I started carrying a small camcorder with me on our fishing trips this Fall, and was able to build a "highlights" video for our 2010 season, which I will post here.   I had enough fun with this project, that I think I will make it an annual project.  I hope you enjoy it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA8BzS-sRWo

OK, as past president of the Somes Bar Department of Redundancy Located In Somes Bar, I take pride in the accusation (or accolade) from Brad Holst yesterday.  As a professional communicator, Brad's descriptor of my guiding style as "loquatious" should in theory carry some weight.   However, this is the epitome of the "kettle calling the pot black".   Brad....is even more loquatious...and professionally trained to demonstrate said lucid oral deliveries.   What are we talking about?  My 20 minute answer to Brad's question:  "Why did the mountain slip to the river over there?"   The Klamath weather may be hot or cold, the fish may be bighting or not, the river may be flowing high or low, but the guarantee for  mid Klamath fishing trips is always serene fishing, exquisite scenery, and even wit, flamboyant guide yarns, and abundant good conversation.  Oh, and did I forget to shamelessly promote my wife's cooking at our guest ranch ?   Here is my new friend Brad, brother to my fishing compadres and fellow "soul soldiers" Dave and  Monty Holst:


But how was the fishing you ask?   This week has seen a dropping river, clear water, moderate temperatures, and lots of fresh, hot fish.   We did not net any adults on our most recent outing, but the quantity of half pounders and their chrome bright ocean fresh complexions bode well for a push of new fish of all sizes.  If you choose a week to come up and fish the Klamath this November, this next week may be the "prime lie" for the fish calendar.  So, put down the remote control, and tell Mama that it's time to steelhead. 

As usual, the Holst clan demonstrates quality in delivery of fly lines.   Here is a cool shot of David:


Thanks for sharing the good times Dave, Brad and Monty, and we will see you next year.
Doug

This past November 2 was  Election Day. During the course of our steelhead fishing trips, the topic of discussion has often turned  politics.   Now I generally try to avoid the topics of politics, religion, and other personal topics during the fish day.   It too often detracts from the up-beat gratifying topics of new fishing gear, and lifted trucks.

In a recent riverside discussion on the topic of politics, my guests and I reviewed the life history of steelhead to try and determine a probable political alignment for the species.  

Recall, that steelhead are abandoned at birth and left to fend for themselves.  Lacking parental nurturing and care, the few that survive early childhood begin a nomadic life style that takes them to unknown global climes.   They just don’t stay connected to a home fish community, or contribute in any way to local fish culture.   Instead, they travel the world in roving pods of aggressive gangs, often returning as juvenile delinquents to terrorize the homes of otherwise sincere mature spawning adult fish.  These half-pounder pre-adults have a propensity for body piercings and eagerly move to sharpened steel if it has just the slightest bit of flashy dubbing or exotic feather wrapped on a cold steel shank. 

The sad truth to this scenario is that these renegade fish learn to live on the programmed dole offerings of big-nature.   Now we all know how big-nature moves without any concern to the greater development of individualist fish character.  It’s all about just passing along the best genes without any regard to the individual in the interest of the “greater fish good”.  The net result of this is the most common steelhead character flaw of hedonistic feeding, voraciously consuming any and all prey animals that they can fit their mouths around. They seldom give up the barcolounger sweet lie or remote control up-stream view.  They may spend hours or days at a time to slurp passing detritus while refusing to move too far out of their fish lies to earn their meals.  If this were not appalling enough, these homeless often nose pierced carnivorous anadramoids cannot keep a home even if they manage to locate their natal waters!  As soon as they build a nest and create a family, they immediately abandon their offspring and return to the sea with the surviving bros- from – the – hood to perpetuate the cycle indefinitely.  Its heart breaking to me.  

Have we mentioned substance abuse?  These poor saps are on the whole, addicted to power baits hawked by those low-life power bait pushers that skulk around dark river corners in untoward riparian neighborhoods.  I feel like crying.

Well, I don’t know for sure if these steelhead even vote, but some may conclude from the above life history, that steelhead may be of a liberal politic.   However, others have argued that based on their frequent attempts to jump to the moon, to conquer distant global fish niches, and to encourage big-nature to move unfettered by fish legislations, that they are conservative.  I, However, feel that based on their propensity toward anger after a lip piercing of their own choice and volition, tend to view them as tea-partiers.  They just seem to get too pissed off when they are called on to accept the consequences of their choices.  After all, peer pressure from the steelhead pod is no excuse for their willful choice to pierce their noses with Japanese steel.  And what’s with those rosy cheeks?   Are they embarrassed by the whole “spawning” scene?  I mean, we all know what they are really up to.  Perhaps we need to secure our boarders and patrol for non-native steelhead to preserve our national steelhead stock & culture.

