The California Heritage Challenge

Last summer I only had 5 days of fishing at Lewiston Lake, of ten weeks off of work. My summer was consumed with selling my house and moving into an apartment, tennis practices two days a week, and 10 days of running tennis tournaments. I will not make the same mistake next summer. I plan to hold only 4 weekend tennis tournaments and only 7 or 8 two practice weeks.

As I get older I'm calmer, more compassionate, and looking for challenges to recapture my youth (althoAugh getting into shape to run a half marathon is looking less and less likely). But, I have found the California Heritage Trout Challenge. An angler has to catch and photograph 6 native California trout species from their historical waters (there are 10 possible species to choose from -- the 11th possibility is Endangered and off limits) . When the photographs are accepted by the California Dept of Fish and Game, a beautiful certificate with pictures of the trout species you caught, with your name on it and the locations of where you caught the fish, is presented to you (suitable for framing). I would love to have one of these on my wall -- in fact , two different ones to represent all the 10 possible species. My goal is to catch 6 to all 10 of the species this summer -- the fun is in the planning and the reward is the top of the mountain, or 6 to 10 pictures of wild fish in their native waters.

Wish me luck,
Shane

No Pictures, But A Cool Story

Yesterday morning I was in the laboratory waiting for my class to start. A college student entered and stated "this is kind of weird, but I think there is a hawk with a broken wing around the corner". I said "No problem, I've worked with hawks before". We went to the walkway on the West side of the Life Science building at College of the Redwoods and there was a Sharpshinned Hawk sitting on a bench.

I walked up to the bird and it was alive, but pretty stunned. The student said that it looked a whole lot better -- it had it's wings out and fluttering earlier. I picked the hawk up in a manner that it couldn't bite me or claw me. It was pretty calm so I held it like a kitten and pet it's head and held it close to me to warm it up. I surmised that it chased a bird near the building's awning and flew into a window. I hoped that it did not have a broken wing and that I would have to call the Humboldt Wildlife Care Center. I held it for about 2 minutes, keeping it warm and petting it like a kitten.

I started to extend the bird's wings to check for damage when the bird "ruffled up it's shoulders". I opened my gentle grip on the bird and it flew away, in front of the student who reported it. I've held owls, red shouldered hawks, and a black shouldered kite when helping biologists band birds, but this was a fantastic first and the bird was magnificent -- beautiful yellow nostrils and legs. It was a rare moment and ended happily

Slow Day, but Cool with Wind

A face that strikes fear in the heart of trout ....... unfortunately, does the same for women and small children.

I spent 7 hours on the lake yesterday. Although it was beautiful with a good, cooling wind, it wasn't a productive day -- but better than not on the water. I landed 3 smaller 12" fish, lost one, and missed 4 strikes. I fished midges mostly, moving around upstream from the Pine Cove island. The evening was beautiful. One guy in a float tube picked up 4 or 5 fish in the area, on squirrel tail leeches. He was able to troll around and pick up fish. I just flailed the water and spooked anything around me lol

However, it was a great day on the water. I'm in better health this summer and spending 7 hours on the boat is no big deal -- lots of water on ice in the cooler and the fish finder gives me pleasure watching the little fishes swim by on the screen. If the fish finder is correct, most of the fish were right on the bottom during the day and about 1/4 of them were half way up the water column in the evening -- seems to make sense.
Well, I'm back home cleaning the apartment, petting the cats, getting my truck fixed (radiator hose leaking), and just enjoying the end of July.

Take care all

A summer of TENNIS

Well, here it is July 27 and it is only my 5th day at Lewiston since my vacation started on June 4. This has been a summer of tennis. I have been giving 3 hour practices every Thursday and Friday, running tournaments every other weekend, and spent a weekend in San Diego attempting to become a USPTA certified tennis pro (results come in the mail in 3 weeks).
I came up after the 4th of July and fished the evenings between 7 and 9 PM. The first night I caught my largest fish ever (other than a steelhead) -- at least 4 pounds and closer to 5. I saw a fish sip a fly and threw out a blackberry mohair leech and bam -- 5 minutes or more with jumps and spinning my line off the reel. It was longer than my net and I spent 5 minutes reviving it to watch it swim away nicely. That night I had a 2-2-1 (two landed, two lost on the way to the boat, and one missed strike). The next night I found a great spot and the blackberry leech netted 10 fish with 2 lost (when numbers get high I forget about the number of missed grabs). The following night I had a 4-8-? night, with the 8 fish "lost" all larger than two pounds. Most of the fish took to the air and spit out the barbless hook.
Yesterday, the 26th, I finally caught a fish on a midge. About 3:00 there was a hatch on and little surface activity. The fish were hammering a size 18/20 tungsten head zebra midge, 12 feet under a bobber, floating with the current. I ended up with a 4-5-12 -- 4 fish landed including 3 over 3 pounds, 5 fish lost on the way to the net, and 12 strikes missed (hate when they hit and run toward the boat -- can't set the hook. Attached are two pictures, one of the view towards the dam and the beauty of the area, and one "fish porn" shot of the 4-pounder landed yesterday (top to bottom was more than 5 inches -- wider than my palm. Oh yeah, last Sunday was the Pine Cove Fish Derby and they released 500 large fish so everybody is catching big ones. Can't beat the beauty and the beasts.

