fishingbuddha

Well let’s just say Reno Nevada did not disappoint so far and it’s only day two. The city itself is interesting and not that big but surprisingly surrounded by amazing mountains, the truckee river flows right through town and holds ten lb browns, and lake pyramid is near by. In fact Lake Tahoe is only a 45 minute drive away.

Morning came fast and honestly at one point didn’t think I was going to make it!

But this trip was all about fishing for a bucket list trout, the Lahotan Trout, that I have been hearing about for years so had to suck it up.

We also had to have the right fishing wheels.

Before light trev landed 3 nice cutties.

Using switch rods were a great way to fish off the ladders.

By noon we landed 12 and by the end of day we ended up landed 19. Epic day and beautiful place to fish.

Day two moved from fins to skins and hit Lakeridge golf course.

Got to hit a river today with some buddies. Amazing weather and day.

I caught some bulls, one of the biggest cutties I have ever landed and a rainbow. One of the guys got a chinook!

Most were caught on streamers but indicator fishing was very successful for one of our buddies. I am just going to to get a hold of

I hope todays fishing is an indication of what we can expect this season.

Pre season is the time to hang with your fishing buddies, tie flies and talk about the early season plan. This year more than any other year I need the season to start sooner than later.

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There is a lot to be grateful for in life but when life gets hectic it’s always good to hang with good friends and do some fly fishing and forest bathing. Although I didn’t catch anything today. Seeing a big black bear, some chum spawning in a side channel and hanging with buddies was what was needed this weekend.

Just realized that I haven’t shared the newest member to my fishing family. Originally had a 10 foot Rebel flat bottom, a 1448 Lowe and the 20ft Thunderjet with the 350jet.

Although it was nice to have the options i researched the perfect all round boat for my needs. Ended up the power drifter was what I was looking for.

Just before all this Corona virus stuff happened i was given a reference to a company called Driftwood Boats in Oregon.

I cant say enough about the boat and the great customer service from the owner Adrian.

The end product was a 16ft power drifter powder coated in blue on the outside and grey on the inside.

Checkerplate floor with removable and movable box seats. casting braces on bow and stern, anchor systems on front and back and a 60/40 mercury jet with a heated tiller handle. For smaller restricted lakes i picked up an extra long leg Tohatsu 6 hp.

This boat has proven itself on the bigger Fraser as well as stillwater lakes. Looking forward to taking it onto skinny waters.

This is going to be my lifetime fishing weapon.

Every year I fish my favourite flies which include pheasant tails, micro jig leeches and gun metal chironomids. Originally when I started the green wooly bigger with a gold bead was my go to.

I have to admit boobies and blobs have done well for me this year but the fly of the year has to go to the green pumpkin head leech in two versions.

This year this fly has produced some big numbers for rainbows, bulls, brooks, chum and even a coho.

Over the winter I will be tying more of these bad boys and look forward to trying more often I. The new year.

You can’t beat fall fishing for multiple species on your home waters.

This weekend I got to fish with Mats in his Wooldridge Jet boat. We started off catch and releasing chum on the Stave where I also hooked into a silver coho on the old faithful rabbit strip red conehead. The same fly i was successful with for rainbows on Roche and Brooks and Bulls on a local lake.

The afternoon was spent fishing for sturgeon. Although the sturgeon fishing was a bit slow, Mats was able to land one decent one followed by mine which was landed right before we packed up. Something I have learned about sturgeon fishing is that you can never give up as I can’t tell you how many times I have landed a sturgeon in the last ten minutes of the day.

Although nothing beats hooking into a nice fish on the fly (or a big sturgeon on the Fraser) the real love of fishing comes from enjoying the outdoors and hanging out with good people. In this ever increasing busy and stressful life we all live I owe fly fishing a big thank you for keeping me grounded.

Wishing the Thompson was open for some winter steelhead fishing but winter is a good time to get pumped up about future trips and take some time to replenish those fly boxes.

In the meantime hoping to get out again before the winter comes.

Although I find spring fishing more productive overall my favourite time of the year is fishing in fall. Can’t beat the scenery and every once in a while the stars align and you can get some pretty spectacular BC Fishing weather.

This last year was one of those spectacular days. Although the trip up was pouring rain, by the time the sun came up the rain had stopped and the wind died down and we experienced one of those amazing gift of a day.

This trip involved taking a cousin of mine who has come on several trips only to be cursed with a skunked day. On this particular day it only took ten minutes to lay into two large bows. In fact two of the largest I have seen that have come out of this lake. In the end. We completed the day with 25 bows and one brook.

Love it when the stars align with good weather good fishing and good company. Some good beer also helps!

Fly of choice this trip was a pumpkin head leech and a rabbit strip leech in green with a flashy body and red and gold cone heads.

Got invited to go fishing up in the cariboo with a good buddy. Weather system sucked and fishing was slow but it was still a great trip hanging with buddies and enjoying the outdoors. Hit two lakes. It was a great reminder that fishing is not just about the catching. Enjoy the moment, enjoy the outdoors and enjoy hanging with good people:

One highlight was watching my buddy hook into a fish chironomiding at 60 ft!