Category Archives: fishing bamboo

Fly Fishing on the Salmon River in Stanley, Idaho

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Mary Ann and I are now in Stanley, Idaho for her summer guiding season on the Salmon River.  We’ve been out on the river the past 3 days checking things out.  We drifted on Friday, did some walking around and wading on Saturday, and drifted the river again Sunday with our good friend and fellow fly fishing guide, Verlon.  Lots of bugs were starting to hatch….PMDs, yellow sallies, caddis, and golden stones…so the fish are starting to look up.  Here are a few photos of the past few days.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

Mary Ann and I getting ready to hit the river.

 

Mary Ann on the oars...a great rower!

Mary Ann on the oars…a great rower!

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

My first cutthroat of the summer season. Not a big fish but a healthy native.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

Trying our luck at swinging streamers with our bamboo switch rods.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8' 3" 5 wt bamboo rod.

A big whitefish putting a good bend in my 8′ 3″ 5 wt bamboo rod.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.

Mary Ann and Verlon with a nice Cutthroat that took an #14 olive elk hair caddis.

 

 

Hat Creek/Pit River in Northern California

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I headed down to Northern California last weekend for my annual “guys fishing trip” with some friends from the San Jose Area.  We’ve been making this trek every Memorial Day Weekend for the past 30 years.  Hat Creek is a great little stream that gets pretty low fishing pressure in the lower stretches.  One evening, using a 7′  6″  medium fast action 5 wt bamboo rod, I picked up several fish on March Brown dries and Golden Stonefly nymphs.  Here I am getting started and a typical Hat Creek rainbow:

Hat Creek - May, 2015

Hat Creek – May, 2015

Hat Creek Rainbow that took a golden stonefly nymph.

Hat Creek Rainbow that took a golden stonefly nymph.

We also fished the Pit River one evening.  The Pit can be a treacherous river to wade, and it was a little on the high side last weekend.  But, we found a spot we could safely access the water and tried some dries.  I used my 8′  3″  medium fast action 5 wt bamboo rod.  The fish weren’t all that selective, and were happy to come up for orange stimulators, large salmonfly immitations, PMDs, and green drakes.  Here is the group of 3 great anglers, Ted, Ken, and me, and a nice fish that took my favorite parachute green drake dry.

Ken, Ted, and I getting ready to hit the Pit River.

Ken, Ted, and I getting ready to hit the Pit River.

#12 Parachute Green Drake

#12 Parachute Green Drake

A Pit River Rainbow

A Pit River Rainbow

 

The Middle Deschutes River Yesterday Evening

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It’s not always about big fish.  Mary Ann and I hit the Middle Deschutes below Bend yesterday evening for a couple of hours for some dry fly fishing with our bamboo rods.  She chose a 7′  0″  4 wt rod and I used my 8′  0″  5 wt slow action rod.  Blue Winged Olives, March Browns, Small Caddis, and a few Golden Stoneflies were out.  While we didn’t get into any large fish, we had a great time throwing dries for smaller rainbows and browns.  When you have a great fishery like this less than 30 minutes from the house, it’s so great to just get out for a couple of hours in the evening.  Here are few photos of our time on the river:

Mary Ann stalking rising trout on the Middle Deschutes River.

Mary Ann stalking rising trout on the Middle Deschutes River.

A nice Brown Trout that took a March Brown dry fly.

A nice Brown Trout that took a March Brown dry fly for Mary Ann.

A smaller Brown Trout that I picked up yesterday evening.

A smaller Brown Trout that I picked up yesterday evening.

Bamboo Rods on the Crooked River

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Mary Ann and I got the chance to get out to the Crooked River a few days ago with our bamboo rods.  I chose an 8′  3″  5 wt rod.  It was a wonderful weather day and we picked up a handful of nice rainbows on dries and nymphs.  Here is a quick video that Mary Ann shot while I was landing an especially nice rainbow of about 18″.

 

 

Lake In The Dunes – Private Lake Fishing

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Once in a great while, its fun to get out to a private Pay-To-Fish place.  Mary Ann and I got the chance to bend our bamboo rods on some larger rainbows a few days ago with a visit to Lake In The Dunes, some private lakes about 2 hours to the east of us.  It’s a great setup, with 5 small desert lakes fed by natural artesian wells on the property.  There is also a great cabin on the property for overnight stays.  It was a brisk 31 degrees when we got there and some portions of the lakes had a light covering of ice from the night below.  But sun was out and the ice cleared off by lunch time.  We found willing fish on just about any streamer/bugger pattern we threw, and also picked up quite a few on chironomids suspended under indicators.  All of the fish we caught were between 16″ and 22″, with a few larger ones lost.  It made for some wonderful winter rainbow fishing.  Here are a few photos of our day:

Dave and Mary Ann at Lake In The Dunes.

Dave and Mary Ann at Lake In The Dunes.

A beautiful winter day at Lake In The Dunes

A beautiful winter day at Lake In The Dunes

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow

Lake In The Dunes Rainbow