CZECH NYMPH CLASSES SPRING 2008
"I was thinking about what fascinates me about nymphing. Some people prefer the dry fly, others the wet fly, but the nymph has something mysterious about it that I never grow tired of. There is just a moment, maybe a hundredth of a second of uncertainty, when you strike. The take is often seen as a slight movement, or felt as a sudden heaviness of the line, the end of the line momentarily moves to the side or there is simply a sixth sense that says that this is the fish. You strike and, at that time, you do not know whether you are fast to the riverbed or a fish. And that feeling, when the leader tightens, when the fish moves, no other style of fishing will offer you that." Milan Hladik............................................ In the summer of 1995 I was honored to fish under some of the finest guides in the country on the legendary rivers of Northern California. On many of these deep fast rivers the technique of choice is ‘tight line fishing’, this high stick method was adjusted and perfected over the years but the roots come from the Czech Republic. This style of fly-fishing, known as Czech nymphing, is a pure style of fishing done without indicators. I have found it’s an essential tool to add to your arsenal of weapons for catching trout. I have mastered this art throughout the years, but most of all I have simplified the art of teaching this craft. My goal, upon completion of this class, is to give you the freedom to rig your own rod and display and understand this style. I recommend it for intermediate to advanced flyfishers...... * This five hour class will be devoted to equipment, terminal tackle rigging, reading water and fishing techniques............ * This class with be taught throughout the season, upon demand............. * A complete summary of class on DVD will be given to each student at the end of class........1-2 anglers-$300.00 add extra anglers $75.00

LOWER OWENS FISH REPORT
May 5, 2008 the river flows are over 500cfs, its time for me to head up the hill. I dig the seasonal changes, you will see me on the East Walker this time of year.............But I do enjoy the sunset Caddis hatches. New fencing has been put up along Chalk bluffs, it looks great...

Hot Creek hatch report May 2008
Open for catch-and-release fishing. DFG Rules . . .Hot Creek from the State hatchery property line to the confluence with the Owens River. All year. Only artificial flies with barbless hooks may be used...... The waters still low and clear, no run-off yet. Hatches have been good mostly midges and Beatis, small caddis hatch. But fish are on the grab, great pocket fishing with nymphs...not much weeds yet. Client Rick Herold hooked one of the biggest fish I have ever see in the Eastern Sierra, fight lasted about 10 min...hard to land a fish in the 10 pound class with 5x, that big Brown Trout is still healthy and happy........the river has been crowded

San Joaquin Summery 2007
This year was short but sweet because this water is a freestone river, which relies on snow pack run-off. Most years we wouldn’t think of fishing this water until mid-July, but this year it came in bloom in mid-June. Most of my days fishing this river involved a hike to get away from the campground crowds, anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. I customized our day to the client’s vision. The fish were plentiful and seemed bigger this year than normal. We mostly fished the dry fly or dry-dropper and fish attacked our flies without fear. Sadly this season was short-lived because of low water flows, but we found some excellent water down river later in the season. My gut feeling is that the fish are going to have rough winter due to less holding water (deeper water where fish survive the winter.) I hope I’m wrong. If you like to fish small creeks with endless pool after pool, come join me next summer.

Crowley Lake, Bridgeport Reservoir May 2008
fish reports complements of the Troutfly....... The fish are spread out as usual with no weeds to make one area more attractive than another. The cold water also makes for the fish suspending as much as 5 ft off the bottom. Beaver Cove just around the corner from the Marina is loaded with small fish providing the best action on the lake. If you are willing to wait a little longer to see some size, try west side of McGee Bay, off the McGee "parking lot", and right in front of Bart's Bluff all in 10 to 12 feet of water. For stripping I'd try long passes over the north end in 9 to 12 feet of water and stop when I got bit. Recommended Flies:............. Very clear water makes for smaller flies and tippet. Size 16 gray and black or olive, dubbed head Optimidges, with green flashback have been best except early go to purple zebra or red/black Tiger Midges Slow strip or troll olive Wooly Buggers or good ol Matukas right on the bottom and then slow strip up to your rod tip with a Stillwater Hare's ear size 14 trailer

