Umpqua Video

It may be more than a month and a half later, but I finally digitized in the video from my camera and edited something together. Although I took about 10 minutes of video, it really gets boring quickly.

North Umpqua

No one was fishing that day, or I would of taken some shots of people standing out in the river, so you could get a better idea of where you have to position yourself to fish Camp Water. For those of you not familiar with the NU, it may be a wide river, but the slots you want to fish are rather narrow. You just have to wade out (not as easy as it sounds) to a position where you can access the good water.

Along with my writeup from the talk with Lee on Steamboat Creek, I'll have some more video. You'll see some actual steelhead this time. Hundreds of them in the pool while I was there.

Trout like skaters too

Why do people worry so much about dead drifting a fly? Trout love em skittering across the surface under tension. At least the 20+ that I caught did. :)

I'm behind in my fishing reports. One more North Umpqua, a Klamath, and now a Lower Stanislaus on its way.

North Umpqua: Day 3

Since the previous two days of fishing covered a wide stretch of water, I pretty much knew where I wanted to go on this third and final day. The morning started out at Station, which to my surprise was once again empty. I tried both chugging dries and swinging wets. One solid tug sent my heart racing. But, after many attempts to get that fish to grab again, it didn't happen. I like to pretend that the tug was enough. But, I really wanted to see what grabbed hold of that fly! It felt like a biggie.

Eventually, I moved off Station and worked the maze of rock downstream to Upper/Lower Boat. I caught several smaller fish in the mid teens (inches), but nothing more.

Before I forget, let's skip ahead to late afternoon. I hit the Boat runs (and Station) from the road side. It provided limited casting space, but also gave me a different angle at the water. It was probably the hottest part of the day and no fish showed any attention to my offerings. However, next time, I'll give the road side another chance. Especially on Boat. I felt like the swing and dangle were moving through some good spots.

Spent some time in Upper Kitchen with a grab or two, but couldn't get anything more. I'm not sure how big these fish were. It can be deceiving with the faster water here. I waded through some more tricky floor structure to Lower Kitchen. Or maybe it was "The Fighting Hole" or even "Upper Mott". As someone not quite familiar enough with the water, the runs aren't absolutely clear to me. Whatever, the case, it was some pretty tight water with some very narrow slots. The fish were super grabby here. I was chugging dries and getting attention on almost every grab. Mostly small fish I'm sure. Got a few to hand, they were no bigger than 12 inches.

As the sun was just hitting the water, I decided to take another stroll downstream- just as I had on day 1. This time, I knew where to stop. My first destination provided a tough casting angle, but I could get my fly out there for a short swing. I saw a few flashes, but after spending some time switching out flies and presentations, nothing ever grabbed on. Occasionally, a large steelhead would come completely out of the water not more than 30 feet from me. It was startling at times.

I promised pictures and video for this post. But I just haven't had time to digitize them into the computer. I'll be doing that before long and will probably put them in their own blog post.

A bit further down, I found this great slot outside of the main current that had more small fish. But the water was so nice looking, I couldn't resist seeing what was in there. To reach this one particular spot, I had to crawl up on a boulder, I was now about 10 or more feet above the water. Casting my dry and letting it skate almost directly below me. This was a cool vantage point. I could see deep into the water. Must of been 10 or more feet deep. It was neat to see the fly directly below me and the deep water backdrop. Imagine a glassy surface and this fly skating across the top with the dark green water below.

Smaller fish were slashing at the fly constantly. Yet, I didn't give up. I felt like something was down there. So, I kept at it and from out of no where, I see a flash. A fish came from down deep and grabbed the fly in his mouth and immediately turned back down. It surprised me so much that I immediately yanked my rod. Luckily, the hook stuck and I didn't pull it right out of his mouth. The fish went berserk.

He made a short run downstream, then back up. Took a direct route across to some more boulders. I couldn't do much about it. I was 10 feet up (and my rod tip was another 10 feet higher) trying to figure out how to get down to the water without losing this guy. It was challenging.

After a few minutes, I managed to climb down from my perch without losing the fish, I got to the water and put my hand underneath. He wasn't all that big. Maybe 20 or 21 inches. But, he was a good looker. After taking the hook out and giving him a moment to rest, he swam off into the deep.

For me, this was an unusual angle to see the fish come from the depths and get the fly. I won't forget it for a while.

After scooting along more boulders, I finally made it about 50 feet to the main river slot. It only took about 30 minutes. Argh! After walking about a half mile downstream, I sat for a lunch. I was now where I caught a decent sized fish on the first day.

After eating, I stood up while my foot was flat on the feature-less slanted rock. The cleats made an awful scraping sound and I went down hard on my knuckle and then on my side. Initially, I thought I broke something in my hand, but luckily I only had some bleeding and a sore hand. Even when you aren't in the water, the rocks are slick around here. All it takes is one second of not paying attention. Man, the NU has really beaten me up the last couple of days. But, all of the slips were just moments of not thinking clearly. You need to always watch your step.

After sitting for a few, making sure everything was okay (including my rod that banged the rock), I went further downstream and couldn't find any decent water. Ready to head back to Camp Water, I spent about 20 minutes trying to find a path up the thick brush to the trail that was somewhere up there. It wasn't easy, but eventually I made it.

Exhausted, I walked the mile or so back to my car for a 2 or 3 mile drive upstream. Found some great looking water. And one run in particular was filled with more aggressive fish. Unfortunately, they were small guys too. I moved on and back to the Mott parking lot.

Walking upstream above the bridge, I took this incredibly steep -what I thought was a- trail to the river. Turns out it wasn't a trail and I was now practically crawling down a very steep slope covered with slick leaves. Standing completely upright, I could hit the ground with my elbow, if that gives you any idea how steep it was. Grabbing onto anything I could grab onto, I made it down to the water without as much as a slip. For all that effort? More small fish! Argh.

