Sep 07 6:30 PM Aptos Grange (in-person) and Zoom (online)
Tim Frahm, Trout Unlimited’s Central Coast Steelhead Coordinator, will be speaking with the club about the conservation of wild Steelhead on California’s Central Coast. He will be discussing ongoing efforts to preserve and enhance wild steelhead populations on the Central Coast such as eliminating fish barriers, improvement of summer flows, and floodplain restoration.
These projects require massive effort in locating, designing, permitting, funding, and finally construction. The price around such restoration often ranges in the millions. Please join September’s meeting to learn about the past, present, and future efforts to give wild steelhead a fighting chance in their historical, native watersheds on the Central Coast.
This month’s lucky winners have a chance to win their choice of one of three rod and reel packages (5wt, 6wt, or 8wt) from our friends at Rajeff Sports, a heavy-duty folding chair (local pick-up only), or a collapsible walking staff.
Well, here we are entering September! Wow! What a year getting back to “normal”.
I don’t want to rub it in, but if you missed the August Club BBQ for any reason in excusable, we really missed you. What fun it was to see more than sixty of you at the Sherriff’s Posse Hall and how fun it was.
Shout out to Kevin Murdock and David South for working their magic at the BBQ and for taking the time to go to the store, get all the food, condiments, utensils, set up, and tear down/clean up at the end. If any of you enjoyed the squash, those were Tromboncino and Green Squash from my garden. Yum. Yum.
To all of you who brought items for the swap portion, that was really awesome. Those funds will be going toward our high school scholarships. And thank you to Elaine Cook for carefully organizing all of Doug Severin’s fly-tying materials into specific categories of which I think each bag easily had a life-time of fly-tying materials for each. To say that I have so much fun doing the raffle with Jeff Goyert – who is expert at orchestrating the raffle and who easily and willingly takes your money – understatement. It’s a blast calling out the numbers messing with you guys. Just glad you play along nicely. Way to go Ester and Dar for triple winnings and coincidently being great fly-tiers who helped Elaine last month. You couldn’t stage this better.
Ernie Kinzli, our founding father – so to speak – was present and I was grateful to introduce him to a number of you who weren’t around during the days when he ran his fly-shop in Santa Cruz, then in Soquel right at the bridge of Soquel Creek, Ernie’s favorite haunt for Steelhead and Coho, back in the day. Ernie donated a classic mix between a float tube and a raft that breaks down into it’s own carrying pack. Watch for it in upcoming events. The proceeds for that will be going to the scholarship fund. Thank you, Ernie!
Ernie Kinzli
I cannot begin to say thank you enough to everyone. When they say distance makes the heart grow fonder, that could not be more true. I was just happy to finally see so many of you after this war we’ve been waging for far too long.
As my second, and unprecedented, term as your President begins to wind down, I am going to be at a loss for words given all the emotion, memories, and support I have to be thankful for. Okay – kidding about the ‘loss for words’ part! But anyhow, I’m not going anywhere and will be around to continue supporting the club, you, and doing some other fun stuff – like teaching the casting classes!
I LOVE casting. I’m probably a better “caster” than I am an angler – or one who catches fish. I’ve just loved learning all the way back to 1992 when Mona and I saw a couple of guys fly-fishing on the Stanislaus, and when we went to the Fly Fishing Show, I tried out a Sage SP (which I still have), and got my first “lesson” from Randy Swisher, none other than the infamous Doug Swisher’s son.
I practiced in the grasses at Ed Levin Park in Milpitas during my lunch breaks practically till my arm fell off. Then when we had the “Con-Fab” in February – which I’m hoping we’ll bring back – I just had to beat Kathy Powers at the distance casting. Nothin doin. Kathy is an amazing caster, and probably the best dressed of all of us – any day of the week. But I loved casting.
Then Walt Robinson, who was a member of this club and the San Jose club, was a Master Casting Instructor and fly-tier, gave me some lessons and helped me rig my reel with backing, line, butt section with a nail knot, and blood know to tippet so my line would turn over as beautifully as it should, provided I did what I was supposed to.
