Teaching, Sharing & Living...a fly fishing weekend!!!

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend!! I had a great weekend because I got the chance to do some fishing. It all Started with taking my boys Carson (6) & Cole (4) out last Saturday for the Tracy Fly Fishers outing at Kistler Ranch. We arrived at the ponds at 1:00pm just in time for a great lunch provided by the club. The reports for catching bass and bluegill were good from some of the members who made it out for a great day of fishing. My friend Stan & VP of the club said he had great luck catching bluegill and got a chance to experience about a 5lb bass eat his bluegill. I think Stan and I need to get together and tie some bluegill patterns. Well, before we headed to the ponds to have my boys try there luck for some bluegill they got a chance to participate in the kids raffle. Carson was the lucky winners of a nice kids rod & a catch & release t-shirt. He was so excited!!

We headed to the first pond were my friend Patrick and I hooked into some bluegill a few weeks before. I was thinking that I would have the same luck...I was wrong. I threw some of my hand tied foam spiders with an ant dropper all over the area we fished before. I tied on a few other patterns I had like a small black popper with a black birdsnest and still no action. The boys were not that into fishing because they were more interested in catching dragon flies. So I kept fishing hoping to at least catch one. Well the only excitement here was having to pull my kids shoes out from being stuck ankle deep in the mud. Shortly after we decided to head home...

In case you don't know, on the way home is the exit for my favorite spot on the lower Stanislaus River. The time was 4:30pm and I had about an hour before we needed to be back for dinner. I went to a spot I normally do not fish but it is the only safest place to actually take the boys. We fooled around a bit skipping rocks in the water and looking for "cool" rocks when I couldn't stand it anymore. I told the boys "lets see if Daddy can catch a Rainbow." I went to my set up that I have been using the last few outings. Within minutes I caught small rainbow. The boys were so excited! Here is a really short video of the Rainbow with my youngest son Cole doing the honors of releasing the trout back into the water.


I only fished for about 20 minutes and was able to land 2 rainbows. I had several takes and lost a few at the net. They boys and I were just exited to see some action. Well I think we probably would have hooked into a lot more fish but we had to leave to get back for dinner. I'm glad I stopped by get my "fix!" I couldn't close the books on this day without showing my boys that Daddy can catch fish! On our walk back to the car I heard the best words a father could here..."Daddy, can we come back here again and catch more fish." ABSOLUTELY!!!

A day later...
We are back!! The boys and I headed right for the spot we were at on Saturday. This time it was earlier in the day around 2:30 in the afternoon. We decided to play in the water for a while since it was 80 degrees. About an hour later I told the boys lets see if we can catch a fish. I went right out to the same spot and this time Carson came out to wade with me. I caught 3 fish which all three alluded the net...makes it much easier for catch and release.

The most rewarding part of my day came when a fellow fly fisherman arrived on the water. Frank was his name and he was from Alabama. He said he just graduated from High school and was here visiting and wanting to do some fly fishing. He had just come from the Bass Pro Shop in Manteca. The person in the fly fishing department told him what to use and where to go. He came right up and asked if we had any luck. I told him about our three rainbows. He asked what I was using and proceeded to tell me he mainly fishes for Bass. He said he had no experience with casting nymphs let alone casting them with an indicator. I had a big smile on my face and said you are in luck. He showed me some of the flies he had but they were just a little to big for the lower Stan. He also was using 8lb mono for a leader. I said your flies might be a little to big but I have a few extras that I have tied that you can have. He was very appreciative. He said "if I can at least catch one fish it would make my day." Well I felt the need to give a mini lesson to an eager student about catching fish on this stretch of river. I removed his leader and gave him a 6x tapered leader. I tied on his size 14 Pheasant tail nymph with my own midge pattern as a dropper. I told him to use a split shot and his indicator. I pointed to a couple rocks in the water that I was wading near and gave him quick lesson on fishing two nymphs with an indicator. Being and experienced fly fisherman he picked it up right away and was making great cast and having great drifts. Right away he had a few takes. Frank was making good progress, so I decided to go try a spot just below him. As soon as I got to my spot a heard some excitement... Frank caught a small rainbow. It really felt great that my knowledge and experience fishing these waters were a success to someone's first visit to the river plus there first attempt at nymph fishing. I can see "guide" in my near future...Anyway, I left Frank with a spool of 6x tippet and some extra midges. I hope to reconnect with him on Facebook and hear about the rest of his trip.