There was no way I was going to climb back up where I came down. So, I waded my way downstream to an easier exit. Went back to Mott bridge and looked over the side to see a dozen or two really big steelhead relaxing in the current. I decided to give it a try. After getting to the water, I cast out my line, but it was nearly impossible to get down to where the fish were. Certainly not without a weighted fly. And I wasn't about to put on a sink tip. I left the fish alone and went back downstream towards Sawtooth.

Looking past Sawtooth and on down to Station, I could see Scott Howell again with his camera crew. As I wiggled my way through the runs down to the bend at Station, they seemed to be doing more casting for the camera than actual fishing. Shame. While I wasn't all that interested in going out there, others may of been. I moved past them and to Boat. A couple of large steelhead were now jumping, but I couldn't get any to take interest.

My final hours on the river took me through Lower Boat and to Kitchen. I caught some more fish, all under 18". But no adult steelhead. No worries. It was an incredible three days on an absolutely beautiful river. When I go again, I'll do some more exploring. There are miles of accessible runs to keep one busy.

Stay tuned for the video/picture posting, and Day 4, which isn't a fishing report, but sharing what I learned from Lee on Steamboat Creek.

Sorry for the delay

My apologies for being so slow about getting the Umpqua reports out. I'm finishing up a project and I've been working way too many hours. Including this whole weekend, Labor Day too. :(

As things lighten up next week, I hope to pump out Day 3 and 4 for the NU and another for the Klamath.


Maybe I'll even get a day of fishing in - within a week or two. If anyone is interested in hooking up for the Lower Stan, let me know. I'm interested in pulling a single hander out of storage. :)

North Umpqua: Day 2

The second day had a completely different feel than the first. More or less, I knew the layout of the area and where I wanted to start my day. The goal was to wade out to Station. This is one of, if not the prime steelhead runs on the NU. Or so I'm told. The fish sit here waiting for conditions to be right before heading up Steamboat Creek. The major spawning ground of the river. This spot is pretty popular, so I had no idea if I'd have a chance at it. Especially early in the morning.

I lucked out. No one was here yet. I had an opportunity to try it out. Getting to the rock in the middle of the river that will serve as your casting position is a little tricky. At least it was for me, and my first time out there early in the morning without being able to see into the water. Finding the right way to weave your way through takes a moment or two if no one is there to show you. Before long, I found myself standing in waist deep water that was flowing very fast. It was slightly sketchy with the slick floor beneath my feet. Luckily, it was only a seven or eight foot struggle to dry rock. I probably didn't pick the right line. Whether it was the best way out or not, I took mental note of where I came in so I could pick my way back when it comes time.

The run itself is pretty narrow. You don't need much line out to cover the water. I don't doubt the fish were in there, but after an hour or so of casting various flies, on several times through, nothing happened. Being the courteous fellow that I am, I looked over my shoulder often to see if someone else was eyeing the water. I would of given it up if anyone showed interest. I never saw a single person anywhere. That is how empty the river was. Even the most sought after piece of water didn't have any other interested parties.

After more time out on Station, I looked down river and saw someone I met the day before. A nice man from California. He shared some information with me the day before, and since we crossed paths a half dozen or more times, I waved him over. I went back to shore and let him have it to himself. It was still morning and he had plenty of time to give it a shot.

I went further downstream and fished Upper and Lower Boat, and then to Upper/Lower Kitchen. On Lower Kitchen, I started getting grabs and caught more fish in the 15-18 inch range. They were small, but feisty. At some point, I was mucking around. Going from a dry rock to a submerged-super-slippery-boulder. For the most part, my carbide studded boots were gripping well. However, on one step, I came down flat footed on an angled rock that was smooth as glass. By the time I recovered my footing, water had gone over the top of my wader. I cursed myself for being so stupid. The was the second dunking I've had in the last couple of months. I was mad at myself. I didn't bother sticking around to fish much longer. After I finished Kitchen, I went back to the car to change.

Since I pretty much covered Camp and the trail side of the river the day before, I decided that today would be the road side. Considering I was back at my car putting new clothes on, I decided now was the time. All in all, I drove 20 miles down river and a few miles above the bridge, stopping anywhere that looked fishy. There were some great spots. Some easy to get to, others required some aggressive climbing to from the road. The one pictured below was especially nice looking. I left my camera in the car, so I'm pilfering this one from Emerald Water Anglers.



While at the spot pictured above. It was windy. Well, actually, it was windy all three days. But this particular time, it was whipping. Had to be 30-40mph gusts. Casting across the river was all but impossible. I had to stick to whatever was near me. However, I have to say that it looked like an awesome place to fish if conditions allowed for it. Nothing here. Not even a tug.

The rest of the day was about the same. Fought the wind for nothing more than small fish less than 18". As it was getting late afternoon, I decided to head back to camp water and try my luck there.

I started upriver of the bridge and caught more fish. As the day wore on, big fish were jumping. But, they ignored my fly. Occasionally, a fish would leave the water and sound like a cannon ball as it re-entered. Quite impressive.

Fishing all the way down through Sawtooth to Sweetheart, I could see that Station was occupied. Upon further investigation, a little bit later, I could see it was guide Scott Howell. With him was a camera crew. They were no doubt shooting last minute footage for Skagit Master 2. I sat and watched for a bit as other fisherman walked by, mumbling this or that. While I wasn't really that interested in wading out to Station, I could see that others were bothered that he seemed to be standing out there casting, but not fishing. Taking up the prime water and barely getting the fly to swing. Several people mumbled under their breath and a couple of others weren't so quiet about it.

