Tag: CA

Lagniappe

487 x 34,585 x 95 x 149

By TB

For much of the past two years, we’ve been on our River Ramble, exploring trout streams across the USA.  All total, we’ve been on this journey for 487 days and have visited TU Greatest 100 trout streams in 26 different states.  In fact, we’ve now fished 95 of the Top 100 streams and 149 different trout streams in all.  I know what you’re thinking, you’re still 5 short, and indeed we are.  There is one more state we’ve yet to visit, Alaska.  While we are looking forward and already deep into planning our Alaska adventure to fish the final 5 (and a few more of course) of the TU 100, we wanted to take a moment to look back on this past two years.

As we’ve continued to discover, Its Not About the Fish…. its about the people we continue to meet along our Ramble.  We’ve been blessed to have fished with some of the best guides in the world on the best trout streams in the world.  In small villages and communities, we’ve met some great local fly shop owners and staff who’ve sent us to some off the beaten path fisheries that, while not TU Top 100 streams, easily could have been.  What we’ve enjoyed most have been guides, shop owners and community members who’ve befriended us, shared their stories with us and allowed us to see the rivers through their eyes and experiences.  We feel so lucky to have met each and every one.

Our tagline for our blog, “Fly fishing, food, friends and fun” has been just that.  We’ve sampled more than a few local brews, pubs, diners and dives along the way.  We’ve also had a great time visiting family and friends in Arizona, Indiana, Missouri and Montana…. rafting, zip lining, pickle ball, baseball, hiking and of course, fishing too.

Our “mothership”, the SaraLinda, has performed like a champ, taking us nearly 35,000 miles along this journey.  We’ve camped in state forests, state parks, national parks, Corps of Engineers campgrounds and even dry camped in amazing, remote locations.  The 180 sq. ft. we’ve been living in is dwarfed by the incredible outdoor expanse we’ve called home these two years.  Our backyards have been the Tetons, Yellowstone, Great Smoky Mountains, Appalachian Trail, Maine wilderness and stream side campgrounds in most every state we visited.

2016 was a great year and we posted up a “Year in Review” video for it last December.  We’ll be fishing numerous streams across the country in 2018 as well as the streams we’ll fish in Alaska, but for now, we wanted to share a look back at 2017.   We hope you enjoy this short music video and a few highlights from our 2017 River Ramble.

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California, Lagniappe

#californiaadventure

By TB

When we looked for hashtags for some of our Instagram posts, we encountered #californiaadventure.  This hashtag made sense given that our time in California turned more adventure than just fishing.  Why?  Water…. and more water…. and more water…. and not just any water…. raging, dangerous whitewater that was much more suited to thrill seeking kayakers than anglers.  At any moment, if you had a slip, a flip or a misstep you could find yourself in real danger.

So what could have been a normal fishing trip to seven different California rivers became an adventure finding safe, fishy water.  We had to hike deep into forests in search of small tributaries to fish the Kern.  We sloshed through marshes thick with mosquitos to fish the waters of the Owens.  We bushwacked along the Truckee to find waters that looked fishy.   We carefully navigated the banks of the McCloud, flowing at over 5 times normal, and hiked along the Pacific Crest Trail to catch the McCloud Rainbow.  We event took the “Road from Hell” to fish near the McCloud River Preserve.  We had a lucky encounter at a fly shop in historic Dunsmuir that led us to a spot on the Upper Sacramento where, after we traversed several railroad tracks, we caught a couple of bows.  We hiked over 7 miles along Hat Creek in search of trout.  About the only spot where we fished in what might be a “normal” way was on the Fall River, and even then, we had to lay down in the boat to get under one bridge to get to the hole where we ultimately had success.   All in all, the California rivers on the TU Top 100 trout streams list were challenging, exciting, and definitely provided us a #californiaadventure.

We always try to fish other waters than just the TU Top 100.  While in California, we wetting lines in Hot Creek, the Little Truckee and the Lower Sacramento.  We hiked down into the Hot Creek Canyon where Barb hooked a beautiful little brown that was hiding along the far bank.  The Little Truckee was flowing wild but we found time and a little spot to fish right next to a bridge.  As for the Lower Sac, we actually took a float trip with Matt Dahl and hooked into some big, beautiful California rainbows.

Speaking of rainbows, two strains of these gorgeous fish are local to California waters, the McCloud and the Kern river rainbows.  In fact, most all of the rainbows in trout streams around the world come from these two strains.  No matter if you’re fishing trout streams in Montana, New Mexico, New York, Argentina or New Zealand, when you hook a rainbow, chances are it came from the McCloud or Kern lineage.

As always, our trip isn’t just about fishing and we constantly remind people, “Its Not About the Fish”.  Our trip is as much about the people we meet and the places we visit along our Ramble.  California did not disappoint on both counts;  we were blessed with great guides at each stop.  Matt Dahl took us on a “Sac Attack” down the lower Sacramento when the Upper was dangerously high.  Matt also took us on our “Matt in the Hat (Creek)” adventure.  The venerable Ernie Dennison took us on the “Majestic McCloud”, even though it was flowing at the highest levels he’d ever seen and guided anyone on.  Matt Mitchell navigated the Fall River with us, even under the bridge, to experience the “Fall River Spring”.  As we headed down further south in California, “Stonefly Guy” Jeans showed us several Kern River tributaries which will go unnamed, but provided an awesome day of fishing small streams with 7’-3wt rods.  And finally, our man Gilligan showed us his backyard, “Gilligan’s Truckee”.   We’re already planning a trip back to California to fish all these rivers and hopefully fish for the Heritage Trout Challenge.   Our guides were awesome, and made our time on the water productive, interesting, educational and safe.

