THE IRIDEUS The Newsletter of the Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers Based in Kensington, Serving the East Bay & Environs since 1982
A July Idyll at Hot Creek Ranch By Dave Garfin
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‘20 GPFF.ORG
CLUB MEETINGS Hat Creek By Michael Malekos
Online Zoom Meetings Every second Wednesday Due to COVID-19 Concerns, Meetings will be conducted online in Zoom Business Meeting - 7:00pm
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FEATURES
Departments
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03 The President’s Message
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from the vault: interview with leo siren of fish first a july idyll at hot creek ranch Ultralight Fly fishing hat creek
03 BOARD 04 CALENDAR 05 Zoom Primer 06 Conservation Conversation 08 news, notes & random casts 09 Fishing Throwbacks 24 Classifieds & Notices
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the President’s message By Brad Gee When I wrote the last of these President’s letters in early June, our board was starting to feel hopeful about a return to normalcy by Fall. Unfortunately, the resurgence of COVID-19 in California has dashed any hope of that. As such, all previously scheduled outings and events have been cancelled, and no club-sanctioned events are being planned for the foreseeable future. Future outings still appear in the calendar in case guidance around social distancing evolves, but consider them cancelled for now. I know how disappointing this is. But while I can’t advise you against fishing on your own or with a friend, please remember that health and safety – not just your own, but everyone around you – is paramount. The trout aren’t going anywhere. And let’s be honest: they’ve earned some time off from us. We continue to look for ways to provide the camaraderie and learning opportunities our club provides, but, in all honesty, it’s a challenge. Please let us know if you have ideas we should consider. Also, we need to make a decision about what to do with the club’s library assets, including boxes of books and DVDs that Eric Larson and I have been storing in our garages. Watch for a survey to gauge the clubs’ interest in making these materials accessible, and on ideas about where to store them. Of course, COVID-19 hasn’t stopped everything. I want to send a HUGE SHOUT OUT to Mark Likos, who invested dozens of hours to create a six-week virtual tie-flying course. To sign up, look for the “About the GPFF Foundational ‘On-Line’ Fly Tying Seminar under the education tab on the website, to learn to tie 13 flies. Thanks, Mark!
Executive Board OFFICERS
Brad Gee President
Eric Larson Secretary
Mike Lippman Treasurer
PROGRAM CHAIRS & BOARD MEMBERS
Josh Genser
Julie Haselden
Mark Likos
Peter Burrows
Dave Garfin
Zachary Wong
Bob Fabini
Mike Leong
Program Chair
Education Chair Trout in the Classroom
Conservation Chair Newsletter Newsletter
Membership
Membership
NON-BOARD CHAIRS
Lee Hahn Webmaster
Bob Marshak
Todd Pond
Librarian
Outings Coordinator THE IRIDEUS
Peter Burrows Content Editor
Zachary Wong Design Editor
PHOTO CONTRUBITORS THIS MONTH
Cover............................................................Kristan Karinen Table of Contents........................................... Zachary Wong Calendar......................................................... Zachary Wong Conservation.......................Roger Wachtler, Julie Haselden Fishing Throwbacks.......................................... UC Libraries July Idyll..............................................................Dave Garfin Ultralight Fly Fishing...........................................Frank Burr Hat Creek.................................................. Michael Malekoff
Enjoy the rest of the summer and stay safe. -Brad We are always looking for photos! Submit your photos to Zachary Wong at craigwong810@gmail.com or Peter Burrows at peterlburrows@gmail.com
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Upcoming Events Ongoing
Foundational Fly Tying Class - Online
August 12
August Club Meeting - Online on Zoom
September 9
September Club Meeting - Online on Zoom
September 13
Anticipated date for Solano Stroll
Past Events June 10 June Club Meeting - Online on Zoom
May 21
Todd Pond Talks - Upper Walker River
May 13
May GPFF Zoom meeting - Michael Wier on the Truckee or American Rivers
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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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onservation onversation
from PacifiCorp. That said, they did not let PacifiCorp off the hook yet, and there is work to do to make this transfer complete. Additionally, we are working on full license surrender to KRRC, which will mean the project will move to completion. We are still on schedule to see removal begin Jan, 2022. ~ NCCFFI News – August 2020
With Julie Ruth Haselden
Trout Unlimited is Working for Us “Trout Unlimited engages in an array of mining-related issues. We work directly with mining companies to clean up abandoned mines and create more clean water. We also engage with state and federal permitting agencies to apply policy and practices to mitigate the impacts of new mines on coldwater fisheries. In the case of a wrong mine in the wrong place – such as Bristol Bay in Alaska – Trout Unlimited strongly advocates in opposition when the threat of groundwater depletion, acid-mine drainage and potential for spills cannot be responsibly mitigated.” ~ Trout Unlimited – Journal of Coldwater Fisheries Conservation - Summer 2020 Klamath River Dam Removal This project took a big step forward recently when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved a partial transfer of the license to operate the dams to the Klamath River Renewal Corp. (KRRC)
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Roger Wachtler’s 1st place prize winning #KEW photo of 2019
Reminder: KEEP EM WET! From the second they’re hooked to the moment of release, fish experience some level of injury and stress (in scientific terms: physiological disturbance) during fishing. Even if a fish vigorously swims away when you release it, impacts associated with catchand-release can cause negative consequences such as diminished ability to avoid predators, reduced reproductive success, and mortality due to increased susceptibility to disease. Keep Fish Wet Principles: Principle 1: MINIMIZE AIR EXPOSURE.