A gorgeous weekend

This past weekend was one of the nicest weather weekends that I can remember. I fished with the Shasta-Trinity flyfishers club during their fishout at Lewiston Lake. I was told the hot fly was the blood worm so I didn't use my old faithful zebra midge. Well, the hot fly was the zebra midge.

I managed to fish 3 sessions: mid-day and evening on Saturday and mid-day on Sunday. On Saturday I hooked 4 fish (1 morning and 3 evening) although it wasn't due to my fishing. The two fish I landed struck when I was reeling in my line to switch rods. However, all the fish caught were large-- 16 inches and larger (picture is my second fish on Saturday). On Sunday I used the indicator / bloodworm combination just above the island at Pine Cove Marina. I had 5 quick hookups with kokanee, but only got one into the net. However, it was a nice fish, about 9 inches (they are small at Lewiston, but fight like half pounders).

I feel refreshed and alive again. The weekend was a good change of pace from work.
Good luck all,
Shane

Getting Organized: A Midge Binder

Lewiston Lake is a midge lake. The fish get large eating small insects. The problem with fishing midges is that there are a lot of variations of colors and sizes that fish will key on. One should (must) have imitations in various sizes, colors, and life stages (at least that is what the Internet articles have stated).

The good news: midge patterns are quick and easy to tie (complicated ones take 2 to three minutes -- uncomplicated ones take about 60 to 90 seconds).

The bad news: they are small and get mixed up in boxes really easily.

The solution: A great idea by Lucas Carroll at provenpatterns.blogspot.com. I binder made with foam board that can hold thousands of flies -- and inexpensive. Unfortunately, all of my stuff is in storage so I had to buy everything -- and, California is more expensive than New York (well, maybe not).

The Costs:

Binder (new) $4.99
3/8" foam board (20 x 30) 2.99
Super Glue (dollar store) 1.00
Cardboard Cutter 3.49
Poster board (dollar store) .50
Straight Edge (dollar store) 1.00

Subtotal 13.97
CA Tax 1.15

TOTAL $15.12

AND: any future binders will be cheaper (less the cardboard cutter and straight edge)

NOW---just have to tie and tie and tie.

Take care,
Shane

I'm Back

Hello to my one subscriber and anyone else who finds this site. I spent the summer of 2009 fishing Lewiston Lake a couple of evenings a week. I have discovered some of it's secrets and am tying flies like mad to get ready for the upcoming summer. I had a blast in the evenings and released 2 to 15 fish each night (3 hours fishing)

To summarize my new found knowledge: there are large fish in Lewiston Lake -- they feed on midges -- evenings are cool and the fish are active -- instead of matching the hatch when fish are sipping under the surface, stripping a blackberry leech pattern yields great results (one leech = 10,000 midges??).

I have been preparing for the summer and have found some great ideas on the web. Pictures are on their way.

I did fish one day this year already, in mid-March. The midges were hatching but the fish weren't hitting them. In the evening one fish was actively sipping just under the surface. I stripped a sparkle chenille bead head wooly bugger over it's area and it smashed it. It was a beautiful, colorful fish, 16 to 18 inches long, sadly, with many leech marks. I didn't have my net and trying to release it my line broke with the hook still in the mouth of the fish (aarrgghh -- supposedly they hooks fall out in a couple of days).

I look forward to keeping a web journal of my experiences and the fishing on Lewiston Lake -- and starting this summer, in the lakes found in the Trinity Alps. Nothing like a little hiking to get one in shape (and it is cooler in the mountains!!!).

Take Care,
Shane