I didn't care so much. I was actually interested in watching to see if he would catch anything. If he'd ever started swinging a fly that is. Eventually he started chugging a dry for the camera. But, no fish. As soon as he left the rock, someone replaced him and didn't have any better luck, from what I could tell anyway.

I ended the evening in Lower Boat. As the sun set, I caught a fish that was in the low 20 inch range. She put on quite the aerial display. But, didn't pull any line of my reel. I carefully kneeled down, trying not to slip into the water -getting an evening bath, and scooped up the fish for a quick hook removal. She was promptly put back in the water and swam away.

I didn't wait until dark to get down from my perch. But, I did wait too long. Depth perception was hard to come by looking into the water. And the NU is the last place you should be feeling your way around while wading. Luckily, I stayed dry this time.

Day three coming soon. And yes, this one will have pictures and video.

North Umpqua: Day 1

This is Part 1 of Part 4 of my North Umpqua trip. Come back soon for the other entries. One from each day.

The drive to the North Umpqua takes around 10 hours from home. Leaving about 2pm on a Saturday, I arrived before midnight. Just enough time to pull into the Camp Water parking lot and take a snooze.

Sunday was originally to be a half day of scouting and checking out Steamboat Creek. However, at the last minute I changed my plans. I quickly packed my things and left earlier on Saturday to get there for a full day of fishing.

Who was I kidding? I wouldn't be able to just walk around scouting for even a half day. Seeing others fishing and knowing I was right there, with my gear would be too much pressure. I made the right decision to fish a full three days (the fourth day was spent with Lee on Steamboat Creek). Who needed a day of scouting when I could simply scout it out with rod in hand?

In the morning, I really had no idea where to go. I mean, I was in the Camp Water and I knew pretty much every section of water had potential. Other than that, I wasn't sure which run/pool to visit first. So, I just wandered down to the water as the sun was rising. As the path reached the river, I went out and got my feet wet.

Access	Camp Water and 15 miles surrounding
Air Temp	Low 48, High 90's
Water Temp/Visibility	~50 F / 15+ feet
Weather	Morning Clouds, Sunny otherwise
Flow	unknown
Time in/out	5:00am, 8pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	15ft floating leader	All day

If you take more than five minutes to read up on the NU, or ask anyone about it, one of the first things out of their mouth is in regards to the wading. It is known to be a really slick river. On top of that you can be wading in ankle deep water and the next step is a 20 foot drop off. While I won't argue the popular perceptions. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I felt no need for a wading staff, and as long as I was careful, I stayed upright. With that said, the wading is definitely more tricky and you must be more tactful in your moves than the average gravel bottom river.

Navigating a run was mostly an act of finding the best way to wade out to a point and start casting. Fan out your casts to cover as much water as possible. When your done, slowly step down off your perch and move to the next. You have to carefully move up and down the very uneven floor, finding your way through a maze of boulders, ledges, and long slender, almost featureless peaks and valleys of rock that may or may not lead you to a good casting station. The best advice I can give you is to always plan an exit route. You could easily wade out to a position and half a heck of a time getting back if your only way out is upstream, against the current on a slippery ledge. You'll most surely slip and dunk yourself in a situation like this.



After an hour or so, I decided to move down river from Sawtooth. Although I didn't know it at the time, I moved past Station, Upper and Lower Boat, Upper Kitchen, and finally to Lower Kitchen. Again, I wiggled my way out to mid river where the main current was. The water was deep here. Casting a size 4 generic hair wing, I wasn't getting anything. Not that I expected some monster to come out and hook itself within the first couple of hours of being here. Or even over the course of my three days. However, I do like to see signs of fish lurking about. Whether they jump or I catch a glimpse of them below. Neither of of those things had happened. Not yet anyway.

Even though I had my 12' 6" two hander. There was no need for it. This river is pretty big, but it is divided up into narrow slots that can easily accommodate a single hander. Next time, I'll take my 7wt 9foot rod. There is plenty of casting room for overhead. And the few places that wouldn't allow for it, you could simply perform a roll cast or single hand spey cast.

After some time in Lower Kitchen, I decided to get out of the water and go further downstream. I was interested in exploring. In fact, I walked more than 2 miles down the North Umpqua trail, which is on the opposite side of the river from the road. Stopping at various pools and runs, there were a lot of very cool stretches to cast into. The scenery was beautiful and the river was technically challenging. Getting your flies to the right spot was difficult at times. Especially when the (10-20 mph) winds kicked up. It kept things interesting.

As the sun came out, it started to warm. It actually got very hot during the day. I started to seek out the shade to better my chances at catching fish. However, this thought process turns out to be flawed. As I'll relate some things I learned from Lee up in Steamboat creek. Fishing in the sun for steelhead is not such a bad idea.

During this two mile hike downriver, I was catching smaller fish. Most of them were in the 15-18 inch range. Actually, I was catching a lot of fish. I lost count somewhere north of 20. It was starting to get annoying. The idea was to catch a larger steelhead, not these little guys. I started putting on bigger and bigger flies. And then at some point, in mid afternoon, I decided to put on a waking fly.

The NU fish are known to take waking or chugged flies. While I've never caught a decent fish with these methods, I figured this was the best place to try it. So, I put on a size 4 I tied a while back. It was big and pushed a lot of water. The presentation was easy. Cast it out and start disturbing the water to try and attract fish. After having the fly on for about 2 casts, I noticed that it was getting attention!

At first, I saw mostly smaller fish coming up from the depths (we are talking 10-20 foot depths in this particular pool) to check out the fly. They'd mostly turn at the last second. But, I'll tell you, this was exciting to see. The water was so clear, I could see them coming from pretty deep down. I caught myself laughing out loud a few times as these guys slashed at the fly.