Well, if anyone else wants to learn how we do it on the lower Stan just send me a message. until then I will see you...
Back on the Fly!!!!

Ring, ring...who is it??... The lower Stan....I've been expecting your call.

Yeah BABY!!! Another phenomenal morning last Thursday on the lower Stanislaus River. Patrick and I answered the call and headed out to catch some of the wild trout that inhabit this fine fishery. There was a threat of a thunder storm but that didn't stop us from throwing our hand tied patterns at these beautiful trout. We arrived on the river at 6:30am and headed for the lower pool. Right away Patrick had a fish but with an aerial acrobatic show the fish tossed the hook. I had a few takes but couldn't hold them...the smaller trout seemed to be teasing us a bit. We decided to scale the moss covered rocks to the pool just below the dam. We had better success here. Patrick and I netted 5 fish combined at this pool. An hour of fishing here and getting constant mist in our face from the water flowing over the dam we decided to try our luck down river.

Once down river, Patrick hooked into a fish. It is so cool to see the hook set, the fight and then the release. I went further down to fish the "pool" but kept getting distracted by Patrick hooking into fish. He must have caught 7 or 8 fish in about a 20 minute window. I was like "Dude, this guy is on Fire!!" I didn't have as much luck but still was able to land a couple and lose a couple.

The fish were all ranging between 8-10 inches until... I saw Patrick's rod go up and the line get tight. I could tell this was no 8 or 10 incher. I was at least 50 yards down river but that didn't stop me from heading back to get a closer look at his fish. The whole time it took me to walk back through the water I could see Patrick carefully fight this fish. I kept thinking to myself "please stay on." When I got to Patrick he had finally got the fish in the net...Whew! We took a few photos (for the blog & proof) then let him go back to be caught again...hopefully by me next time. The fish measured in at 14 1/2 inches...a very respectable fish for this river.














What I love about fly fishing is you are always learning something new every time you're on the water and every time you go out with an experienced fisherman. Patrick (experienced fisherman) noticed my set up and asked if I was using a split shot weight. I said "no" and he said "you gotta use a split shot"... "The spit shot gets your flies down deeper & produces a slower drift". So he gave me a split shot and I headed just above him to the top of the pool to fish the riffle. On the 2nd cast I caught a nice rainbow... Totally Awesome! Little tips like that can put your flies in the right water column where the trout are feeding...Thanks Man!! I caught 4 fish in this spot with Patrick and I hooking into a double(both of us catching & landing fish at the same time). I also had numerous takes and a few that tossed my fly. What was cool is that I was really paying attention to my drift. I was making sure my indicator lead the way down the river while my flies trailed.

I was perfecting my cast & tossed a few more good drifts when BAM!!... I hooked into what was my nicest fish for the day. He didn't hesitate on taking the fly and pulling my indicator way down... I pulled hard with my left hand while my right hand put my rod tip high in the air...then the fight was ON!! He made a few last minute attempts to pull away but I was able to finesse the fight and land this Lower Stan beauty! What makes me crazy about slightly larger fish is how hard they pull on your line and give you a great fight...I LOVE IT!!!














Well the only down fall to fishing two flies and a split shot is every once in a while you get a nasty birdsnest (line tangle)...not good. Patrick and I both had a birdsnest, so we called it a day plus we both needed to get back home (perfect excuse). I had an AWESOME day fishing with my friend and seeing him land over 12 fish. I ended the day with 9 rainbows plus a few more techniques to put in my fishing vest. Here are a couple of photos of the nice ones we landed plus some pictures of the patterns we tied.








































Double Ribbed Chironomid













Double Wire Brassie

The phone might ring again tomorrow...so stay close because I will be here... Back on the FLY!!

Fly Fishing on the Lower Stan is BACK!!!!

This morning was totally AWESOME!!! There is nothing like catching fish on a fly rod and even better yet, catching fish on a fly you tied just the day before. I had been keeping an eye on the river flows for the last week on the lower Stanislaus. Last night they were running around 500CFS and this morning at 5AM I looked again and they were at 399CFS. So, being the dedicated trout fisherman that I am, I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I threw on some clothes grabbed the 6wt and headed to the River. I arrived at 6:30AM and hit the water. I had a "take" on the second cast and shortly after I landed a small rainbow. After that... it was "ON"!! I headed up to the lower pool and started tossing my two fly set up with indicator(aka bobber). I was using a size 18 beadhead pheasant tale nymph with a midge emerger pattern I tied. I landed 7 fish in this pool with numerous "takes" and a few I lost at the net. My biggest fish landed for the day was a 12" rainbow. You know every fisherman has to have a fish story...so here's mine. I lost a nice one, I would say it was probably 13" -15" rainbow. I had it hooked tight. I gave him a little to much time in the water and as I brought him in close, he did a last minute ditch effort under a rock and snapped my 6x tippet. That is the price you pay for using light line but it is definitely worth it. I walked down river maybe 50 yards and hooked into about three more using the "high stick" nymphing technique. Basically I was making short casts in the riffles & runs and holding my rod tip high so I can have a quick hook set when the fish are biting really light. Here are a few pics of the rainbows I caught today.
































