fishing report

well folks, believe it or not California does have "a middle of nowhere". I found that place this weekend, Hartmann's Bar on the Middle Fork of the Feather River. There were quite a few people (8) in the middle of nowhere. Luckily I was the only one fishing. Anyways I celebrated memorial day by hiking my fat pasty white butt down 4000 vertical feet of canyon do some fly fishing. I forgot there was a near full moon so the fishing was only good for about 1 hour before dark. I really nailed em for that 1 hour though so I would have to say the trip was a success. Reached double digits on fish landed, all rainbows. smallest 6", largest 14".

Nothing like solitude.


Caddis or a spinner fall? Not familiar with Cal. hatches anymore. Most of the bug activity here has been taking place during the warmest part of the day.


I've noticed the effect of a full moon on lake fishing.


As an old guy I don't find myself climbing down into canyons much anymore.


Did you nymph prior to dark?


Good Luck.

I had that privilidge once, outcome wasn't as good as yours though. We got to the bottom of the canyon and, "What's that noise?" "What noise, I didn't hear anything." Twenty minutes later a flash of lightning. Talk about between a rock and a hot place.


Glad your trip went better, wish I was there now.

caddis?

flows were high but fishable. Fishing would definitely be easier at lower flows.

elk hair caddis with an olive colored body worked very well near dusk.


I tried nymphing earlier in the day with limited success. I've only recently started nymphing so my technique leaves something to be desired. Anyways, I had my nymph, split shot and strike indicator all set up. When my line was in the water I did OK. there was a stiff breeze though and I spent ALOT of time just getting my line untangled. I'm not sure if it was the wind, my casting, or both. I got pretty frustrated and ended up nixing the strike indicator. that helped a little bit. I also wonder if maybe I should use a lower profile knot to connect tippet to leader. I currently use a surgeon's knot cuz it's really easy to tie.

I use a blood knot.


I don't use indicators but I'd guess you don't slow your stroke down enough. I use the current to pull line downstream and load rod. A slight flick and upstream it goes. I fish 10-20 feet of line.


I hope you fished caddis patterns deep before the hatch.Gary LaFontaine patterns, such as deep pupae before hatch and an emerging pupae as the hatch gets going should have produced well.


A little practice and your nymphing will be fine. Tight lines.

Short lining is the way to go. especially in windy conditions, all that weight on your leader makes casting lots of line a chore. using a 10' leader, you only need about five feet of line out. flip (not cast) your rig up stream and follow the drift down with your rod tip. much easier to get drag free this way, and much easier to respond to strikes. also, upstream shortlining doesn't scare fish since you're downstream (behind) of them, and, with such a short length out, not lining them.

I've found in Cali, that you rarely need to go beyond a couple of shades of GRHE's and maybe a black AP in assorted sizes when nymphing. the fish just don't get enough pressure to warrant more elaborate patterns. I'll admit I fish different nymphs, but that's more to please me rather than my mykiss.