PRODUCT REVIEW: JUST ZAP THAT GAP

by Luke Harris

All perverse tendencies aside, this stuff works great on foam body flies (and any other adhesive situations). It’s about $3 for .25oz so remember there’s only so many gaps you can actually zap. Okay there’s a comment section so go ahead and knock yourselves out just read the label so you don’t go blind.

ALASKAN ADVENTURE PART 1

by Brett Coffman

After spending our honeymoon and 2 ½ weeks in the great land to the north, I guess I should report on the trip, the cruise, wildlife viewed, and of course the fishing. The best way for this is to break up the vacation into a 2 part series. The first part will be the week of Aug. 1st-8th, when we set sail aboard the ms Oosterdam. This was something my wife and I had never experienced before. We’re used to backpacking and camping for our vacations so the structure of everything was almost a little overwhelming. The food was exquisite however, and made the mandatory 8:00p.m. dinner seating worth the inconvience. I know I’m about 10lbs heavier. Our port stops were Glacier Bay, Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, and Victoria, Canada.
The first stop of Glacier Bay was absolutely breathtaking. When the glaciers “calve” (ice chunks breaking off) the sound is thunderous with a subsequent wave large enough to surf on. We had an absolutely crystal clear day, (unheard of in Alaska) and we actually got a lot of sun.
The actual first port stop was Juneau. The crystal clear weather continued, and we were able to take a ~6mi hike to get away from the crowds, but also get a commanding view of Medenhall glacier. Along the way we stopped at Steep creek and observed some sockeye salmon that were spawning. Check out the underwater pictures my wife got below. Just before we got there, a couple told us we had barely missed a brown bear that was fishing. Dammit, maybe next time.
The 2nd stop was Sitka, AK. This is a small port town on the southeast part of the state. At breakfast we were talking of the sea kayaking expedition we had booked later that day, when Angela started noticing splashes along the inside cove of the bay. These were definitely within casting distance, and some were fairly large. So after rushing to finish our food we packed our gear and took the short shuttle boat ride over to the town. While I was buying my license we found out the fish jumping were pink salmon that were staging to spawn. They say that the fish jump to “break up their eggs” prior to spawning, but we mostly observed them feeding on small schools of baitfish. And so it was-wait for the schools to start jumping, then cast into the frenzy. We really didn’t have saltwater patterns, but these hard fighting guys didn’t seem to care. Egg sucking leaches and black with red Pyramid wooly buggers worked remarkably well. These fish averaged 5-6lbs and could put a hurt to your drag when in the salt. We almost missed our kayaking tour they were that fun. Sadly as we boarded back up, we could still see the fish out there splashing in the bay. We left Sitka shortly after, but promised ourselves to return to this unique and pretty coastal town.
The 3rd port stop was Ketchikan, AK. Again, as we got off the boat we were greeted with the usual barage of vendors trying to sell overpriced tours, Alaskan jewelry, and of course clothing articles that say “Alaska” on them. Once we were able to get past the crowds we again noticed salmon jumping around the boat docks. We didn’t have any gear with us so we just took a little walking tour around town. We finally found a sporting goods store and were able to buy some actual salmon flies too. Upon a stroke of luck, we came across Ketchikan creek and watched as gear fisherman caught fish after fish. Mostly pinks, but also some larger chums. It was raining pretty hard, but the boat was close and we decided to get a little fishing in before we had leave. After getting my fly rod I noticed on my license that Alaska day licenses are for 24 hours, not just the day you buy it. Awesome! I still had an hour and a half left. We ran down to the creek mouth, and also joined the local gear anglers in catching fish. When my time was up, we ducked into a cool little bar called Fat Stan’s and chatted with some local fisherman and artists. This was a nice way to end our all to short of time in this unique fishing town.
The last port stop was Victoria, Canada. Within the city, there’s unique architecture, totem poles and beautiful parks. All this surrounding a rather large port. We only had about 5 hours to spend in the city so we just took a long walk around, and eventually ate dinner at a small little crab shack. It was a relaxing way to end our cruise, but our real adventure was about to begin.


Mendenhall Glacier











Packing on the pounds.





Sitka, AK





Mendenhall Glacier...Wow.





Views of Ketchikan





Victoria, Canada





Totems galore.

CONGRATULATIONS BRETT AND ANGELA COFFMAN

After nearly a decade of dating Brett and Angela finally tied the knot last Saturday (can two people really know each other after such a short time?). Seriously though, congratulations you two and we look forward to a posting on your 2 week Alaskan adventure.


Check out the boutineer cleverly created by fly tier extraordinaire Jan Nemec. I was a little surprised we didn't all walk down the aisle in waders. I guess Brett's come a long way.

FLY SWATTIN' IN THE HIGH COUNTRY

Hidden Sierra Gems are well worth the effort.


The high sierra's have so much to offer. Though sometimes all you'll find are small fry's, you're still rewarded with stunning scenery. There's something exhilarating too about watching an unsuspecting brookie sabotage a dry fly with so much confidence and innocence that it nearly breaks your heart. Though the big waters in our area are fishing hot, spend a day or two on the trail anyways, you'll be rewarded.






Not a bad spot for lunch.




Small but Wild...




Brookies are fond of Big Bushy Dries.

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.

TWO DAYS IN THE MOTHER LODE

by Luke Harris

My brother and I left Reno on Saturday afternoon to meet Gramps for two days fishing in the Mother Lode. With unstable weather patterns and snow over I-80 we had no idea what to expect. We fished Don Pedro reservoir on Sunday. Though the morning started out promising the lake level began dropping rapidly and consequently so did the fishing. Gramps and Adam managed the only Largemouth of the trip using conventional gear and the fly fishing was incredibly tough that day yielding me very few fish at all. The show stealer on Sunday was of all things a nice Crappie caught by Gramps. The real action however, would happen the next day.

We launched at Tulloch Reservoir the following morning before sunup and Adam quickly had a smallmouth to the boat. The fishing only improved throughout the day. Gramps and Adam had constant luck on plastic worms as did I with a good old black woolly bugger on type 3 sinking line. At some points we were getting at least a bite every cast. I also managed to hook Crappie, Panfish and even a trout.

Though we failed to boat anything big, all and all it was good to be fishing from Gramps' boat again. As always, we had a killer time and can't wait for the next outing.



The Fee Area



The only Largemouth of the Trip were minuscule though we spotted some big cruisers up to 7lbs



The transportation



A solid Crappie brought to you by Gramps




The Dock



Constant Smallmouth action made the day



What they puked up



Gramps the Bass Wizard planning our next move




Plenty of these guys



Even a trout



Early morning cruising



The Crappie colors were stunning



They chewed through more than a few black buggers



The burbs



The Panfish had some cool colors too.