Fly Fishing Life Magazine Volume02Number03

FLY FISHING LIFE Volume Two, Number Three

MAGAZINE

The Online Magazine of the Fly Fishing World

Publisher & Editor: Rob Portil

From the Editor

Artistic Director: Adryanna Ciera Contributing Editors: Mikey Wier Art Dollosso Al Kyte Matt Paluch HOW TO CONTACT US For Advertising Inquiries: Fly Fishing Life Magazine 165 Mission RD Sedona, AZ 86336 928-485-1970 For General Inquiries or to send a letter to the editor: Fly Fishing Life Magazine 165 Mission RD Sedona, AZ 86336 928-485-1970 To copy or reuse material from Fly Fishing Life Magazine: Permissions Department Fly Fishing Life Magazine 165 Mission RD Sedona, AZ 86336

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Cover Photo by John Sherman

For this issue we convinced the noted photographer John Sherman to share some of his images from his new book Fly Fishing The California Delta with us. John is a much published photographer and the new book with Mike Costello is treat in every aspect, from great photography to deep insight into striper fishing in the California Delta. (page 32) We also resurrected and updated a destination story from the original online version of our magazine. Mostly because it provides one of the significant destinations for trophy trout in California and because it resides in the only issue of our magazine that is not accessible from the archives link in the magazine. (page 16) Do fish eat snakes? A question I’ve had for years. I’ve seen snakes eating small fish, but never witnessed a fish eating a snake. A question that plagued Matt Paluch near a rattlesnake infested favorite stream of his was “do the large rainbows eat rattlesnakes.” You’ll be surprised at his approach to finding this out. (Page 6) Rob Portil, Editor Rob@FlyFishingLifeMag.com

Table of Contents

FLY FISHING LIFE

Volume 2, Number 3

6

Video Shelf Steeping Into the Stream & The Rattlesnake Fly

Bookshelf Fly Fishing the California Delta & The Entirely Synthetic Fish

10

MAGAZINE

The Online Magazine of the Fly Fishing World

12 New Products

FishHead iPhone App & FishEyes Underwater Video

Destinations California Trophy Trout - Sugar Creek Ranch

The Art of Angling California Delta Photography by John Sherman

16 32

Graphic by Rob Portil

Video Shelf

The Rattlesnake Fly

Stepping Into The Stream

Will fish eat rattlesnakes?

Matt Paluch had a burning question: Do the oversize rainbows in the rattlesnake infested creek near his home in Washington eat the rattlesnakes? And more importantly: Will they take his rattlesnake fly imitation?

One of the most fun videos submitted to us in some time.

WAIT for the Audio. It starts about 20 seconds into the video.

Matt lives in Washington guides and writes about fly fishing.

Rob Portil

Women in Fly Fishing

A rarity in the world of fly fishing film.

A film by women in fly fishing about women in fly fishing.

A woman’s view of fly fishing very much in tune with my feelings about fly fishing.

A beautiful step into the world of women fly fishing.

Mindful fly fishing The trailer speaks for itself.

The DVD is available from Amazon.com Rob Portil

Video Shelf

Soulfish 2 - FISH MODE

by Mikey Wier

SOULFISH 2 is an epic global fly-fishing adventure. FISH MODE is a state of being experienced by the anglers who lived this adventure. It’s a trance like state in which the angler becomes completely fixated on the pursuit of the fish and in that moment nothing else matters.

This one of a kind adventure documentary follows some of the most dedicated and experienced fly anglers in the world as they chase some of the greatest Game Fish on this planet to waters around the globe. It’s a visual and sensual experience that lets you see through the eyes and explore the thoughts of some of Fly-Fishing’s greatest personalities.

Mikey Weir continues to dazzle us with his amazing world adventures in fly fishing. This time traveling to more great destinations and adding more interesting fishermen and beautiful fisherwomen to the roster.

