Summer Trout in the Sierras

This summer brought some terrific dry fly fishing in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

First up:

Stanislaus River

My "home" waters of the Stanislaus River produced some beautiful browns
and rainbows, all coming to a small midge fly.

Catching big brown trout like this, on a dry fly, is probably my
favorite type of fly fishing!
Fishing from a float tube, I had to look for small rises
coming from under the willows, and try to find an opening to place the fly in the
path of the cruising trout!

Courtright Reservoir and the Surrounding Area

Late in July I met my buddy at Courtright Reservoir, for some dry fly action along a
"secret" shoreline. Although the bugs weren't hatching, the rainbows were there, and
gave me plenty of action fishing with small nymphs and wooly buggers. After that great day on the water, I was on my own to explore some new country in the same area.

It was a nice change to be out on my own, car camping, and searching the map for side roads and small streams.

This Meadow was the perfect spot to enjoy a cup of coffee and plan out my day!

It didn't take long to find a pristine little stream...
...that was loaded with small rainbows and brown trout.

The highlight of the trip came on this tiny stream!
As I was fishing my way up stream, I caught a glimpse of something across from me, and up the hill. I saw something brown, and I was sure it was a deer coming down for a drink, so I stepped back into the trees and waited.....
....well to my surprise, a huge black bear (brown phase) suddenly appeared, and jumped onto a log, directly across the stream from me! At first, I thought this was a nice surprise.....
.....but when her small cub jumped up on the log next to her, the scene changed dramatically!
Once I stepped out and started "talking" to her, the big bear had a hard time (with the stream noise) trying to figure out where the "noise" was coming from. However, once she finally spotted me, she bolted off the log, and back the way she came, with her cub in tow!

They didn't give me much to time to grab my camera, but I did manage to get this picture of the cub and the big sow!

What an awesome experience!


Lake Almanor

October found my wife and I vacationing at Lake Almanor.
Since this is a great time to intercept brown trout, heading up the Feather
River to spawn, I couldn't wait to break out the fly rod!

This spectacular brown trout came to my streamer fly and provided several high-leaping jumps!


The west shore of Lake Almanor has one of the finest bike trails anywhere. The trail winds around the edge of the lake and provides many views of the lake and Mt. Lassen.


The week was capped off with a visit from my daughter and her family, and we all enjoyed bike riding and playing with the grandkids!