Cali Roadtrip!

Kassie and I finally made a plan for a nice getaway that fit right into our schedules.  She was wrapping up her graduate school program with University of Colorado, Denver to become a teacher, and I was entering the interim period between my time guiding in PA and the season here in CO.  We planned to roadtrip out to California with the intent on visiting the Redwood forests, Big Sur, Sequoia and Yosemite.  We also sprinkled in a few days to wet the line in famous Cali rivers such as the McCloud and Truckee Rivers. 

Hat Creek 5/17/11

After visiting The Fly Shop in Redding, not only we were informed that runoff had made its appearance on these waters as well, but were given information to where we could still catch some fish.  We left the great fly shop with some local flies, maps and directions to the hotspots along Hat Creek.  The first hole we tried was the Upper Power Station Hole, if I remember right.  The river cascaded down through a very nice riffle and pocket water section into a VERY long meadow section.  Rumor has it that the resident giants live down in the meadow section and that sight fishing is the rule.  As seems to be part of my fishing routine this spring, we were blessed with plenty of rain throughout the day, not allowing any sight fishing to the giants downstream. Instead we focused out attention on the lower riffle section, directly before the water entered the long, meadow pools. 

Others had the same idea as two guided trips soon set up shop on the other side of the riffle from Kassie and I.  Almost immediately after our arrival on the water, the swallows were buzzing, and the fish were popping on the surface to some blue winged olives.  I tied on a dry/dropper combination of a #16 parachute adams and a #18 BWO soft hackle and started getting some interest.  The majority of the fish came to the dropper just under the surface, but I still managed to find a few looking at the dry.  The fish averaged 12-14”, but were some of the most beautiful rainbows I had ever hooked.  Nice black spots covered their bright red stripes and sides and tails.  

Kass lost interest as the rain was coming down hard, and I stayed in this section until lunchtime, when I headed to the truck to dry out.  We ate some lunch and decided to try one of the other spots a bit further downstream.  The water was beautiful downstream, but moving just a bit too fast to entice any takes.  Nevertheless, it was fun to explore a new river and area. 

Merced River 5/23 and 5/24/11

Flowing from Yosemite, the Merced River was PUMPING with runoff!  After around a week with no fishing, there was no stopping me from trying my luck wading into this powerful river.  I was shocked to find just how deep this river was, but was going to try to find some hungry fish.

The first evening I got on the river just outside of the park along highway 140, below the Foresta Rd. Bridge right before dark.  I found one section that looked very fishy, but was still moving very fast!  I managed to get out about 20 feet into the river after maneuvering on rocks to get away from the overhanging trees and get in position to make some nice drifts.  I had tied on a large dark brown Pat’s Rubberleg, with a Formerly Known As, below a couple of BB split shots.  After a few minutes, I finally saw my indicator hesitate and I set the hook.  There was a brief second of no movement, followed directly after by a nice 14” rainbow leaping into the air.  Somehow he cooperated with me and stayed upstream until he made it into my net. 

The following morning I was able to get one more small brown into the net on a rainbow warrior.  He was sitting in some calmer water as a small creek dumped into the Merced. 

Truckee River 5/29/11

Ahh, the famous Truckee River.  We arrived in Truckee CA and the river looked like the flows were not outrageous.  I went into the Mountain Hardware store in town, which is the towns only “fly shop.”  I was hesitant but quickly changed my mind as I entered.  There was a great selection of equipment and flies, as well as a very nice gentleman who helped me learn a thing or two about the area.  He told me of his two best fishing options for the current flows, pointed me in the right direction for flies, and also gave me some advice as a first time Truckee River fisherman.

The first location was up the Little Truckee, between the Stampede and Boca Reservoirs.  There the flow should be good, and being a tailwater, the fish should be large and healthy.  Also being a tailwater, the fish would be very well educated to the common flies and techniques, so I would have to rely on my practice from Cheesman Canyon. 

I arrived up there to find the water ripping, and only minimal holding water that was accessible by wading.  I still tried all of the tricks in the book, with only three hookups and no landed fish.  I decided to head downstream to the main branch of the Truckee to the other ‘secret spot’ my new friend from the fly shop directed me toward.  All I can say is that it is within 20 minutes drive downstream from I-80.  I arrived to a very large and deep section of the river, but with a very nice long pool, two large eddies, and a swift pocket water section. 

I arrived again as the weather was changing and beginning to snow a bit.  I tried a few different depths with my blue winged emerger setup, as well as tried a few various attractor nymphs.  I was able to get one nice 14” rainbow at the head of the eddy with one of my favorites, the drowned Parachute Adams. 

With nothing else tugging, I headed downstream to the long, deep and relatively slow moving pool and switched flies to the largest coffee colored Pat’s Rubber Leg I could find, and a smaller stonefly pattern.  In order to get it deep, I had about 9’ from my indicator to the pats, as well as a couple of split shots.  After a few attempts at double hauling the heavy rig, I changed my approach to a massive tension cast.  This actually worked very well, and I was getting a very nice long drift.  I managed to put it right on the edge of a seam, and after about 10 seconds of the drift, the indicator stopped in its tracks.  I set the hook, anticipating a snag, when it tore downstream.  Unsure of the size of the fish, I moved downstream with him and adjusted my drag.  Once he was out of the current, I realized this was a BIG fish.  After a brief resting period, he once again gained some energy and burst to the surface.  I was caught off guard to see the very large rainbow on the other end of my line.  I made sure to play him just hard enough to keep him out of the main current, while keeping in mind the 5X tippet I was using.  Within a few minutes, I had him to my side and into the net!  The opening of my net is 20” and his tail went about 4” down toward the end of the handle when I held him flat!  

After I was able to get a few pictures for proof, the snow began to fall.  I tried more drifts in all of the likely locations with only two more tugs.  I switched the bottom fly to a small pheasant tail and decided to work the heads of the eddies before I would pack up.  The snow was coming down hard, and the hands were beginning to numb.  I landed one more fish to cap off my Truckee River adventure… a 15” whitey.  Pretty comical way to end one of the most satisfying days in my fishing career!