I’ll just let Mikey tell you about it >> Mikey’s videos are for sale on Amazon and Fish Eye Videos

From a first ever fishing expedition to a remote river in Northern Mongolia in search of giant Taimen with Jeff Currier, Brent Dawson, Peter Mullett and Mikey Wier, to dry fly fishing for steelhead in remote British Columbia with April Vokey and friends. Experience a grand slam on the flats of Belize by an unlikely fly angler, Mike Copithorne. Then fish poppers for America’s favorite fish, Large Mouth Bass, deep in the heart of remote central Mexico with Richard McPherson. Return to the rich Marshes of Louisiana before the great Oil Spill to chase Red and Black Durm with Capt. Bryan Carter and friends. Next Coach Duff gives us a glimpse of chasing the largest Bonefish in the world on the beautiful flats of Oaho Hawaii. Then journey down to the Nile River in Egypt to chase record breaking Nile Perch and African Tiger fish with world adventurer Jeff Currier and African angler Jonathan Boulton. Eventually you end up back in California for some epic trout fishing on some remote and beautiful streams and rivers. Tear through the world on the ultimate chase for the unmatchable catch and experience the SOUL of this art we call fly-fishing.

This amazing DVD is available from Amazon.com or FishEyeVideos.com

Featuring:

April Vokey - Mikey Weir - Jeff Currier - Brent Dawson - Ralph Cutter

B. Carter - P. Mullett - M. Copithorne - R. McPherson - T. Duffield

Book Shelf

Fly Fishing the California Delta

by Captain Mike Costello Photography by John Sherman

An Entirely Synthetic Fish How Rainbow Trout Beguiled America and Overran the World

by Anders Halverson The California Delta has become a major new destination for trophy striped bass. Other species are also popular. There are more largemouth bass tournaments in the Delta than any other body of water in the world with total weight of bag limits exceeding any other watershed. This is the first major book describing the techniques used for landing trophy striped bass and other species in California’s famed Delta.

The book is available at Amazon or local Fly Shops

This is a stunning coffee table book as well as an amazing primer on the fishing of the California Delta regions.

We were so impressed by the photography of the California Delta and the world of bass fishing photography that we asked John Sherman to exhibit some of that photography for our ‘Art of Angling’ section this month.

Anders Halverson provides an exhaustively researched and grippingly rendered account of the rainbow trout and why it has become the most commonly stocked and controversial freshwater fish in the United States. Discovered in the remote waters of northern California, rainbow trout have been artificially propagated and distributed for more than 130 years by government officials eager to present Americans with an opportunity to get back to nature by going fishing. Proudly dubbed “an entirely synthetic fish” by fisheries managers, the rainbow trout has been introduced into every state and province in the United States and Canada and to every continent except Antarctica, often with devastating effects on the native fauna. Halverson examines the paradoxes and reveals a range of characters, from nineteenth-century boosters who believed rainbows could be the saviors of democracy to twenty-first-century biologists who now seek to eradicate them from waters around the globe.

Ultimately, the story of the rainbow trout is the story of our relationship with the natural world—how it has changed and how it startlingly has not.

The book is available at your local fly shops and at Amazon.com

New Products

FishEyes

Rod and Reel with Underwater Video Camera

FishHead iPhone App Simply the coolest app for the fisherman!

Everything you need for planning fishing trips.

This year everywhere in the west was the most prolific snow and rain year in decades.

But this has created stream flows that dramatically alter our fishing trip planning as some streams are different from normal years by as much a month to a month and half.

Tracking those stream flows becomes the critically important element in your western stream fishing.

Using the searches on this app provides immediate access to tides, weather forcasts, and USGS river and stream flows plus the ability to save some of these to your favorites.

When you cast a fishing lure out into the water and it goes beneath the surface, it enters a dark, mysterious world that you can only imagine. Perhaps that’s overstating things a bit, but the fact is, you can’t see where it is or what’s around it. A fish finder can provide you with some basic information (if you’re in a boat) but it doesn’t actually show you what it looks like down there. That’s where the FishEyes Rod and Reel with Underwater Video Camera comes in.

Its built-in color LCD screen provides you with a live image of what’s down there, and any fish that happen to be near it.

We tested it out on Lake Davis recently and found that besides being able to see the fish it provides a good way to see what the bottom looks like where you’re fishing and gives you reasonable way to determine depth.

