Posted on

Last Surf Fishout of the 2023

It was a lot cooler at 6 am this morning than it is now on Saturday afternoon 10/7. But the catching wasn’t so hot (that’s why no perch pictures), except for Josh Wilkens arrived earliest and who caught that impressive Bat Ray that is already pictured on our website.

We had Will Murphy, Jerry McKeon, Matt Bohn, and Tommy Polito in addition to Josh out there and it was followed by a GREAT breakfast at Mike Lovejoy’s home, where we were also joined by our President, Scott. In the future, don’t miss “Breakfast at Lovejoy’s”.

What a great club we have. Today there are members fishing up at Mammoth, fishing today at the beach and spey cast lessons going on!

Posted on

Thoughts on Mammoth

From Club Member, Brad Elliot:

If you want to have a fun and enjoyable trout fishing experience, signup for the next Mammoth Fishout. John and Elaine Cook host this wonderful experience. They have been fishing this area for many years and know all the places to go, flies to use etc. etc. This was my second year in this gorgeous area in the fall of the eastern Sierras. I am an avid float tuber and my buddy Mike Lovejoy and I enjoyed some wonderful days on the beautiful mountain lakes catching rainbows up to 20″. What fun! The food and conversation over cocktails in the evening just add to the great fishing during the day.

From Fish Master, John Cook:

Elaine and I have been doing this for many many years, more like decades, and each year we find it entirely different than the last. The variables include personalities, the weather, fishing conditions, water levels, Crowley conditions, hatches  etc. etc. etc. Even after all this time we love it and look forward to the next. And the best thing is, we always make some new friends. Hope you will be one of the anticipatory fishermen in 2024.

From Club Member, Scott Kitayama

Third year of going on the Mammoth fishing trip. My first two trips were primarily fishing lakes since the fishing was good, and the streams didn’t have much water. This year was exactly the opposite, the lakes were unfishable or I didn’t have much luck in them. However, the stream such as San Joaquin, Owens, Hot creek, McGee were all in good shape, and I had the chance to fish them with dry flies with John/Elaine Cook and Bob Garbarino . The weather was beautiful, Mammoth scenery is gorgeous, and small fish were willing to come up for flies. All in all it was a good trip and helped me learn how to be a better dry, fly fisherman.

Posted on

Upper Sac Fishout

The fishout on the upper Sac was from Sept 8th – 10th.  Members stayed at the Sims Flat campground and in Dunsmuir.   The days were  warm, but in the early morning, you could feel fall in the air and the stream water temperature had cooled down.   According to fish master, Alex Ferber, the upper Sac can be a fickle stream and the fishing was tough.   Fish were mainly caught nymphing though there were dry fly opportunities in the evening.

New members that took advantage of the fishout included: Alex F, Scott A, Robert H, Clark C. Other members included: Scott C, Greg F, Bob G and Scott K.

Posted on

Another successful Surf Fish outing!

by Sam Bishop

Saturday, August 5, 2023 was another foggy summer morning at Rio Del Mar Beach. Our surf fish-out was to start at 0600, so being the organizer and wanting to be early, I showed up at 0530. There was only one good parking spot left because so many guys showed up even earlier than me! An eager group for sure, ready to fish a minus low, slack tide as we started. As we worked our way down the beach (the fish don’t come to you, you have to keep moving to find them) we started picking up more bites as the tide began to change. Most of us picked up between 1 and 10 fish, but I know of that were “write home about it” size.

And I met a couple other people on the beach that have serious interest in our Club, so I hope we get a couple new members too!

Here is a list of those I know were there. I missed a couple who did not sign in. My apologies for spelling I couldn’t read.

Adam and Peter Althoff, Jerry McKeon, Matt Bohn, Jeff Zeische, Bob Garbarino, Pete Soderstron, Lance Boling

And Jerry McKeon has already posted pictures on Instagram.

Posted on

Lake Almanor Fishout

by Jeff Goyert

Group photo of SCFF members at Lake Almanor fishout.

