THE IRIDEUS The Newsletter of the Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers Based in Kensington, Serving the East Bay & Environs since 1982
Trout in the Classroom An update
Fishing the Upper Sac: Part 2
By Dave Garfin
By Michael Malekos
APR
‘20 GPFF.ORG
CLUB MEETINGS Online Zoom Meetings Every second Wednesday No meeting in July Due to COVID-19 Concerns, Meetings will be conducted online in Zoom Business Meeting - 7:00pm
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
FEATURES
Departments
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Trout in the Classroom 2020
03 The President’s Message
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The Importance of keeping an outing journal
03 BOARD
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John Rickard on the McCloud Fishing the Upper Sac Part 2: Spring Summer Fall
04 CALENDAR 05 Zoom Primer 06 NEWS, NOTES & RANDOM CASTS 09 Fishing Throwbacks 17
GPFF Battle Creek Outing
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
The president’s message By Brad Gee
L
ess than a month ago, over 20 of us met at the Sports Basement to hear Mike Malekos give an excellent, informative talk on fly fishing some of California’s premier waters. Today the Sports Basement is closed, almost all California State Parks and campgrounds are closed, group meetings are prohibited and when we are allowed out of our homes to shop or do essential errands we all have to keep a “safe” social distance (six feet) from everyone else. What should our Club do in this New World? Our first duty is to protect the health and welfare of our members. After much discussion (conducted over computers in a virtual meeting) and after considering the expert advice of risk experts, scientists, and other fishing clubs, the GPFF Board has decided that 1. All GPFF outings including pickup trips are suspended, 2. All Conservation work events, fly tying and Bay Area Youth Fly Fishing events are suspended, 3. The Battle Creek fundraising trip is rescheduled for August 28-30 4. GPFF monthly meetings will be VIRTUAL, online using Zoom. We will continue to communicate through email “Blasts” and through the Irideus. Since conditions are changing so rapidly, we will make more use of emails than in the past. Please open them up...don’t miss breaking good news. Once we are through this crisis we will return to a full calendar of outings and monthly in-person meetings. About those virtual meetings. Technophobes don’t despair. Keep your eyes open for an email from GPFF inviting you to a Zoom meeting on the Wednesday, April 8th. The email will contain a link and a meeting start time. When the time comes for the meeting to start, just click on the link. You will be able to listen to the speaker, see others in the audience and be seen (if you enable your computer’s video camera). To speed up the process slightly you might download Zoom (it’s free) before the meeting. I am personally very happy to tell you that at the March 25 Board Meeting the Board decided to create a new award in honor of Linda Friedman. The award will be given out annually to the member that has shown the most commitment and made critical contributions to the club. This award is much deserved recognition for her extraordinary contributions to the club for more than a decade. Congratulations Linda! Finally, I want to reiterate that health and safety is the club’s top priority. We must obey our state and county rules and regulations for not just our own benefit, but for the entire community’s benefit. As anxious as we become with opening day approaching, it’s imperative that we continue to shelter in place to mitigate casualties as much
Executive Board OFFICERS
Brad Gee President
Eric Larson Secretary
Mike Lippman Treasurer
PROGRAM CHAIRS & BOARD MEMBERS
Josh Genser
Julie Haselden
Mark Likos
Douglas Hale
Dave Garfin
Zachary Wong
Program Chair
Education Chair Trout in the Classroom
Conservation Chair Newsletter Newsletter
NON-BOARD CHAIRS
Lee Hahn
Bob Marshak
Bob Fabini
Mike Leong
Webmaster
Membership
Librarian
Todd Pond
Membership
Outings Coordinator THE IRIDEUS
Douglas Hale Content Editor
Zachary Wong Design Editor
PHOTO CONTRUBITORS THIS MONTH
Cover............................................................Linda Freidman Table of Contents........................................... Zachary Wong Calendar......................................................... Zachary Wong News Notes & Random Casts.......................Linda Friedman Fishing Throwbacks................................... Punch Magazine Trout in the Classroom.................... USFWS, Julie Haselden Outings Journal................................................... Mark Likos John Rickard ................................................... John Rickard Upper Sac Part 2............................................. Mike Malekof Battle Creek....................................................... Josh Genser
We are always looking for photos! Submit your photos to Zachary Wong at craigwong810@gmail.com or Doug Hale at drhale@gmail.com