It has been awhile since I had a day like today. It was great to get "wet" again and land some fish. Patrick and I are headed back on Thursday, so I need to get back in front of the vice and tie some more of the same pattern.

Stay tuned because I'm BACK...on the FLY!!!

Green on the Stream!!!

The Family and I spent the day at Tuolumne regional park for the Green on the Stream festival in support of the Tuolumne River Trust Foundation. I was there representing our club Stanislaus Fly Fishers along with our President Derald & other fellow members Brian, Tom & James. I was the resident tier for the day while the other members assisted the festival goers in the art of fly casting. The event was chalked full of vendors from Vegan bakers to roller derby girls and some really great local bands. I was entertaining our visitors with my fly tying skills while still taking in all the great energy from the bands on stage. I was really surprised in how many people are intrigued by fly fishing as well as fly tying. I have only been tying seriously for the last two months and it felt good to see our veteran fly fisherman admiring my work. Our President Derald was impressed with my birds nest nymphs so I gave him 3 patterns to use on his next trip. The only requirement is to take photos of the fish he catches on my flies.
Here is a few photos of us doing what we do best...sharing our passion for Fly Fishing!!





































All in all it was a great day!! I will catch all you cats next time...Back on the Fly!!!

No Fishing makes me...a better fly tier!

Thursday's are usually my fishing days on the lower Stanislaus river but the flow are still a little to high. So, when I can't fish I have been sittin' in front of the vise and tying some flies. My friend Patrick has been my fly tying coach for the last two months. We have tied flies for bass, trout & bluegill. Yesterday we cracked a bottle of wine and went after the Marabou Muddler. It should have some good action in the water. We will be throwing this one at our next trip to Kislter Ranch.


After tying the Muddler we headed down to visit our friend Bob who owns Sierra Anglers Fly Shop. Bob has a great assortment of our fly tying needs as well as everything a beginner to a professional might need for their next fly fishing outing. After spending an hour at the shop going over what our next purchases are going to be and pretty much acting like kids in a candy store, we decided to head back to Patrick's to finish our bottle of wine and tie a few more patterns for Goodwin(lower stanislaus). We tied a griffith gnat with indicator and a beadhead olive Birds Nest.
























Today Nicole went to visit a friend and do some networking so the boys and I tied up a few patterns. I tied a Dragon Fly, hoppers, zebra midges and some crazy patterns my boys came up with. It will be interesting if some of their creations catch fish. I'm just excited they are interested in tying. My oldest son Carson wants to tie something that we can catch sharks with...I will definitely post pics if we ever get to that point!
























Tomorrow I'm taking the vise down to Green on the Stream in Modesto. I will be tying some trout patterns that work well on this river. Come by and say hi. I will be representing our club Stanislaus Fly Fishers.

Keep on keepin' on and I will see you...Back on the Fly!!!

Tracy Fly Fishers general meeting featuring Mike Wier

I attended my first Tracy Fly Fishers general meeting tonight in Tracy, CA. I arrived at about 6:30pm to catch a group of guys sitting around a table watching fellow member Steve Holtzclaw work his magic on a fly tying vise. I quickly recognized Stan Elijah whom I met just the day before at a networking event. Brief History: My rule of thumb is "if you don't tell people what you do, then they don't know". So, when I was greeted at the networking event someone asked what I did and I said "I'm a Fly Fisherman"! "Well, then you need to talk with Stan Elijah". So I talked with Stan and he said he was VP of Tracy Fly Fishers and they were having a meeting the next day. See how it works, I never would have known. Anyway, back to the meeting. Right before 7pm the members started pouring in and I was trying to meet as many as I could. Everyone was very friendly and the best thing was they all shared the same passion...Fly Fishing. What impressed me was there were probably over 40 member's and everyone was so happy to see each other. I along with 3 other people were first time guests. They asked me to introduce myself to the group and give a brief history of my fly fishing experience (i.e. when I got started fly fishing and where I primarily have fished). After the introductions the meeting quickly got under way. They talk about the some upcoming outing as well as some conservation concerns. Then we had a brief intermission to mingle and check out the raffle prizes. I was impressed with the raffle prizes. they had a new Rod, hand tied flies from a member, line, tools, wooden rod rack (which I won), several bottles of GREAT wines...Awesome!!