With 20 feet of video and power cable in place of the fishing line, it has its limits, but very useful for checking if fish are really there or just chekcing out the bottom. At $79.99 you can forgive the fact that it isn’t the highest resolution video camera you can buy.

Available at Amazon

Destinations

California Trophy Trout

by Rob Portil

A six hour drive is always a questionable endeavor for a weekend outing. All questions were put to rest as we came upon the glory of Mt. Shasta half covered in snow and glistening in the midday sun.

The drive to Sugar Creek Ranch starts getting good after you leave Redding headed north to Weed, Ca. Now there’s a name whose source you wonder about and question if it predates the sixties. Its town sign announces “Weed like to Welcome You” with a hominess that is inconsistent with its imbalance of gas stations to stores: they are nearly equal. Of course they’d like to welcome you, they can’t sell all that gas to just the locals.

Mt. Shasta en route Photo by Rob Portil > As you turn off highway 5 toward Callahan (no gas stations), you start climbing a thousand foot grade that gives you the million dollar view of Mt. Shasta on every other turn.

Cresting the hills and dipping down into the Scott Valley leads you through some of the most beautiful private land in California and you realize from the lack of traffic on the road that not many Californians get over this way.

Arriving at Sugar Creek Ranch is something shy of what you might be expecting of a world class fishery. The sign for the place is so small that you’re thankful for the precise mileage directions that let you know that you’re really here.

You feel like you’ve arrived at an abandoned gravel quarry. You’re not far off in appearance, but very far off from the real story. Somewhere after gold was discovered here they got really serious about mining it and built one of the largest floating ore extraction

Destinations - California Trophy Trout (cont.) machines of its kind. It looked like a large factory but was actually one huge machine. They mined for gold by crushing the rock much the way a rock quarry would do and they did it with intent.

They covered enough surface area to leave rock piles that appear to be several miles wide and at least five miles long. The story is that the machine operated from the early thirties until sometime in the fifties, crushing every piece of rock it could get a hold of.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. The remaining piles of rock were not exactly evenly distributed and much like when you dig a hole in the beach ten feet from the ocean, if you go below the water table it fills up with water. The resulting lakes formed by the areas that were lower than the water table of the nearby Scott River not only filled up with water but have the added advantage of constantly refreshing themselves by the water moving through via the underground water table at a rate similar to the river itself in temperature if not speed.

The result is TROUT water. Eight lakes in all, albeit size dictates that you more accurately term them ponds. In the larger ponds they stopped stocking them years ago and they are delightfully full of huge and wary trout. Mike Kalpin, the owner, has done some wonderful things here, from landscaping the edges of some of the lakes to educated and enlightened stocking. In the smaller ponds, Mike stocks them periodically with fish he raises, the smallest of which are two pound trout. As these grow and mature they react the way trout in wild do when hooked. Having an 18 inch fish take you out to your backing while heading halfway across the pond is all the convincing you need that these fish are every bit the equal in strength and agility to the native rainbows you encounter in the wild. I had one of the 20 inch rainbows that I caught come fully out of the water six times and cover a full 150 feet while doing it.

Lone Bear Pond - Photo by Rob Portil We had a pretty sizable group this trip as I organized it as an outing for the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. I was worried that there might be too many of us to spread out nicely to the different lakes. That concern went away on the first day when only two of us were on one of the ponds and I found myself instead feeling guilty about catching 30 or 40 trout over 17 inches and being honestly concerned that others may not be having as good a time as we were. Conversations at dinner that evening allayed

Destinations - California Trophy Trout (cont.) my fears of being the only one catching fish. It did however turn out that some had a tougher time with matching the hatch or just keeping some of these large fish hooked.

One twenty seven inch hook nosed male rainbow was caught by someone half my age (Steve Tom) just before dinner that evening. Matt Huey, as usual, was having no trouble hooking great fish on the first day.

You get to learn a lot about landing large fish when you get as many opportunities to do

Photo by Adryanna Ciera

it as you get here. The learning experience was different for everyone. Those of us who have fished for many years learned even more about the value of presentation and experimentation when clear water lets you witness your ninety percent rejection rate.

Those that were newer to the sport had an opportunity, some for the first time, to constantly be dealing with stealth, hooking and landing large trout, and the reality of actually being worn out by the process of getting a large fish to hand.