So, I hope this discussion of fish politics hasn’t offended too many of my readers, but I didn’t write this sad story, I’m just passing it along for your own evaluation and consideration.

Till next time, your fish politic analyst, Doug     

The mid Klamath River is fishing nicely and we are enjoying a healthy run of steelhead this year.   Current water temps are at about 60 degrees, the flow at Orleans is at 1800 cfs  see the   Klamath River Report

The amazing thing about the Klamath is that is gets so little fishing pressure.   The scenery is world class, we are netting an average of 15 steelhead on a guide day, and we have a world class fishing lodge to support the fishing.  I suppose the Mid Klamath is just too remote for some people.  

We guided our new friends from the American Fly Fishing Shop and had a wonderful two days.   Here are some of the highlight fish and images.  Note that Al Bunch forgot his American Fly Shop hat, and the Earl his guest got the bigger fish.   Earl also has a personal promise to never smile for a fish picture until he gets his first 20 pound steelhead.  Yea, I know, and yes, I told him he may be frowning a while...we shall see:


See you on the river, Doug

This is a two pound steelhead typical of some that we are catching lately.  As pretty as this fish is, it lacks in size compared to the adult fish that we expect to see in October and November.  I have a concern over the seeming reduction in numbers of 7 - 10+ pound steelhead that the Klamath should be producing.  Are they just late this year?   Are they waiting for higher flows?  Is the slow start to Winter precipitation a factor?  Are they being taken prior to arrival in the mid Klamath?   I just don't know.  We have recently seen a nice push of half pounders come through, and I had been hoping to see more of the 4 - 6 pound steelies and some of the bigger fish as well, but I don't see them in good  numbers yet.

On a positive note, the river is in amazingly good shape for fishing.  We are now seeing the cycle of storms followed by dry weeks.  Here is the effect of some recent storms as it shows in Klamath River flows at Orleans:

I fished yesterday with Bruce and Bryan Krogstad.  Bruce is a past Marble Mountain Ranch client and his son Bryan is an Alaska fly fishing guide now doing graduate studies in social work at Portland.   The weather was timed at the tail end of the recent storm.   We had great water clarity, water temps at 48 degrees, there was snow on the higher peaks, and the fishing was average as fas as numbers.   We took 4 half pounders, one small adult shown above, and we broke off one un-seen larger fish.  Yea, Bruce...lets talk again about "horsing" a steelie even with a 2-X tippet!...It was a great day, and frankly, I quite enjoyed hearing about Bryan's adventures fishing with the Alaska cruise ship guests and guiding with a shotgun slung over the shoulder to drive off the bear.   I guess that's the ultimate of "un-concealed carry".  Here is another shot of a fish from yesterday:


The current weather forecast shows the next 10 days with clear skies or partly cloudy, but with no anticipated precipitation.  If you can make the drive up during the Thanksgiving week, this might be a good guess at lining up the weather, river flows, and possible fresh fish arrivals.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!...My Hoopa Indian neighbor invited us over to be his "Token Pilgrim" at the Thanksgiving table, but we have guests here this week...Sorry Joseph!  

Doug

The classic fishing yarn almost always starts with a line like this:  "Me and Bubba was a fishing up yonder on swillup crick....."  

This tale, however, is deserving of a little more,   hmmmm,   editorial class:  "It was a mystical morning, that first clearing day after the storms, as this Father/Son fishing duo strung their rods in anticipation of their continued search for the legendary Klamath River Steelhead."


The previous day had been stacked full of the powerful silver demon bullets, but the steady rain had pushed the intrepid duo to the limits of their physical prowess.  (How's it sounding so far?)


But as the sun breached the limits of the ridge tops, burning the chilling cloud banks from the dark abyss of the canyon recess, the mighty Dave and Monty father-son team began their orchestrated and finely honed precision casting barrage that would taunt the helpless steelhead for the balance of the day.  Take this you nasty steelhead!



and take this!



First one came to hand, then another came to net, and another, till double and triple digit numbers were racked up,



until finally the fatal karmic prideful comment was uttered by the younger of the Holst team.  As the previously solitary fishermen drifted into range of the only other boat on the river, young David commented:  "Look there!   Those boys are pulling plugs and tossin spinners!    Lets hook up to a big-un and holler up and down the canyon as we fish a big boy!!!"

Not much can destroy an otherwise perfect fishing day quicker the the soul searing flaws of vain and arrogant prideful fishing....It's that darned Y chromosome rearing it's macho head again and laying the groundwork for fishing wars and generalized,  river dischord.