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You can reduce negative impacts by keeping a fish’s mouth and gills fully submerged in water as much as possible. It’s simple #keepfishwet Principle 2: ELIMINATE CONTACT WITH DRY SURFACES. Fish have a layer of protective mucus (slime) and scales that protects them from disease. Contact with dry, hard, or rough surfaces (such as hands, rocks, sand, and boat bottoms) can remove slime and scales making fish more susceptible to diseases, especially fungal infections. Keeping fish in or over the water, and holding them with clean, wet hands or a soft rubber net will help keep their slime layer and scales intact and the fish disease free.
Principle 3: REDUCE HANDLING TIME. Fish are wild animals and handling them (whether in a net or your hands) is stressful. If you are not going to take a photo of your fish, consider releasing it without touching or netting it; run your hand down the line and remove the hook (all the more reason to fish barbless). Send photos of your KEEP EM WET fish to me, with location and backstory if possible. GPFF will have a contest for the most favorite photos! I will award prizes! Email photos to Julie Haselden jhaselden17@comcast.net Note! All local volunteer work parties/ creek restoration projects are suspended until further notice due to pandemic response guidelines.
March 2019 Codornices Creek Restoration - Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers Work Party (From L to R: Dan McCormick, Ray Ronquillo, Julie Haselden and Tom Thompson).
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News, Notes & Random Casts GPFF August Meeting Wednesday August 12, 7pm Frank Burr of the Oasis Fly Shop in Alhambra, California, and of Snowbee fly fishing equipment, will talk about ultralight fly fishing and the fast-action one and two-weight fly rods he designed for Snowbee. GPFF’s All new 24/7 Online Fly Tying Course By Mark Likos - Education Chair
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s you may know by now Grizzly Peak Fly Fishers has added to their Foundational Educational Series with the On-Line Foundational Fly Tying Seminar. This is NOT your typical meet on Thursday evening class. It was designed to meet the needs of club members during and after this terrible pandemic challenge we are currently working through. I’m VERY proud of the Grizzly Peak Board for stepping up to invest in what may be the new normal of future classes. Some clubs have just shut-down during this pandemic hoping to return to the old normal when the health threats are behind us. I’m not sure we will ever return to the pre-pandemic normal, it’s a rapidly changing world and your Grizzly
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Peak Board wants to emerge from the challenges showing leadership that continues to engage their membership in safe activities. From what we are learning and will still learn about virus (and other health challenges), there may be a new normal or revised standard regarding social interaction in class meetings, etc. We feel our on-line approach to this new Fly Tying Class is a step in the right direction. Thank you, Grizzly Peak Board, for investing in our future and NOT waiting for others to do it for them. Go to this link at the web site to read all about the class: https://grizzlypeakflyfishers.org/page1533004
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FISHING THROWBACKS
This month’s fishing throwback is a color plate for two winged flies from Leonard West’s “The Natural Trout Fly and Its imitation. First published in a private edition and revised and enlarged in a second edition in 1921. In his forward, West stressed the importance that even from a sporting point of view, the angler possessing a strong knowledge of entomology has a great advantage, and is able to readily select a suitable fly whereas one without is “liable to fall into mistakes which appear grotesque to the initiated.” His first chapter focuses on entymology while subsequent chapters discuss patterns and methods for wrapping. -From the University of California Libraries
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From the Vault: Interview with Leo Siren: Co-Founder & Owner/Manager of Fish First!
By: Kirston Koths & Roger Wachtler Editors Note: As first time editor of the Irideus, I was thrilled when Kirsten Koths suggested we re-run this oldie-but-goodie interview with Leo Siren, the owner/manager of the First First flyshop in Albany. I met Leo when I bought my first fly rod, a Scott, back in 1999, and he’s added to my enjoyment of the sport immeasurably over the years (and no doubt saved me hundreds of bucks by advising against buying overpriced stuff I didn’t need). Leo has remained a great friend to the club, most recently donating his time and providing a discount on the “materials kit” for Mark Lykos’ GPFF online fly tying course. This interview
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first ran in the Irideus eight years ago, but our appreciation for Leo and his generosity have not diminished in the least. GPFF: How and when did you start fly-fishing? Leo: My dad started me fishing when I was four years old. But he didn’t fly fish. I had a buddy who I had been fishing with since I was a kid, and he heard they had this fly fishing class for two days on the Upper Sac. We took that class and I have been fly fishing ever since. GPFF: Why did you get started as fly shop owner?