as possible. Our patience will eventually pay off and the fish will be there waiting for us. Stay healthy, Brad Gee
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Upcoming Events April 8
April GPFF Zoom meeting - John Rickard on the McCloud
April 18
Earth Day - Event Cancelled
April 24
Deer Creek Outing - Event Cancelled
May 13
May GPFF Zoom meeting - Michael Wier on the Truckee or American Rivers
Past Events March 11 March GPFF meeting - Michael Malekos
March 8 Fundamentals Casting Clinic
February 15
Eagle Canyon Trout Lakes
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Your Primer to Gettinng onto Zoom With COVID-19 cancelling spring events left and right and keeping us cooped up in our homes, Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers is going to move ahead and continue its meetings to bring you, our members, the best possible programming. For some, Zoom is an already essential part of your workplace but for the rest of us, Zoom might as well be a book written in a foreign language. Here’s GPFF’s handy-dandy guide to getting onto our meetings for the time being and soon you’ll be able to see old friends and forget about the worries of the world for one evening. Step 1: You will receive by email a link to that month’s meeting. Make sure you save this email or star it or add it into your calendar. On the day of, be sure to click on the link. It will take you to a landing page on zoom’s website.
Step 2: This is what you should see. If you haven’t downloaded zoom, hit “download & run Zoom” If you get the popup above, hit Open Zoom. Zoom will automatically open up in its own window.
Step 3: You should see this screen now that zoom is open. If you are unsure you can hear or concerned your microphone isn’t working, click on Test Speaker and Microphone. When ready, click Join with Computer audio. If this is too daunting for some, or if you have a slow internet connection, click under phone call and it will provide a list of toll-free dial in numbers for your use.
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
News, Notes & Random Casts Linda Friedman Award Established
A
t the March 25 Board Meeting, the first virtual (Zoom) board meeting in the history of GPFF, the Board decided to create a new award in honor of Linda Friedman. The award will be given out annually to the member that has shown the most commitment and made critical contributions to the club. It’s not a fishing award (although Linda’s Permit could qualify her!). The award is about the dedication and contributions of individual members to the betterment of the club. This award will be given at the holiday meeting. The first recipient of the Linda Friedman award for contributions to the GPFF Club will be…Linda Friedman! The Board hopes that other members will step up to fill the huge role she has played in our club for over a decade. Next Meeting--GPFF goes Virtual.
T
he next monthly meeting of the Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers Club will be on Wednesday, April 8, but it will be a virtual meeting. You will get an email inviting you to connect via Zoom. Just click on the link in that email at the designated meeting time and you will be
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connected to everyone else who clicks in! A perfect, if infrequent, antidote to the social isolation we’re all experiencing. Outings in the time of Coronavirus. ALL OUTINGS THROUGH JUNE HAVE BEEN CANCELED OR POSTPONED. BATTLE CREEK RESCHEDULED.
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ur annual trek to the South Fork of Battle Creek, the Club’s biggest fund-raiser of the year and the best fishing in Northern California, has been postponed from June 17-19 to August 28-30. Put the new dates on your calendar and don’t forget to sign up! Which facilities are open, which are closed? No one can keep up with the continuous changing of open, closed and restricted parks, campgrounds and fishing waters. The following links are a good place to start. •
East Bay Regional Parks
https://www.ebparks.org/news/displaynews. htm?NewsID=316&TargetID=3
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
•
State Parks and Campgrounds
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=30350 •
Department of Fish and Wildlife
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Inland/ Closures GPFF Supports Conservation Our club has donated $100 to each of the following local conservation groups: Alameda Creek Alliance, Friends of Five Creeks, Friends of Pinole Creek, and SPAWNERS.
Video Escapes These ten videos from Cal Trout will help you defeat boredom while waiting for the lockdown to end. Check them out here! If these are not enough, past issues of the Irideus contain links to many fishing videos made by club members. Linda Friedman - South of the Border Linda’s at it again! This time, fishing down in Mexico where she landed a bone fish and sent the editors of the Irideus several colorful jellies and sea anemonies (in photo form of course!).