No sooner had Dave, this otherwise fine and upstanding general practitioner and good father from Mt. Shasta, uttered these fatal words, than the two elderly plug pullers connected with some form of un-godly hybrid between Orca, flipper, and Jaws.  They beat us to the prescribed hoots, hollers, and echoing laughter of fishing Nirvana.  Our spirits were destroyed, and the 30-plus half pounders suddenly meant nothing in comparison to that beast caught in the trebles.

"OK, lets pull up and move on" was my comment, as I continued to role play the spiritual advisor and began my sermon on prideful fishing....but first, if you are humble and repentant, we can quarter cast off of the starboard mid-ship and we will fish this seam as we pass....
FISH ON!! AND FISH ON!!   IT'S A DOUBLE HOOK UP!!!

Farewell - humility,     so long - compassion,    Drop anchor and grab a net!!!

The day ended with over 40 half pounders, three adult fish hook-ups, perfectly clear skys, and only one other boat for competition.   The hot-shotters did have a nice come-back in the end though:   "Hey, we got a double too!   it's a fish and a beer!!!" as the bow man held up his can with a wide grin.

Heck,  I don't drink anyway!   That don't mean nothin....  Here's number 41.



And so ended the day.   Just another excellent adventure, with fish, bubba, beer, religion and testosterone.

Till later, Doug

A fair portion of the client base for our Klamath River fly fishing guide service is a more elderly sportsman who no longer wishes to risk wading in the river.  I enjoy the company of these gentleman sportsmen and I cherish the friendships they often develop into.  The poignant and sometimes emotional point to the relationship is when the long term client/friend realizes that they have now aged beyond the capacity to manage a boat assisted fishing trip.  I have had the pleasure and honor of witnessing these swan-song fish outings for several friends who know that the ends have come for their fishing careers. 

Hugh now lives on the East coast in assisted care, and was able to manage a final  flight out to the Klamath for his swan song trip to the Klamath River this last week.  The days were glorious, filled with good memories, laughter, plenty of  steelhead, and long farewell hugs.  Thank you Dick, from the Oakmont, for helping Hugh to manage the travel and for sharing his last adventure.  We'll see you on the river, Hugh:



Here is a shot of one of the fish from Hugh's trip:



And here is the CRAZY gull that attacked our fish all afternoon....what a wild day that was:



So, how is the fishing now?   Classic.   We have 49 degree water, flows in Orleans of about 2500 cfs.  Sprinkles or showers nearly daily, and fresh fish showing up.   I am seeing more salmon redds in November than I remember from previous years, so we are targeting a lot of the steelhead residing behind the redds.  Oh, and the fishing pressure is typically light.  I have not seen another boat on the river in days, and my son Peter saw just one other guide boat (pulling plugs) on the Ti Bar  run today.    If you want a private fishing day....great conditions...fresh fish.....and aggressive sea-gulls...give us a call!   See you on the Rio, Doug



 

The Klamath River has finally entered it's Winter pattern of repeated rains followed by short periods of clearing.  The flows have been up accordingly, and the river has been at times full of floating debris and suspended sediment.  However, the last week has not given us any blown out days, just more challenging days in wet weather with lunatic fringe fishing compatriots.  Here is the flow graph from USGS as reported at Orleans.
 

If I am fishing in water with large amounts of floating detritus, or in water that is off color, I fish with fly patterns that are easily distinguishable from the suspended trash.   Why should I tie on a brown/green small fly when there are billions of other small brown/green pieces of trash zipping by a steelhead and competing for it's attention?   Why not go with RED as the predominant fly color in this scenario?   Here is my proof:


A babine special, glow bug, polar shrimp or some form of contrasting and attention grabbing fly is my go-to pattern in these conditions.  

Pete and I have fished most of the week with guests from all over the globe.  We have had a couple from Germany, a steelheader from Colorado, an ex-fishing guide from Washington state, a hotelier from Eureka, a west coast beer distributer, and my long term returning father/son friends Bruce Sr. and Bruce Jr. (Bruce to the second power in mathematical terms)  from the Sacramento and San Francisco area.   The daily creel count has been consistent at about 8-9 half pounders and one adult in the mix.    The adults however, are seldom pushing past that 4-5 pound class and it makes me wonder where the big bruisers are this year.   There is a lot of press lately about sand berms at the mouth of the Klamath, Low Klamath River flows, and recently about possible abuses of gill nets by the Hoopa and the Yurok indians.  I don't have any desire to point fingers in this forum, so I am going to contrast this discussion with a cyber HIGH FIVE and thank you to my neighbors the Karuk tribe for limiting their ceremonial and subsistence fishing to the practice of dip netting at Ishi Pishi Falls.  This tactic is selective to the species desired, is more authentic in tradition than monofilament gill nets strung out with jet boats, and is nearly impossible to over-fish with.   You cannot leave a dip net out over night and drown a hundred salmon and steelhead by the time you decide to come back in a day or so.