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Leo: Mainly, because I couldn’t get good flies! I used to go to Montana and they would have these great fly selections. But in the Bay Area you just couldn’t get good flies. So I thought buying and selling flies would a great idea, and as a bonus I would always have great flies around. GPFF: Tell us about the earliest days of Fish First, in a small upstairs location off of Solano Avenue. Leo: We started upstairs on the corner of Sante Fe. At the end of six months, the location we are currently at became available, and we packed everything up and moved it down here. It was a good way to get started and not be as committed to any one retail location until we figured some things out. GPFF: Let’s get one obvious question out of the way: What’s it like living the fly-fisherman’s dream of being surrounded by all the best fly-fishing gear and goodies a person could ever want? Leo: It’s pretty good, but for the most part I really enjoy trying out the new flies! We have almost 1600 different skews of flies available to choose from. GPFF: Are you a “gear head”? Do you enjoy testing out all the new gear and rods? Leo: I do like testing out the new stuff, but I am not a gear head,like I used to be. I used to always test and buy the new stuff for myself. The new stuff is definitely nicer. But I think I have grown accustomed to some of my older gear. Especially with respect to the rods and reels. They now have a special fondness and sentimental value and feel to them, and you lose that if you are constantly buying new stuff. GPFF: Fish First is known for its friendly, non-intimidating interaction with customers, especially novice fly fishers. Also for its generous,
full-service attention to experienced fly fishers. Do you think this reputation has helped you stay in business while other fly fishing stores in the Bay Area have folded? Leo: Oh sure! There are lots of factors, but that’s a big part of it. Also all the classes we offer and trying to keep a pretty diverse product inventory at different price points. Not trying to sell everyone just the highest priced gear. Giving beginners and advanced fisherman many options for whatever price point they have. GPFF: What are some of the classes you have? Leo: We offer a wide range of classes, including: introductory/beginner fly-fishing classes to casting classes, tying classes, on-stream clinics to develop a certain skill such as nymphing or dry fly-fishing, and fishing for striped bass. The more classes you offer, the more people you can get involved in the sport, and it’s good in terms of a business perspective. GPFF:How did you make the decision to open a second Fish First, in Chico? Leo: It just seemed like there was room in that market for a fly shop that catered to the Lake Almanor, Deer Creek, and Feather River area. There really wasn’t a big shop that had good gear and gave good information about the fishing up there, and it worked out well. We have a manager, Mac Noble, in Chico who does a great job. Chico is still a growing area. The people that move up there want to do outdoor activities like fly fishing. GPFF: Who are some the companies you really like, either because they have great products or they are just good people to work with? Leo: Boy! From a customer service standpoint, Sage and Rio, now are really good. TFO and
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Bauer Reels are good as well. There are a lot of different levels of customer service. Are they easy to get on the phone? Do they have the product available? Do they ship fast? Ninety percent of the companies are good to work with. An easier question would have been who are the companies you don’t like to work with! But I probably wouldn’t have answered... Ha! (Laughing out loud). GPFF: Is owning a fly shop, with customers coming in all day and talking about fly-fishing, as fun as we might imagine? Or is there a point at which you just have had enough? Leo: I do really enjoy hearing all the stories about people out fishing, but I must admit that at the end of the day I do get enough. I used to tie flies a lot. But by the time I am off work at the end of the day, I just really don’t want tie flies. I don’t want to go home and do the same thing I have been talking about all day at work. Actual fishing is different. I never get tired of that! GPFF: You probably can’t help but be an advocate for preservation of what you love. What conservation programs do you support? Leo: Trout Unlimited, and the California Sport Fishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), primarily. GPFF:Fish First has been an enthusiastic promoter of fly fishing for stripers in the Sacramento River Delta. Doug Lovell, in particular, has worked hard at conserving the striper population in this fishery. What do you think the future of striper fishing will be in the Bay Area? Leo: Boy, at this point I would have to say it doesn’t look that great. Striped bass are not considered an indigenous species. They were introduced from the East Coast. So they don’t get the recognition that salmon and steelhead do, with respect to preservation from the
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agricultural water diversion conflict. Some people actually want to remove them. It’s an uphill battle. GPFF: Have you or you fishing been influenced by anyone in the club? Leo: For sure! Two people in particular: my girlfriend, Mayu Desai, who I met at the club auction three years ago! And my business partner, Doug Lovell. Had I not met him, Fish First would probably not have been started. GPFF: Being in the fly fishing industry must have made you more acutely aware of all the great places there are to fish in the world. Where is your favorite place to fish? Leo: Bone fishing on Christmas Island. It was my first experience with fishing for bone fish on the flats. It was amazing. In general, I really love fishing for bone fish and tarpon more than anything else, in places like the Bahamas or Mexico. GPFF: Where haven’t you been that you’d like to go? Leo: The Seychelles. [1000 miles east of mainland Africa, where it is possible to catch 42 different species on fly in one week!) GPFF: Grizzly Peak appreciates your support over the years, not only as a mentor, but also by graciously supplying us with items for our raffles at a significant discount from Fish First. How long have you been a club member? Leo: Over 23 years. GPFF: Time flies when you’re having flies! Thanks, Leo.