East Walker River hatch report May 5th
Its starting to get better and better with flows increasing...just under 100cfs now. Ive been on the water alot this spring, weve hooked some nice big fish and glad to see some small ones around. Hatches have been alittle on the soft side, mostly midges and Mayflies. When the weather snaps to spring the Caddis are going to go-offf. The river bottom is full of caddis larva. I look forward to bigger water to teach Tight line or Czech style of nymphing in the next few weeks....come join us

The Magic of the McCloud and Upper Sacramento river-DATES OF TRIP; UPPER SAC- June 15-21 and MCCLOUD DATES-JUNE 27-JULY 3
Experience fishing one of California’s finest trout waters Intermediate to Advanced Anglers In the spring of 1995, I served an internship in Northern California under Dick Galland and the guides of the Clearwater House on Hat Creek. During this Ivy-League education in guiding, I fell in love with the waters of the area and vowed never to go long without spending time on them. One of these waters is the McCloud River – a 6-hour drive plus a bumpy, 30-minute, dirt road away from Mammoth Lakes.... We camp streamside and enjoy the feeling of being in the middle of the land that time forgot - but with flushing toilets. Our mornings begin with coffee at 8am as we discuss the complication of the day; whether to fish up river or down. We usually fish water about a stone’s throw from camp or travel by car 15 minutes to the McCloud Conservancy. I set up a out-door kithen and fire-up a Webber B.B.Q. for all my clients to use each evening. Than back on the water to fish the dryfly hatch. FULL DAY ONE OR TWO ANGLERS - $ 400.00 ADD EXTRA ANGLERS - $ 125.00 per person HALF DAY ONE OR TWO ANGLERS - $ 300.00 ADD EXTRA ANGLERS - $ 75.00 per person I recommend that anglers have good wading skills and some type of camping background for this trip. I welcome you to bring your own gear and favorite flies but our trips include any gear and flies you will need for the day.......