Many techniques get to be polished when you have as many opportunities at large fish as is offered as Sugar Creek. One that I have had little opportunity to try other places, given that I’m mostly fishing fast streams, is the multi fish competition approach. One of the reasons I caught more fish on some of the smaller ponds was leveraging the ability to see more than one fish at a time and placing casts that were ideally located exactly between two or even three fish. The resulting competition for food would often overshadow the otherwise extremely high rejection rate. Given the clear water it was easy to see fish turn and head for your fly only to reject it at the last moment. Given the size of these fish, the resulting push of water (read: wake) was enough to get your heart pounding and cause some to set so early there was no chance of having a fish on there. After some steady rejection I got more careful about placing the fly exactly between fish. The result was that the water would get disturbed by the close rejection of the first fish and generally prompted the second fish to be less picky or reduced his ability to perceive the fly in the same way as the first with amazing results. As this method proved itself over and over, it proved to be one of the few ways to get past the disadvantage of not having the exact fly match and leveraging the fish’s innate sense Adryanna Ciera - Photo by Rob Portil

Destinations- California Trophy Trout (cont.)

Bill with the Huge Rainbow that took the Whizz Kid

of food competition.

Again given the clear, still water, I got to see a rejection I had never seen or maybe just never noticed before. On small fast streams when I saw a fish miss a fly I thought that was exactly what I was seeing. At Sugar Creek, several times that weekend I got to see a fish coming at a fly facing directly toward me with his mouth opening just before the take. The surprise was the opportunity to see a rejection that I had never seen before where the fish went through the entire motion of opening the mouth, coming all the way to the surface, but turning his head just slightly at the last second so that he purposely didn’t get the fly. From any other angle this would have looked like he just missed the fly or miscalculated. It was amazing to see that this was a purposeful rejection so late as to be a full rise.

Every day proved to be a different challenge. The large north lake has some of the largest trout, but proved to be some of the most difficult fishing, especially for those of us, like myself, who insist on dry fly fishing at every opportunity. In these small lakes the fish tend to cruise around considerably and sight fishing was the only way to quickly improve your odds. On the second day when four of us were fishing Twin Deer, (the large north lake) there was not much apparently happening except at the inlet to this pool where some small (14-18 inch!) trout were watching for and eating nymphs drifting in. In search of bigger prey, I moved slowly around the lake until I would see a fish cruising the shores and then try to end up ahead of its path with casts designed to be just in it field of vision but not so close as to scare it off. The last minute rejection rate was high, but preceded with nervous excitement each time that I’d see the obvious interest indicated by the trout heading toward my fly. After a few of these, I finally noticed some white specks further out on the water that was either a very small white Mayfly or bits of a dandelion. When I finally saw a large trout dine on one of these, desperation drove me to digging for a small white Mayfly imitation. The general rules of order of importance of matching the hatch go something like this: Size, Shape, Color. I was in trouble. I didn’t have anything close and considered just trying a pale morning dun folFishing with the deer- Photo by Adryanna Ciera

Destinations- California Trophy Trout (cont.) lowing the “size, shape, color” and live with the fact that the color didn’t match the very white flies I was seeing. But I spotted a white Whizz Kid in my box that we had actually tied up for pan fish that was about a size 12 when it looked like the flies on the water were about a size 18 or smaller. Now, loving the Whizz Kid as I do and never having caught anything (actually never having tried to) on a white one, I just couldn’t pass up the chance. So, just as some of the guys were giving up and moving to the other lakes, I tossed my obviously oversized, non-Mayfly, but ever so correctly colored fly to this large trout out at the distance limits of my casting ability. He took it first cast and I was on to a twenty plus inch gorgeous rainbow.

It was the start of a beautiful day of fishing that ended in easily 20 fish over twenty inches in length, and progressed through as many different flies.

Jack Bauman’s Whizz Kid, my favorite all round fly finally got its due this weekend.

After years of me extolling its virtues, I had more then one person this weekend say to

Beautiful Rainbow Hooked Up - Photo by Rob Portil

one, and having a twenty seven inch rainbow take it on the first cast is pretty convincing. It is now featured in Terry Hellikson’s new edition of Fish Flies, arguably the best encyclopedia of the fly tiers art.