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a july idyll at hot creek ranch By Dave Garfin
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e all have our favorite fishing spots, our “Home Waters”, as it were. That for me is Hot Creek Ranch in the Eastern Sierra a short way south of the town of Mammoth Lakes. The Eastern Sierra has a special allure to my family. I cut my eye teeth fly fishing on the old Arcularius Ranch at the headwaters of the Owens River, an incredible fishery that my in-laws discovered in the late 1940s. There is no need to extol the grandeur of “The Arc” here, because the public can no longer fish there. Once the Arcularius Ranch became totally privatized in the 1990s, we moved down the road about 15miles to Hot Creek Ranch and have been going there for a week every July and again in September for the past few decades. I’ve heard quite a few club members say that they’ve heard great things about Hot Creek Ranch but don’t know much about it, so I’m here to tell you about it. This isn’t an advertisement or endorsement, just the ramblings of a fan of the ranch. I’m sure to have made mistakes and my description of the fishing is not definitive. It’s just what I do. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions As our early July reservation at Hot Creek Ranch (HCR) approached, my
wife and I did a great deal of thinking and rationalization to convince ourselves to go there. After all, we are in one of the highrisk groups for SARS-Cov-2 infection, due to our ages. We realized, though, that we could safely sequester ourselves on HCR and not run into anyone but fly fishers, and they tend to stay away from others (there is still fishing etiquette in some places). At the last minute, we decided to make the trip. We packed all the food we would need for a week, crossed our fingers and set out. The reliable 2002 Subaru Outback got us over the Sonora Pass and to HCR on one tank of gas – no gas station interactions. And back home, too. There was no need to go into town, except to drive through it for a look without getting out of the car. A drawback to not going into town was that we couldn’t visit the fine restaurants in the area. Most were closed, anyway. A Bit About the Eastern Sierra If you are not familiar with the Eastern Sierra, do yourself a favor and Google it, especially the town of Mammoth Lakes. There are a great many outdoor activities available, both summer and winter. Most people know it as a ski town and a playground for Southern Californians, maybe because it’s so hard to get
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to from the Bay Area during the winter. Any of the passes that get you to US 395 South will get you to Mammoth Lakes. Tioga Pass is shortest in miles, but you now need a permit to get into Yosemite. Because of the lines at the entrance gate and the traffic in Yosemite, using the other passes is not much longer than Tioga. We like Sonora Pass. The climb to the top is what takes time on this pass. Figure 6+ hours to get from the East Bay to HCR via Sonora Pass and 5+ hours using Tioga Pass. The good news for fair-weather flyfishing fans is that Mammoth Lakes is pretty much deserted in summer. That fact and that there are relatively few people in Mono County to begin with is one reason we decided to go ahead with our trip despite the pandemic. Apparently, some paper in So Cal published an article suggesting that since beaches were closed, people should go instead to Mammoth for their Fourth of July celebrations. They did, but only for the Fourth. From what we heard, the town was teeming to bursting with people from the southland that weekend. We never had to run into them, which is fortunate because incidence of COVID-19 has spiked since then, according to Georgia Tech’s data set (We wonder if that’s the result of the massive, but short-lived influx over the holiday). Hot Creek So, let me describe Hot Creek and HCR. They are in what is known as The Long Valley Caldera, a seismically active zone. Geological conditions make the water in Hot Creek a perfect temperature for weeds, hence flies of all kinds, and, of course, trout. Hot Creek joins the Owens River several miles downstream. But first it crosses an active geothermal area where there are fumaroles, bubbling mud pots, and hot springs. Swimming was once
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allowed, but the area became thermally active and too dangerous, so it is closed to swimming. (The geothermal area appeared in the John Wayne version of “True Grit” and other movies whose names I can’t remember.) The hot water may serve to keep fish in the upper regions of the creek for most of the year. There may be some fish traffic between Hot Creek and the Owens during spring runoff when there are probably cool water channels, but I am not sure about that. The hot water may help account for the 9,000 fish per mile in the fishing sections of HCR. They don’t want to get boiled so they stay put. There is a fairly large hatchery upstream from HCR. Some escapees make it into the creek, but for the most part they are contained. Basically, all of the rainbows and browns in Hot are wild. Fishable waters include a public stretch and the private HCR – available to the public by rental. The public water can be reached by scampering down a fairly steep hill (and eventually climbing back up), or by walking upstream from the geothermal area. You would be amazed at the grizzly array of multiple-hook lures people use in the public water, which is supposed to be for barbless flies only. Hot Creek Ranch
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s for Hot Creek Ranch, you need a reservation, but they are not easy to get. HCR is generally booked up for the entire season, from opening day into November, although there are sometimes day passes in November (but not this year). You can find out just about everything you want to know on the website: www.hotcreekranch.com. Many of the bookings are grabbed by an army of regulars who go each and every year. We are part of that army and have been going to HCR for almost thirty years. We reserve two cabins for the first week of July and one in
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mid-September. Our kids usually come down from Seattle in July and take one of the cabins we reserve. This year, they did not want to travel because of the pandemic. We gave up our second cabin and it was immediately snapped up by wait-list people. An interesting sidelight is that with fishing on The Owens and on Hot, plus limited vacation time for the two of us, our two boys never had a “real” vacation anywhere but the Eastern Sierra. The HCR regulars are totally dedicated to the stream. Many of the best holes are named for people who fished there often. There are plaques and benches scattered along the stream bearing the names of (usually) deceased regulars. The texts all attest to the fondness people had and have for the place. The map of the ranch shows how every good fishing spot has been given a name. If you can make out the writing, you will see that the names are for various persons.
