West Slope Slam

Spent this past weekend fishing some of my home waters down on the west slope with my brother.  One of the best parts about fishing the West Side of the Sierra's is the variety of fishing it has to offer.  There's many different species and types of water available to anglers.  Lately we have been into doing multi species fishing days.  It's fun to try to catch as many different species of fish in one day as possible.  Around Amandor and Calavaras, it's possible to catch rainbow, brown, cutthroat and brook trout, large mouth, small mouth, striper and rock bass, blue gill, sun fish, crappie, squaw fish, carp, cocanie, and even cat fish on flies.  We make up different combinations and try to come up with slam names like they have in Belize.  We consider a slam to be when you catch at least three different species in one day.  A grand slam is four major species and a super grand slam is at lest 5 species.  My best combo has been a rainbow trout, cocanie, squawfish, large mouth and small mouth in one day.  On this outing, my brother Eugene got the classic West Slope slam.  He managed to pull in three brown trout, two rainbow's and three large mouth bass.  He almost had a small mouth too, witch would have put him up into a grand slam.  We are so lucky to have such diverse fisheries here in California.  

Eugene with the first brown of the day.   He took a green sculpin pattern.  

The bows were small, but wild and great fighters.  
Who say's bass can't jump?
Eugene's last bass was a nice one.  Great take and good fight.  
It's always nice to end the day with a couple good bass takes on a popper.  I fell short of the slam and only got a couple rainbows and a few bass.  If only i could have hooked the small mouth that bit by fly.  Oh well, looks like my brother will have bragging rights for at least another month or so.  

In addition to just getting out and fishing, I've also been putting some of Patagonia's new footwear to the test.  Pictured here is the new Izzak wading sandal.  It's been a real treat to wear and has out preformed any expectations.  It's great for wading and hiking through the entire summer and on a variety of different terrain.  The new Vibram sole has amazing hold on everything from the sharp shale rocks of the foothills, to the smooth granite boulders of the high country to the super slick river bottoms of the east Walker and Truckee Rivers.  It's my new favorite pice of footwear by far.  I've also been using the Tide Swing fishing shoe and Limit flip flop.  Patagonia is really raising the bar with new footwear innovations for anglers.   Also keep an eye out for the new Vibrum soles on some of the wading boots like my personal favorite, the River Walker.  They are more environmentally friendly to the river bottom, without sacrificing great traction.  

MW

High Sierra Cal Trout

Cal Trout putting the word out about conservation at High Sierra Music Festival.  This years High Sierra was a good one.  Lots of good music, food and art.  Shannon Moon, of Cal Trout, was there holding it down right by the main stage.  Cal Trout is a conservation organization dedicated to helping insure protection of California's wild trout and cold water fisheries.  Read more about Cal Trout and sign up to become a member today at: www.caltrout.org

Ulua

Just got back from a quick trip to Hawaii.  Here's a shot of some Blue Fin and Giant Travelly (Ulua) that were lurking in a pool at the Hotel where I was staying.  

The Search

Check out the latest from Gin-Clear media.  The Search is a documentary of an epic exploratory journey through the islands of Tahiti in search of giant bonefish and what ever else would hit a fly.  Nice Job Nicko!!

Check em out at www.gin-clear.com

I first met Nick Reygart in a bar in Esquel Argentina.  He was traveling around filming a road fly-fishing show for Australian T.V.  I was there with Ryan, Brian, and Chris, filming the first Trout Bum Diaries.  We connected on a common love of fishing and film.  He said he knew of a couple good fishing holes and also wanted to chase some Sea Run Browns.  We chucked him in the Jeep and off we went.  For the next three weeks, we traveled around together, slept in the dirt, eat dodgy food and drank lots of beer.  Nick turned out to be one hell of a guy and an excellent film producer.  If you haven't seen his work, you should definitely pick up a copy of this flick.  

Cheers Mate.

Andy's Painting

Paint on Canvas by Andy Burk for the movie SOULFISH.  In addition to being an expert angler and super innovative fly designer, Andy Burk is also a very skilled and creative painter.  He brushed out this masterpiece depicting some of the fish that were caught in the movie.  To check out and possibly even buy more original pieces from Andy, go to www.andyburk.com.

Also keep an eye out for Andy's new line of Fly Tying videos coming soon.  I recently got a little sneak preview of the videos and they are by far the coolest tying videos i've ever seen!!

Keys Grand Slam!

I spent the last four days fishing and filming in the Key West area of the Florida Key's with Capt Justin Rea and Angler Jay Robertson. Conditions have been good this Tarpon Season and the fish were swimming. Jay is one heck of a good caster and really knows the ins and outs of fishing in the Keys. If there were ever a spectator aspect to the sport of fishing, I think Tarpon fishing in the Florida Key's is one of the best shows. I was stoked to get a bows eye view of all the Action.
Capitan Justin Rea of Sting Rea Charters poles into position while Jay Robertson gets ready for a shot.
Here's Jay manhandling a nice one. He put the boots to this fish. Justin goes in for the grab. It's a great feeling to get your fly back from one of these giant beasts. Day 3 started out with a few nice Bonefish. This was the biggest of the bunch.Before lunch, Jay had a nice permit in the boat. This little fella did everything he could to shake em. He tried rubbing the sand, wrapping the coral heads, darting under the boat and even the old wrap around the pulling pole technique. After some good driving by Justin and some handy rod work by Jay, he eventually got grabbed too. With a few nice Bonefish and a Permit in the boat now it was time to find a Tarpon. Justin took us into a sneaky little tarpon pond and Jay roped this little guy to finish off the Florida Keys Grand Slam by 1pm. What a day! On the last day of the trip, I got in on the action with a baby tarpon out of another one of Justin's secret tarpon ponds. This little fella took a dry and that was enough to put a huge smile on my face.

Wyoming Goes Off!

Here's just one of the nice Cutthroat's Trevor Wine, AKA T-Bone, got while fishing the Snake River on his day off last week. T-Bone is a guide for World Cast Anglers out of Jackson W.Y. He reported the fishing has been excellent this summer. Water conditions are good and the fish are eating dries. If your thinking of fishing in that area, you should drop him a line. T-Bones a great guide and a fun person to spend a day on the water with.