I think that the dozen of us that participated in the Lake Almanor Fishout would agree that the weather was perfect; cool and crisp in the mornings and up into the mid-seventies in the afternoons. The downside of the mild weather was the relatively cool lake water temperature which reduced the quality of the Hexagenia hatch. A handful of big fish were taken by anglers lucky enough be in the right place at the right time doing the right thing. 

Those that ventured to other local waters such as Clear Creek, Crater Lake, Baum Lake, Manzanita Lake and such were rewarded for their time spent behind the wheel with lovely scenery and quality fly fishing. 

The dates for next year’s Lake Almanor Fishout will be Saturday 6/22 thru Saturday 6/29. For cabin reservations at Wilson’s Camp call Debbie a 530-259-2267. For cabins at Plumas Pines call 530-259-4343.

Many thanks to all that participated in this years event, congratulations to those successful in their angling efforts. 

Posted on

Lake Nacimiento Fishout

by Bob Garbarino

I first heard about white bass fishing at Lake Nacimiento about twenty years ago. Even though the lake is only about two hours from Santa Cruz, I never made the trip down there. During the spring spawn when the the conditions are favorable (like ample water) is the prime time to head up the Narrows on the opposite side of the lake from the Marina. Club member Kathryn Yant got the ball rolling this year. She had been working on plans for a trip to Naci with Geoff Malloway, the owner of Central Coast Fly Fishing. Scott Kitayama and I were fortunate to be invited by her to join the group of eight anglers. Dagur Guðmundsson, a central coast guide that presented to our club was took part in the trip. He is quite familiar with Naci and San Antonio and guides these fisheries. We camped the night before at Lake San Antonio because there is a three night minimum at Naci. After setting up the tent, we spread out in search of carp before the rest of the gang arrived. We didn’t find any, but it was great to see the lake near full. The meal that night was full-on gourmet thanks to Chef Brandon Miller. We even had a sighting in the sky which turned out to be a Starlink pass-by.
The next morning we caravanned over to the Marina at Naci and hopped on our rented pontoon boat—what a sweet ride with Captain Malloway at the helm! It was brand new with cushy seats and plenty of room for all of us. The water was glass-smooth and aside from some wood debris we had to keep an eye out for, it was a relaxing cruise. After about an hour, we made it to as far as we could go up the Narrows, which is where the Nacimiento River empties into the lake. After Geoff gave us a brief “how-to” talk and made sure we had some flies, we got out of the boat and waded upstream in search of white bass. Unfortunately, after a couple hours of searching the clear water, it became evident the spawn was over and the whites had moved back into the lake. We did manage to eke out a few spotted and largemouth bass. Dagur thought we may have caught a couple of smallmouth/spotted bass hybrids. It was a beautiful day and we had the place to ourselves, but the fish didn’t get the memo with our invitation….oh well. On the way back we fished out of the boat in a few of the coves. I guess Dagur decided the boat was to full to try to fish, so he jumped out with rod in hand and proceeded to “fish/swim”. It’s a strange sight to see only a head and arm with rod sticking out of the water! And he was making some nice casts. Oh, to be a young buck. To sum up the fishout: close to home, beautiful scenery, great company, fantastic dinner, fun boat ride, good fishing, not so good catching. I have no regrets, learned a lot, had a great time and look forward to doing it again. I think our club should think about exploring this area for fishouts in the future. And if you are interested in learning about fishing in this area, subscribe to the Central Coast Fly Fishing newsletter to keep up on events offered. https://www.centralcoastflyfishing.com/
Also contact Dagur Guðmundsson for guided fishing opportunities in the area. He is super knowledgable, energetic and a lot of fun. https://www.dagurflyfishing.com/
The bass photos in this article are courtesy of Dagur.
Here is some interesting information about white bass: https://fishbio.com/another-controversial-bass/

Posted on

Fishing the cantankerous surf

by Sam Bishop

We had a very nice group of 15 people show up on Saturday May 6, for our first 2023 surf fish-out, held at Rio Del Mar Beach. No one knows why there were so few fish caught considering the many outstanding fly fisher-people challenging the surf with their expertly tied flies! Maybe it was the full moon? It even rained on us, but no one left early, until time for ½ dozen of us to enjoy a great breakfast at the Red Apple Café.

