Santa delivers as promised!

Fortunately, the snow that was forecast came in! The Mammoth Mountain ski area received 13" of new snow on Christmas Day. Their total so far this season is 176" inches of snow compared to last year's October to December total of about 72". Let's hope it keeps coming!

The photo above is from the Yosemite Association's live webcam this morning, December 26, 2008.

Merry Christmas! Santa to deliver this week.

It looks as if Santa is going to deliver a great gift to us fishermen this Christmas week, rain and snow! With the lack of precipitation this year, the outlook will be much better with a wet week of weather forecast. One of my favorite weather links is the National Weather Service's Western Region Satellite page: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/satellite/ . Try the " animation " function.

Here is my favorite Doppler Radar page.

Here is one of my favorite links for river flows: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/rivcond.html

Have a Merry Christmas!

New product

Simms Softshell Hoody

We've just received a new jacket from Simms. While very pricey at $219.95, this jacket is a great layering garment and many of the Delta striper guys coming into the shop feel that this will be the perfect jacket for those chilly, foggy days on our Delta. Since it is windproof, you will block the wind on those boat rides looking for stripers. Wearing this over layers of thermals and fleece or down you will very comfortable and dry. This jacket has very breathable Gore-tex membrane. It is not a waterproof rain jacket due to the fact that the seams are not sealed.

• Soft yet rugged stretch nylon shell with soft and very warm microcheck backer
• YKK® center-front zipper
• Adjustable storm hood fits comfortably around a ball cap
• 1 Large zippered chest pocket
• Zippered, polyester mesh-lined hand warmer pockets
• Adjustable cuffs
• Adjustable shock cord hem
• Imported

New DVD's

I have just received two great, new DVD's at the shop; " Drift: The Movie " and " Raising the Ghost ".

Above is the trailer for " Drift: The Movie " a very professionally produced video with some great music. I think it does a great job of capturing the joy and beauty that we seek ( and sometimes find ) in our pursuit of fish.



Above is the trailer for " Raising the Ghost ". These anglers are in pursuit of what some call the ultimate freshwater gamefish, steelhead! Steelhead are some of the most difficult of gamefish to catch, partly due to their rarity, partly due to encountering the proper conditions, and partly due to the fact that they are not actively feeding when they return on their spawning run. To make things more difficult, these anglers are trying to catch these steelhead on dry flies. They also encounter steelhead feeding on Green Drakes!

Winter arrives in the Sierra Nevada

Hopefully this storm is the start of a winter of heavy snowfall. The image is an image from a livecam at the Tuolumne Meadows kiosk on October 31, 2008. Click here for this and other livecams from Yosemite National Park.

Lower Sacramento River

Guide Jason Thatcher reports on his website ( allriverfishing.com ) that the Sacramento River near Redding is producing a lot of trout now. This is a great time to fish the Sac, as the salmon are spawning and the trout go nuts for egg patterns.

Alaska's proposed Pebble Mine

A Day in the Life of a Fly Shop Owner

I wasn't able to man the shop for a couple of days due to a colonoscopy. After being subjected to a lot of locker-room humor, I found out it wasn't all that bad. Try it you might like it! Seriously, don't let your fears stop you, it may save your life.

Golden Trout

Two friends of mine (Keith Veltkamp and Greg Whitley) recently made a trek for Golden Trout to the Little Kern River (a trip I will never be able to make, but that's another story). One thing (out of the many things) that I enjoy about operating a fly shop is people sharing their experiences in their pursuit of fish. Not all of their experiences are good! On this particular trip, Keith describes their hike in (and more importantly the hike out) from their destination. Packing a heavy pack and suffering through difficult terrain, resulting in painful blisters and the future loss of a toe nail, they achieved their objective of adding another species to their California Heritage Trout Challenge. The Challenge is to catch six California native trout species in their historic habitat. The photo is that of a Little Kern River Golden Trout. I quote Keith, " God knows how to paint them doesn't He ". No truer words than those.

Underwater Trout Photography

Today, one of my earliest customers ( 1987 or so ), Andrew Maurer stopped by. Andrew is a graphic artist and photographer by profession that also happens to have a passion for trout and the beautiful places that they exist. The photos above are examples of his work. Andrew has spent a lot of time photographing trout underwater. Check out his beautiful work on his website troutstreamdesign.com. He also left some of his framed and matted photographs at the shop that are available for $120.00.

