Bob and Adrian...so close yet so far:-)

9/22.... As we set off for our half day trip the air was crisp and filled with optimism and enthusiasm!

We didn't get our first real hook up until we got to the riffle just above the Sundial Bridge. naturally we garnered a small crowd as we played the fish into the slack water and the spectators sighed in unison as we lost the fish. We hooked up a couple more times and finally did land one.

Bob seemed to have the hot hand and after releasing the 18 incher we headed down river. Unfortunately our luck did not change much. I won't guess as to how many solid hookups we had or how many fish we played; they all eluded our net and our camera.

About half way through the drift the luck seemed to change and Adrian seemed to be getting bit a lot. At one spot just below the Cypress St bridge Adrian stuck a really nice fish and played it through some heavy water until we reached with the net and 'POOF' the fish disappeared...:-(! We made another pass and slam Adrians indicator went down and he struck. Another solid hook up! The fish jetted straight up and out of the water for us all to see. It was a real pig but it had it's own ideas. It peeled off some line and made a hard run only to shake the hook loose! In another instance Adrian got bit again and the fish darted directly under the boat only to get free!

And that's why they call it fishing and not 'catching'. It wasn't that we didn't have any luck but we couldn't 'seal the deal'.

Bob and Adrian are good sports and true sportsmen too. Thanks fella's, see ya soon!

Melike and Murat... not bad for the first time.

9/16......Murat booked a halfday trip for himself to help him learn more about flyfishing. I came by to pick him up for the morning trip and he offered me coffee and some breakfast so I joined him and his wife Melike for a quick snack before hitting the river. After some conversation and explanation of what the fishing would be like we convinced Melike to join us for the float...she was just a bit reticent and not sure she was 'into' fishing.

hit the water at about 9 and I explained the casting and how we would drift along and fish.  There were numerous birds out and the weather conditions were perfect. Naturally, Melike caught the first fish on the first pass above the posse grounds and it was a beauty. She was jazzed and had a huge smile that seemed to light up the river.

We made a few more passes and got a few more hook ups but lost them until Melike landed another one. Murat was of course a gentleman but I could tell he wanted to land one after playing a few but losing them. The action was good and consistant so I was confident he would get one and indeed he did! It was a 21.5 inch beauty(one of the biggest I've seen in months). We netted this robust beauty below the Cypress Street bridge. Since we hooked him in big water it was quite a fight and it took some time to coax this big rainbow into the net.

I think we netted 6 that day and played and lost about that many also, so it was a fun day full of smiles, excitement and a frown every now and then when a fish was lost. The fish were all wild, strong, full bodied, and colorful. Murat and Melike were very good sports on the river; although I detect a bit of competition...all in good fun of course:-)! Thanks for a great day!

Carol and Anthony - red hot!

9/15.......Carol, Anthony and I fished together back in July and did pretty well so they returned for a 'Prime Time' trip and landed some real beauties. Anthony bought a new fly outfit, a 91/2', 6wt rod that did the trick and Carol, while not a traditional fly fisherman, used my 81/2' steelhead rod rigged with P-Line Hydro-float (floating line on a spinning outfit). They both used a combination of Foxes Poopah, Micro-may, Zebra midge, and the S&M and we even took one fish on a 'bead' (its almost spawning time).

We hit the water just before 9 and powered up above the Posse Grounds ramp and Carol nailed a nice 18" rainbow on the first pass down. This beauty took the bead......

We made several passes and continued to get grabs but didn't land another one until we got below the Sundial bridge. We had originally planned to drift all the way to Anderson River Park but we had such good action it was obvious we weren't going to make it that far so we re-arranged our shuttle and floated to Bonnyview instead.

Carol seemed to have the 'hot hand' and landed a couple more until Anthony got into the act. and by late morning the action was spread out and while we hit and missed a few we did manage to net 11 fish over 17" we played and lost a bunch and just flat missed a few too. Anthony hit a really nice 19 incher below the Cypress St. bridge.....

 We made it to Bonnyview by 4 pm had some lunch at the San Francisco Deli and headed back up river and finished the day with a short drift from the posse grounds to the aqua golf ramp. Carol of course landed another beauty.

 All in all it was a full day of fun and fish. Carol and Anthony are a lot of fun to fish with and they are improving fast! Thanks for a great day!

Even the trout are ....smokin'......

8/29.... Mike and Bert took advantage of a relatively clear evening and despite the smokey skies, they lit into some really hot fish. We even landed a few :-)! These fish are big and well fed and full of fight!

When this guy hit, Bert's Sage 696 was doubled over and the reel began whistling! We tangled with several fish in the 19 inch range. These lunkers are so fat you can barely hold them The action was consistant and hot for the entire evening!

Mike definately had the 'hot rod' and played about 10 fish. The one pictured below was one of the bigger 'bows he agrivated. This one took a while to coax in as we were in strong water.

 

Mike said it was the best evening of fishing he had ever experienced! Probably the most memorable fish of the evening was hooked under the hwy 44 bridge. This big guy went tail walking and airborn several times and it was exciting to watch. Mike finally worked him in and this is the pic. He was a big fat 19 incher. 

Miller Brother's doin' it together

6/26...... The Miller clan was gathered for the wedding of Duanes son and the family traveled from back east for the ceremony and took the opportunity to try their luck on some California rainbows. Most of the conditions were good; the flows came up just the day before and we decided to blame that for the lack of fishing success......Oh well.....

Dean had the hot hand and finally landed a nice rainbow.

.....a fun day none the less, but it was a tough day. Everyone stayed in good spirits and it was a fun day on the river. Dean had most of the action so he always had a smile. We'll have better luck next time!