Mike & Neil (Father's Day Fun)

6/20.... Mike and Neil learned a lot about fly fishing and drift fishing on their first ever drift trip. And while the day was not without a few 'technical difficulties' everyone landed a big one! We missed a few fish early on, we then hit a particularly hot stretch. Neil hooked up first and a large dark rainbow rocketed up and out right in front of us. Neil was holding him tight and as I was saying 'let go of the reel' the fish in strong current proved too much for the 3x leader and 'pop' it was over. It was about 30 seconds of excitement.....LOL. Luckily we hooked his twin brother next and with lessons learned Neil landed a large fat 4lb rainbow after a long fight. Note the girth on this fish....wow! It was 19" plus fish that probably weighed in at 4 lbs!

 After watching his Dad play two fish in a row Mike felt it was his turn to join in the fun and he hooked up on the next pass. With the adventage of watching his Dad, Mike had better luck on his first fish. He too landed a nice fat 19" rainbow that looked like a big slab of football.....LOL. We followed the fish around as he did what he pleased for about 5 minutes until Mike guided him into the net.

Mike's next fish hit like a freigth train and went the other way fast and we followed it down but after a few minutes the big fish found its way into a big snag.......bummer! But we certainly had fun fighting that big bruiser.

We hooked, played, landed and lost other fish over the course of the day and although it was a warn day (99 dgrees) a great time was had by all and we spent the day sharing fishing and bowling stories. Mike's wife Melissa deserves a big assist and a BIGGER 'Thank You' for setting up the trip as a surprise for the two Dad's!

Teresa, Bill, Casey and Matt - Upper Sac

6/8......  This group of friends spent a terrific weekend fishing, camping palying guitars and singing. I got to spend an evening around the campfire with them and really enjoyed myself as we, ate, drank and sang to Matt playing his guitar.

We also managed to do some fishing and everyone landed some quality rainbows! We fished between Dunsmuir and Vollmers and had good action at every stop. The water was cool and just a bit high and the fish were very hot as many went airborne as soon as they were hooked.

The water and the weather were perfect and the fish acted appropriately and they hit almost on queue. It was a terrific day and with what this group learned they had a lot of success the remainer of the weekend too. THe magic bugs were the olive micro may and the Curt's nest.

We are already planning our next excursion!

Art and Vincent; Lakes, Streams and Rivers

5/24 - 25..... Art and Vincent are long time friends and spent two days flyfishing for native Californian trout. Manzanita lake, Hat creek and the lower Sac all produced nice fish for them! Vincent, as it turns out, has a flair for video editing and created this video (posted on Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATnHjdNX2yc). He used his handheld GoPro camera. Great job Vincent and thanks! Can you say "Free Fishing"? :-)

The first day we spent on Manzanita Lake and it was a bit cool and blustery day and with intermediate sinking lines we landed and released a nice rainbow and a nice brown along with a few smaller bow's too. The evening was spent on Hat Creek and the fishing Gods were less than generous and only a few small fish came to the net. We saw a few Green Drakes but not enough to get the fish to key on them.

The next day the lower Sac was a bit more accomodating and both Art and Vincent landed some nice fat rainbows. It was a bit windy and cool but the fish were active. The evening was particularly good and several fish in the 19 to 20 inch range were landed. Vincent landed the most extraordinary fish I have seen in a while. It was a 17" football that had to weigh 3 to 4 lbs. It was the fatest football I have ever seen.

 It was great fishing with you guys!

Dale and Chris sharing a great day!

5/22-23..... Dale wanted some quality time with his son Chris so they decided to do some fly fishing on the lower Sac. We did 2 'half days' an evening and the following morning, that way they had an excuse to get a hotel, eat out and get some uninterrupted time together. It also meant they didn'y have to drive round-trip and fish all in the same day.

The afternoon started off fast with Dale (dad) landing the first fish just a few minutes from the launch. Chris had some action but lost several nice fish (those big rainbows are tough and the small barbless hooks don't make it any easier). We chalked it all up to practice!

The following morning started off with Dale fighting and landing a 3lb Sacramento sucker (we gave his some ribbing of course).... Chris showed him how it's done by landing this colorful, hard fighting 19 incher just downstream from the hwy #44 bridge. It was an exciting fight and Chris did a fine job!

Dad got back in the game with a silvery football that was only about 17 inches but extremely robust with huge shoulders. He came out of big water was a very tough fight.

It is always great to fish with a father and son! Chris is off to play summer baseball in Ohio and then back to Yale where he catches for their baseball team and of course study in hopes of attending law school after graduation next spring. Dad is back to work in the Sacramento area. I know I enjoyed their company and watching them fish and land some beauties was a memorable experience. You guys are a class act! Thanks!

Tough Conditions but Tougher Fishermen!

5/10-11....

Bob booked two days, one with his long time friend Chris and the other with his son Scott. What they didn't know was that day 1 was so windy it literally almost knocked Bob out of the boat. 47 mph gusts and steady winds at 25 to 30 mph made it a very tough day. Bob and Chris are troopers and they stuck with it for a couple of small fish. While the next day was better it was still windy by 'flyfishing' standards.

The next day Bob's son Scott joined him for a father/son day of fishing. While it was windy casting and even mending was possible...Yeah! and while it was still a tough day some nice fish were landed and released.

Bob and Scott are both good casters and we cheered the nice fish as we released them. It is great to be on the water with true sportsmen! Thanks for a memorable couple of days.