went out with Skip and the guys went with Kevin.

We put in at the Lees Ferry put in site, which is also the put in for rafters going down through the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon trips are 14 days on the river, packing in everything you need for sleeping on the banks of the river and shooting some Class 8-10 rapids (many western rivers use a 10 point scale vs. the usual class I-V scale). Needless to say, we headed UPSTREAM in jet boats to fish the sections from Glen Canyon Dam down to the Lees Ferry put in.

While we went upstream in boats, we actually wade fished on the trip. We’d scurry from spot to spot, fishing for a few hours at each spot along the river. We were fortunate to hook into some really nice rainbow trout along the way with the guidance of Skip and Kevin.

Our guides also pointed out some canyon features and wildlife along the way. We saw wild mustangs, osprey (they love to fish more than we do!) and even 6 condors riding the wind currents above the canyon walls. The guys saw Peregrine falcons soaring the red cliffs of the canyon.

We always, always say “Its Not About the Fish”, and in this case, while the fishing was great, the scenery was even better. We fished at the curve of Horseshoe Bend, but the view from above was spectacular, if not a bit scary. You walk out to take the iconic picture of the area, and there are no handrails, fences or other barriers between you and a huge drop into the canyon. I couldn’t get Barb to go near and she hid her eyes watching others peering over the edge.

Everyplace we’ve fished thus far has been beautiful. The saying, “trout don’t live in ugly places” is so very true. However, we’d have to say that of all the rivers we’ve fished, this is one of the most spectacularly scenic places yet. That said, we’ve now fished 48 of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams so there are 52 more to go!

We hope you enjoy this “Guide Talk” with Skip and Kevin. It’s incredibly informative and these guys obviously love this river and having fun along the way. If you come to the area, make sure to contact Lees Ferry Anglers and ask for Skip and Kevin!!!

Guide Talk, Henry's Fork, Snake River

TroutHunter TJ

November 21, 2016 By TB

For years, we’d heard from our son-in-law, Chris Drake, of the difficulty in fishing the Henry’s Fork of the Snake River near Island Park, ID. How the fish all had Ph.D.’s and were easily spooked. How perfect presentations and drifts were essential to catching fish. Well, we saw these clear, flat waters outside the TroutHunter fly shop in Island Park, ID, but decided our best bet fishing was in sections where there was a little more current and structure that would lend itself to having better luck.

We’d also heard about the local charm of Island Park, ID. According to wikipedia, “the city was incorporated by owners of the many lodges and resorts along U.S. Route 20 in 1947, primarily to circumvent Idaho’s liquor laws that prohibited the sale of liquor outside of city limits. It is only 500 feet wide in most locations and, at 33 miles (53 km), claims to have the longest “Main Street” in the world.” TroutHunter’s fly shop, lodge and restaurant/bar are one of the highlights along the route. We were fortunate to have booked our guide from the shop and to have met friends for dinner at the restaurant/bar. More on that in another post!

We met our guide, TJ Powell, at the TroutHunter fly shop on a cold, crisp October morning and headed off for a section of the river nearer Aston, ID. When we put in, we knew it was going to be a great day because we immediately came upon fish. They weren’t the giants that inhabited the Railyard section of the Henry’s Fork, but beautiful wild trout that fought like crazy.

We had a blast fishing with TJ and hope you enjoy his “Guide Talk” video about fishing on the Henry’s Fork.

Guide Talk, South Platte

VSP

November 21, 2016 By TB

The South Platte River is a blue ribbon trout stream famous for its most productive sections like Cheesman Canyon, 11 Mile Canyon, Dream Stream and Deckers. We had the pleasure of fishing the Dream Stream section with Vinnie Renda of the South Platte Fly Shop in Woodland Park, CO.

We met Vinnie at our campground at 7:00am on another COLD October morning. Lucky for us the campground didn’t have good cell service because a message from Vinnie came through from days earlier asking us if we could meet at 6:00am. What we soon realized, as we arrived at the river just below Spinney Mountain Reservoir, was that it wasn’t because of good fishing early, but because so many anglers wanted to get the “prime” spots first! When we arrived, there were already at least 10 cars in the parking lot. However, we found there was plenty of water to be found.

As we fished different spots along the Dream Stream section, the winds kept howling with increasing intensity. 30-40mph gusts were common with a constant 20mph wind. This didn’t deter us at all as we chucked our nymph rigs into likely spots and watched for the slightest movement in our strike indicators. When it happened, BOOM… the water would explode as large brown trout would fight to expel the tiny #18 zebra midge fly that fooled them.

We really enjoyed our day fishing with Vinnie and appreciated his desire to keep people off the “redds”. Vinnie explains this and more in his “Guide Talk” as we conducted it inside the SaraLinda due to the gale force winds outside. Enjoy!

Arkansas, Guide Talk

ArkAngler Billy

November 21, 2016 By TB

The Arkansas River starts high in the Rocky Mountains north of Buena Vista, CO. While many come here to whitewater raft through Royal Gorge, it’s also a blue ribbon trout stream. We took on the Arkansas, via raft, with Billy Hicks of ArkAngler Fly Shop in Salida, CO.

As we met Billy at the fly shop and discussed the trip, we found out that he is from Chillicothe, MO, not too far from where Barb and I grew up. We shared great stories about growing up in Missouri and when we got ready to do our “guide talk” interview with Billy, he excused himself to put on another ball cap he was carrying, as you’ll see in the video. We also did the video BEFORE we took off on the trip, because we found a great spot for the interview as we were gearing up to put in. We had a couple of “friends” who “video-bombed” the interview as well.

We had a great day floating and fishing the Arkansas with Billy. We actually floated the section that runs right through Salida, stopping right downtown for a quick break around lunchtime. This is such a beautiful river and the fish were willing along the way. Not huge fish, usually in the 12″ range, but beautiful, hard fighting trout. We know you’ll enjoy ArkAngler Billy’s views on fishing the Arkansas.