Mary Ann and I had the wonderful experience spending time on the Middle Deschutes River two weeks ago with noted Author and Fly Fishing Expert Dave Hughes.  I put one of my 7′  6″  5 wt Signature Series bamboo fly rods in his hand for the afternoon and watched him swing winged-wets and soft hackles through the shallow riffles.  I worked at Czech Nymphing with stonefly nymphs and small mayfly nymphs.  While neither Dave nor I were overly successful at landing fish on the day, it was still a fun time.  Mary Ann out-fished us both, landing 4 or 5 trout and whitefish.  Dave commented that my Signature Series rod was the finest bamboo rod he’s ever swung flies with….wow, what a compliment.

Last week, I was down in Northern California meeting up with some fly fishing friends on Hat Creek, a place we’ve been fishing together for 34 years.  We did well fishing golden stonefly dries late in the evening, but the largest fish I landed over the 4 days of fishing was using the swinging techniques Dave outlined in his latest book, Wet Flies – Second Edition.  His techniques and wet fly patterns certainly worked for me, and helped me land a beautiful 21″ rainbow on a swing Partridge and Yellow soft hackle one evening.  Here are a couple photos.

Mary Ann and I with Dave Hughes showing off our bamboo fly rods on the Middle Deschutes River.

A beautiful 21″ rainbow taken on Hat Creek, California on a swung #16 Partridge and Yellow.