Linda and her bonefish in the water! - Image courtesey of Linda Friedman
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
A selection of jellies and the flora and fauna Linda spotted while travelling in Mexico before the apparent shelter-inplace orders. The editors of the Irideus are jealous she managed to make it out!
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
FISHING THROWBACKS
This month’s edition of Fishing throwbacks comes to us from the pages of Punch Magazine. Published in Britain as a comic paper from 1841 until 1992. Credited with first using the term cartoon with what we now know today as a humorous image. Lunatic (suddenly popping his head over wall). “What are you doing there?” Brown: “Fishing” Lunatic: “Caught Anything?” Brown: “No.” Lunatic. “How long have you been there?” Brown: “Six Hours.” Lunatic: “Come Inside!”
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
Trout in the Classroom 2020: Abandoned midstream By: Dave Garfin
T
hings were looking rather rosy toward the end of January when the Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program started ramping up for 2020. We picked up four new teachers, lost two old ones and added four new coaches, three of whom are not club members. We were able to place all 32 of our aquaria in 31 classrooms and Jim Scherer’s garage. The aquaria were in such good condition that we didn’t have much to do in the way of maintenance. The aquaria were up and running by the middle of February. In other words, we were expecting yet another good year for our TIC program. But, alas, it was not to be. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) furnishes fertilized rainbow trout eggs for the TIC program. They reported that this year’s eggs were from a new strain for us, the Eagle Lake strain. CDFW claimed that this strain develops into large, robust fry. We all were eager to give this new strain of eggs a try. On February 25, CDFW delivered eggs to our coaches who then took the eggs to their assigned classrooms. This year, as last, there were 50 eggs for each aquarium. Coaches helped teachers drop eggs into their tanks and then we all let nature run its course. Teachers had primed their students for the arrival of the eggs. Excited is not a strong enough word to describe the kids’ expectations
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for what was to come, especially the younger ones. Once eggs began to hatch things began to change and our happy plans went by the wayside. The eggs we were given didn’t look quite right to my eyes. A couple of teachers and coaches noticed the same thing. The eggs were smaller than those we were accustomed to getting and some were relatively pale compared with the bright orange we’ve seen in the past. Nevertheless, the eggs all had visible eye spots and, in that regard, they seemed okay. But, considering that this was a new strain we waited to see what would happen. And it did happen. Eggs started dying on us within a week of delivery. CDFW reassured us that they expected 25% die-off so we shouldn’t get too concerned. CDFW was right about the die off, but we are not used to as many bad eggs as we were seeing. In the past, when eggs died they just seemed to turn white but maintain their size. This year’s dead eggs were white and swollen and had a corona (excuse the word) of cytoplasm extruding from them. If left in aquaria, dead eggs contaminate the water making it deadly for live eggs. The teachers were diligent and immediately took dead eggs from their tanks so they weren’t a problem. We also began to see what seemed to be alevins that were too small and fry that had bent backs. CDFW claims
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
Salmon Spawning - Image Reuse Courtesy of Ryan Hagerty of the US Fish & Wildlife Service
that it is only this particular batch of eggs that had problems. We shall see what future batches hold for us. Because of the dying and deformities, the teachers were gearing up to talk with their classes about the cycle of life and that sort of thing. They tend to prepare themselves for this eventuality every year as some dying is inevitable. They never got the chance to give their spiels this year. About the time that our trout began to develop into fry the governor announced his quarantine measures and schools were ordered to close. Teachers were allowed into their classrooms for short periods of time to retrieve belongings and important work. The principals at the schools we service were farsighted enough to give teachers with aquaria extra time to capture their fry for release. Maybe principals realized that they would have a stinky mess to deal with if the fry weren’t removed. Some teachers had enough time to clean their equipment (we require our teachers to clean their own tanks) and those aquaria are in the best shape for moving on. In normal times, releases are turned into a party-like field trip with students putting their fry into the lake one at a time. It is a delight to watch the care with which the kids put their precious fry into the water. Sadly, that couldn’t happen this year. Most teachers took their buckets of fry on their own to one of the lakes and dumped in the whole bucket. A
few teachers went so far as to video their quasireleases. Coaches also helped with releases. This was certainly not the same as a student release, but the best we all could do.