There are nine cabins on HCR. They are old, but well maintained and well furnished. This is a place where you can literally roll out of bed and hit the water. If you want to visit, it is normally advised that you start looking at the Availability Calendar on the website in early March. If you see an opening you like, take it immediately or lose it. The coronavirus pandemic has changed things, though. The best way to learn how to reserve a cabin, at least until the pandemic subsides, is to email the River Keeper at the address in the Contact Us menu of the website. The ranch has two miles of private, meandering stream. There are plenty of bends and good holes. The regulations on HCR are strictly enforced. Only three rods per cabin are allowed on the stream at one time. Fishing is catch and release. It’s dry fly with barbless hooks only, and there is no wading because of the fragile creek bed. This is finesse fishing at its best. There is nothing rugged about it, except for a lot of walking and a couple of marshy areas. Stealth, fly placement, and patience are crucial. The water is gin clear so fish soon learn to be extremely cautious. Long tippets are a must. The massive weed population makes for a gazillion microcurrents, and, of course, the fish are in the weeds. It is important to keep the line off of the water as much as possible when trying to eke out halfway decent dragfree drifts. Differing parts of the line can get pulled by different currents, so with the small flies used on Hot, drag can be almost imperceptible to us, but not to the fish. The so-called “Hot Creek Mend” can be helpful in that regard (there was once a YouTube video with some guy showing this mend, but I can’t find it anymore). The mend is pretty much continual. As soon as your fly hits the water, do a short, quick upstream (or downstream) mend followed almost immediately by a
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downstream (or upstream) mend and then repeat, and repeat, and repeat. Sweep casts and bounce casts can help getting the fly where you want it. But, long drag-free drifts are only something to wish for. Salvation is at hand, however, in the form of Tenkara. With Tenkara, mending is not so strenuous, but still necessary. And let’s not ignore the legendary Sierra wind. It is fierce, starting in early afternoon and continuing until evening. Standard rods and reels, called “Western fishing gear” in Tenkara lingo, are necessary in the wind and even then it is often tempting to quit and have a few gin and tonics before dinner, and wish for better conditions tomorrow.
The creek on Hot Creek Ranch. Taken from a bluff above the stream
The flies on Hot Creek are numerous, but small. Sizes 20 and 22 are standard. Morning sees a hatch of female Tricos. Size 22 Comparaduns work well then. That is followed by a massive upstream caddis migration. The EC Caddis (size 20) is my goto fly then. In July, PMDs hatch from about 10:30 until around noon. This year fish were keying on size 16 PMDs and rejecting 18s and 20s. They couldn’t stay away from the size 16s, though. A Trico spinner fall usually happens at about the same time. There is a Caddis hatch (#20 EC Caddis or “Hot Creek Caddis”)
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in mid-afternoon that lasts until sunset when they are joined by a hatch of male Tricos. But by then the wind has come up and blows flies off of the water, to say nothing about casting into the wind and getting drag-free drifts. During the summer, hoppers, beetles, and ants can be productive as well during all times of day. Fish are mostly in the 10-14-inch category along with plenty of 15 and 16 inchers. They are all healthy and put up good fights. There are some humongous fish in Hot as well. I’ve seen them. They are meat-eating browns that can’t be bothered to rise for a measly size 20 dry fly. Tenkara was made for Hot Creek and vice versa. The small diameter lines (kind of like long 0X or 1X tippets or Amnesia) are fairly easy to keep out of the many microcurrents in Hot. Besides, Tenkara rods are fun to use. They are light, flexible, and surprisingly strong. There are a couple of other Tenkara fishermen on Hot and we all agree on the benefits of the technique for this stream. Tenkara rods usually bend double, into a “U” shape when a fish is on, even some small fish. The cast is a bit different with Tenkara than with Western rods, but it is easy to learn. It also takes a while to figure out how to play and land fish and since there is no reel it is not possible to let fish run on their own. I like using Luong Tam’s 14-foot Tanuki Tenkara 425. I also have one of Luong’s 10.8-inch rods, but the 14-footer lets me get to more places. I found some other brands to be rather clunky in comparison to Luong’s Tanukis. The line is 14 feet of level line with about 1.5 feet of 1X two-tone indicator attached with a blood knot. I don’t really know why the indicator tippet is needed, but that is what Luong showed me when I got started with Tenkara so I continue to use it. A tippet ring on the
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end allows for attachment of a 5-6 feet of 6X or 7X fluorocarbon tippet. The long tippet is necessary in the clear water. Even with the small diameter, light weight line, the spooky fish in Hot are easily “lined”. I prefer 6X over 7X because it lets me bring the fish in sooner without tiring them (or me). But 6X is harder to thread through the eyes of size 22 flies than is 7X. And speaking of small flies, I tend to use Dry-Shake often, not only to keep the flies afloat, but to help me see the little things. On occasion, and always in the evening wind, I use my Western rod. My five weight Orvis Helios 3F suits my cast just right. It is a good stick for me. I use 7.5-foot 6X tapered leaders and 3-4 feet of 6X or 7X fluorocarbon tippet with the Western set up.
