Tag Archives: bamboo rods

Fly Fishing Nymphs on Bear Valley Creek in Idaho

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I hit my favorite small creek here in Central Idaho yesterday, Bear Valley Creek, to see if the fish would cooperate.  It was a blustery day with high clouds and just a little sun.  The bugs didn’t seem to like the wind, and I didn’t see a single fish rise all day.  I saw a few Blue Winged Olives and Yellow Sallies flying around so I went surface with representative nymphs.  In between the 12 or 14 whitefish I caught, I managed to pick up a few nice 15″ cutthroats.  Here are a few photos from my day:

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A #14 Tungsten Yellow Sally Nymph and a #18 Psycho Mayfly Nymph.

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

A beautiful Bear Valley Creek Cutthroat

 

 

 

Underwater Fish Pictures

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I was playing around with a few underwater fish pictures with my waterproof Olympus camera the other day.  Usually when I try it, they don’t turn out very well.  But, here are two that worked out quite nicely.  I’m sure the clear water in Bear Valley Creek helped.  Both cutthroats were about 15″ long, and took small nymphs drifted through shallow riffles.

A nice release of a native cutthroat.

A nice release of a native cutthroat.

Another nice cutthroat.

Another nice cutthroat.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

Flooded Cameras

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It’s never a good thing to see the strap of an electronic device protruding from a bowl of Uncle Ben’s uncooked rice.

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About a two months ago, I was out fishing and had my waterproof digital camera in the vest pocket of my waders.  Unfortunately, I had been downloading images from the camera the night before and failed to secure the protective door over the battery and chip compartment.  As a result of a brief trip to deeper water where the upper portion of my waders got submerged, my camera also briefly became a water-born species, allowing for water to enter the battery compartment.  I noticed about 30 minutes later that my camera was now showing moisture in the view finder, and water droplets in the battery compartment.  Needless to say, when I got home, I did the rice trick in hopes of drying out the camera.  After 3 days, things didn’t look very good so I just set the camera aside.

Well, yesterday, Mary Ann did the same thing….forgetting to secure the battery compartment door on her camera when she went fishing.  So, two water-logged digital cameras in the Dozer household.  On a whim, I got out my camera that had been on the shelf for 2 months, replaced the battery and memory chip, and hooked the charging cable up.  Woohoo, it seems to be working just fine…the photo above was taken with it.  I’ll be watching it closely over the next couple of weeks to see if it had “recovered”.  As for Mary Ann’s camera, it is now in the bowl of rice above, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to see good things in a couple of days.

Lesson Learned…always check and re-check the battery compartment door on the camera before hitting the stream.