New friends, great food, marvelous conversation, and great fishing. These are the makings of a great weekend of fly fishing and few places in the country offer the opportunity for trophy trout every day that you’re fishing.

For fishing at Sugar Creek Ranch, Contact Mike Kalpin: www.SugarCreekRanch.com (530) 467-5213

Jack & Mark Bauman’s Whizz Kid - Photo by Rob Portil

me ‘I’m a believer’. Granted it’s hard not to be when it’s outfishing every other fly two to

FLY FISHING THE

CALIFORNIA DELTA

John Sherman is a renowned fly-fishing and outdoor photographer. His photographs have appeared on the covers and in articles of Field & Stream, Fly Fisherman, California Fly Fisher, Northwest and Southwest Fly Fishing, Fly Fishing in Salt Waters, and The Drake to name a few, as well as many product catalogs. He has guided, managed a fly shop, hosted trips all over the world, and spoken at many of the country’s largest fly fishing shows. He has been filmed in a number of television shows airing on ESPN and the Versus channel. John was the featured fly angler in the film Bass: The Movie. John is the West Coast Representative for Simms Fishing Products.

More of John’s amazing photography can be found at: www.JohnGSherman.com

: TH E PHOTOGR APHY OF JOH N SH ER M AN

Natih Sherman blows up a nice Delta Largemouth Bass.

The Delta offers some of the best bass fishing in the country.

A birds eye perspective of the flooded Mildred Island in the Central Delta

Fly fishing the west Delta and some of the natural marshland that still is prevalent there.

Eric Nuefeld bombs a cast in a West Delta slough as the fog starts to lift.

Charlie Bisharat’s Airheads are one of many great patterns that were born on the Delta.

Smallmouth bass are one of the most under pursued Delta gamefish, they are found primarily in the North Delta.

A Close up of the Umpqua Pike Fly. One of the top producing Delta Largemouth Flies.

Ric Rudgers launches a cast in pursuit of a top water striper in the South Delta.

Close up perspectives of the Delta’s top fly rod gamefish, the striped bass.

Sight fishing in the Delta is limited due to the sediment in the water which gives you limited visibility, but the savvy angler can find a few sight fishing opportunities.

Blast off. Mike Costello and clients go in search of the next hot striper grab.

An Abel Fish Print Pattern matched up with its Inspiration.

The Marine layer pulls into the foothills, a common trend in the summer months.

One of many magical sunsets in the North Delta.

Early morning fall fishing on the Cashe slough in the North Delta.

Spectacular early fall cloud pattern high above the North Delta.

Captain Kevin Doran poles around Mike Hendry in search of shallow water fall stripers.

The magic hour, there is nothing like the first and last hours of light for Delta Bass.

Let the giants go! Big stripers are the future of this fishery and it’s important to let the big spawners go. A female of this caliber can produce over 200 million eggs.

Armed and ready, a look at Captain Mike Costello’s Striper Box.

Matt Baker fishing the matts looking for a explosion from a giant Delta Largemouth Bass.

More of John Sherman’s amazing photography can be found at:

www.JohnGSherman.com

Tenkara fly-fishing Tenkara is the traditional Japanese method of fly-fishing where only a rod, line and fly - but no reel - are used. Tenkara originated and was perfected over centuries by professional anglers in the mountain streams of Japan. It is the ideal method for fly-fishing small streams.

Simplicity.

Tenkara is about fly-fishing simplicity. It eliminates unnecessary complexities to let you enjoy the true flyfishing experience - casting a weightless fly, reading the turbulent water, seeing the rise, feeling the fish.

The ultra-light and portable gear is great for backpacking. Tenkara rods are 11 to 13 ft long, weigh as little as 2.5oz, and collapse down to a mere 20 inches. A long rod and light line allow you to effectively fish challenging waters with precise casting, delicate presentations and a drag-free drift.

See our videos at: www.tenkarausa.com/videos Tenkara is perfect for those in search of a pure, effective and simpler method of fly-fishing.

888.i.tenkara

www.tenkarausa.com

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