Oregon Redbands

by SFS TEAM

The SFS team enjoyed a couple days chasing some hearty Redband's in Oregon last weekend. Brett's snapped Helio's (his advice: don't try to double haul an 8 inch double bunny leech on an 8wt)was soon forgotten as he landed his first fish a 25 incher. The kid, Stephen (ten years old) hooked his 3rd fish ever a 24 inch brown (wish I hooked fish that size when I was 10). Over the next couple days we landed more nice redbands averaging 22-26 inches (a nice average). The fish grow big here and they fight like crazy leaping 3-4 feet into the air, a spectacular sight to say the least. The browns we managed were relatively small for this area 18 inches or so but still fun to catch. All said and done we had a good time.



Oops! Oh well it's only an $800 rod...curse...curse...



How to cure a broken Helio's




The next generation. "Damn I'm all out of quarters."



Cows in the morning mist.



Eat your veggies boys.



That's your 3rd fish ever?




Wake up!



Average sized Redband at this spot (a measly 5 lbs).



Brown trout pelt.



Caterpillar having an oh shit! moment.




Here's looking at you kid.



See you next time.

THE HUMBOLDT COUNTY CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Herb Clarno getting some much needed R&R after some rigorous campaigning. If you live in Humboldt county don't forget to vote for him (County Commissioner Seat C).

by Luke Harris

My wife, son and I recently spent some time at Bottle Creek ranch near Winnemucca. The creek itself was experiencing some serious runoff (the highest I've ever seen it) so we didn't fish it this time but still had some fun flying the Northern Nevada skies and mud slinging in Herb's truck (we got stuck once but don't tell him). Later in the week, Herb and I hooked up with fishing pal Ray Keener for a trip to South Fork Reservoir (a SFS team all-time favorite). We did pretty well, Ray and I fishing buggers and nymphs while Herb threw a Kastmaster on spin gear. The trip was a blast.



Who booked a morning flight?




Birds eye of Bottle Creek Ranch.



SFS in training pretending to lay the groundwork for a much needed Bass fishery.




An early season rattler hiding in the sage.



A thorough inspection of the runoff.



"Are we stuck Dad?" "Naw."



Ray and Herb demonstrating their piscatorial know how.

BRETT'S NEW ADDICTION

By Brett Coffman

HELP! I’ve become a dry fly addict.

Let me first explain that I’m a true nymph fisherman. This was how I learned to fly fish, and this is how I catch 99% of my fish. I enjoy it. I don’t usually use an indicator on moving water but instead rely on feel. This is how I take all my big fish. The last 2 trips however, have changed this and I’m now addicted to a fishing method entirely novel to me.

After miles of wading during run-off I recently spotted a feeding rainbow. Nearly a rods length away, I froze instantly. Whew, he didn’t see me. I immediately crouched down and moved downriver from him. While I quietly observed his movements I noticed several naturals drift over his feeding lie undisturbed. This does exactly build confidence in one who’s about to try and dupe a big trout on a dry. But, I remained confident that “I will catch this fish.”

So I removed my split shot and snipped off my double nymph rig. Watching his movements carefully, I attached ~3ft.of 5x tippet and tied on a #14 parachute Adams. This being about the only mayfly pattern in my box, that closely resembled the naturals that were hatching.

I then moved into position I proceeded to make my first offering. My first cast was greeted with a stiff gust of wind that I luckily was able to dump off to the left side of his feeding lie. I waited until the gust passed, then made a nice curve cast so the line landed on one side while the fly landed in his feeding lane. The Adams hit the water and I watched in amazement as the big rainbow surged forward and attacked my presentation. I was so overzealous that I immediately went to set the hook and ripped the fly from the fishes mouth and well into the bushes behind me. @#&% I exclaimed as I broke off the fly in the tall brush. I immediately thought that I had ruined my only chance at the trout of the day - but as fate would have it the fish remained unfazed.

I watched the fish as I tied on the same pattern. The whole time thoughts of articles about fish rejecting patterns they’ve seen circled through my head. My only hope was that he had not had that much time to inspect my initial offering.

I waited again for the wind to settle and then recast. I was again amazed as the large trout surged toward my offering then pounced on the fly. This time I was more calm and collected and was able to set the hook appropriately. Below is a picture of the ~20in fish that made me an addict. The other fish I saw surface feeding on top, but was able to catch without switching to dry flies.

Good luck.

This is the 20inch fish that made me an addict.

This other fish I saw feeding on the surface, but was able to catch without switching to a dry.