Unfortunately, a few people were late and did not sign in, but here is what I have:

Michael Gaines, Joe Stumph (guest from Reno), Robert Eberle, Lance Boling, Randy Sarr, Adam Althoff, Elaine Cook, Emily Marriott, Scott Kitayama, plus Elizabeth McCarter and Fred Farias from the Salinas Club.

Pictured is yours truly and Salinas Fly Casters President Elizabeth McCarter.

Please join us Saturday June 3 for the next surfing adventure. Details elsewhere in the newsletter.

Posted on

O’Neill Fore bay Fishout Report or

What a difference a day makes!

Arrived with Brother Terry around noon on Thursday. Found that Elain and John had arrived the day before, and had selected a perfect waterfront campsite. That evening, they met up with Bill Seaman and had a fantastic evening on the water near the old boat launch. Lots of good sized fish.

Whilst Terry & I went about setting up camp, other members dribbled in off of the water with varying degrees of success. Scott Kitayama caught fish on both his first and last cast. He reported that Bob Garbarino had landed a very nice fish. Gil Santos showed up and quickly launched his pram. David Marks came into camp to visit & swap stories. Rumor had it that Yog was out on the water catching fish. Mike Diciano was camped nearby with his motorhome, and launched his inflatable shortly after we arrived. The weather was perfect, with gentle to no wind and comfortably warm temperatures. We watched as Mike rowed into the fray, and we wondered why the stern of his little floatie was under water. Turns out float tubes inflated in the heat of the day tend to loose air pressure when immersed in cold water…

I would point out that setting up camp to host a crowd is thirsty business, so Terry and I paused our efforts frequently to hydrate. During one of those pauses, I noted that my pop-up camper had been invaded by giant hornets. While they were not particularly aggressive, Terry is allergic to bee stings, so I spent the next hour chasing a couple dozen of the buggers out of the camper. Time to re-hydrate again.

With camp established (complete with full wind screen) we enjoyed a light meal. I intended to head out in my float tube afterwards. It was then that I discovered I didn’t have my license with me. I recalled it was on my entryway table, placed there so I wouldn’t forget it. Oh well, Los Banos was just a hop, skip, and jump away so I left for Walmart while Terry took his boat to be inspected.

We arrived back in camp just as everyone was coming off the water. It seemed that most everyone had caught fish, with the consensus being that this year’s graduating class of fish were considerably larger than the previous year’s. Armed with that knowledge, Terry & I weren’t too dismayed to not have fished that day; there is always tomorrow, and we had great expectations. Snacks, cocktails, a fire, and great conversations ensued.

The following morning dawned about ten degrees cooler than the previous day. Terry & I were on the water by 6:30. We fished the islands where Gil had measured some success the evening before. We marked a few sporadic fish on the finder in around 20 ft. of water, but they seemed to have developed lockjaw. We moved on to where the group was concentrated on the South west corner of the Fore bay. Slim pickens there too. Many had caught a fish or two, but certainly not at the rate of the previous two days.

Having been totally skunked, we decided to head to camp and enjoy a nice lunch. Which led to a Bloody Mary. Or two. Which led to a nap. I awoke greatly refreshed around 3:00. Time to head out for the afternoon bite, but we found that the mighty wind had risen and chased everyone off of the water. We thought it best to cut our losses and head on in. There were white caps and good swells so it took almost an hour to get to the dock area. We were thoroughly soaked, but the warm wind quickly dried us off. We noticed that there was about a 300 yard stretch of water out to 50 yards off shore that was in a ‘wind shadow’ from the hills behind the launch ramps. It was still breezy, so one of us had to helm the boat while the other fished. Terry piloted as I landed two schoolies of around18”. Terry’s turn. I handed him my rod and took over the helm. I like to believe it was my superior boat piloting that led to Terry landing a 25” chromer.

