Simms Freestone Boot Review

I have been wearing the Simms Freestone wading boot for three seasons now and I am very pleased with this boot. I spend a lot of time wading tough rivers such as the Truckee and North Yuba and these boots stand up to the toughest conditions that I come across.This is my second pair and they are exceptionally comfortable and very durable. Getting in and out of them is a breeze due to the gusseted tongue. The Vibram soles are fantastic but as you can see after 100+ days in these boots they are starting to show some wear. I went through two sets of the Alumibite studs before I felt they weren't worth the cost and replaced them with 1/2" #8 sheet metal screws available from my local hardware store.

I give these a 4 out of 5 star rating based on comfort-ability, durability and price. Listed at $129 these are a lot of boot for the price.

Truckee River Fishing Report

I've had the pleasure of spending a bunch of time on the Truckee River lately and the fishing hasn't been half bad. Mornings have been best and we have been finding fish willing to eat dries (elk hair caddis #14-16, Turks Tarantulas #10-12, and Stimulators #8-12) and dry/droppers (same dries as before...zebra copper johns #18, copper head midges #18, red copper johns #18, bh prince nymps #18-20) in the pocket water. Most of the fish have been in thw 10-12" range but we have seen a few larger fish in the 16-20" class. The afternoons have been pretty slow and the water has been a bit warm with very sporadic caddis hatches in the evening.

Fall is right around the corner and the fishing is going to be spectacular!!

A Summer of Change

Its been a while since I posted anything on this blog. I've been going through a major life change and just haven't felt much like writing. My apologies to all. Now onto the good stuff...

The fishing in the Northern Sierra has been pretty darn good over the past month. From the Truckee River to the Middle Fork Feather, fishing a variety of presentations has been successful. As usual I have been concentrating on dry fly presentations mostly. I did catch this awesome 24" brown swinging a sculpin on my 6110 Z-Axis switch rod. Great fun!

I've been guiding on a variety of waters from Nelson Creek to the Truckee River with some good to great days and a few days that challenged my abilities to the core. But such is the life of a guide.

I hope your summer is going well and that you all have a chance to get out and fish!

Early Summer

 My how time flies. Tonight I graduate from Feather River College after 2.5 years of study there. What a momentous occasion!

I haven't had much opportunity to fish until recently. I have been concentrating my time on the Middle Fork Feather River and it has been fantastic. Swinging soft hackle flies in the riffles has produced tremendous action on fish to 17" with most in the 12" range.

Good hatches are taking place daily. Little yellow sallies and caddis are the most dominant right now, but I started seeing Golden Stones yesterday and there are also march browns, bwo and PMD,s around as well.

Flows are perfect and the crowds have been light and wet wading is the way to go on the hotter days.

Get out and fish!

Pyramid Spring 2012

I have just returned from a long sojourn to the emerald waters of Pyramid Lake Nv. This year is unlike any that I have experienced out there. Tough fishing conditions were the name of the game with some days yielding a handful of grabs and others providing consistent action. Stories abound as to why the fishing is as tough as it is but I have no real answers. All I know is it is not what we have grown accustomed to. The nice thing is crowds are light and most beaches are ghost towns.

Onto the good news...I got this 8.5 # buck on my last night at the rocks at Pelican.

Usually I don't spend a whole lot of time on the rocks, but this year I found it to be a good place to fish and warm up in the afternoons. I caught fish there midging but it was never red hot action for me.


Even though the fishing was not very good, the friendships forged in the wind and waves of the big lake will be carried with me a life time. I am itching to get back to the stark beauty and fiesty cutthroat.

Early Spring

Winter has had a poor showing this year in the Northern Sierra and spring has been trying to force its welcome head into the door. Looks as if we might get some snow this week but it feel as as if it may be too little too late.

Lake Davis has a full pool at this time so it should be ok for the early season, but I would expect it to be pretty low come fall. The rivers will be tough to judge but expectations of any runoff must be tempered with the fact that there is barely a snowpack at this time.

The good news! Pyramid Lake should start picking up anyday now for trophy Lahonton Cutthroat. Some very large fish have been caught from shore the past few weeks and this should continue for a while. Check out this new website put together by Rob Anderson and Doug Oullette about Pyramid. A ton of great info can be found here. http://pyramidlakeflyfishing.com/

Pray for snow, but if it doesn't come get out fishing early and often!

A Small Piece of Heaven

The New Year found me fishing a few rivers on the North Coast chasing the elusive grey ghost. While it was great to get out for 8 straight days of fishing, the conditions were less than ideal for fly fishing. Low and clear conditions had me trying to stay in front of low flow closures and trying some smaller tips and flies. I wasn't very successful in hooking fish on this trip, but I had a couple of cool moments.

On the first river that shall remain nameless, I hooked the only adult of the trip on the first morning. It was a weird hook up as the fish grabbed while I was stripping in to recast. A small fish by coastal standards, but it was still a hooked fish. Later that first day I had a bobcat wander out onto a gravel bar 100 feet or so below me. He looked around nonchalantly and then jumped from a rock to a willow branch and melted into the shoreline vegetation. There was no time to get the camera out for a picture.

I did get a pic of the fresh bear tracks on the beach near my camp on a stroll to look at the river mouth. I didn't realize that there were bears in this part of the state. Now I do!

Three days later I had an epic 1/2 hour when I had 5 grabs in one run hooking 3 fish and landing 2. They turned out to be fiesty half pounders that absolutely were a riot to catch.


The best part was hearing the waves crash on the beach a mile or so downriver while fighting a mini silver bullet. Then I was told that the river had been closed due to low flows. So I moved on.

These guys were my fishing partners on a small coastal stream near Redwood National Park. Twenty two elk watched from the levee as I cast my way down a run. What they must have thought of the crazy human standing in the water waving a small tree in the air. While I caught no fish here, the elk made my day and possibly my trip.

This was my camp for the final two nights of my adventure. Located next to Hurdygurdy Creek, a tributary to the South Fork Smith River, this camp site was the most serene I have had in a long time. Listening to the creek sing me a lullaby as I drifted off to sleep was sweet.

I didn't come tight to many fish on this trip but I was able to find a small bit of peace in the dancing of the flames of the many campfires that I drank beer by. Just a small piece of heaven.