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.