Getting the skunk off the boat took till the last 30 minutes of fishing time. Whew, that was close. Arrived back at camp to find JT and our newest member, Rich, had joined our group. Lance snuck in and set up his tent and joined in. Rich shared a fine bottle of Scotch with us, which instantly endeared him to the gang. We sat up till late sharing scotch and stories.

The wind grew in intensity.

Everyone slept fitfully Friday night, with the wind buffeting tents, campers, and trailers. Saturday morning found the red light blinking at the cottonwood creek entrance, meaning watercraft was forbidden from launching. I estimated a steady 30mph wind with occasional stronger gusts. Hoping against hope that the wind wouldn’t last, Terry & I hunkered down and made a nice breakfast. The sunrise was spectacular. The more experienced among us checked out the weather forecast to find that strong winds were expected through Sunday. Most folks began packing up to go. Around noon, we began to slowly break camp. The rest of the crew had left by one-o-clock. Around 3:00, I gave one last cruise by the North side of the Fore bay to see if the ‘wind shadow’ still held. There was still a small calm area, but I decided better than to launch my float tube when there wasn’t another vessel on the water anywhere.

Sadly, we had to cut the O’Neill Fore bay trip short. We missed out on several members who had planned on coming out on Sunday, but you just can’t ignore the weather. The moral of the story: The best time to fish is right now! (If you can).

Until next year,

Kevin

Posted on

Manresa Fishout Results – August 6th

by Scott & Tommy fish masters

Attendees l-r: Bob Garbarino, Dennis Robbins, Tommy Polito, Lance Boling, Adam Althoff
Others not shown: Elaine Cook, Mike Lovejoy, Kreig Williams, John Ivancovich, Scott Kitayama, Robert Eberly

We had over 10 members show up early at Manresa beach for the August fishout. I believe four of them had not been out with us before and a couple had never surf fished. There wasn’t much structure on the beach, however most of the attendees were able to catch fish. According to Elaine, a new member, Mike Lovejoy, caught 10+ in a short amoutn of time down by the trestle and John Ivancovich caught his first surf perch on a fly!

Along with the fishing, we were treated to sightings of pelicans, seals, and dolphins in the bay.

Posted on

Quick Montana Trip

by Pat Steele

Quick Montana Trip – August 13th – 18th, 2022

By Pat Steele

John and I hadn’t been out to fish for at least a year, and we had been craving some good ol’ river fishing with guides we know in Montana.  Our good friend and outfitter, Ed Lawrence, who has been a speaker at several SCFF meetings in the past, set us up with lodging and guides, and we set out on Saturday, August 13th, for Bozeman.

            We arrived in the afternoon, got settled in the hotel, and met Ed and his wife at a nearby steak house for dinner and to make plans. He had told us before we came out that the first guide had tested positive for COVID, and that our first day of fishing was going to be up to us to arrange.

We had had a bit of trouble connecting with the owner of the Turo rental car we used.  We had to have an Uber driver drive us to the house where the rental car was, which seemed rather inconvenient, but that’s the way peer-to-peer car rides and car rentals often are, if you are into saving bucks not using cabs or car rental places.

John called a friend, Richard, who used to live in Corralitos, but now resides in West Yellowstone.  Richard has a boat, and he agreed to take us out on the Madison on Sunday. We met him on the river, Richard launched, I watched the boat, and Richard and John ferried the tow vehicle downriver about seven miles, then John drove Richard back to the boat.

We had great fun in the morning, fishing foam hoppers.  I caught three nice fish, John nicked a few, and although we only did a half day, we didn’t sit in the hotel moping about missing a day’s fishing.  It got hot in the afternoon, and the fish just dove deep and sulked.