Walt suggested I go for my Casting Certification – which I did at the following years Fly-Fishing Show. I was so new back then, and I still wasn’t as good as I really needed to be. Ironically, that morning when I was casting on the casting pond, it was frozen over. Burrr. You should have seen my roll cast – more like a whip and a splat.
But I digress. I love casting and while I’m far from expert, I enjoy seeing you improve, get it, and how you start controlling line so you know exactly where you can put a fly no matter the conditions. Sure distance is a part of casting as the good fish always seem to be on the other side, or just a little bit farther. And you will get there, working your way from the closest water first, and the farthest water last. Often stopping somewhere in between, hitting the honey hole.
So come join me and the rest at Jade Street Park for the rest of the summer, last Saturday of the month – 1:30. When winter comes, and we get some good water on the San Lorenzo, we can do some spey casting in the estuary, or some “chuck n duck” in the gorge. And when Spring comes again, we can pull out the shooting heads for Pyramid and Surf Perch Striper fishing. Can you say double haul?
See you at the Grange for an informative gig with Trout Unlimited and what we’re all working to do to restore salmon and steelhead habitat in the most challenging of times.
IMPORTANT: This class will be taught at the Aptos Grange Hall. Masks will be required for this session. No zoom access.
If you are looking for an easy dry fly trout pattern, here it is for you. And certainly great for beginners, who are always welcome. Caddis are one of the most important food sources for trout and should be included in anybody’s fly box. The upcoming Mammouth fishout will be one of those places that you can readily use this fly.The classes are always free and all materials are provided except for the thread if you have it available. This time we will be using olive 8/0 thread.The club has tools, vises and thread to borrow if you need them.
Please call Elaine Cook at 831-688-15612 reserve your spot and ensure that there are enough materials for the class.
Future tying classes. Dates and subject may change, please go to URL to see the current information.
The Carrie is a searching wet fly. Extremely successful in lakes. Use on a sinking line and twitch or strip to entice the mighty fish. It’s a good fly to use with a trailer. There are various options in tying this fly. I personally prefer sizes 10 or 12 on 3X long hooks, with back feathers of the Ring neck Pheasant for tail and hackle.
HOOK: Many hooks will work. TMC 5262, 5263, 300. Mustad 9672.
Crimp barb.
THREAD: Black 6/0
Attach to mid hook and wrap to rear of shank. TAIL: Ring neck pheasant. Rear feathers for a brown fly, back feathers for an olive blue fly. NOTE: Rear feathers are longer than back feathers.
Remove fuzz from stem of one feather. Stroke all barbs toward tip and feather. Measure from tips to 1/2 hook length. Attach that spot to rear of shank. Tips will extend beyond hook bend. Attach feather to hook shank up to two eyed lengths behind eye. Cut access in front of thread wraps. RIB: Medium sized copper wire which is optional.
Attached to top of mid shank, allowing a short tip to be bent backward. Snuggly attach back to rear of shank. BODY: Dark olive chenille
Strip 1/4 inch of chenille off inner threads. Attach threads to rear of shank. Wrap thread forward to 2 eye lengths behind eye. Wrap chenille forward using touching wraps. Tie off, cut excess. Wrap wire forward, in opposite direction as chenille, in about six wraps. Then 2 final wraps of wire on shank, 1 on top of the other. Twist to break. HACKLE: Ringneck Pheasant — Rear feather for brown Carrie. Back feather for olive/blue Carey. NOTE:Rear feathers are longer than back feathers.
Select feather with barbs at least a little longer than hook shank but up to 1 1/2 times hook length. Remove fuzz from stem. Cut stem short to one 8th inch from barbs. Attached stem behind eye with shinny side towards you. Positions thread behind eye. Tie one or two have hitches, let’s thread hang. Attach heckle pliers to several barbs at tip. Wrap hackle around shank 2-3 times, stroking barbs to rear with each wrap. Tie off, DON’T cut excess. Stroke all barbs to rear then wrap in place by forming a thread head. With finish, cut thread.