Here is how the Karuk do it, and in my opinion do it right.  This is Ron Reed, a neighbor of mine, who's son I taught math to at Happy Camp High.



My ancestral stock is viking stock from Denmark.  This was a rather tough, brutal bunch of boaters that most of Europe built hundred foot castle walls to defend against, and frankly I am glad for the loss of this part of my personal cultural tradition.  I carry on my viking fishing and boating tradition by catch and release fishing with a barbless hook fly while carrying a tasty deli sandwich in the cooler!  No need to maraud, pillage, and plunder these days, thank goodness.   As for the Karuk tradition of Dip Netting, my thought is "go get-em" and please try to stay on the top of that slippery rock and out of the falls.

Here is a parting shot from this weeks released harvest of chrome:


Later, Doug

Now that I have your attention, I would like to spill the beans about the last several years I have spent fishing the Klamath River with Paris Hilton (the fly).   Nope, no videos are to follow, but it does smell a lot like fish here....lets start at the beginning:

One of my good friends and clients is Mike McGuire from the Peninsula Fly Fishers.   Each year prior to his arrival, he sends an e-mail and asks if he can tie me some flies, and if so, what would I like.  Being the rather demented and twisted sort that I am, I have a tough time with simple honest and straightforward answers.  Three or four years ago I responded to him with a request that I really didn't expect Mike to follow through with. 

"Mike, I want you to tie me a dozen herniators with an added set of wings from a Silver Hilton, and tie me a dozen in the bead head version.....please.....and can you do them in both green and copper?"

Since Mike is the accommodating type, he gladly tied them and carried them up for that season's steelhead club outing here at the Marble Mountain Ranch.  Of course, I put them to work on the first day I fished with Mike.   Obviously, since I am writing the story, the flies must have had some value.  In fact, they were so effective, that I continued fishing the flies for the next year as my current secret "boat fly."  I then began the search for a name for this new creation.  

The first thing that came to mind was simply "Herniated Hilton."  With each new visiting client, I continued to tie on my new secret boat fly and explain that it is flashy, skinny, sexy, often floats by on it's back, and is lightly dressed.  (please forgive me here)...so, finally one guest responded..."Oh, you mean you fished with Paris Hilton?".....and that was the end of the name search.

Now, all you minions of loyal readers of this blog.   Here is your payback.   Allow me to introduce, Paris Hilton - the fly



and yes, the copper version was named the BFF (best friends forever).   I claim ignorance of what the BFF actually stands for, since I threw out the family TV 15 years ago when we moved to Marble Mountain Ranch....you see, a friend of mine told me what a BFF is and how the Nicole girl was ....never mind.

So, now the secret is out.   I have been fishing with Paris Hilton for 4 years, and I smell like fish.  Her partner, a BFF has also been fishing with me, and she too smells like fish.  I ask for forgiveness from my supporting wife and family and promise to not let this unfortunate event deter me from my continued service in the public sector.  (excuse me while I wipe a tear from the corner of my right eye with the conveniently placed handkerchief in my breast pocket)

The following image of a bead head Paris Hilton stuck in the teeth of this poor, innocent, and hapless salmon is recommended for viewing by mature audiences only:



Well, I hope this blog entry doesn't get me sued.   Have a good night and get to work tying those new flies, courtesy of Doug and Mike.

When we target steelhead on the fly, we sometimes also get salmon to bite the fly.   The does not often happen, but it does occasionally.   When it does, and when the fish is fresh, you can imagine the river battle that erupts.   Imagine,  a strong 25-30 pound salmon on a 6 wt fly rod.   Mike Pinelli (from the Peninsula Fly Fishers) was fishing with his son Andy in my boat when we targeted steelhead at a tail-out and amazingly connected with this King Salmon.  The fight lasted 27 minutes, the salmon pulled my boat through a downstream rapid, and Mike took the biggest fish of his life.  We had just moments earlier upgraded his leader, and put a fresh knot at his fly to enable getting this fish in the net.  There is seldom a dull day in this business.


Here is another shot:

We have also continued to find steelhead in what is turning out to be a remarkable October.  This Fall has been stellar for weather, good company and shared adventures, and great fishing conditions on the Klamath.  Here  is one of this week's steelhead. 

Peter, my son is also a great addition to our guiding staff this year.   Can it get any better than fishing for steelhead with family and friends?   Sometimes life just seems too good to be true.   OK< wipe that tear from your eyes!   I'll post a picture of Peter for you all to see sometime next week.   Doug