May 2005 Short Reports
compiled by
The season has opened and as expected trout reports are starting to come in. Because of the above-average snow this year the spring snowmelt is probably going to keep a lot of us off the streams. But to paraphrase the movie, The Graduate, just one word: "tailwaters."
I was chatting with Tom Kilfoil, who is a frequent contributor to the PFF website. Our discussion turned to the utility of adding your own pictures and material to the site. He brought up two compelling reasons why he thinks it is useful to contribute – above and beyond the pure enjoyment of sharing your experiences with the rest of us. The first is that the PFF website is becoming a type of history-machine. Tom often refers back to the PFF website to remind himself of a trip or experience. He has a point – the club is about to celebrate its 28th birthday. Ten years from now, will you remember all those details about that epic fishing trip? If you had submitted an article or a picture/paragraph to the Short Report you'd have saved the memory in an amazingly convenient location.
This brings me to his second point – how often have you tried to convey to a colleague or friend how much fun you had on a fishing trip? Maybe you have relatives on the East Coast or in Hawaii (I have both) who would love to see what you're up to. On one hand, you could call them up and verbally describe the trip. On the other hand, it is much more impressive if you send them a web address and say, here's what I was doing two weeks ago.
So share your experiences. It requires almost no effort on your part, but returns benefits in so many ways! Email a short narrative or picture of a recent trip or even consider writing a longer article. We'll post it on the PFF site forever (or at least until the Next Great Thing replaces the internet)!
Green River
Below Flaming Gorge Dam, Utah, April: This year's trip was my 9th to the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam in northeast Utah. I covered the trip information pretty thoroughly in last year's article, "Green River and the Ladies from California" April 2004. This year, my daughter, Lauré Ross, and friends, Rebecca Blair and Bill Khulman made the trip with me.
We fished double rigged nymphs through the first deep pools on the A Section and then fished dries with emergers or a second dry behind for rest of the time. It was interesting what turned the fish on at different times. We would go through stretches when all they hit was the dry and then periods when all they wanted was the emerger. We each caught lots of fish and had a great time.
One of the new tricks that Doug Burton (guide) had us try was using a small balloon as an indicator for the nymphing. He uses the small, water balloon size and blows them up to just larger than a golf ball. He admitted that with a few balloons of different colors on the water, you did feel that you needed to be singing "Happy Birthday" as you went down river. Doug buys the balloons at a party store for $0.89 a bag of 30. If they made them green or yellow and put on fishing logos, they would retail for $2.99 for a pair. I was dubious, but they are great indicators. There is almost no wind resistance, they don't soak up water like the yarn indicators, you don't need to groom them, and they are extremely sensitive to line action while floating.
Party Fish: Doug was rigging me up and Rebecca was bouncing her balloon (white) off the side of the boat when a fish came and went for the balloon. She said it wasn't that big a fish, but it opened it mouth really wide and took the whole balloon in it's mouth. She tugged and he tugged back and popped the balloon.
Spring Creek Ranch, Minnie's Gap, WY
Web: www.quickbyte.com/springcreek/
Phone: 307.350.3005
Denny Breer's Trout Creek Flies
Web: www.fishgreenriver.com
– Mary Nishioka
Tom's "Crappie" Day
Undisclosed Lake, May
7: I had a great time at the Fresno Fly Fishing Club fishout this
past week-end. It was their Crappie Tournament with only flies allowed.
The fishing for crappie was not very good. For 15 fishermen only 6 crappie
were caught. Some of us caught bass as this picture will tell. Each fisherman
puts in $10 to the pot. Half goes to their conservation fund. The other
half goes to the winning fishermen. A youngster fishing from shore won with
2 crappie. Three others shared 2nd and 3rd place with one fish each. One
other fisherman let his small crappie go. This is the third year I have
fished with this club since David Harris, one of our members is also a member
of the Fresno Club.
– Tom Kilfoil
Great Trout Fishing in Carmel (!)
San Clemente Rancho, April There is a small (very small) private lake in Carmel Valley that Geoff Malloway of Central Coast Flyfishing has access to. He charges $250 for one rod and provides lunch. Check with him for the price for two rods as it has changed from last year. Only 4 rods are allowed at any one time. You fish from a float tube, yours or he will provide one, and the lake is stocked with Shasta rainbows up to 30".
I usually fish this lake in April, before the season opens, and the fishing is always excellent. Some years are better than others and this year was phenomenal with - and I swear I am not exaggerating - a fish on every five minutes. All on small dries - either parachute Adams or parachute ants. Geoff said that last year's fish weren't very active when caught. This year, they were aeronautical with lots of jumps and plenty of fight.
Geoff is also an excellent instructor. If you want to start a beginner fly fisher, you need a place to go while everyone else is in Carmel or at the Aquarium, or you just need a day on the water to tune up, this is a very easy day trip and can be fished before the season starts.
To check out pictures, go to the website below, click on Photo Gallery (left bar) and look at both "Beginning Fly Fishing" and "Fish Lake at San Clemente Rancho". Geoff also has an fully equipped fly shop which I recommend checking out. Geoff, his fly shop, and the lake all get my highest recommendation.
Central Coast Fly Fishing
Geoff Malloway, Owner
7172 Carmel Valley Road
Carmel, CA 93923
Phone: 831.626.6586
email: info@centralcoastflyfishing.com
web: www.centralcoastflyfishing.com
– Mary Nishioka
Keep those reports and photos coming!
Rodney