I was slowly working out the line on each cast. With not more than 20 foot of line out, I cast again. As it swung downstream to the same ledge I was standing on, I saw this flash of silver. A jerk on my line, then it went limp. My arms were shaking. I couldn't tell how big the fish was, but my mind was racing.

I carefully tried to recreate that same exact cast, and here he comes again! This time he took the fly under. I clinched my teeth as I held my rod still, waited for some weight, then yanked back. I got him! He fought hard and when I landed him, he wasn't really that big. But it was my first decent sized fish on a waking/chugging fly. It was only appropriate that it happened on the NU, and my first decent sized fish of the three day trip. He measured approximately 23 inches. I quickly removed the hook and placed him in the water. Holding him until he powered off at an amazing speed back into the depths.

I was pretty shaky after that. I decided to just sit on a rock and chill out before heading back to shore. After all, I was perched out on a precarious ledge that I didn't really want to slip off of into the deep/fast water because my rubbery legs couldn't support my body.

I continued down river further. Fishing anything that looked like holding water. One thing I learned about the NU. The holding water here is not exactly the same type of holding water you may see on other steelhead rivers. The river structure is so unique, that the fish tend to be in very deep water. Not necessarily at the bottom, but against large boulders or against ledges. I can't tell you how many times I saw large fish holding a foot or two down, but in 20 foot deep water. And of course, on other occasions, I did see fish quite deep. Mostly likely stressed for one reason or another.

During my walk down stream, I often questioned exactly where I was. It wasn't until a day later, driving in the car on the opposite side of the water that I realized I was about two miles down stream from the Steamboat Inn. The walk back would take a while.



After finally getting back, I took more time to figure out what run in Camp was what. I asked a very nice local guy where Station was, and he pointed it out and a couple of other runs too. He and everyone else I had talked to were not having much luck. Over the course of three days, no one admitted to catching a fish over 20 inches. The amount of hookups and tugs were low too. However, I did witness one other person catch a good sized fish on the third day.

I started to question if there were that many big steelhead in the river. However, in the evening, large fish were jumping. And large fish could be seen from Mott bridge. And, as I'll comment more on in my day 4 entry, the steelhead return is an average count. These fish just seemed to have lock jaw.

After a trip to the car for some food and water, I wandered upstream of the bridge. There was some good water here too. I could actually see a few large fish clinging to the side of a ledge within casting reach. I first tried a few wet flies. Then a skating fly, then chugged it. The fish didn't seem to react at all. So I stepped down and caught a few more smaller fish off this same ledge. These guys were very active. I could see them come up from some really deep water to take a fly on or near the surface.

The sun was setting, and I ended my day in Upper Kitchen. Had a really big tug, and caught a few 15-18" fish. I was exhausted and went back to the car for some sleep.

Day two through four coming soon (with pictures and video)!

Back from the Umpqua

Sadly, my fishing trip is over. I'm now back from my three days on the North Umpqua. As a bonus for me and you, I also spent time fishing on the Klamath.

For those counting, that is four days of fishing in about a weeks time. Probably a record for me. Over the next week I'll be making some posts covering my days on the water. The three on the NU, and then my time on the Klamath.

Additionally, I'll relate my time with Lee on Steamboat Creek. Probably one of, if not the world's authority on steelhead behavior. This guy has watched more hours of steelhead doing their thing than probably anyone else around. I learned a great deal about the critters and what makes them tick. It was eye opening. That will be a post in itself.

And guess what? I actually took pictures/video this time! Yaah. I have something to color up the writing.

Stay tuned.

Fly #56, 57, and 58. Umpqua

It has been a while since I've posted a "Fly of the Week". As I'm about to depart for a trip to the North Umpqua, I quickly tied up some flies. Here are three of the patterns I put together. Perhaps I'll post the others another time.

The first two are on size 4 hooks. The last on an eight. As always, click on the image to see them bigger.








I'll let you know how they do in a week or two.

Yuba Report

These long Summer days can really take a toll. Beyond the time I spend on the water, from sun up to sun down, I have a pretty good commute to the water. We are talking almost 20+ hours from when I leave my driveway and when I get back. It can be a real drag.

Last week, I had -what lately is a rare opportunity- to go fishing. The Lower Yuba was my choice. The reports were for high water flow and lousy fishing. A perfect combination! One of the purposes of going was to dial in my rod/line combination for an upcoming North Umpqua trip. Actually catching fish would of been nice, but not my ultimate goal for the day.

The water was unusually cold. Despite the hot 100+ degree air temp, it wasn't bad at all. My setup was a floating line/leader with unweighted flies. Exactly what I'll be using up in Oregon. I'm not used to casting a 15+ foot leader, so this was a good chance to get myself re-acquainted.

Started the morning above the bridge with a size 4 generic steelhead fly. Managed a few hookups that didn't last very long. The fish were in there, but most of the ones that were willing to play, were small. Under 15 inches. I continued stepping downstream to try and find a player. Hopefully someone bigger.

Access	Hwy 20
Air Temp	Low 61, High 100+
Water Temp/Visibility	~49 F / 8-10 feet
Weather	Sunny
Flow	3,500+ cfs
Time in/out	5:30am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	15ft poly floater	Morning
	15ft mono leader	Afternoon on
	8lb Mono tippet
Flies	Various sz 4-8 steelhead	some tugs
	Sz12 red soft hackle	8+

I noticed early on that the rocks were super-slippery today. Even with my studded boots and fancy rubber soles, it was treacherous. Funny enough, the North Umpqua is known to be a very slippery place too. Perhaps someone was trying to get me prepared in more ways than one!

