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

Flies For The Season

This past week's rain brought some much needed water, the first feeling of Fall temperatures, and even gave my boat a good free bath.


As my wife and I make plans for the addition to our family, close to the top of the list was the location of the nursery. I will soon be giving up my fly addict room to make way for the crib, changing table, and other required items. I began the process of moving out but had to spend one final evening at my tying bench before it was relocated (to where I am not yet sure but it is not staying where it is).

Fitting of the change in season I tied a few holiday flies. I am sure that both will go for a swim very soon.

Halloween (Orange Back Zombie)



Christmas (Green Tailed Bow)
Yes it is still a quite a ways off but it will be here before we know it.



One little piece of advice that has served me well for the past few years. Get your holiday shopping done before November 15th. It will win you huge points with your wife (if you have one), you will not have to listen to all that crappy holiday music while shopping, and you will free up some time down the road to spend on the river when the big boys are around.

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

Even Smoky Clouds Have A Silver Lining

The fire burning just north of Rt 138 caused my buddy Mike and I to question our plans to head to the North Umpqua. Would it jump the containment areas? Would the crews working the fire close additional stretches of the road? Just how smokey would it be up there? These and may other questions bounced back and forth over the phone and through the digital networks in the days leading up to our planned departure.

The final consensus, lets just go but keep a backup plan. The backup plan entailed hauling the drift boat up to Medford and dropping it off so we could, if needed, float a few days on the Rogue. As it turned out there would be no drifts on the Rogue during this trip.


We hit the road at O-dark-thirty, dropped the boat boat before noon, and after a quick stop at the grocery arrived at Island campground by 4pm. We scurried to set up knowing full well that it would be dark by the time we got off the water.

The road closure began just down river from Mott Bridge, allowing access to the camp water stretch. As we pulled into the parking area, to our great surprise, we had it all to ourselves. Half-way through the first run I knew that it was going to be an epic trip. I rose two fish to a dry and was able to follow up and hook one on a wet! The first fish of the trip came unbuttoned but the story had just begun.

A few nips of Scotch and a beer with dinner were all we could handle before our heads hit the pillows and it seemed only minutes later the alarm going off at 4:30. A pot of coffee into the mugs and back to the river we went to sip our coffee and wait for day to break. A front had moved in over night bringing with in much cooler temperatures and a thick cloud layer. The steam rising from my mug of hot 'Joe' told me that it should be a fall morning but a steelhead morning it was none the less. Before even stepping foot in the water fish were rolling everywhere! Standing on shore sipping our coffee we looked on in amazement that we still had the place to ourselves.


We rose a few fish in our first runs and set off to explore some upstream water. A quick break for lunch and back to the water. The smoke mixed with the clouds kept the sun at bay for the entire day and aided in bringing numerous fish to the surface after our dry flies with two fish to hand by late afternoon. By all accounts this was already a completely successful trip and anything more would be 'gravy.' I remember thinking "I want to get as much as I can, cuz this just doesn't happen very often!"



The above would be the plan for the following two days and it paid huge dividends. We had a second full day of cloud and smoke to keep the sun off the water entirely. The third day was split by 3 hours of sun in the afternoon but the shady spots still produced. After three and a half days on the river we were 7 for 17 with 10 to the dry fly. All seven fish were wild and totally full of fight. All were pretty typical summer fish in the 5-8lb range except for one lunker that was well over 10lb. It came unbuttoned at the bank during the landing process so no physical evidence but it will not soon be forgotten by either Mike nor I.

They opened the road on Friday afternoon but all of the parking for the first 10 miles down from Steamboat was still closed for fire-crew access. A few more folks showed up on Saturday but for a typical August weekend on the North it was deserted.

Next time you are on the fence about making a trip just go for it, as it may turn out to be a trip of a lifetime.


The tug is the drug
Adian

Here One Day Gone The Next

I spent Tuesday morning on the American. It was a beautiful sunrise but the fish must not have gotten the message about me being on the water (or maybe they did). We fished through three runs with no grabs or the sight of any rolling fish. I have gotten a few reports of some springers being caught so it is just a matter of getting a fly in front of them.

I am on the road in Montana for rest of this week and all of the following. I will be attending a guide school run through Sweetwater Travel and Fly Shop. I am very excited to spend a week out with a group of high class guides to learn some new skills, fish some new water, and hear some very big fish tales.

I will be putting posts up periodically throughout the week with updates.

The tug is the drug.
Adrian

American Still Fishing Well

I fished the American yesterday morning with Shawn Pittard. There seems to have been another push of fresh fish with last week's rain. Shawn connected with this dandy hen using his switch rod and a Goblin on the business end.



Still eagerly awaiting the arrival of the "springers."

Thanks for a great morning Shawn.

The tug is the drug.
Adrian

An Urban Fishery and Getting Deep

I had the opportunity to fish the American with Ryan Miller and Jason Hartwick this week.

Since the American is an urban fishery, some strange things can happen from time to time. If you have spent any time out on the water during the summer, you know exactly what I am talking about (there is nothing like a 60 year old dude in a thong with huge beer belly swimming around while you are fishing). But if you can look past some of the short-comings, you will find a local area with plenty of opportunity to catch some fish and hone your skills.

There are still still some winter steelhead around and I am anticipating that the blue backs should be arriving soon. We did end up with a few good pulls and I was able to land the above fish. Nothing special but he put on a pretty good acrobatic show and pulled out some line.

I often take a few different approaches when it comes to swinging flies for winter fish. The approach used is dependent upon factors such as water speed/depth, water clarity, and my position when fishing with others just to name a few.

As my title depicts, getting deeper can sometimes increase you chances at enticing a grab from a fish that may be unwilling to move far for a fly. The above fish was caught in 4+ feet of water on a rig I would consider to be fairly heavy (heavy tip and moderately weighted fly) . Would that fish have taken an unweighted fly presented on a lighter sink tip? No one can say for sure.

So how do we get our presentations deeper? Sink tips, weighted flies, casting angle, and line manipulation (after the cast) all play a role in the depth and presentation of your fly. Balancing these factors correctly will result in a slow presentation at the desired depth but get one or more of these factors out of line and you will be tying on a new fly, presenting the fly at Daytona 500 speeds, or not achieve the desired depth to entice the fish.

I will be adding a series of posts that will put all these techniques together and give some clarity into attaining the desired depth.

The tug is the drug.
Adrian

Tier Tier Pants On Fire (at least to keep warm)

I spent last week out in Pennsylvania visiting some fiends and family. Needless to say, it was quite cold (lots of single digits) and there was more snow than I have seen in a long time. This meant lots of time spent inside.
In addition to enjoying some quality family time I had multiple evenings to spend with some tying materials, hooks, and a vise. I am pretty sure that I will be ready for my next coastal adventure as my boxes will be stocked with plenty of new patterns.


I wanted to highlight one of the flies that I have been working on. It is pretty much my interpretation of an Akroyd.

Recipe :

Hook: AJ 1.5 or 3/0
Thread: black 6/0
Tip: round or oval silver
Tag: orange silk
Top Tail: golden pheasant crest
Side Tails: golden pheasant tippets
Body: rear 2/3 orange seal or sub, front black silk, separated by orange ostrich
Rib: medium oval rear, medium pearl Mylar with small round silver front
Hackle: orange schlappen over the rear and blue eared pheasant over the front
Wing: orange goose shoulder with center strip of peacock secondary
Cheeks: jungle cock

I have been working on this one in multiple color combos.

More posts are on the way.

The tug is the drug.
Adrian