Fishing with Blob ( no, not me, Blob )

Florida Fishing

Fishing buddy ( certified fishing nut! ) Frank Candito just returned from Florida . Pictured is a 20 lb. Jack that he caught on a popper. It's hard to tell from his expression if he was excited! He also landed a tarpon around 100 lbs. He did not get a picture of the tarpon as one can no longer pull a tarpon out of the water. He fished with guide Captain John Meskauskas ( website: StuartFlyFishing.com ) out of Stuart, Florida.

First ever fly-rod-only bass tournament

The very first fly-rod-only bass tournament was entered into the history books on Friday, May 30, 2008. It was held on the San Joaquin River Delta. Friends of mine, Mike Baisdon and Russ Owens placed second. Included in their 5 fish entry was an 11 pound, 10 ounce bruiser, shown above. They finished only 4 ounces out of first place. Good going Mike and Russ!
The tournament was conceived by the Bass-N-Fly Promotions organization. Their mission statement reads " Serving to expand the awareness and utilization of fly fishing techniques on black bass amongst fly anglers and conventional anglers alike " Click here to go to the Bass-N-Fly website.

Run-off 2008

A strange weather year! After virtually no major storms in the Sierra since February, a late-season storm has resulted in low temperatures and snow in the high country and has resulted in a radical decrease in the snowmelt. The chart above are the flows on the West Walker River near the town of Coleville / Walker ( "Home of the World Famous Walker Burger" ). The river should be fishable until the warm temperatures return.

John Gierach's new book " Fool's Paradise "

John Gierach's latest book, " Fool's Paradise " is in stock here at the store. I have a couple of signed copies left. I also stock nearly all of his back titles in paperback.

Pyramid Lake, May 4-5, 2008

My friend Frank Candito and I had a great trip to Nevada's Lake Pyramid. It's native trout is the Lahontan Cutthroat trout. The lake is home to the world record Lahontan Cutthroat trout, a fish in excess of 40 lbs. This lake is an angler's best chance of a real trophy trout ( not an ugly hatchery-raised pet) within a 200 mile radius of Modesto. At this time of the year the trout flood into the shallows, mainly to find spawning areas. Unfortunately, the trout need a stream to spawn successfully, plus the water in the lake is too salty for spawning. We landed fish up to 27" and saw hundreds of large trout along the shoreline.

New Fly Fishing DVD: Soulfish

This the latest DVD production by Burl Productions. Burl Productions was involved in Trout Bum Diaries, and Fish Eye Videos. Here is the synopsis from my vendor: " SOULFISH is fly-fishing's ultimate adventure. A multidimensional story about fly-fishing today & an in-depth look at some of the sport's most interesting characters. Experience what it's like & witness some of the most explosive and breathtaking footage ever captured from locations in: Brazil, Mongolia, Belize, Christmas Island, Louisiana, Florida Keys, Utah & California. 130 min."

Montana snow

Photo April 27, 2008, Reynolds Pass, Montana

Looks as if Montana, in contrast to us in California, has a large amount of snow. This year promises to be a great fishing year in the Rockies. Many places such as Reynolds Pass area ( click here for Montana Dept. of Transportation highway cameras ) near the Madison River below Hebgen still looks like a winter scene. Last year many of the Montana streams had closures due to low, warm water. Officials fear that flooding is of concern if the weather turns warm. Read a more here: " Mountain snowpack still growing deeper"

Tying a Pyramid Lake Glitter Midge w/ Andy Burk

Several anglers have been in the shop lately with reports about the great fishing at Pyramid Lake. Andy Burk of the Reno Fly Shop ( and of the now closed Truckee River Outfitters, in Truckee ) is one of the most prolific and innovative tyers in fly fishing these days. Here is a YouTube video about tying a popular fly for fishing under an indicator in Pyramid.

Ever heard of giant taimen?

New item in our store

Fish Bums Volumn 1: Mongolia

The Angling Exploration Group (AEG Media ) visits Mongolia to fish for trout-eating taimen! The taimen is the world's largest salmonid, reaching a reported 80 plus inches and 231 pounds!??.

This DVD is available in our shop and in our eBay Store for $29.95