Day two, Monday, was a bit of a challenge.  We had to get up at o’dark thirty and drive to Craig, up near Helena to meet with the guide.  Ed enlisted him to sub for the guide who had COVID, so we couldn’t complain.  Russ, the guide, took us out on the Missouri River, between Pelican Point and Cascade.  That part of the river is pretty slack water, slow moving, not very well oxygenated and warm. It was hot all day.  We each caught a couple nice rainbows on hoppers, but the water temps made for very slow, reluctant takes.

We moved from the hotel in Bozeman to a place in downtown Helena.  On Tuesday morning, the guide, John Hall, came to pick us up, towing his drift boat, so all we had to do was get in and go.  With John Hall, we did the section of the Missouri between Mid Cañon to Pelican Point, so we were above the section of river we had done the day before.  The water was a little faster-running, and John rigged us up with hoppers and droppers.  We caught many more fish that day, most on the dropper, which was a bead-head nymph, tied on a jig hook, turquoise body with a silver tungsten bead head and a teensy red tail.

The last day we spent was my favorite.  John picked us up at the hotel again, this time with his tricked-out bass boat.  It has a jet drive motor, and really, really long oars, I think John said they are 13 feet long. We did the section of the Missouri that is impounded by two dams, aptly dubbed “The Land of the Giants.”  The challenge that day was the wind.  My John had to fish sitting on the prow chair.  I fished the stern, alternately bracing myself against the chair in the stern and sitting in it.  I can’t cast very well seated, so I mostly just tried to keep from being blown overboard.

We were rewarded for our efforts with many very hefty, healthy rainbow trout.  We fished a double rig again, the upper fly was a red tungsten bead head with a purple body with silver wraps; the bottom fly was a was on a jig hook, silver tungsten bead head, turquoise body and a teensy red tail, like the one we fished on the river the day before.  The big fish mostly liked the lower fly, and several times, they bent it almost straight.  I felt lucky to have landed fish, considering!  I think the 4X tippet is what saved me from breaking them off, because these guys often like to jump, shake their heads, and rub on rocks to get loose.

After four days of frantic fishing, both of us were pretty well worn out, drove back to Bozeman, had dinner at Outback, and crashed.  We worked a deal with the Turo car owner, left the car in the hotel parking lot and Uber’ed back to the airport.  We got back home Thursday evening, happy to be back, satisfied with the fishing we got to do in Montana.

Posted on

Lake on BLM land- Wyoming

by Elaine and John Cook

Planning to travel and fish during Covid has been more challenging due to so many folks choosing an outdoor vacation experience. So we find timing of locations, and reservations a necessity. We so much prefer being nomads. Our first destination in Wyoming, a place we have been to many times, is a sweet lake that we have camped at and fished for many years. It always provides us with wonderful, powerful rainbow trout up to 22”. 2x tippet and 6 wt. rods are a necessity if you plan to land any. No reservations are available on BLM land so timing was imperative. RV and forest service reservation we made in route and arrival late on the 4th was perfect. A short wait and we hade the whole campground to ourselves. Few people fished the lake all week. What makes the lake even more special is that it’s catch and release and when we go a massive damsel hatch occurs. Adult damsel fly patterns are the ticket. The insects are crawling out and hatching all over your tube, and clothing as well on vegetation and the sandy shore. Adults are everywhere and in times in swarms where numerous  males are in per suit of a few females. The pursuit is on, looking for backs and tails of sipping trout and getting a fly into their path and fooling them. Such fun! Now just to be different, John likes using big flies, so he wants the wind to come up which is when they will take something different. Well this year he decided to be ridiculous and use a mouse pattern. Oh my, it actually worked!!

Posted on

Rio Del Mar surf fish-out

by Sam Bishop

The fish were mostly small, but the dozen fly fishers that came to Rio Del Mar on the Friday before the 4th of July holiday had a good time and most had hookups or fish. Afterwards a few of us had a social time at the Pixie Deli, known for its good breakfast burritos. Three members from the Salinas Club were happy to be with us too, including their President, Elizabeth McCarter (pictured). She and our own Emily Marriott were the damsels amongst us, trying the surf for the first time. Jeff Slaboden is moving to Florida, which is sad for us, because it is likely we won’t see him often for our local fishouts.