Lake Shasta, the largest reservoir in California is 124 feet below its fill line. It is at 36% of total capacity. The last three years have been the worst in the history of the reservoir, which was formed in 1948. While many of California’s reservoirs receive water from snowmelt, Lake Shasta gets 90% from rainfall. Power generation, fish, farmers, municipal water departments are all negatively impacted by restricted flows from Shasta. Central Valley farmers have been reduced to 18% of a normal year’s allocation. However, with one good year of rain, the reservoir can almost fully recover as it did in 1977 when it was down 230 feet. For more on this ongoing story and a short news video go to: https://www.ktvu.com/news/drought-critically-low-water-levels-at-lake-shasta-californias-largest-reservoir
In other news related to the drought and the Sacramento River, the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working together to help the winter-run Chinook salmon in the midst of the ongoing drought. The work is taking place at the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery directly below Shasta Dam. One of the projects is the installation of chillers to maintain the cold water temperature required for rearing Chinook at the hatchery as the lake water supply warms. For more information, go to: https://goldrushcam.com/sierrasuntimes/index.php/news/local-news/39957-in-california-reclamation-and-u-s-fish-wildlife-service-launch-innovative-plan-to-aid-winter-run-chinook-salmon-amid-extreme-drought
This month membership is over 200 dues paying members largely with new online members averaging 2 new members a month. Another milestone is that Jerry Mckeon has over 500 followers on Instagram which has increased significantly since Jerry has been aggressively marketing the activity. He reminds members, including new members to submit photos to him thru his email metropolitantrout@gmail.com. Thank you to those who have contributed photos.
Take West Beach out of Watsonville to the west until you hit the sand dune, then back up and park. No RSVP required, just show up with a smile on your face. Guests are welcome, so bring friends.
Let’s meet at 0620, the days are getting shorter with sunrise at 0640, so we can meet later than before. High tide will have been at 05:20.
Parking is just outside the State Park. I tend to pick State Park beaches among other things, because there is a shower there to wash the sand off and do a first rinse of your salt laden rods and reels.
If you haven’t been out in a long time or are new to the game, you might want to review the surf fishing article on our website www.santacruzflyfishing.org. It is under the “knowledge” drop down menu.
I will have extra flies and stripping baskets. We are almost out of the baskets I make, there are maybe 5 left.
Everyone is welcome, so bring guests. See you Saturday, September 3 at 0620.
And BTW, yes we catch bigger fish than the one in the picture that Tom Bradley caught one day, but this perch was almost smaller than the fly he hit. Dreams of grandeur I suppose.
Want to work on your double haul or just simply presenting a fly right where you want it every time and not necessarily 80′ away from you?
Maybe you want to know more about a shooting head for Pyramid Lahontans, Surf Perch and Stripers in the surf
Maybe you just want to know how to cast in virtually any situation which is simply understanding line control and what you can do when the line is moving – hopefully under your control!
Maybe you want to add some Spey casting to your single hand rod skills in situations where there is no “back cast”.
Or maybe you just want to hang out with a bunch of people flingin big sticks with colorful lines on them.
Then come to Jade Street Park on 8/27 at 1:30 , and again on 9/24. We’ll cast for a couple hours then talk about how awesome we are at Carpo’s and Beer Thirty.
See you then!! Bring what you have – or grab one of the club rods we’ll bring. Bring a friend!!! Any questions prior, please don’t hesitate to give me a call or write. Fish on. Tom 831-214-7578 / thomashogye@yahoo.com
Attendees l-r: Bob Garbarino, Dennis Robbins, Tommy Polito, Lance Boling, Adam Althoff Others not shown: Elaine Cook, Mike Lovejoy, Kreig Williams, John Ivancovich, Scott Kitayama, Robert Eberly
We had over 10 members show up early at Manresa beach for the August fishout. I believe four of them had not been out with us before and a couple had never surf fished. There wasn’t much structure on the beach, however most of the attendees were able to catch fish. According to Elaine, a new member, Mike Lovejoy, caught 10+ in a short amoutn of time down by the trestle and John Ivancovich caught his first surf perch on a fly!