The rocks in this particular run were bowling ball sized and super smooth. Covered in some sort of goop, it wasn't a good idea to step on top of them if you could help it. The water was waist deep when I stumbled and planted my foot on the top of one. Exactly what I didn't want to do. Down I went! I floated only a few feet before I regained my foot hold and stood up. But it was too late. Water had gone over my wader tops and I was now feeling the 50 something degree water filtering down to my legs. Brrrrr! This is the first time ever I've taken a dunk and had water go over my wader top. I guess I should consider myself lucky to have lasted this long.

It was still early morning. And even though the day would soon top 100 degrees, it was now very cold. I pressed on for another hour or so trying to catch a huge fish that was surfacing right in front of my eyes. But, eventually, I had to go back to the car to change. Too much shivering.

After drying up, I went back to the water. But this time below the bridge. No fish. Not even a bite. The water is a little high here and the fish-able spots were a little tough to get to. After an hour or so, I decided to go back above the bridge. I walked much further upstream before getting back to it. This is when the fun began.

At some point, I put on a single size 12 soft hackle. I'll try to post a picture sometime. It is bright red body. I'm not sure I have ever used this fly before. But, it just looked like a good one. Literally on the first cast, I had a small 12 inch fish on. Finally, the first fish of the day. I caught a few of his friends further down the river too. This fly was hot!

The window of time where I was catching fish started to close. I took this opportunity to go back downstream to where I got my dunking. I wanted that big fish that I saw earlier. He must of been in the upper 20's. And he was fat! As I approached that section, two other fly fisherman stepped in below me. Argh! No respect. Typically BS I see around here.

Instead of causing a scene, I chose to go back to the car for water and food. It was now late afternoon/early evening. After filling my stomach, I didn't really want to huck it back upriver, so instead I went down.

I still had that small red soft hackle on and nothing else. No two or three fly rigs today. Keeping it simple. The leader was a hand tied 15 footer. Perfect size for my 12'6" two hander and compact scandi line. It was casting amazingly well. Normally I use poly leaders, but I had an itch to do it the old fashioned way. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it was casting big and small flies alike. I may be tossing my poly's aside for floating work.

I'll skip the details, but the rest of the evening went great. I caught two 20 something inch fish almost on back to back casts. They both fought hard and provided several minutes of entertainment. The one even took a run and peeled off some line. Before it got dark, I ended up getting a dozen hard tugs and a few more fish to hand. What a way to end the day.

What started off as a chance to dial in my rod, ended up being a great day of fishing. Good thing I didn't let those bad fishing reports and high flow complaints scare me off.

Slicing and Dicing

Wow. This had to set the record for my longest blog post in the making. I set out to write this months ago, but one thing led to another and it just didn't get done. Until now! Yay!

If you've spent any time with two-handers, you'll quickly see that there is a large contingent of people out there that like to slice and dice lines. Trying to come up with that perfect setup- to improve their casting. From the outside, it seems like a fun thing to do. However, the last thing I need is another hobby to take up more time that I don't have. So, for now, I'll live vicariously through the people that do. And any knowledge they share, I can use when picking off-the-shelf lines.

The problem with off-the-shelf lines are that you pretty much pick a line type (i.e. skagit, scandi, etc) and then a grain weight to match your rod. That is about as customizable as it gets. Well, at least that is what I thought. Keep reading to see how I was wrong with that conclusion.


Back to people cutting up their lines. While perusing Speypages, I eventually came across Steve Godshall's name. People seemed to invoke his name whenever an expert opinion was needed on lines. So when I was browsing Meiser's website and saw that Steve builds a Scandi line for Bob, and not much longer, learned that my friend was using one (and got a chance to cast it)- I became curious to know more.

Steve lives up in the Rogue Valley and has been fly fishing for more than a decade. As a rod builder he had a chance to learn a lot about rods and how unique each one is. In fact, he came up with something he calls "blue printing". It is a system to quantify rod casting quality. This has become part of the prototype process for new rod designs from Gary Anderson, Bob Meiser, and of course Steve himself.

At this point, Steve realized that the rod is only part of the equation. So, he turned his focus to lines.

A couple of years ago, Gary Anderson started including a line with every spey rod he built and sold. Because clients were making poor line choices, he wanted to get them off to a great start. Steve was asked to develop a Scandi head to fit a couple dozen of his rod models. Also working with Bob Meiser, Steve further developed a base Scandi head to something that he could offer to his clients as well. (Meiser sells them as "SGS" and Anderson as "Steel Heads".)

Here's how it works. And this is the cool part. From 9 base line sizes, Steve can produce 100 lines for 100 different rods. And to get even more of what you are looking for, if Steve is available and if you are in the neighborhood anyway, maybe you can go to the river and cast a handful of lines. From that, Steve will write you a custom line prescription. Just like a doctor. But less painful.

Besides the Scandi lines, Steve also has a Skagit. Although, according to Steve, he looks at casting styles as the difference between skagit and scandi. Not so much the line themselves, because both are basically shooting head systems. As someone who casts both lighter scandi and heavier skagit lines with the same sustained anchor casting, I'd go along with that.

I know what you're thinking. What's up with the advertisement? Just to be upfront, I'm not getting paid for this or getting any freebies. I just think what Steve is doing is pretty slick. I mean, you aren't going to find this sort of custom stuff from the big manufacturers. Don't know about you, but I haven't the time to figure all this out on my own.

The whole reason for writing this to begin with is really because of his "Skandit" lines Steve builds for Meiser. This is what got me excited about what he is doing. The Skandit system is a multi tip short shooting head with a floater and 4 sinking "zink" tips. He doesn't stock the system on a shelf. It is built for each caster because, as Steve says, “the magic is in the match”. The idea is, put on the floater and you have yourself a power Scandi line. Put on the zink tips, and you have yourself a light Skagit. Nifty.

