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Pulled the boat back over the hill for another day out fly fishing for Delta Stripers. Jeff joined me for the day and as usual, we had a great time. I think those short-sleeve fall days are finally behind us now. It wasn’t too cold, but the beanie and gloves did make their way out of the boat bag between spots for the first time this season. Read the rest of this entry

Another quick striped bass fly fishing report – Got out again to take another whack at this year’s delta stripers. The tides were predicted to be really good (or far better than when I’d been out with Brandon the previous week) and the weather forecast was for a flat, windless day – perfect conditions for delta stripers! Read the rest of this entry

It was late morning as I hurriedly tossed the boat bag, fly rods, fly reels, and sleeping bags into the back of the truck. The clock was ticking and Brandon’s flight was due to arrive in San Jose any minute. I quickly backed the truck in, hooked up the boat trailer, and headed for the airport. 2 hours later we were digesting “Super” breakfast burritos as we zipped across Franks Tract. Read the rest of this entry

Another tricky case of jet lag had me wide awake and bug-eyed at 3AM this morning, despite going to bed at midnight. My flight had departed at 2pm and landed 11 hours later at 8am the same day; yeah, try and figure that one out.
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Finally got out on the the Delta for the first trip of the season. With all the steelhead fishing lately I’ve got to say that 9′ 9wt felt awfully short and took some getting used to. The first spot I hit was empty as well as the 2nd spot, but the 3rd stop paid off with a real bruiser that went a good 11 or 12 Read the rest of this entry

Jamie Howard (of Chasing Silver fame) has the trailer up of his latest project, “Bass: The Movie”. There’s some good topwater footage of The Delta being fished by John Sherman and the guru himself, Kevin Doran. You can check it out at http://howardfilms.com/trailerBass2.html

This Is Fly, an online fly fishing magazine, also has a good article on it with more information. You can check the article out here.

When the phone rang at o’dark thirty in the morning I sprang out of bed as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water on me, “Crap! Sorry! I didn’t even hear the alarm clocks! Give me 30 minutes; I’ll call you on the way”!

The first mistake was not getting my stuff together the night before. The second mistake was convincing myself that if by some act of God I ever did actually fall asleep, there would be any chance at all that I’d wake up in less than 2 hours. Read the rest of this entry

“There we go!”, and Jeff was hooked up. We’d barely got the boat into position for the first spot of the day and his fly rod was already buckled over into a big fish! I couldn’t believe it, a week later, and on the opposite tide, the same big fish my dad & I had stumbled upon were still here! Read the rest of this entry

My dad was in town on business and had managed to schedule in an extra day to fish the delta with me for his first time. With the cold & dirty water typical of this time of year, our expectations weren’t high and I unnecessarily did what I could to emphasize that any fish caught would be an extreme bonus, striper or not, and regardless of size. Read the rest of this entry

The weather keeps getting nastier and the water colder. A break between winter storms finally opened a window for Jeff & I to make the first trip of the new year to check in on The Delta. The recent storms had successfully left the dreaded, gin-clear water of the fall behind us, but not without a price: cold water and the lethargic fish that come with it. Read the rest of this entry

It was late Saturday morning when I lazily rolled out of bed, poured a hot cup of coffee, and hopped online to check the weekend weather forecast for The Delta. The water temperatures had been down into the 40’s and the reports I’d been hearing weren’t good. I had half a dozen new flies I’d been anxious to put in the water and Accuweather was calling for perfect conditions (from a weather perspective) so despite the chilly water and the poor reports, I said what the heck, hooked up the boat, and headed over. Read the rest of this entry

The fact that Jose was still waiting for us at the dock, more than an hour after sunset, was surprising. When I saw the digital camera in his hand I knew why. “How big”? I asked. He ignored me and asked how we’d done. “Terrible”, I responded, “Now let’s see it Jose”. With a sly smirk he coyly responded, “See what? Why are you getting in so late? We were Read the rest of this entry

My brother made it down from Seattle to spend a few days on the Delta with me. On the way back in from a windy first day I justified the days slow fishing to him on the water’s drastic drop in temperature last week and the windy conditions. Brandon & I have fished together long enough not to let a slow day get to us. When we pulled up to the dock and Jose & his buddy were anxiously waiting for us (digital camera in hand) Read the rest of this entry

I’d returned from up north in full blown steelhead mode. When I’d heard how well Jeff & Jose had done on the Delta earlier in the week I thought “good for them”. When asked if I was going out the coming weekend I responded, “probably not, too many things to do”. A few days later, Dave called. He was out with Jose and they’d been “into them”. OK, “good for them”, I’ve got things to do and steelhead flies to tie. That evening Dave called again Read the rest of this entry

October, November, and December have got to be my favorite and busiest months here in the Bay Area, at least from a fishing perspective. My favorite fishing happens this time of year on my favorite waters and when the local conditions continue to be as good as they’ve been this year, I once again find the Delta taking front stage. This past Saturday was Dan Blanton’s annual fund raiser on the delta, Striperfest 2007. Read the rest of this entry

Saturday morning was slow to say the least. The only fish I was able to find were most likely the same school of dinks that Al & I had found 2 weeks prior in the West Delta but unlike that day these guys were all sitting on the bottom and it took a lot of coaxing (fly changes & variations in retrieve) to even get a few of them to grab. They weren’t hungry, and they weren’t big, so I moved on. Read the rest of this entry

After last weekend’s incredible fishing I invited my friend Erica out for the weekend. With her busy schedule lately I was pleasantly surprised when she accepted. We’d tentatively planned to fish both days but the place I typically stay was booked and unlike last weekend, there was wind forecast, so a day trip it was. Read the rest of this entry

My Oregon buddy Al was scheduled to be in the Bay Area for a few days on business and after hearing last weekend’s fishing report he decided to pack a few fly rods and extend his trip through the weekend to join me on the Delta. The early morning’s drive over is still a bit of a haze as is the actual launching of the boat in the dark. I think the moment I actually awoke for the day came as I returned from parking the truck & trailer to hear one of my favorite sounds coming from out in the slough, SMACK! As I approached the launch, Read the rest of this entry

Once again some last minute changes in plans paid off with another memorable day on the water. The weather was forecast for a cold morning followed by afternoon temperatures in the high 70’s. Most importantly was the wind prediction, at a steady < 5 mph all day. When I told Dave the conditions were ideal for our “first day of the season” on the Delta he jumped on it and the following morning, early morning, we headed East. Read the rest of this entry