John’s first perch on a flyCutie in a basket
Along with the fishing, we were treated to sightings of pelicans, seals, and dolphins in the bay.
John and I hadn’t been out to fish for at least a year, and we had been craving some good ol’ river fishing with guides we know in Montana. Our good friend and outfitter, Ed Lawrence, who has been a speaker at several SCFF meetings in the past, set us up with lodging and guides, and we set out on Saturday, August 13th, for Bozeman.
We arrived in the afternoon, got settled in the hotel, and met Ed and his wife at a nearby steak house for dinner and to make plans. He had told us before we came out that the first guide had tested positive for COVID, and that our first day of fishing was going to be up to us to arrange.
We had had a bit of trouble connecting with the owner of the Turo rental car we used. We had to have an Uber driver drive us to the house where the rental car was, which seemed rather inconvenient, but that’s the way peer-to-peer car rides and car rentals often are, if you are into saving bucks not using cabs or car rental places.
John called a friend, Richard, who used to live in Corralitos, but now resides in West Yellowstone. Richard has a boat, and he agreed to take us out on the Madison on Sunday. We met him on the river, Richard launched, I watched the boat, and Richard and John ferried the tow vehicle downriver about seven miles, then John drove Richard back to the boat.
We had great fun in the morning, fishing foam hoppers. I caught three nice fish, John nicked a few, and although we only did a half day, we didn’t sit in the hotel moping about missing a day’s fishing. It got hot in the afternoon, and the fish just dove deep and sulked.
Day two, Monday, was a bit of a challenge. We had to get up at o’dark thirty and drive to Craig, up near Helena to meet with the guide. Ed enlisted him to sub for the guide who had COVID, so we couldn’t complain. Russ, the guide, took us out on the Missouri River, between Pelican Point and Cascade. That part of the river is pretty slack water, slow moving, not very well oxygenated and warm. It was hot all day. We each caught a couple nice rainbows on hoppers, but the water temps made for very slow, reluctant takes.
We moved from the hotel in Bozeman to a place in downtown Helena. On Tuesday morning, the guide, John Hall, came to pick us up, towing his drift boat, so all we had to do was get in and go. With John Hall, we did the section of the Missouri between Mid Cañon to Pelican Point, so we were above the section of river we had done the day before. The water was a little faster-running, and John rigged us up with hoppers and droppers. We caught many more fish that day, most on the dropper, which was a bead-head nymph, tied on a jig hook, turquoise body with a silver tungsten bead head and a teensy red tail.
The last day we spent was my favorite. John picked us up at the hotel again, this time with his tricked-out bass boat. It has a jet drive motor, and really, really long oars, I think John said they are 13 feet long. We did the section of the Missouri that is impounded by two dams, aptly dubbed “The Land of the Giants.” The challenge that day was the wind. My John had to fish sitting on the prow chair. I fished the stern, alternately bracing myself against the chair in the stern and sitting in it. I can’t cast very well seated, so I mostly just tried to keep from being blown overboard.
This picture makes your fish look fat!
We were rewarded for our efforts with many very hefty, healthy rainbow trout. We fished a double rig again, the upper fly was a red tungsten bead head with a purple body with silver wraps; the bottom fly was a was on a jig hook, silver tungsten bead head, turquoise body and a teensy red tail, like the one we fished on the river the day before. The big fish mostly liked the lower fly, and several times, they bent it almost straight. I felt lucky to have landed fish, considering! I think the 4X tippet is what saved me from breaking them off, because these guys often like to jump, shake their heads, and rub on rocks to get loose.
After four days of frantic fishing, both of us were pretty well worn out, drove back to Bozeman, had dinner at Outback, and crashed. We worked a deal with the Turo car owner, left the car in the hotel parking lot and Uber’ed back to the airport. We got back home Thursday evening, happy to be back, satisfied with the fishing we got to do in Montana.