Maybe sometime in the near future I'll pick up one of his lines and report back to you on my feelings and how it compares to my current skandi and skagit lines.

Happy 4th

Happy fourth of July weekend. I hope everyone is getting more fishing in than I am!!

My current project is about to end. So, I'm hoping to get a day in before the end of the month. And... drum roll please... In early August, I'll be spending two days on the North Umpqua for Summer Steelhead. I can't wait. More later.

Shad on the American, Part 2

Either something went totally wrong, or totally right. Depends on how you look at it.

I arrived on Upper Sunrise before the sun came up. Was in the water trying to catch shad just as there was enough light to keep from taking a swim. After about 30 minutes of casting practice, I decided I was in the wrong place.

Access	Upr/Lwr Sunrise, El Manto/Rossmore
Air Temp	Low 54, High 75
Water Temp/Visibility	~? F / 6-8 feet
Weather	Cool morning, Sunny/Very Windy afternoon
Flow	~? cfs
Time in/out	5:30am, 8pm
Leaders/Lines	Skagit
	11ft of T10	All day
	12 lb FC tippet
Flies	Soft Hackles/Steelhead Flies	0
	Shad darts	2

Next stop was below the bike bridge on Upper Sunrise, then the footbridge on Lower Sunrise. All netting the same results. Zero shad!

I did watch some kids pull out around 10 shad from the bridge. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough weight to even bother fishing from up there. And swinging out to where they were catching the shad would of surely caused some tangles. And maybe even a fight or two.

At some point, I don't doubt that I was fishing where the shad were. I just couldn't get their interest. On the car ride home, I deducted that I wasn't deep enough in the morning. I'm still a shad newbie. Eventually, I'll figure it out. But right now, my shad attempts aren't much to speak of.

As the heat of day began, I decided to give up on shad and put some soft hackles on. Maybe I'll fair better with trout. I drove to El Manto and fished a big long stretch of water from Lower Sunrise to Rossmore. What a tiring day. That adventure was fruitless as well. No half pounders.

Go back and re-read the first sentence of this post. Did ya? Okay, now you can continue on...

Late in the evening, I was getting a little frustrated by not catching any shad. I had 10feet of T10 and a weighted fly. I even put a couple split shot on the leader to move it closer to the bottom. I tried various strip techniques, casting way up stream and letting everything sink. Nothing!

On about my 1,000 cast, I was stripping like a mad man. Wham!! I was hit. I felt the tug, tug, pause, tuuuuuugggg. Whoo hoo!

Finally caught my first shad of the season. This guy gave one heck of a fight. They have plenty of spirit. And boy was she heavy. Lots of power. After a fight that lasted several minutes I got her to my hand.

What the??!! It wasn't a shad. It was a 23" steelhead. What the heck was she doing chasing a shad dart that was being stripped across the current? Keep in mind, I wasn't stepping and swinging. I was swinging and sitting. Sitting in one place for more than 45 minutes. What made her take the fly? Did she just get sick of seeing it. Or all of a sudden thought, "Hmm, that looks tasty." Or did she just happen to move near it.

We'll never know. But I put her back and started casting again. A few minutes later. Whomp. Another fish. Alright, I got myself a shad. Cool! The fish came unbuttoned while I was trying to untangle the coils of line wrapped around around my body as I was standing in chest deep water. A few casts later, whomp, again! This one came off too! Argh. At least I found a school of shad. I'm going to get one.

Another few casts later, I was ready, a fish grabbed on and I quickly reeled it in. Another steelhead! Are you kidding me? What is going on? This isn't supposed to be happening.

I never did catch a shad.

American River - Shad report

This post should be titled, "Went fishing for shad on the American, but only caught half pounders". A little too lengthy, so I used something more generic. But, that does summarize the day so succinctly. I guess there's no need to keep reading!

I got to Paradise Beach before 6am. It was already 54 degrees, but with a little wind, it was cool. Water clarity was about 6-8 feet and water temp in the mid 50's. My two hander was sporting a skagit line with 11 feet of T-10 and three weighted flies. All of them were shad darts of various colors.

Access	Paradise Beach, Gristmill, Howe, Watt
Air Temp	Low 54, High 70
Water Temp/Visibility	~53 F / 6-8 feet
Weather	Sunny / Windy
Flow	~3700 cfs
Time in/out	6am, 8pm
Leaders/Lines	Skagit
	11ft of T10	All day
	6 & 12 lb FC tippet
Flies	Prince Soft Hackle	3
	Shad darts	0

I entered the water just below the Fair Oaks bridge. Anyone trying to learn how and where to fish for shad, don't ask me. I'm pretty new to it. In fact, I've only been one other time. I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing. Right or wrong, I was looking for slow moving water 6 to 12 feet deep. I'd cast out there and do a strip of a few inches, rest a second, do it again, etc. That is how I caught a bunch last year.

This section of the river was okay for wading. I'd be better off with a boat. In fact, saw a couple of others already in the water with theirs. While I was out there, getting no attention from the shad that may or may not be around, I was looking over at the nearby riffles. Mouth watering. I guess you can't get the steel out of my brain. I reluctantly stuck to the plan -- skipped the faster water and continued looking for shad.

I moved down river all the way around the bend. Saw more boats with people fishing. Only one guy said he caught any. And he had only caught two. The other 4 people I polled didn't have anything to show for their troubles either.

Hopping in the car, I went to Howe. This was the first time I had ever been here. The sat map made it look slow and not very good for my usual steelhead/half pounder action. But, it did look like shad water. When I arrived, I actually saw a decent riffle by the boat launch. I couldn't resist. I swung through it with no luck.