The second half of the meeting got under way and the guest speaker was Mike Wier. Mike is a big fish Magnet as well as a great cinematographer specializing in fly fishing videos. Hit the link and browse his site...Totally Awesome!! He talked about still water tactics in the lakes that are right in our backyard. Mike also mentioned how he loves to sight fish for trout feeding along the shoreline. He ran through about 5 or so different lakes that are in are area and explained the different techniques he uses on each one. The highlight for me came when Mike shared with us a 10min video he shot from his trip to Mongolia (follow link to Spring issue '09 Mongo Metal pirates). The fish they caught were the monster Taimen (see picture above). What an Awesome video!! All I know is Mongolia is NOW on my list for places to go fishing.

As for the still water presentation. What I ended up getting out of it was that I have fished some of my favorite lakes and I always would get in a tube or be in a boat. What was cool is you can have just as good of luck or even better sight fishing from shore... Man!! I can't wait for my next fly fishing outing.

So, the meeting ended with the raffle and I came home with a wooden rod rack. Yeah Baby!!! It is always cool to win a raffle prize. It was a toss up between a bottle of wine and the rod rack. I had been wanting to hang my rods in the office for some time now so I couldn't pass up the opportunity... Next time I will get some wine :).

Well, to wrap things up... I decided to join Tracy Fly Fishers. I can't wait to get to know all the guys & girls and start blogging about my new fishing adventures with the club.

See you all next time...Back on the Fly!!!

All about the Bass...uh...I mean Bluegill.

What a perfect day to wet our lines and try to catch some of Kistler Ranch Bass. Temperature was around 80 degrees and there was no wind...perfect conditions for fly fishing for Bass. Patrick and I arrived at the ponds around 2:30 in the afternoon and found ourselves to be the first ones on the water. Kistler Ranch has your choice of three ponds and we decided to fish the upper pond. We hopped into Patrick's canoe with electric trolling motor which makes it nice to move from spot to spot. Patrick loaded his rod with a top-water popper & I tied on a fly I created the day before that resembled some what of a mouse pattern. Patrick & I are both trout fisherman so lugging these large flies out there took a few casts to get the hang of. We pretty much whipped the water into a froth but to no avail. Well, we did see a little action. I will say Patrick gets the award for the most takes on a single fly. Patrick noticed a bass rising near the grass line and he tossed his hand tied Maribou Muddler right near the spot of the boil. The bass took the fly but alluded the hook set... not once but at least 8-10 times. Well we can split those takes between two different fish. Either way I think that is the most non action/action fishing I have seen in a while. It was still cool to see a bass attempt to take a top-water fly. It doesn't take much to get these fisherman excited. The thrill of an almost hook set still gets the blood pumping.

Well, we pretty much fished for about 4 hours straight before we decided to break for a beer and a burrito. After our quick break we broke out the 3 & 4 weights and headed to the first pond for some always fun Bluegill action. Patrick tied on a foam spider with a birds nest nymph dropper and pretty much couldn't keep them off his fly. I hadn't tied any foam spiders so I went with a large dry fly and also a birds nest dropper. Well it took me about 15 mins of watching Patrick catch about 6 fish before I decided that something I was doing was not what the bluegill had in mind. I looked to the "Bluegill Master" for some guidance. Patrick said he had a black foam spider with about a 2' dropper using a black birds nest. So I went into the fly box and found a small black popper and dropped a black ant pattern I tied earlier in the week and BINGO!! I had the right hook up. It was pretty much every other cast until it got dark. We landed countless bluegill and a few redfin shad. Even thou we didn't catch any bass we still had a great time fishing for them. I can say we had an awesome time landing these wild bluegill on light action rods. The day was great spending the afternoon doing what I love to do and that is FLY FISH!!

Well depending on river flows we might be headed back to our home waters of Goodwin Dam or tying some new bass flies for our next Kistler Ranch outing. I will be showing you pictures of bass for sure next time. Till then I will see you Back On The Fly!