Sharing my bamboo fly rods on the Metolius River

I had a great time this week getting out with our friends from the Seattle area, Kelli and Russ, on the Metolius River.  After a couple of hours of fishing, I asked them if they wanted to try my bamboo fly rods for a bit of dry fly fishing….and got very quick “you bet” from both of them.  I put a 7′  6″  5 wt rod in each of their hands and we fished together for about 45 minutes.  Although the fish were very interested in our dry flies, we had a great time.  While I haven’t converted them over to bamboo just yet, they got a taste of what it’s like.  Here we are on the stream with our rods.

Kelli and Russ trying out my bamboo fly rods with me on the Metolius River

Kelli and Russ trying out my bamboo fly rods with me on the Metolius River

Northern California Fly Fishing Trip

I just got back from 5 days down in Northern California fly fishing with a 5 friends from the Bay Area with whom I’ve been fishing for 30 years.  We spent several days fishing Hat Creek and Manzanita Lake.  Lots of fun fishing nymphs and dries on Hat Creek, and chironomids on Manzanita Lake.  I fished my 8′  0″  5 wt slow action Spring Creek Series bamboo rod during this trip, and it produced well.  Here are a few photos from my trip.

A #14 tan ant pattern that worked well during the day on Hat Creek.

A #14 tan ant pattern that worked well during the day on Hat Creek.

A nice Hat Creek Rainbow that took my ant pattern.

A nice Hat Creek Rainbow that took my ant pattern.

A colorful Salmon Fly hanging out in the grass.

A colorful Salmon Fly hanging out in the grass.

A small but colorful little brown that took a #14 X-Caddis dry.

A small but colorful little brown that took a #14 Elk Hair Caddis dry.

A nice unusual colored brown trout that took a Pale Evening Dun pattern one evening on Hat Creek.

A nice unusually colored brown trout that took a #16 Pale Evening Dun pattern one evening on Hat Creek.

Launching our float tubes at Manzanita Lake.

Launching our float tubes at Manzanita Lake.

A beautiful Manzanita Lake Brown trout that took a #14 black and red chironomid.

A beautiful Manzanita Lake Brown trout that took a #14 black and red chironomid.

This big rainbow took a #16 brown and green chironomid pattern.

This big rainbow took a #16 brown and green chironomid pattern.