End Of The Otts

The end of 2009 marks the end of the 'ott' years and brings with it some new and exciting changes. As the old adage goes, the only certainties in life are death, taxes, and change.

As many of you may already know my wife and I are excited about the upcomming expansion of our family. Soon we will have another partner in our fly fishing adventures but this has also brought about shift in thought about what the future holds. I have had to think through and make some tough decisions. At the top of this list has been Anchor Point Fly Fishing.

Considering the security of my family and my wife's request to take the next few years off from full time work, I have made the decision to step back from full time operation of Anchor Point. I have accepted a full time position as a service manager for a bio-tech company. Although my office will no longer be on the river day in and day out, I am still excited for the programs that will be continuing through the balance of winter, into spring and on into summer. I will be focused on group and individual schools for casting/fishing of both single and two hand rods, a series of classes on tying steelhead flies, and continuing my pursuit of two handed casting certification. We will also be taking on a bigger role in Down Stream and are excited for the 2K10 event in the spring. Along with these programs I still intend to apply as much of my free time as possible to chasing fish.

I will continue to put updates for the upcomming programs here and on my site. I will also continue to share some stories, reports, and other technical information here on the blog, so check back often.

For those of you who still have interest in the American Steelhead Special, I have started a standby list in case I have cancellations for my existing bookings. Please drop me a message if you would like to be added to the list.

A monster by no means but each of these wild fish is special in its own way. A magical feeling to hold one and let it swim free to fulfill its destiny.


I would also like to send out a special thanks to those who have spent days with us over the past few years. We greatly appreciate you business and will continue to provide the highest quality service through all of our programs.

The tug is the drug
Adrian

Egg-Truder

A new fly for the fall season in the valley.
This one was born from the original intruders with an eggy twist.


This, like most other intruders I tie, is tied on a straightened 2/0 salmon hook. I rig a stinger hook using my tippet and a small piece of junction tubing with a non-slip loop. Rigging in this way has three major advantages over using just the long shank hook; the short shank of the stinger decreases the amount of leverage that the fish can apply, the stinger is free to move once a fish is hooked additionally decreasing the fish's leverage, and the hook can easily be replaced if it becomes dull or damaged.

I will be putting together some step by step picture instructions for tying and rigging intruder style flies (good motivation for getting a new tying area set up).


The tug is the drug
Adrian

Trinity River Full Day Spey Schools

Once you hook a summer steelhead on the Trinity River, you’ll be coming back every year to view the beauty of the river and the possibility of hooking another feisty sea-run rainbow. The Trinity is one of the top steelhead fisheries on the west coast and continues to produce some of the largest runs in North America. During this informative spey casting and fishing class, you’ll be exposed to everything needed to make your time on the river more productive. We will float and stop at designated locations, both river left and river right, to work on spey casting and fishing methods. Learn how to become a better spey caster while increasing your knowledge about equipment and fishing a spey rod. Topics will include, but are not limited to, equipment , casting styles , spey casting techniques from both sides of the river, casting and fishing sinktips, distance casting, and fishing methods. This school includes a river-side lunch, scenic float and casting and fishing instruction. Don’t miss this opportunity to discover one of California’s finest “steelhead-spey” rivers. Class size is limited to 6 people. October 10^th-11^th from 8am to 4pm. Recommended lodging near the Willow Creek area : The Bigfoot Motel (530) 629-2142, Gambi Hill Motel/Cottages (530) 629-2701, Coho Cottages 800 722-2223, Campgrounds: Camp Kimtu

Cost per person: $350.00

Date: October 10^th and 11^th 2009

Equipment List:

-Spey Rod Oufit (Rod, Reel and Line, if you do not have an outfit we can provide one)

-Waders

-Wading Boots

-Valid California Fishing License with Steelhead Report Card

-Leaders: 9’ – 15’ Tapered Leaders 3x-0x, Tippet-0X-3X

-Summer Steelhead Flies: #8-#6- Green Butt Silver Hilton, October Caddis, Muddler Minnow, Sculpin,

Green Butt Skunk

-Hat

-Polarized Glasses

-Sunscreen

-Camera w/ Batteries and Memory Card

American River Fall and Winter Steelhead Spey Special

American River Fall and Winter

Steelhead Spey Special: $250

8-10 Hours for 1 or 2 Anglers

Expert instruction coupled with a full day on the water at a special rate-

who could ask for more?

This program is designed provide you with the skills and information you need to chase fall and winter steelhead with two handed rods. If you've already got the skills, no problem, we will skip the instruction and get right to chasing steelies on the swing for the entire day.

Walk and wade or float depending upon river flows and season. All gear (rods, lines, leaders, flies, tippet...) will be provided. If you have your own outfit, bring it and we will provide the flies, leaders, and tippet.

Instructional topics to be covered as needed and personalized to your needs:

· Gear (rods, lines, flies)

· Casting tune-up (river right and river left)

· Presentation techniques for floating and sink tip lines

· Reading water

We will show you where the great swinging water can be found right here on the American!

What's the catch?

-This program is only availble for two handed rods (spey or switch) - swing only.

-We will not be providing a full lunch for these days (we will have a cooler with ice, drinks, and snacks). Please bring your own lunch if you like.

