Tag Archives: fly fishing

Fishing Hat Creek, CA

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I met up with my fishing buddies from California last week and spent 4 days fishing Hat Creek near Redding.  I’ve been fishing with these guys for over 30 years so it’s always great to get together with them on our “Guys Fishing Trip” once a year.  The creek was in great shape.  It proved to be pretty challenging fishing during the day but much better each evening.  Lots of Salmonflies, Golden Stoneflies, Yellow Sallies, and Caddis were out.  For all my fishing, I used my 9′  0″  4 wt Euronymphing rod.  It did great during the day throwing all sorts of nymphs, and then switching over to a dry line during the evenings for the hatch.  Here are a few photos of my trip.

Hat Creek, CA

Salmon Fly

Salmon Fly

Hat Creek Rainbow that took a Yellow Sally.

This guy took a golden stonefly.

 

 

Bamboo Rod Fishing at Yamsi Ranch

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I just got back from 3 days of fly fishing on the Upper Williamson River in Southern Oregon with my good friend and fishing buddy Bill.  We stayed a great place, Yamsi Ranch, which has 8 miles of spring creek water flowing through the ranch.  Ranch guests are the only ones who have access to the river so there is plenty of water to get out and fish.  John, Gerry, Dayton, and Sally are fantastic hosts at the ranch, which has been around for over 100 years.  Fishing is for native brookies and rainbows on miles of beautiful spring creek water.  Fishing in the river was non-stop action for Bill and I…small bead head leaches in the mornings, mahogany dun dries mid-day, and hoppers in the afternoons.  Bill and I lost track of how many fish we caught.  I fished most of the time with my 8′  0″  5 wt Signature Series medium action bamboo fly rod, but went to my 8′  0″  6 wt medium fast action Freestone Series rod for the afternoon hopper sessions.  We also got the chance to fish for a few hours in Hyde Lake on the ranch.  It was loaded with huge rainbows…nothing was under 21″.  Again, leaches worked great for these big rainbows, as well as callibaetis nymphs stripped slowly along the weed beds.  What a great trip we had.  Here are a few photos:

Bill and Dave’s excellent adventure at Yamsi Ranch

A beautiful 14″ brookie…we caught A LOT of these guys.

Bill working a nice bend in the river.

Stripping bead head leaches.

A nice rainbow I picked up our last morning.

A big rainbow from the ranch’s lake.

What Is The Best Reel For A Bamboo Fly Rod?

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I get asked occasionally “What is the best reel for a bamboo fly rod?”  Well, there is no one answer to that question.  But, a lot of the modern day reels are very light weight and don’t balance a bamboo rod very well, while many of the older reels that were made years ago are heavier.  And, there is just something about putting a reel with a “classic look” on a fine bamboo fly rod.  When I’m out fishing, I usually have an older classic reel on my rods.  I have several old Hardy reels and Pflueger reels, and also have a very nice Saracione reel and a Bellinger reel for my two-handed Trout Spey rods.  Here are a couple of photos of my set-ups:

A beautiful old Pflueger Gem Reel on my bamboo 3 wt Euro-Nymphing rod on the Metolius River.

A classic Hardy Sunbeam on a 7′ 0″ 4 wt medium action rod on Whychus Creek.

A Hardy Perfect on a 7′ 6″ medium fast action 5 wt rod on Silver Creek.

Casting an 8′ 0″ slow action 5 wt rod with a Saracione reel on the Metolius River.

Again, my old Pflueger Gem reel on my Euro-Nymphing 9′ 0″ 3 wt rod on Hat Creek, CA.

My old Hardy Sunbeam on the Upper Deschutes River.

My Bellinger reel on my 10′ 6″ Bamboo Trout Spey rod and a beautiful Cutthroat from the Salmon River.

My Hardy Lightweight on my 8′ 3″ Medium Fast Action 5 wt rod on the Salmon River and big Cutthroat.

Incredible colors on this nice cutthroat taken on my 8′ 3″ medium fast action rod with my Hardy Perfect reel on the Salmon River.

 

 

Bamboo Rods on the Owyhee River

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While attending the 2018 Fly Fishers International Fly Fishing Fair in Boise, Idaho last week, I got the chance to fish for a day with my good friend from Australia, Noel Williams.   We drove the 90 minutes it took to get to the Owyhee River and tempted the big brown trout for the day.  Noel fished with his 8′  3″  5 wt medium action bamboo fly rod, while I used my 9′  0″  3 wt EuroNymphing Bamboo Rod.  We had pretty slow fishing early in the day, but the PMDs came out in the afternoon and we found an area with some rising fish.  Noel bested me for the day, landing his largest brown trout ever (about 20″)…on a fly he tied himself…how great is that.!  I hooked into a few nice browns but couldn’t land any of them.  Noel’s wife, Sue, joined us for the day, and although she doesn’t fish, she did a great job netting fish and taking some excellent photos.

Noel and Dave with our bamboo fly rods.

Nice Fish!

A beautiful 20″ brown Trout that Noel landed.

 

Fishing Bamboo on Whychus Creek

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I hiked down to Whychus Creek recently at the bottom of the canyon just below our house for some morning fly fishing.  Whychus is a beautiful small local creek that gets almost no fishing pressure.  Most of the trout are on the small side (5″ to 9″) but it’s not uncommon to get into a few larger fish also.  Because the creek is heavily treed in along the banks, I like to fish the creek with a 7′  0″  4 wt bamboo fly rod. Longer 8 or 9 ft. rods are just too long for this little creek.  Nymphs tend to work well on the resident fish, but they’ll come up for dries occasionally also.  For the morning, I picked up about 15 fish on #18 black zebra midges, #16 black AP nymphs, #10 black stonefly nymphs, #16 copper johns, and #14 Royal Wulffs.  Here is a fun little video that I pulled together of my morning.

https://youtu.be/YBC53hjUlwI