Tommy Polito and Scott Kitayama are leading up the August fish-out. Stay tuned for that one!

I think I missed a name or two, but here is the gang that went fishing: Peter Swarzenski, Gordon Cummings, Emily Marriott, Jeff Slaboden, Scott Kitayama, Josh Wilkens, Tommy Polito, Koney Eng, Sam Bishop and from the Salinas Club, Elizabeth McCarter, Wilson Taguinod and Fred Farias

Posted on

June surf fishing

by Sam Bishop

We had a great turn out of ten fly fishermen on Saturday June 6. Almost everyone caught fish. This was way better than the month before when we were skunked! Here were the attendees, and it is always great to see those who show up so often. We were talking about getting up very early to go fishing and Greg Smith said “Once you get out here it is beautiful!”.

Greg Smith and Lance Boling from the Salinas Club, Mark Coor guest, Scott Kitayama, Jeff Zischke, Dennis Robbins “Newbie” to our club, Robert Eberle (the master catcher), Adam Altoff,  Scott Councilman, Sam Bishop

Posted on

Notes from site 29:

by K. Murdock, V/P

Notes of Fish Master, Kevin Murdock (Dock), from mysterious site #29 (O’Neill Forebay):

Fish Master Log Date Nov 3: Our beloved Stosh, bowing to the frailties of mortal life, was unable to host our November fish out to San Lois Reservoir. I agreed to stand in for him, as long as no organizing was to be involved.

When I arrived Wednesday afternoon, Elaine & John Cook had already been camping since Tuesday. They’d had some success amongst the weed patches around the islands. They also had thoughtfully placed a tablecloth and wood box at site 29, assuring it would be available for my arrival. I sat up camp (1) and returned to Aptos to pick up the mighty pokey-mon. (My 12ft. tin boat). (2)

FM Log Date Nov 4: Early Thursday morning Cooper and I launched the boat. Thank goodness I’d had the boat tagged the last time I’d fished on the lake. It had rained Wednesday evening, and my boat was full of water. No way would they have allowed me to launch.

We fished for naught for a couple of hours. That’s when I determined to find Elaine, for she is quite frequently in the close company of fish. I was right. I found her between the first and second Islands, firmly stuck to a Striper. With her in my sight, I quickly hooked and landed a couple of schoolies. I would offer this to all of our newbies on fish outs: keep Elaine in sight and you’ll probably find fish. It’s worked for John for ages. Indeed, he’d caught a couple that morning.

I moored the Pokey-man near our camp and had lunch with Pete, a new returning club member. He towed a gorgeous Air Stream in (3) and asked where to park so as not to impinge on any view-shed. I opined that the air-stream enhanced any view I might have.

After lunch, I motored to the north-west side of the fore bay where I found a dozen tubers and Kayakers from a neighboring fishing club. The name escapes me for the moment. (Don’t be alarmed, that happens on a regular basis). They were scratching out a fish here and there when Cooper decided he could catch a pelican. (4) That was the first of his three jumps into the drink.

The laughter of the other club’s members were still ringing in my ears when I decided to explore the great wall area. Near the south east corner, I finally located some fish on my 30 year old garage sale hummingbird. They were in 25’ water depth, holding at nearly 20’. There was a current pushing my boat from east to west, so I posted up current, about 40’from the wall and cast directly towards the wall. I counted down quite a while as I drifted over the fish, & then began a slow strip. I got a strong grab and had the fish on long enough to try to get it on the reel, with devastating consequences. Over the next hour I repeated this process several times. Eventually, after omitting the part where I tried to put the fish on the reel. I landed two smaller fish. (5)

Thursday evening the wind died enough to have a lovely campfire, and the four of us enjoyed a lively conversation as we took turns fussing over Cooper. Elaine shared her vast San Lois Intel with us. (Greatly appreciated!)