Even with all this fishing, we still had time for more adventures.  We took sightseeing trips to Lake Tahoe, the Trail of 100 Giants, Sequoia National Forest, Dunsmuir and Mt. Shasta.  We’d have gone into Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks, but, the roads into the parks from the Eastern Sierras were all still snow covered and closed.  Speaking of snow cover, we watched skiers and boarders STILL skiing at Mammoth Mountain, which is planning to stay open for skiing until August/September and Squaw Valley was also still open and planning operations until at least July.  Did we mention the BIG winter/spring snowfall CA experienced and the amount of water in the rivers? ?

We also enjoyed some great food and music along the way.   We want to give a big shoutout to Crumbs in McArthur, CA.  When we were fishing the Fall River with Matt Mitchell, he recommended Crumbs to us and wow, what an amazing meal we had there.  This is a MUST VISIT place if you are in the area.  In historic Dunsmuir, you should definitely visit Yaks, a burger joint that made Yelp’s Top 100 list.  It had a great selection of local beers as well. Speaking of local beers, Mammoth Brewing and its Golden Trout Kolsch is not to be missed.  We also want to highlight Professor Colombo, a Huntington Beach band that was playing at Moody’s in Truckee.   Great music and vibe.

Finally, we hope you enjoy this montage of pics we’ve put together to highlight our time in California.   We try to highlight local musicians when we put together our state highlight videos and we are so very lucky to have music by the Stoneflys, an alternative/ska/reggae/jazz group from Kernville, CA.  What’s extra special to us is that this is Guy Jeans’ band!   Guy is a renaissance kind of guy as we found out during our visit to the “Nunya” creeks of the Kern drainage.  He was kind enough to let us use one of his band’s tunes for our “#californiaadventure” post.  Enjoy!

Ramble On

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Guide Talk, Truckee

Gilligan’s Truckee

By TB

We started our California “Ramble” in Truckee on our way to fish the Mt. Shasta area.  We went through the area again on our way down the Eastern Sierra’s, to fish the tributaries of the Kern and the Owens.  Finally, we came back to Truckee to actually fish the Truckee River.

We setup the SaraLinda in a campground a stone’s throw from the river.  This proximity to the river made meeting  our guide, Matt “Gilligan” Koles, the owner/head guide of Gilligan’s Guide Service, a breeze (and let us sleep later than usual before a guide trip!).  When we met Matt, we saw he had a buddy with him; Elliott, Matt’s dog.  We proceeded to drive down the right side of the river on a one lane gravel road,  to a pullout above the river’s edge.

After gearing up, Matt, Barb, Elliott and I headed down the hill to the river.  The river was flowing very fast, so we fished from the bank and also waded carefully out into the water a ways, so we could hit some seams and soft areas.  Within a few moments, we’d hit into a few fish, including a really nice rainbow for Barb… and a very large brown for me.

What we learned from Matt, is that the Truckee is more about “quality” than “quantity”.   The Truckee did not disappoint, as all the fish we hooked were of a good size… and much more.  Matt was great getting us to the right spots to experience success and he also rigged our rods with flies specially suited for Truckee River fishing.

When you come to Truckee to fish, you need to make sure to call Matt, well in advance, and take a trip with him.  Until then, we hope you’ll enjoy this “Guide Talk” we had with “Gilligan” on the hillside above the Truckee.

Ramble On

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Guide Talk, Kern River, Tributaries

Stonefly Guy

By TB

When we called the Kern River Fly Shop about a week before our scheduled trip to fish the Kern, we talked to Guy and Kimberly and they forewarned us that the Kern was flowing high and fast and that we would likely have to fish some of its tributaries.  After we arrived in the area and hooked up the SaraLinda, we headed to Kernville  just to look around and grab some groceries.  As we crossed the Kern river in town, we looked down and saw just why they’d prepared us to fish the tributaries;  it churned wildly and looked like chocolate milk.

The next morning, when we arrived at the fly shop, we met Guy and Kimberly and talked about our day;  we’d be fishing several “nunya” creeks that are a part of the Kern drainage.  We left the shop in Guy’s 4×4 truck and headed up Mountain Highway 99, a road that parallels the Kern River.  As we climbed higher and higher, the Kern flowed even faster as it tumbled down the riverbed and in many spots, overflowed its banks.  The landscape changed as we crossed the Kern River bridge, becoming a beautiful forest on both sides of the road, and we climbed even higher  into the Sequoia National Forest.

Guy was really kind to us, taking us to some “secret” spots where we would be fishing in beautiful surroundings for Kern River trout and golden/rainbow hybrid trout.   Barb and I both love fishing tributaries to larger streams that hold beautiful smaller fish.  I was using my 4wt rod and Guy had Barb using a Reddington Trout Classic 3wt, which would ultimately cost us, as Barb loved the 3wt so much, we got one the next day.

We had an absolute blast fishing these small creeks with Guy, walking from hole to hole, eating lunch right on the banks of one creek and getting a double right after lunch…both Barb and I with a fish on at the same time.  FUN!!!

We interviewed Guy in a stand of huge pine trees after a great day on the water.  We know you’ll enjoy his “Guide Talk” interview as Guy is a great guide, and as we found out, a man of many talents.  Enjoy and as always….

Ramble On

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Guide Talk, McCloud

Majestic McCloud

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

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Fall River, Guide Talk

Fall River Spring

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!

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