2009 Fly Fishing Film Tour coming to Modesto

The 2009 Fly Fishing Film Tour is a presentation of fly fishing video shorts. The tour will be here in Modesto on March 5, 2009 at the State Theatre. The videos are reminiscent of Warren Miller Ski Films, in fact some of the owners ( Drake Magazine ) of the tour were involved in Warren Miller Entertainment. Tickets will be available online, at the box office and here at Sierra Anglers ( $12.00 per ticket, $15.00 at the door ). The video is the promo for the 2008 film tour. The proceeds of the event will benefit " Rivers of Recovery ", a non-profit organization that provides fly fishing vacations for disabled veterans. Dan Cook, the director of Rivers of Recovery, will be making a personal appearance at the showing.

Here is their mission statement:

"Rivers of Recovery is dedicated to providing unique and meaningful recreational trips to disabled veterans, their families and the families of fallen soldiers at no cost to the participants. A nonprofit organization, Rivers of Recovery seeks to promote the building of self-confidence, foster a sense of empowerment, spark an enthusiasm for the outdoors and provide a sanctuary where enjoyment, relaxation and learning are the priorities.

Veterans and families from all armed forces and military eras are eligible.

Air Force ~ Army ~ Coast Guard ~ Marines ~ National Guard ~ Navy"

It's a great cause, I hope you will be able to attend.

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.