FM Log Date Nov 5: Friday Morning I woke early to find Yogi launching his u-boat. Still dark-thirty. A couple of cups of coffee later I launched and hustled to meet Jerry at the Rock Wall (6) by the old boat launch.  I arrived in the vicinity just as the sun rose, and promptly caught a small striper. I found Jerry shortly after he had released one of his own. Jerry caught a couple more over the next hour. Ospreys and bald eagles were my entertainment.

I returned to camp for brunch and was helped to shore by another new club member, Jeff. Pete treated us to a spread of bacon & eggs, whilst I whipped up a batch of Bloody Mary’s. Tim Loomis and a friend I haven’t met yet launched at about that time. Good Luck to ya!

Yogi returned after having caught a few. Probably just getting warmed up for his upcoming tuna trip.

Thought I’d take a quick nap. Two hours later, Elaine & John pulled out of the water. Elaine had landed 8 or 10 fish that morning, & John a few more, including one he described as a nice 20 plus inches, with a huge head. I envisioned Bruce Bocce’s head on a striped bass.

Tim Loomis returned with tales of the biggest striper he had ever landed in this body of water. He estimated 6+ lbs., or about twice the size of the biggest fish I had caught that day. Tim caught his on the Delta smelt pattern. In fact, that’s the only fly I used on the trip, and others echoed that sentiment.

Jeff and Pete had also each caught fish that day.

FM Log Date Nov 6: Saturday found Pete and myself on our own. We fished separately, scratching up a fish here and there. The wind chased me off the water early. Too windy for a fire, Pete and I retired to our respective campers to stay warm. A book for me, a movie for Pete. Early to sleep.

That pretty well sums it up. Fair fishing for many, great for a few. A pretty good fish out.

Enjoy the resource while you can, future dam construction will make this place much more difficult to get to, for quite some time.

Posted on

Sons (and Daughters) of the beaches

by Surf organizer Sam

Dateline 4 September 2021 (Labor Day Weekend)

MANRESA STATE BEACH – 0630 hours.

Well before the hordes of surfers, dog walkers, runners and “sit on the beachers” arrived, there were 14 members and guests of Santa Cruz Fly Fishers hitting the beach with their fly rods. Turns out the fish were simply not ready to resist this massive, unexpected attack. They gave up quickly to Elaine Cook, with four catches right away, then there was Amy Terra with her band of sisters and brothers from Lodi. She is President of the Delta Fly Fishers and immediately had at least three perch and more later. I think everyone had hook-ups and fish in hand, but with that many folks fishing, they were spread out half a mile, so I couldn’t check everyone.

Here are those who signed in (Note the various towns) : Tommy Polito, Adam Altoff (Castro Valley), Elaine Cook, Jeff Zischke, Amy Terra (plus 3 from Lodi), Randy Saar (Pacific Grove), Dena Mason, Justin Ice, Matt Jockers, Cecilia Stipes,  Scott Kitayama, Gene Boylin, Dominic Martinez (Los Banos), and Sam Bishop. For the names that are missing, it is your fault for not signing the attendance sheet:.

I hope we see even more of you next month. See “Gearing Up” for details.

Posted on

August fly fishing the surf

by Sam Bishop, Surf "Fishmaster"

Rio Del Mar had a low tide, low waves and a flat beach for the seven club members on the August 7 surf fish-out. Flat beaches with little “structure” are common later in the summer. That all changes when the winter storms come in.

Jeff Gose, Kirk Mathew, Justin Ice, Scott Councilman, Tommy Polito, John Davis joined me at 6 am.  Some fish were caught, but it seemed like all the surf perch were born only a few weeks earlier! Then there were a couple of Sculpin in the mix too.

In the pictures, note Tommy and his hand made basket. Notice the close-up of the “Sharpie” pens he used to minimize tangling! Other pictures include Justin, Jeff, Kirk. I think I missed John and Scott.

