Native Cutthroats on the Yankee Fork!

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I went hunting for native cutthroats on the Yankee Fork with my good friend, Peter, from Northern California.  Peter is responsible for getting me into bamboo fly rods many years ago.  When he put a Leonard Duracane in my hands and told me to fish it for the day, I was hooked.  Aside from several salmon smolts, hatchery rainbows, and whitefish, I did manage to find a few native cutthroats as well.  Here are some shots from our day.

Peter and I getting ready to hit the Yankee Fork.

Peter and I getting ready to hit the Yankee Fork.

The Yankee Fork.

The Yankee Fork.

A nice 10" native cutthroat that took a #16 black ant pattern.

A nice 10″ native cutthroat that took a #16 black ant pattern.

A beautiful 14" native cutthroat that took a #14 Yellow Sally Nymph.

A beautiful 14″ native cutthroat that took a #14 Yellow Sally Nymph.

 

First Fish on a Bamboo Fly Rod.

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I got one of my bamboo fly rods in the hands of one of our good friends, John, from Colorado recently.  John is relatively new to fly fishing, but he didn’t have any difficulty picking his first fish swinging a black wooly bugger on my 8′  3″  5 wt rod.  Here is John in action:

Swinging a bugger on the Salmon River.

Swinging a bugger on the Salmon River.

Fish On!

Fish On!

A happy angler.

A happy angler.

New Bamboo Fly Rod is all Planed Up

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I’ve been at the bench for a few days planing a new 8′  0″  3 piece,  4 wt rod.  Lots of hours with a Stanley 9 1/2 in my hand, but finally finished.  It always amazes me to see how small the tips get on these lighter rods.  And, how much bamboo shavings get created from the planing operation.  Next step, on to hollowing these sections prior to gluing.

Hand Planing Set-Up

Hand Planing Set-Up with my Bellingers Planing Form.

Finished Strips. The Tips on this rod are 0.028".

Finished Strips. The Tips on this rod are 0.028″.

Owyhee River Brown Trout

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I just got back from 3 days of fishing the Owyhee River in eastern Oregon with a fellow rod builder, Rick Robbins, from West Virginia.  Lots of big browns.  I chose a 8′  3″  5 wt bamboo rod for most of my fishing.  We had great success on  #22 Trico Spinners every morning, and matched them on Furled Leaders from Cutthroat Leaders in Boise, Idaho and 6X tippets.   Tan and/or black ants on 5X Tippets worked well in the afternoons and evenings.  Check it out.

Morning on the Owyhee River.

Morning on the Owyhee River.

Trico Spinners.

Trico Spinners.

#22 Trico Spinner Pattern.

#22 Trico Spinner Patterns.

A nice Brown that fell to a #14 Tan Ant pattern one afternoon.

A nice Brown Trout that fell to a #14 Tan Ant pattern one afternoon.

Small Bamboo Rods on Small Water.

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I spent a couple of hours exploring Valley Creek last week with a small 7′  0″  4 wt rod.  Valley Creek holds a lot of smaller brook trout, cutthroats, stocked rainbows, whitefish, and salmon smolts.  The brookies were happy to take a #14 Royal Wulff.  Whitefish and rainbows went crazy for small nymphs, and I picked up several on #16 pheasant tail nymphs.  Here are a few photos from my afternoon.

Valley Creek - Perfect for a small bamboo rod.

Valley Creek – Perfect for a small bamboo rod.

A nice brookie that took a Royal Wulff.

A nice brookie that took a Royal Wulff.

Hatchery Rainbow

Hatchery Rainbow