A Steelheader's diary on the Upper Rogue River 2007
Oct. 3 - Didn¡¦t sleep a wink, too excited, up at 4:00am. Met fellow guides Tommy April and Alex Cady on the water by gray light (Upper Rogue). Alex hooked the first fish by 7:00am. I hooked a fish on the swing. Fish were grabby but there weren¡¦t a lot of fish around. My forearms were cramping from rowing all morning. I¡¦m still weak, my hands are soft. I have a week to get tough. Fish count for day: 6 hooked, 4 to hand. It¡¦s good to get the STINK OFF. Oct. 4 - 4:00am woke up, slept like bump on a log. Alex and Tommy again, Middle Rogue today. Water was warm and off-color, not much sign of salmon. Alex hooked a small one first thing, very slow fishing, on and off rain. Alex hooked and landed nice buck on take-out run, almost dark. HARD DAY! Oct. 5 - Fished morning at walk-in spot, Middle River. No fish today, broke a spey rod, took afternoon off. Oct. 6 ¡V Up at 4:00am still not sleeping well, I know I have a lot of work to do before guiding. Met Scotty, amigo and steelhead-finder, to help me with my homework. Fished Upper River. Scott was on fire from the gate, fantastic day. HOOKED 8/ LANDED 5 Oct. 7 - Best night¡¦s sleep yet. By myself today. Goal was to row new water. Hooked a nice fish swinging the Caddis Hole. Found some killer water, lots of salmon on the redds. HOOKED 1/ LANDED 1 Oct. 9 ¡V Awake at 3:45am. First day guiding, I felt prepared and strong. Mick, long-time client and excellent angler, in my boat today. Nice, early start as always. Upper River. Very rainy today and cursed with wind. Hard for boat positioning, casting and leaves on flies every other drift. Long, hard day, Mick fished tough and managed against all odds to hook 2 fish. Didn¡¦t touch the net. . . hardest day of trip. HOOKED 2 / LANDED 0 Oct. 10 - Hard to get out of bed at 4:00am, but excited to see and fish with clients, Jay and Larry. Larry had to drop out of fishing because he was running a fever and had flu-like symptoms. Back to Upper River for the day, weather looks rainy but NO WIND„myes! Jay fished hard and hooked three nice Steely¡¦s. HOOKED 3/ LANDED 1 Oct. 11-12 ¡V Larry had to fly home„mhe was really sick. Jay fished out the next two days but was missing his partner. Jay was a soldier, doing thousands of drifts and hooking 3 fish a day for the next two days. Fishing was hard, fish were spread out and hard to find. We didn¡¦t leave any water without completely fishing it. HOOKED 6/ LANDED 3 0ct. 13-14 - The Dempsey party was forced to cancel because they were stuck (beached like old salmon) in S.F. International Airport. I fished the Middle River by myself for two days. Fishing was slow„mhooked and landed two fish a day. HOOKED 4 / LANDED 4. Oct. 16-17 - The Smith cousins, ready to ROCK at O-dark-30. These guys (seasoned and gifted anglers) understood our daily fish count and said, ¡§Bring it on„m.we just want one Steelhead and our mission¡¦s complete.¡¨ We got it on the first run. It was barely light yet when the first fish touched net. These guys charged the Upper River for two days fishing like every drift would strike silver, and finding 4 nice fish. HARD LONG DAYS in and out of rain (they call them showers.) Calluses were forming on my hands HOOKED 4/ LANDED 3 Oct. 18-19 - The Ostrosky brothers met me ready for battle, another group of guys that if the fish are in the river they¡¦ll find ¡¥em. 3 nice fish by lunch, Tim hooking the first two Steelhead in one slot as big as a bathtub. After raining ALL night, the Upper Rogue was about 1000 cubic feet bigger than the day before¡KBLOWN-OUT. Believe it or not, we fished out a half day and hooked a Steelhead against all odds. HOOKED 5/ LANDED 4 Oct. 20 - Didn¡¦t rain last night. Our put-in was as high up river as I float (because of run-off). We got to the launching ramp at dark as always. Today was very important because Steelhead move great distances during changes in water height. It could be the turning point of a hard month of Steelheading. The river was a lot lower then the day before and had lost its milky color. First boat down the river; the odds were good. The folks that I guided today were the Fowlers. I guided them their first day of fly fishing on the East Walker last summer. Not much fly fishing background but their excitement and passion made up for it. They looked like they would walk through fire to hook one. We hit 2 nice fish and some half-pounders by lunch. Stef hooked a pig after lunch, almost spooling her. We found new life in the river making today one of the better days of the trip. First day of Steelheading, they did excellent. HOOKED 6/ LANDED 2 Oct. 21, 22, 23 - Jumped out of bed. Mike (Spanky) Banks with me today. Spank has fished with me for years now, and I consider him one of the best anglers I guide and a good friend. We were the first boat in the water (Upper River) but there were two or three behind us. Pasted up early by two guides from local shop, but our goal was to fish the water with a fine-tooth comb. Hooked three fish in the 6-8 pound range in one slot. One probably went 9-10 pounds with a steamer hanging from his face. Spanky fished like he was possessed and I would say that we were completely in tune with each other. The day was magic¡K timing was perfect, new fish in system, excellent caster with steelhead logic, and I was tuned up on the oars. HOOKED 20/ LANDED 16 Oct. 24-25 - Excited to fish with great friend and client, Sonja. She has been fishing with many of my fellow Eastern Sierra guides for years now. We all consider her one of the most gifted anglers we guide. She¡¦s completely submerged in the Steelheader¡¦s world, branching off and fishing as far a British Colombia. She is also mastering the art of spey casting and is a HECK of a great gal to spend the day with (we all fight to guide her.) Her fishing amigo, Tom, has also spent many years behind a fly rod. They fished their hearts out, not giving up ¡¥till the fat lady sang. HOOKED 12/ LANDED 6 I fished out the rest of the month with my local buddies up here. We didn¡¦t hook a lot of fish, but I couldn¡¦t go through a Steelhead season without looking across the river and seeing the guys, hearing geese over head, feeling the leak in my waders..... SUMMARY: I was on the river 25 out of 31 days, 22 of them behind the oars of my boat. I went through 11 dozen flies, five 100-meter spools of tippet, 8 leaders, one pair of sun glasses, and one spey rod. The clients that I spent this month with were all amazing people with unbelievable perseverance, and great discipline. They are fun to be with and they love to fish. It truly was the most technical and physical guiding I¡¦ve ever done, but the most rewarding (we had moments when time stood still.) Every day we hooked fish in different spots. There was no rhythm to the day besides that it could happen any second, anywhere. I learned more in this month than in ten years of easy fishing. I can honestly say we fished as hard as we could every day. When we reached the take-out I knew we couldn¡¦t have fished harder. Can¡¦t wait ¡¥till next October.... this was the third slow year, it¡¦s time to bust the bank. I love Oregon, and I will see you next year.