Since I go out alone, I don’t have a really good fish picture to show other than this one made for Will Moore’s 2018 “Keep ‘em Wet” photo contests. There really is a 15-inch rainbow in the net – trust me. It seems that Will cracked up and couldn’t stop laughing when he saw this picture. Luckily for him, I wasn’t there then.
A rare “invisible” fifteen-inch Hot Creek Rainbow caught on a 10.8-inch Tanuki Tenkara rod. Author swears it’s there!
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ultralight fly fishing with frank burr
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rank Burr of the Oasis Fly Shop in Alhambra, California, and of Snowbee fly fishing equipment, will talk about ultralight fly fishing and the fast-action one and two-weight fly rods he designed for Snowbee. Frank learned fly fishing and fly tying in summer school at the early age of seven, and then learned Tenkara fishing during a trip to Japan in 1970. A native of Southern California, Frank fly fishes throughout the state, always looking for the elusive heritage trout in California waters. Although trout is his favorite species, Frank will fly fish for any species just to get in a day of fishing. Frank has worked in the fly fishing industry for the past 7 years for Orvis and now for Snowbee USA, assisting in the design of Ultralight Fly Rods and other
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products in the Snowbee line. Frank is also a fly fishing instructor and guide specializing in golden trout and other heritage trout species in California. Frank speaks at events, clubs and shows in the USA and volunteers many days each year teaching youth fly fishing programs.
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Hat Creek
By Michael Malekos
Restoration leads to resurrection.
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t’s not often I interrupt my fishing to observe another angler. After days of pretrip preparations, excitement, and anticipation, followed by a five-hour trip to my fishing destination, the last thing I want to do is stand by and watch someone else fly fish. Yet I recall this happening to me twice, and both times were on the wild-trout water of lower Hat Creek. I was leaving the parking lot adjacent to Hat Creek Powerhouse Number 2 when I abruptly came to a halt. “Why are you stopping?” my fishing companion, Brian, asked. “I’m looking at that hippie dude with the cowboy hat and ponytail. Watch him cast!” I replied. Unbeknownst to me, there in the fast water of the Powerhouse Riffle, accompanied by a client, was the late Dave Brown of Trout Country Fly Shop. The two had one fly rod between them, and every so often, Dave would take control of the rod and demonstrate his specialized casting technique. During casts, the elbow of Dave’s casting arm never left his side. His elbow appeared to be attached to his hip. And more often than not, whenever Dave took control of the fly rod, he’d hook up with a fish. As I positioned myself above the stream bank to get a better view, I told Brian “Go on ahead. I’m going to sit here for a while.” Days later, I walked into the Trout
Country Fly Shop and to my surprise, behind the counter stood the “hippie dude.” “I saw you guiding at the riffles last week,” I said. “Yeah man, I bet you want to know the fly I used” Dave assumed. “No,” I replied, “but if you have a minute I’d like to talk to you about your casting style.” Times gone by
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ust as there are more published books regarding fly fishing than about all of fishing combined, I suspect there are probably more articles written about Hat Creek than any other California fishery. In the late 1960s, Hat Creek became our state’s first fishery to be managed solely for wild rainbow and brown trout. And lower Hat has been an unstocked, self-reliant fishery ever since. However, if you speak with veteran fly fishers regarding the state of the creek, they will tell you that they have experienced firsthand a decline in both numbers and size in the famed wild-trout section. Over the years, fine sediments in the creek have increased, covering spawning gravel and affecting aquatic vegetation. And recently, drought impacted the controlled water releases, which worsened Hat Creek’s condition. In other fisheries where problems have occured, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has often stocked rainbow
The Pit River, where trout can be large, but the wading is tough.
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and brown trout in an attempt to keep the fishing good. Yet on lower Hat Creek, this isn’t necessary. Here’s why. Once California’s best spring-creek fishery, lower Hat Creek is steadily making its way back to its former glory. In 2013, a threeyear project began that focused on stabilizing stream banks and restoring in-stream habitat and native vegetation. Fly fishers are just now beginning to experience the benefits of this labor.
The new bridge at Carbon Flats makes crossing Hat Creek both safeer and less damaging to the stream. - Photo by Author
Today, the wild-trout section is as challenging as ever. The skills required on the stretch of water below the Powerhouse Riffle demand a fly fisher’s absolute best. It is a place where passionate fly fishers like to spend their time. Mixed within the few riffle sections of this spring creek are some of most striking meadow water around. It’s said that if an angler can master the 3.2 mile wild-trout section of lower Hat Creek from Powerhouse Number 2 to Lake Britton, he or she can fish successfully anywhere.
