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!!!!