Going downstream, I found some deep water. Nada. No shad. An hour or two later, I left.

Next on the list was Gristmill. I parked on the North side of the river, a first for me. While there were people on the South side, no one was near me. I decided to fish the riffle and caught myself a few half pounders on my "prince flymph". Although none of them were bigger than 15 inches, it was still nice to get something to hand.

After the swing through the run, I went downstream, then upstream and found what appeared to be good shad water. No action. But the water seemed to be good for it. Again, what do I know??!

Eventually I left and went to Watt. I'm not a big fan of this area. Okay riffles, but nothing that great imo. Maybe I just need to catch a big fish or two here and I'll change my mind. I walked upstream past the riffles and way downstream looking for shad water. I found it, it just wasn't very good for wading. Deep water with no where to stand.

I did see a boat with a few guys in it. They were catching something. I don't think they were shad though. Much too big. I'm thinking either large steelhead (this late?!) or more likely stripers. Another species of fish I haven't gone after. But now that I saw some of the fun they were having, I think I want to give it a try!! I'll need help with it though. Anyone care to show me the ropes? :)

Speaking of help. Are any of you shad fisherman and want to meet up? I could sure use some pointers on where to look and proper technique. In exchange, I can teach you whatever I know about fishing that you'd like to learn. Or I can simply bribe you with a beer or some flies.

My 14 hour day ended with a fizzle. I hoped for sizzle, but it never happened. Of all the people I talked with throughout the (more than 12 hour) day, only 1 had caught a shad. So, I wasn't alone. Misery loves company!

Yuba

Good thing I had my 12' spey rod with me! This is what I was thinking as I drove home from the Yuba on Thursday. Two of the biggest fish I caught on that day were a whopping 15 feet from where I was standing as I high sticked around some big boulders. A single hander would of been much more comfortable holding above my head.

This was a long one, I was on the water fishing by 6:30am, and fished until 8:30pm. I didn't even take a break to drive to another spot. This was a hard core 14 hours of fishing. The result? Three fish! Luckily, two of those fish were over 20 inches. Not many fish for so many hours, but after talking with at least half a dozen other anglers, I did pretty well. Only one of them caught anything.

The day started out peaceful, no one else was around and I had my favorite run above Hwy 20 to myself. I put in a good two hours covering a few hundred yards. I had what I thought was a bump. But, I'm not even sure that was a fish. Whatever the case, no fish to hand.

Access	Hwy 20
Air Temp	Low 40, High 68
Water Temp/Visibility	~51 F / 4-6 feet
Weather	Partly Cloudy/Sunny
Flow	~1490 cfs
Time in/out	6:30am, 8:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	10 foot int poly	All day
	7 & 12 lb FC tippet
Flies	Various sz10 Soft Hackles	3
	Steelhead- big and small	0

As the morning went on, and the sun came up and warmed the air, I noticed people started filing in. First it was a person here or there. And before you knew it, a group of 4 or 5 anglers would come in here, another group there. I didn't expect so many people on a Thursday.

I moved up stream and tried to cross the river. The flows were somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500. I got about half way across, the water was up to my chest, and I started feeling uncomfortable. My feet weren't staying planted, so I decided to turn back and head from where I came. I walked a couple hundred yards upstream to fish a riffle that I've caught a few in over the years.

Fly wrap-up: All three fish were caught on sz 10 soft hackles. One of the fish caught on an adapted bead head prince nymph (longer hackles), the rest were just generic patterns. I tried a bunch ranging from sz16 nymphs, sz12 soft hackles, to larger steelhead flies. The sz10 seemed to get the most interest.

Again, nothing. Pretty much the same story as I covered various spots that have been productive in the past. Around 3pm, I decided to head back to the car to load up on water and food. As I contemplated to whether I wanted to drive downstream, I decided to stay put and just fish below the bridge.

This area was not very conducive to using a spey rod. It was high stick territory without any space to get in the water and wade. You perch yourself on a boulder and flick out 15 feet of line. As I probed around I thought my fly got stuck on an underwater rock I was targeting. I lifted up to try and get my fly for another cast, but I felt resistance. Still, I thought it was the rock until I felt the slightest tug. I pulled harder and realized I had hooked a fish. Initially, I thought it was small, as I didn't feel much fight. But within a few seconds, she started tugging. She was a bit over 20 inches and was pretty strong. It took me a while to get her to my hand. As I admired how bright she was, I noticed sea lice attached to her. This fish had definitely come from the ocean recently.

After letting her go, I decided to move downstream as the other fish here were surely on high alert. I found a nice riffle where I could get in the water and cast out a good 60 feet and let her swing. Nothing happened here. In fact, all of my long distance swinging throughout the day proved to be pointless. Even as the day wore on and the fish started rising, I just didn't get any action.

After I walked downstream, pretty much as far as you can go on this side of the river, I decided to head back and cover previous spots. A few bites here and there. And plenty of fish were now coming to the surface. I just couldn't trick anyone. I didn't give up. Even casting line out until it was so dark I couldn't see the end of my rod tip. I caught one more fish. This twenty something was dark and looked like a trout. Although, it was hard to tell in the low light. Again, I caught her about 15 feet from where I was standing. As I high sticked around rocks that I knew were out there... ...somewhere (couldn't see them this late in the evening).

The weather was beautiful and the river was in good condition. While the fish were not in much of a biting mood, catching three fish (on top of the two 20+ inchers, I caught a small 12" fish early in the day) wasn't a horrible day.

Feather River

It seems that every time I go fishing on the Feather, I spend more time driving than fishing. Okay, maybe that is an exaggeration, but man, those roads in the Wildlife area are slow going.