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Early morning: The Powerhouse Number 2 Riffle
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f you choose to fish the Powerhouse Riffle, get there early. It’s a popular spot. Primarily because of its easy access, broken water, and less technical nature, this is the most heavily fished stretch on lower Hat Creek. Additionally, this is an area where anglers who are less than expert can consistently catch fish. I like to take anglers new to fly fishing there, since they can easily wade while learning to fish fast-moving water. When I plan to fish Hat Creek for an entire day, I begin my morning there, before any crowds show up. My outfit consists of a 9-foot 5- weight fly rod set up with weight-forward floating line. I attach to my line a 9-foot fluorocarbon leader with a 6X tippet, and to the tippet, I tie on a size 18 red midge pupa. The red midge pupa is an all-season fly that works on all Hat Creek water all the time. It is especially successful at the Powerhouse Riffle. I then fasten two size 6 split shot about eight inches above the fly. Successful anglers prefer to feel the weight as it moves along the bottom of the creek and continually adjust their presentations by adding or removing split shot until they do so. Other fly patterns I have had success dead drifting here include red Copper Johns and Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymphs. Beginning at the riffle’s island, I shortline nymph my way across the creek. Shortline nymphing involves making casts no more than 15 to 20 feet upstream, lifting slack line off the water, then following the drifting line downsteam with your rod tip. If I’m fortunate enough to be on the water while a hatch is taking place, I switch over to a size 20 female Trico pattern. Female Tricos are often olive in the abdomen and dark brown in the thorax. I simply remove the nymph and weight I’ve been previously fishing and tie on hte Trico. I use these at the Powerhouse Riffle during morning spinner falls from July to the end of the season.
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The Middle of the Day: The Barrier to the Park
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y trips to lower Hat Creek tend to play out something like this. About the time the powerhouse parking lot begins to fill-up, I have already left the fishery, returned to camp, and had breakfast. By midmorning, my wife drops me off at the opposite side of Highway 299 near the Lake Britton barrier (which keeps rough fish from the wild-trout section), and four hours later she picks me up at Hat Creek Park. I prefer to move upstream whenever I fish Hat Creek, and four hours provides me enough time to work the water I target. The water from the Barrier Run to the Island Bend and then from the Foundation to the Diversion Dam Run produces trout, albeit small ones. In fact, whenever I am questioned by a fellow angler regarding fishing this section of Hat Creek, my response goes something along the lines of, “It’s not always about the size of fish, but about the experience. You’ll have a wonderful experience fly fishing there.” It’s not that I haven’t caught big fish - I have. However, for the most part, the trout I catch from the Barrier to Hat Creek Park are small. On a more positive note, catching small fish is a good sign that trout are naturally reproducing. I fish this water similarly to the way I fish the Powerhouse Riffle, only here, during midday, I swing a midge pupa or nymph wetfly style through the runs. Flies I like include Flashback Pheasant Tail Nymphs, size 16, olive Mercer’s Micro Mayfly, size 18 and 20, black beaded Zebra Midges, size 18, and olive WD40s, size 18. On this section of Hat, I’ll bypass the flats if I see no fish. Current seams on Hat Creek are a prime area to look for fish. A current seam is where two currents of differing speeds meet. Water deflecting around rocks will cause current seams that offer ideal holding places for fish. The rock can be fully submerged and still offer
this protection. I cast at a 45-degree angle across and downstream. Allowing the current to take the bow of the line, I let the line swing out through the current until it is straight below me. Then I pick up and do it again. With its gravelly bottom, the fast water makes for easy wading and hosts incredible hatches. When hatches occur, I’ve had success fishing a size 16 dark olive Paradun dry fly. This mayfly emerges not only in Hat Creek, but in the Fall River, Baum Lake, and Cassel area from May through October. The size of the bugs gets smaller as the days get warmer. Emergence typically occurs from midmorning to early afternoon. I also favor a size 16 Mahogany Paradun, a mayfly that emerges on Hat Creek at midafternoon early in the season and again late in the season. Evening Approaches: The Flats
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y final trip of the day to the lower Hat typically takes place at dusk, when I head back to the Powerhouse parking lot to stalk the flats. I like to fish the area downstream from Wendell’s Bend to Carbon Point. I first fished there years ago with my friend Gary Cox. I’m grateful to Gary for pointing out the numerous muskrat holes throughout the Carbon Flats area as I walked unsuspectedly through the tall grasses. Please use caution when walking through there, especially at dusk. Muskrat burrows are wide and deep, and can cause you injury. Gary also taught me that to catch fish at the flats, anglers should use light tippets, small flies, and have the ability to make precise presentations. Unfortunately, at the time, meeting two out of three requirements didn’t work for me. While my casts sometimes caught fish, other times they put them down. However, Gary’s casts that evening were spot on, and his drifts were drag free. That was the second time I’ve stopped fishing to observe another angler.
