Stocking up

Next month one of my Favorite streams opens for trout, my favorite place to hike along. Rarely seeing anyone else fishing and nobody killing the precious wild fish that swim in its waters.Nobody tossing bait,just fly fisherman and a few lure fisherman catching and releasing wild cutthroat trout. even though there is a 2fish a day 8 inch minimum length bag limit most people that fish this smaller stream see it as a gem and release its trout to be caught another day. It is a very healthy system with cold and fast flowing water throughout the year witch results in a very very good amount of aquatic insects  that the fish feed on.
although there are tons of different bugs the fish can slurp as they float by (topwater and subsurface)
I have always had success using subsurface attractor patterns below i will explain why. Since the water is flowing at a fast rate a trout only has a split second to decide if it is going to bite the fly or bug that is going by them because it goes by so quickly. This is where an attractor pattern will shine. an attractor pattern may have the general profile of one bug, maybe several bugs,or doesn't look like a bug at all, but it always has buggy qualities, most attractor patterns have one of these qualities. flash: some sort of tinsel or flash to get the fishes attention.  Color: a color the fish commonly see float by can be put on an attractor to con a fish into biting. and the final and most important..movement. Rubber legs, marabou, you name it. any type of material that makes a fly more lifelike is a good contribution to an attractor pattern. the combinations are endless, experiment with it.

Here are some attractor nymphs i tie for trout. (pictured below)

Hot Wire Mega Stone

Nymphs i Tie for trout fishing

  

a new fly rod

Today in the mail i received a new combo, a 5wt rod, a 4/5 reel with a scientific angers gpx line, a tube and even an extra rod tip.. it is from the fly shop out of redding, ca and is their  signature line of gear.the reel is a ross reel stamped with their logo on it and has an excellent drag system, It does not stick when  the drag starts and stops  its very smooth witch is something i need when battling large trout in some of our larger water bodies. the rod is a 9ft 5wt 4pc rod, a dark forrest green blank with green/ black wraps and silver hardware and a dark wood reel seat.. the cork is high quality and feels perfect when casting. the rod loads perfect and shoots 50 +ft of line with ease and lays it out nice and soft..  could not have asked for a better setup

coastal steelhead fly fishing

Another scenic skunking for winter steelhead in the coast range.. i failed to hook  fish today that were willing to bite, even though the water was cold and quite clear in the upper river there were one or two fish willing to bite, although we did fish dozens of very nice looking runs that did not have any takers..
it was kind of a rough day. Ive hooked 5 fish this year and had multiple missed strikes but haven't been able to land one, closest i have been (twice) i went to tail the fish and it spit the hook..inches from my hand grabbing it's tail then gone... really leaves a bad taste in my mouth very frustrated but ive been told that is good for a first winter steelhead on the fly season, this just leaves me hungry for a winter steelhead..i will be prepared next year, with more knowledge and confidence. on the other hand i saw stoneflies crawling inches from the shore, cutthroat eating mayflies off the top.. and i even had to go down to a t shirt because it got so warm. spring is around the corner and im ready for trout

                             

steelhead fishing on the coast

sunday we headed to the coast range for a bit of steelhead fishing, i ended up hooking two dead drifting egg patterns under and indicator but they both came off sadly, i taught my dad how to bobber fish because he is new to steelhead fishing and he got good at it pretty quick, at the end of the day i swung a few flies through a tailout hoping to get the fish resting in it to take my pink moal leech,the fly didn't go very deep because it didn't need to, the tailout was quite shallow and the fly was right in the fishes face but they would not commit (im new to swinging so my casts were short,sloppy and i may have mended my line a few to many times, but a few of the swings i made looked pretty darn good!  i just think the fish were spooked because we were walking around, i would have creeped down to the water if i knew they were there ahead of time, im about done with winter steelhead for the year and gearing up for trout season, redsides and cutthroat are staring to gobble flies in the mid/south valley streams, i hope to visit a smaller one that has very little pressure soon. ill have pictures/video up when i return





Brandon

keep on fishin!

Well i am still yet to land a winter steelhead on the fly, it has proven tough i am 0 for 3 so far this season, all strikes/hookups have came on  dead drifted egg patterns under a strike indicator and i have also missed several strikes where i set the hook then there is a flash then no bites at all after that. i am starting to get a little discouraged but im sure my day will come. I'm about done with winter steel for the season(really low on gear and trout fishing begins soon) but i will be making atleast 2 more trips before the end of march to try and get my first steelhead.
ive decided to pick up a few moal leeches to try out on the next outing i have not done any swinging yet im sure it wont hurt to try

only a few months away!

Trout season begins early in  a few local streams starting in arpil and that really gets me excited. although it's primarily nymphing the first two months of the season it can still be exciting, larger fish are commonly caught earlier in the season. one or two fish can be caught on dries if you work for them but usually dry fly fishing doesnt pick up until late may-june. most often stream are re shaped by winter floods leaving debris behind and forming new obstacles and good fishing areas too. armed with a waterproof camera starting next month  i will be set up for the upcoming season chasing some of these

Early season cutthroat caught fishing nymphs

winter steelhead report

So far i have been out a total of 4 times this season and i have gained much experience in that short amount of time. on my favorite coastal stream i hooked two nice steelhead in one day (they both got off) and i have caught dozens of cutthroat and one old fire truck red coho. i have found fly fishing for steel to be quite the challenge,these fish really know how to get off a line. on the other hand my buddy brad picked up on gear fishing for steelhead with a spinning rod and bobber and jig.  Below are some pictures of the trip where brad caught his first steelhead, there is also a video i will post. saturday we will be hitting the water again in hopes of another chance at some winter steel. my fly box is stocked with egg patterns and i am ready. water should drop into shape on my favorite smaller coastal stream just in time

The river

me dead drifting egg patterns

working a seam