I arrived about 2 miles downstream of the 162 bridge (in the Wildlife area) 30 minutes before sunrise. I scoped out this spot on the satellite maps, and since I hadn't been here before, there was bound to be a little risk associated with my first destination.

As it turns out, I had to walk downstream pretty far to reach any decent riffles. I don't know how long it took, but when you are anxious to get in the water, it feels like forever. I'd guess I walked a good 20-30 minutes. Missing an opportunity to fish just as the sun was rising.

I finally found some riffles. Nothing I could step and swing through. You more or less would position yourself at the top of some riffles dumping into a pool and angle casts off to one side or another. No down stream stepping possible. I wouldn't exactly call this ideal water for how I like to work. All of the negativity was erased about 20 minutes in when I caught my first fish.

Access	Wildlife Preserve
Air Temp	Low 40, High 61
Water Temp/Visibility	~57 F / 6+ feet
Weather	Sunny/Partly Cloudy/td>
Flow	Not sure
Time in/out	6am, 7:30pm
Leaders/Lines	Compact Scandi
	10ft Int Poly leader	All day
	7 & 12 lb FC tippet
Flies	Various Soft Hackles	3
	Blue Widow Spider, sz 8	2
	Various steelhead patterns	bumps/tugs

She took the fly about 70 feet away from me as it was slowly swinging through. And when I say slowly, I mean slowly. It was creeping along. When it happened, I felt absolutely no tug. There was enough bow in the line that the hook set happened automatically with no input required on my part. Actually, I didn't even know it happened. A fish jumped about 2 feet up into the air. I remember thinking to myself, "is that fish attached to my line?" After all, she was about 30 feet away from where I had guessed my fly must of been. Before I could finish my thought, I felt pressure on the line. Oh yes!

Recently renamed to - the "Blue Widow Spider"

I started gathering my wits and reeling in. She was a bruiser. She peeled off about 20 feet of line and started tugging. I recovered some line and then she shot out of the air a second time. We had a tug of war match going on for a few minutes. I'd reel some line in, and she would take off. My rod tip was pulsing up and down as she went deep down thrashing about. I finally caught site of her a little bit later and she was good sized.

By the time she was in my hand several minutes later, I held her up to my rod to get a measurement. Close to 22". Not a huge fish, but she was thick. Very healthy. If she had been to the ocean, it was a while ago. She was very trouty looking. This was no half pounder. The fly she took was a sz10 generic green soft hackle with a grey wing. This fly has been good for trout in the past. Accidentally, I bent it later on in the morning and had to retire it. I'll be sure to tie up some more.

What a nice start to the day. I decided to give the pool a rest and walked downstream. The next run required some tricky river crossings. The run produced no grabs or bumps. Several hours later, I decided to stop by the same pool from earlier, where I caught that nice fish, before heading back to the car.

I really did not like fishing this spot. But, it is hard to resist when it actually produces. I tried for another 25-30 minutes with nothing to show for it. My 10 foot intermediate poly leader was toting about 7 feet of tippet. Two flies hung off. A small size 12 generic soft hackle, and the recently re-named "Blue Widow Spider" (because it is such a killer!!). This fly has been so effective in the past, it is hard to resist in clear water conditions.

After one of my swings, I started stripping the running line back for another cast. Somewhere as I was quickly pulling line, I felt pressure. This fish was smaller. I didn't feel as much deep pull. But what I did feel is a very strong/quick fish that wanted to do anything it could to rid itself of that hook. The Blue Widow strikes again! Even stripped through the water at ridiculous speeds, it will catch steelhead.

The most recent victim must of shot out of the water a good 5 times. As she started getting closer, I realized this was a true half pounder. She was very bright. Hadn't been in the river very long at all. After picking her up, I could practically see my reflection in her 15 inch profile. Even though she wasn't a big fish, she fought with incredibly power. I was very surprised to see how small she was. I can't imagine what it must be like to catch a fresh 30+ inch steelhead. I hope I can have the pleasure some day.

It was time to walk back to the car. I was hungry and ready for another access point. Unfortunately, I didn't realize at the time, I was about to spend the next hour and a half driving around. Reminds me of the last time I was at the Feather. Too much time driving on those rough roads.

I drove up to Bedrock park and decided that it wasn't worth the time. Went upstream to see what else we had. Nothing looked ideal. I'm sure there were fish in there. But I was hoping for a true step and swing piece of water. Either it was hiding from me, or didn't exist in this spot.

Drove back into the Wildlife preserve, right past where I was earlier. Another 4 miles on the crappy roads brought me to a spot where I caught the fish earlier. Unfortunately, there wasn't an easy way to cross the river to get to the best spot to swing a fly. So, I tried to find another access I remembered from the map. No go. Back to hwy 162 and then 70 south. Got off on Pacific Heights and found another entrance to the preserve. I've been here before and figured it was worth another try. Spent the next few hours with nothing to show for it. It was now afternoon and very sunny out. The fish were probably down deep. Not willing to move for a fly just under the surface.

After debating with myself on where to go next, I decided to leave and go further downstream, outside the low flow section to a spot I'd been before. It had some decent runs. Again, nothing really happened. I messed around until the sun started going down and the little fish started rising to a hatch.

I continued to swing this area and caught some small fish and received one very strong and deep tug. I'll never know how big it was, but it felt like a good sized fish. Well into the 20's.

By the time it was getting dark, I was ready to go home. I had been on the water for more than twelve hours (minus the driving from spot to spot). Previous to the drive that morning, I had only gotten a few hours sleep. I was plain exhausted after a long day of swinging flies.

While not a crazy day of catching fish, I managed to catch a few. Two of them were great battles and exciting moments. Thanks Feather!