The tug is the drug

Adrian

Swinging On The American

The American has begun to pick up her pace over the past few weeks. We have been out all but a few days over the past week and with good numbers of grabs, even a few fish to hand.



It's a little early for numbers of fish we have been seeing/hooking. The higher flows are probably playing a part in keeping the American temps slightly below those of the Sac (lets just hope that they have enough water to keep us going thorough the winter). Most of the fish we have been getting are in the 18-22' range and a mixture of wild and hatchery.

We will soon be launching a Fall and Winter Swing Special for the American River. Details in the next post.

The tug is the drug
Adrian

Week In Review

I had the chance to get out and chase some fish over the past few weeks. I spent a few evenings out on the American chasing some stripers around. We managed a few schoolies here and there but nothing note worthy. I did get a few good reports of better numbers of fish in the lower river so this week will warrant some exploration.

As for Steelhead, there are some fish scattered throughout the American system. I got ripped one morning this week and I saw a pod of fish move through Grissmill on Wednesday that were as bright as could be and in the 5-7lb range. I am hopeful that this is a sign of good things to come.

I also had the opportunity to spend a day over in Truckee with Brian Slusser. Brian is a local guide to the Truckee area. He owns and operates Four Seasons Fly Fishing.

We spent half of the day out on Stampede Reservoir and the evening on the Truckee. We got into lots bass throughout the morning. No monsters but plenty of action to keep up occupied. After a few hours we ventured back into one of the inlets only to find a huge swarm of hoppers throughout the tree lined shores and when the wind would blow they ended up on the water. I have never seen such a thing on still water. Even the Geese were excited and chasing the water trapped hoppers so it would only make sense that the trout would also be keyed in. We made a dozen or so drifts with fish on every one, even a few doubles and a few multiple fish drifts. Again no monsters but still pretty cool to catch fish on the surface, in high sun, with large dry flies. The evening ended on the moving water of the Truckee with lots of fish chasing bugs to the surface.

If you are planning a trip to the Truckee area please don't hesitate to look Brian up. He is a great guide, knows the area well, and can customize a trip that will far exceed your expectations.

I will be launching a some special programs for the fall and winter, details coming soon.

The tug is the drug
Adrian

Long Time, No Post

It has been quite awhile since my last post and lots has been going on.

I had the opportunity to attend Sandy River Spey Clave. It was awesome to be around so many talented casters and have the option to cast just about any rod out there. Even got to fish a few days on the Sandy and Clack.

Back up to memorial day (I know 4th of July has just past but I want to recap). Teresa and I spent the weekend on the North Fork of the Feather with some friends. It was our first time up there and what a gem we had been ignoring. Tough to wade, lots of scrambling up and down the rocky banks, and no other fishermen in sight. I could not believe that for a holiday weekend we did not seen another fly fisherman and only two or three gear guys. Bonus for us!!! The highlight of the weekend was spotting a riser from a high rocky bank and stocking my way down into position and putting a caddis right into his zone while the rest of the group cheered from above.

I am finally into my new place in Rancho and the projects around here have been taking a good portion of my time.

I am happy to announce that we (Teresa and I) have a new addition to the family. We have a house why not get a dog?? Riley is a 5 year old retriever mix but he is not your ordinary retriever. He is about 85 pounds of red fur and a face that has the innocence of a 2 month old puppy. His former owners were moving back to England and did not want to put him through the 6 month quarantine process. So Teresa went over to look at a couch they were selling and came back with Riley (well not exactly but you get the general idea).

I guided a few days the following week on the Yuba with the flows rippin. We managed a few fish each day with the bonus of three nice steelies out of the lower river (below Sycamore). The high flows did move some of the structure around and opened up a new piece of water down low that I am excited to swing when the flows come down.

I guided three days on the American for shad and strippers. Only a few small schoolie strippers but we did have a blast with some shad and the two handed rods. This is a great way to get repeated hookups on the swing which doesn't happen too often with steelhead.

The guys from Outdoor Specialty Products put together a vendor spey day on the American River which featured the complete line of Sage, Redington, and Rio spey products. Simon Gawesworth gave a few demos and presentations. I was fortunate to spend multiple hours with Simon one on one working on and discussing two handed instruction. I gleamed a few nuggets that will help me out when working with clients and with the two handed instructor certification exam.

I passed my single hand casting certification exam. This was the culmination of two months of focused work and many times of going through the demonstration questions with Teresa (secretly she is happier than I am as she does not have to listen to them anymore).

I have begun working more with Jeff Putnam on his fly fishing schools. I will have another post outlining what we are working on for the balance of the summer and the fall.

I took a client over to the Truckee for a day two weeks ago. I was hoping to catch the tail end of the Green Drakes but I think we were a few days too late in the sections we fished. But that did not mean we were out of luck with the surface action. There were Yellow Sallies and Caddis everywhere and we had a nice mayfly hatch in the evening. No monsters but lots eager fish.

I got out with my buddy Shawn last week on the Yuba. We only had about 5 hours to spend but we made the best of it. We swung through a few runs with no grabs. We did find a pod of risers in the lower river and were able to raise a half dozen or so. This was also Riley's maiden trip in the boat and he did very well. I think he is gonna make for a great fishing dog.

I have a list of at least 6 topics for posts that I have been working on so there will not be as much of a lapse between posts from now on.

The tug is the drug
Adrian