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Dry-fly fishing is why most anglers get into fly fishing, and the dry-fly fishing on the flats at dusk is ideal. It’s fun and very visual. Trout rise only 10 percent of the time, but when they do, it can be magical. They rise to winged aquatic insects that may be hatching - mayflies, caddis flies, stoneflies - or to terrestrials that fall in the water, such as ants, beetles, or crickets. The two dominant hatches that occur on Hat Creek are mayflies and caddisflies. It’s important to understand the life cycles of these insects so as to know when hatches will occur and when the fish will rise. Subtle rises on the flats are clues that a trout’s food is not going anywhere. They usually indicate that there are mayfly duns or a spinners drifting passively in the current. In this situation, even a five-pound rainbow might not make much of a disturbance. It knows it doesn’t need to make a rush at its food in fear of losing it. On the other hand, you might see a splashy disturbance on the surface. Splashy rises are a reliable indicator that trout are pursuing food items toward the surface. Trout are chasing the food because it can get away. It might be a caddis pupa, which rises rapidly to the surface. Once there, the adult caddis immediately pops out and flies off. Trout know this and will strike hard and fast. In either case, you’ll need to make a dragfree drift presentation. To catch fish on the flats, be alert and have quick reflexes. Evening rise forms are subtle. As I noted earlier, on lower Hat Creek I usually start fishing with a 9-foot fluorocarbon leader and 6X tippet. If this is not working or the fish are spooky, I lengthen my leader to 12 feet, which usually makes the difference. In the evening, I’ll begin with a size 16 orange Paradun, and I switch this light colored mayfly off and on with a size 18 Rusty Spinner, which may be the best fly for lower Hat Creek during morning and evening spinner falls. I’ve also had success fishing the Rusty Spinner in
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size 16 in the early season and again at the end of season. One other thing I’ll say about fishing the flats: the trout I have caught that reside in the flats appear to be larger than those from other sections of lower Hat Creek. Most evenings, Carbon Flats trout can be seen taking mayflies, and with patience, anglers may see a line of fish feeding. The trick to catching trout anywhere on a dry fly, but especially at the flats, is to get the right drift. Any movement on the fly will spoil your chances. Although hooking into a Carbon Flats rainbow at dusk can be a memorable event, I encourage anglers to fish from shore. The flats’ gritty and crusted bottom will initially provide waders with a false sense of security, but once its surface is compromised, exiting the water can be extremely difficult, if not near impossible. Around his campfire one evening, retired Camp Britton caretaker Fred Foerester told the story of a fly fisher who became stuck in the muck while wading Carbon Flats. The angler, fishing alone, was near the center of the creek, and, the more he struggled to free himself, the deeper he sank. Ultimately, he refrained from trying to break loose and instead chose to wait for help. Evening came and went, and unfortunately, help did not arrive until the following morning, by way of two women hikers who heard his cries. Emergency service personnel stated after interviewing the angler that what scared him most was not fear of hypothermia form the water’s cold temperature but fear of drowning. Throughout the night, the water level of the creek had risen and fallen in proportion with operation of the Hat Number 2 Powerhouse. The angler claimed that at one point, the creek’s water level reached just beneath his chin. If Fred’s intention was to scare the hell out of every fly fisher within earshot and keep us from wading his cherished flats, it worked. Many overzealous flats fly fishers at Hat have experienced, to some degree, the feeling of getting stuck while wading there. Prior to Fred’s
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story, it happened to me. My advice: stay calm. Stretch out on your back to increase your body’s surface area on the water, then move your legs around in a circular motion until they pop free. Eventually, you’ll float.
to focus on improving in-stream habitat, there is little doubt that CalTrout will achieve its mission to restore the wild-trout waters of Hat Creek to former glory. For more information, visit the California Trout Web site at caltrout.org.
A lower Hat Creek rainbow trout caught at Carbon Flats
Hiking upstream from the southerly side of Hat Creek above the new bridge at Carbon Flats towards Powerhouse Number 2
Is the Hat Really Back?
If You Go…
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full day on lower Hat Creek such as the one I’ve just outlined can be exhilarating and sometimes exhausting. Regardless of how challenging it may be, I always look forward to returning there. At times, looking back at the day’s end, it’s as though I completed the ultimate “Hat trick” if I happened to be fortunate enough to catch trout during each of my three visits to the creek that day. So the answer to “Is the Hat really back?” is yes, if you believe, as I do, that catching small fish is a positive sign that trout are naturally reproducing. Through the efforts of California Trout, California’s first Wild Trout Management Area is steadily recovering. Both conservationists and fly fishers will be pleased with the caliber of restoration efforts taking place there. Notable improvements include the planting of native trees, grasses, and shrubs, the upgrading of existing trails, and the construction of a new pedestrian bridge. As recovery efforts continue
ower Hat Creek is a 7.5-mile drive east of Burney along Highway 299. The stretch of water between Baum Lake and Lake Britton is a designated wild-trout stream with special angling restrictions. Only artificial lures with single barbless hooks may be used. As fly fishers enjoy great hatches, their nonangling companions can find the surrounding area worth exploring. Activities include camping and hiking at McArthurBurney Falls State Park and golfing at the Fall River Golf Course, to name a few.
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Other Sports
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