DRY FLIES

Well, kinda not really. Been on a big streamer and popper kick lately and found this. Not fly fishing, but I found it interesting, and anyways Larry Dahlberg is one of my heroes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOpUy4GJJ8U&feature=grec_index

btw - sorry if the link isn't working, just highlight and copy/paste, I'll figure out what's not working with it soon enough.

Nice day with the boys

Had a good day last week with a return client. Pete and his friends Adam and Larry. Adam had never really fished moving water with a fly rod. Living in Reno he had always focused on Pyramid Lake for the big Lahontan cutthroat . Nice way to start your river fishing experiences, I had a blast with you guys.
Dan

Kids these days...

Took out Michael here last week. He told me he had only gone fly fishing a couple times, yet when we were on the water, he understood drifts, and advanced mending better then a lot of people I've seen who have fished for decades. He tied his own flies and had a decent grasp on what worked. I couldn't figure out how he had all these innate talents without ever really doing these activities for much time. His secret; he studied youtube vids of other people fly fishing and tying. Ahh, the modern era. Great job Michael. I'm happy to see young folks like you that are inquisitive and dedicated to the things they enjoy.

Last night I had two clients hook three browns around 24" in the same run in a 5 minute window. Two were broken off on avoidable rocks and one just sheared the tippet. They were completely random and I'm not quite sure why three fish of that size were in there, but when a guide says "GET THAT ROD UP" listen to the man, hes not trying to sell you real estate, he's trying to help you catch fish. We still ended up catching a good number of smaller to medium size fish, but lost the ones we really wanted. Feelin' heartbroken today. Some days I wonder why I do this, but most days it's as plain and obvious as the smile on my face. It was still a good outing, I think I'm just too caught up in helping people catch the"fish of their year" or the "fish of their life." The next time I'm with some friends and were thinking of what to toast to, its going to,

"the ones that were caught and the ones that got away"

cheers
Dan

River's been having some thick caddis and yellow sally hatches. Little Truckee and the other creeks are getting low but still fishing well. Low light conditions are usually best. Was driving home through the canyon on hwy80 the other night and my windshield was getting pelted with pugs. Haven't seen a hatch that thick in quite some time.

Prime time

Fishing's been great around Truckee lately Nice caddis hatches and yellow sallies on the main stem(also streamer fishing is picking up) and a good mid-day pink mayfly hatch on the LT. Smallmouth are picking up on the reservoirs and carp fishing in Nevada is getting pretty good too. (along with the trout of course) See ya out there!

Beginners luck?

I had 2 first-timer guide trips the last couple days, and both somehow managed to land larger browns. Beginners Luck? Maybe, but Im thinking my quick learning students had more of an influence then the luck. I see a good number of those fish hooked by clients every year, but with beginners its tough to have the necessary abilities to land bigger fish, especially with how smart the browns are around here. They see it all and know a lot of tricks to separate the connection between angler and fish. Luckily for me, both of my guys retained what I told them. They kept the rod up with a good amount of pressure, lead the fish by his head. They manuevered them away from rocks and snags pre-emptively before they could make a break for cover. They didnt try to check the fishes hard, early runs and instead fought with patience and control. They stayed parallel to the fish and brought them into slower, shallower water to facilitate netting the fish. To put it short, they acted like pros and made me proud out there.
well played gentleman, well played indeed.

Here's Mark with a beauty of a brown from the LT. Bear in mind hes 6'5" and 250 and Im just a little guy at a hair under 6'3". Awesome fish on 6x in about 8" of water.

And here's the young master Nick on the Truckee River with a gorgeous fish he caught high sticking in the fast water with a sculpin I had tied the night before.
PS On the flip side of the coin, on another day, one of my guys hooked 3 decent fish in a short period and they all shook loose, despite hooking quickly from a good angle and playing the fish properly. They just came unbuttoned. I wouldn't try to claim luck has no part in it, it always will, but making the best of every opportunity is something we should all strive for as anglers.

-Dan