Super Coach Julie Haselden doing a controlled release into Refugio Creek
As you can guess, the teachers were fabulous. Given all that they had to deal with, and what lies ahead, they have handled this unforeseen situation calmly and professionally. They are to be commended. Our coaches, too, have been understanding and have helped as much as legally possible. As it turned out, though, a couple of teachers forbade the more elderly of us coaches from going into their classrooms and we obeyed.
We hope for better times next year.
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
The Importance of keeping an Outing Journal By: Mark Likos
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was fortunate enough to take a fly fishing fundamentals class from one of my early mentors, Alan Christian. He taught the importance of maintaining a fly fishing journal to help improve our future performance. I rarely travel without it now. When revisiting a venue you’ve previously fished, it can give you a huge head start in what to use and expect especially if you go back the same time of year. Keep track of the time of day you fished, the most productive times, temperatures, humidity, visibility, moon phase, wind & direction and barometer. Very key are the water temperature, flow and clarity. Record the hatches you see; their type, stage and strength. And, don’t forget the number and kind of fish you catch, and the fly/size and gear you used. I keep notes on any wildlife I see and hazards such as the difficulty of hiking, snakes, loose rock and poison oak. I end up ‘grading’
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the area on a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 would be an excellent venue to visit again and 1 the lower end rating I may want to avoid in the future. Here is my 5.5” X 8.5” Journal sheet (On page 13; not seen are a lined back page for notes). This covers what I need and becomes invaluable for future reference. This sheet is similar to the one in the back of my Foundational Fly Fishing Field Journal & Entomology Reference book (available to all club members at cost.). These sheets are available to club members at cost in a 25 page Journal supplement bound in a handy size to take in the field. Make your own, use mine, just USE ONE! Contact me with inquiries. mlikos@comcast.net
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
The journal page as described by Mark on the preceding page. Understanding the environment can help to really understand the difference between a good day’s fishing and a day of nothing but skunks. Courtesy of Mark Likos
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John Rickard on The McCloud River
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ur speaker for the April 8 meeting is John Rickard. Remember this will be our first virtual meeting. The McCloud River is home of the most famous rainbow trout in the world and the brown trout that eat them. The McCloud River has delighted and frustrated GPFF members year after year. See any of Kirston’s articles in past issues of the November Irideus. John is uniquely qualified to help us discover the secrets of fishing the McCloud successfully. Biography: John Rickard and Chuck Volckhausen are partners in Wild Waters Fly Fishing. Wild Waters, based in Mt. Shasta, received the Orvis Outfitter of the Year award in 2018. Wild Waters is a four season guide service that guides anglers on all the local rivers in Northern California and Southern Oregon
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from the Lower Sacramento and Trinity north to the North Umpqua River including coastal rivers during steelhead season. John lives in Mt. Shasta and has guided the area for 25 years. John knows and fishes the McCloud River close to 100 days a year during its season and is considered one of the top guides in the industry on the McCloud. He also has a vast knowledge of the history of this fabled river. His second passion is photography and he has produced a wonderful photo essay of the McCloud entitled The McCloud River.
THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
Fishing the Upper Sac: Part 2 - Spring, Summer & Fall By Michael Malekos
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n the spring, insects become active as the weather warms. This time of year can make for epic days along the upper Sac, weather permitting. It’s as though nature flipped on a switch – bugs are everywhere, tempting feeding trout. Blue Winged Olives begin hatching during the late spring and continue intermittently throughout the year. In April, anglers often encounter Pale Morning Dun hatches here. Nymphing is productive all year round. The “high-stick” method, popularized by local legend Ted Fay, has been and still is a very effective tactic to catch fish. However, other nymphing techniques produce as well. The summer begins with the river swollen with runoff, and fishing can be challenging and sometimes dangerous. But after the high waters are gone, summertime is one of the best seasons of the year to fish the upper Sac. What you’ll encounter is relatively low, fast-moving pocket water. High-sticking remains the best method to fish the water in the summer, so remember to fish close in. Throughout the summer, I fish small size 20 to 24 dry flies and also have had reasonable success with a Little Yellow Sallie pattern beginning in mid-May. These and other small flies will find a home in the mouth of a trout. I
often have had a fish take one without appearing to feel the hook. When that happens, simply lift your fly rod. An angler I took fishing here complained that it was impossible to see flies this small. “How can you see the fly?” he asked. “Often, I can’t,” was my reply. “You need to pay attention.” When dry-fly fishing in flat water, sometimes the most distinctive part of a take is the sound a trout makes breaking the surface film. If you turn over rocks in the upper Sac anytime during the year, you will likely see stonefly nymphs. Stoneflies typically hatch from May through September. During a hatch, females return to deposit their eggs by bouncing off the surface of the water. If their wings get wet and they become stuck in the fast-moving current, they try to get to shore. So one way to attract trout on the upper Sac during these periods is to skate or twitch a large Golden Stone dry-fly pattern to encourage a take. Typically, fall is when the October Caddis larvae begin to appear. You will spot the adults in droves on the rocks and plants lining the shoreline. The fall caddis hatch is a popular occurrence on many rivers, especially here. Once word is out, many anglers make plans to fish the upper Sac. Ant, beetle, and grasshopper patterns also work well during this time of year,
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THE IRIDEUS - APRIL 2020
Dry Fly only angler Erol prepares to release a handsome brown he caught last summer fishing flat water Image Courtesy of Mike Malekof
as do other terrestrial imitations.
Additionally, fall on the Upper Sac is a great time for dry-fly fishing. Let the fly ride for a bit and drift past the fish before you pick up to recast, to avoid spooking the fish, and change flies often if nothing’s working. If you can, start at the base of a run and work your way up. I see many anglers start fishing at the head of the run, then work their way downstream. If they catch a trout, it will likely spook the entire hole, and they might as well move on. The upper Sacramento will challenge you. If I were to rate the level of skill an angler needs to catch fish consistently, it would be intermediate. Yet by high-sticking short lines
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and leaders, beginners have an opportunity to catch fish there, as well. Other than a stretch from the Scarlet Way Bridge in Dunsmuir downstream to the Sweetbriar Bridge, the river is barbless-artificial-only. Both the Castle Crags Campground http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=454 and the Sims Flat Campground https://www. fs.usda.gov/recarea/stnf/recreation/ohv/ recarea/?recid=6577&actid=29 offer camping sites along fishable stretches of water and are good jumping-off places for fishing the upper Sac. The upper Sac is a great destination, all year long.
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would for any other outing, except that the price is higher. All proceeds go to the Club.
GPFF Battle Creek Outing! New Dates! Aug 28-30
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t is once again time to be thinking of where we’re going to fish come spring and summer, and where better than on two miles of private river in Northern California, where there is no competition for the trout and the trout are not so jaded as to ignore your fly? That place would be Josh and Elaina Genser’s property on the South Fork of Battle Creek.
Getting to the property is a four-hour drive, not including stops to eat, use the restroom and get gas. To get there requires a real fourwheel drive vehicle, because the last four miles are cross country. We have at least two vehicles with capacity for 13 people, so you can come even if you don’t own your own 4WD. There is no cell phone service, but we have running water, hot water, a shower and a flush toilet. I must warn you, though, that hiking up and down the creek can be challenging. If you have mobility issues you probably should not come. But everyone else should try it at least once. Two years ago, GPFF member Luong Tam went on this outing and he created and posted this beautiful video: https://www.dropbox. co m /s/ 9 q c s z1 k i5 t4 g l vg/ B att l e Cre ek- 3 . mov?dl=0. Tight lines!
This is also the Grizzly Peak Fly Fisher Club’s biggest fund-raiser of the year. A place on the trip costs $200. Now, that’s a lot more than any of the other GPFF trips cost, but a lot less than you’d pay to stay and fish at any other fishing resort, including the two that are on Battle Creek, the Fly Shop’s Battle Creek Ranch and Oasis Springs. The trip has been postponed from June 12-14, to August 28-30th, 2020
Sign up on the GPFF web site just as you
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