 

Posted on

Traveling the West

by Elaine Cook

When last I wrote we had been fishing the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park in mid June. Many road miles and tested waters since then. Low warm waters, heat, “Hoot Owl” restrictions, and smoke have dominated. All of which has lead to poor fishing. There have been a handful of special days that we reflect back on as great memorable fishing. There was adult damsel fishing that produced many, many 16″ to 19″ Rainbows and Cutthroats in a lake east of Yellowstone. A small county park pond, full of small large mouth bass that readily responded to a popper. If we caught one we caught a 100. That was just outside the town of Sheridan Wy. A little further south, another bass water in a local reservoir. Numbers were not the result, but searching them out in a forest of reeds and getting explosive takes that produced really large big mouths was truly exciting. Went back a couple weeks later and we couldn’t produce the same results. To escape the heat we took a gravel/dirt road into the mountains. There had been rain a couple days before and the night we arrived. That made the river look like chocolate milk. Waiting patiently for 2 days payed off. So many large Cutthroats brought to net in the wilderness. Of course all on dry flies. And lastly, we forked up the bucks and hired guides to take us onto a beautiful priviate  stream in ranch land at the base of the Big Horn mountains. Grass hoppers were everywhere and guess what the large, plentiful Cutthroats did with an artificial fly that resembled the insect! We are now road weary and will thankfully be home by the time you read this. Elaine and John and part of the time Kathy

Posted on

Surf Fishout, July 3, 2021

by Mark Traugott

Dennis Rosario, Tommy Polito, Matt Jockers

Seven of us rose before dawn to celebrate the arrival of the July 4 weekend. We found our way to Manresa State Beach despite the morning mist and heavy overcast. The only fireworks involved were in the fact that everyone caught fish, with honors for the largest going to Tommy Polito, as pictured above. The group included regulars Jeff Gose and Scott Kitayama as well as the club’s newest member, Matt Jockers. Dennis Rosario, James Davis, and myself rounded out the group. No one has been able to figure out where all the stripers have gone this year, but the perch have been very cooperative, and getting pushed round by the waves is a great way to start your day. Come join us for our monthly surf fishouts!

Posted on

Fishing the Firehole River in Yellowstone Park

by Elaine Cook

If you have never fished the Firehole, it’s fun to know that the stream has many geysers that drain into it which makes the water warm year round. Our annual trek brings us here to catch Browns and rainbows that average 9″ to 12″ and some up to 15″. This year found the water warmer than usual and only the 1st day produced fish. When the water reaches 70 degrees the fish turn off and fishing is highly discouraged. In the photo, you can see where we fished right across from a major outflow from one of the geysers and the fish readily came up for dry flies.

Posted on

Lake Almanor for the Hex hatch

Went to Lake Almanor for the first time to try out the Hex hatch with club members Bob G, Cecilia  and Darla.   Sharing the ride makes the time go faster and the trip cheaper.  Took a lesson from Tim Loomis the first evening who really helped to understand how to fish the lake and where to fish.   Others that were up  at the lake during the hatch included Kevin M, Yog, and John D.   Picture is Bob G with one of two nice trout he caught during the hatch.  The others in our group didn’t fare as well.

As of late July, the Dixie fire continues to spread and the west shore of Lake Almanor where we stayed have been evacuated.  Let’s hope that the fire gets contained, the people are safe, and we can fish the Hex hatch there for years to come.

(Pictures by Tim Loomis and Darla Lews)

Posted on

The Registers enjoying the Trinity Alps

We just finished up a week at Coffee Creek in the Trinity Alps.  Mostly rainbow planters in the creeks, unless you hike in deeper. Then it is the occasional 8-inch rainbow or brook.  On a 100F day, the family traveled up to Kangaroo Lake (6,000ft) with our float tubes and raft.  Again, mostly planters, but about 20 degrees cooler at that elevation. Here is a picture of some of the family heading out into Kangaroo with their gear. Kangaroo is in the middle of nowhere, but  it is handicap accessible.

  • John & Kim Register