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Kyle's excellent adventure – Part I

Fishing and hunting

 

(Note: Steve Kyle, my irrepressible and adventurous fishing correspondent, rode forth from Sonoma recently on his motorcycle, armed with his fly rod, assorted tackle, and a change of clothes. His odyssey took him to Oregon, Idaho and Montana. I have broken his account into several parts to be delivered over the coming weeks. Here is part I:)

 

“While still young, two events happened that have, to a great extent, defined my life for these last 69 years. At age 7, I was given an old fly-rod and, after much streamside encouragement from my father, I caught my first trout. A decade later and after an enormous amount of discouragement from my mother, I bought my first motorcycle. I've been happy ever since.

“Last month, I explored the idea of combining these two sports into one adventure that included riding though California, Oregon, Idaho and Montana and fishing along the way.  

“I managed to squeeze fly-rods, boots, waders, flies, etc., plus clothes, onto the back of my bike, and headed for a week's stay at Sunriver Resort, Ore., with my wife, Holly, son Corbett, daughter, Sallie, and my five granddaughters following in the family cars.

“Corbett, granddaughter, Charlotte, myself and another lady angler friend, spent a fabulous day fishing on the Crooked River, a cold tailwater filled with happy trout just one hour from Sunriver. There were a gazillion fish in the river. By the end of the day, 15-year-old Charlotte had netted 18 trout to 13 inches and lost almost an equal number.  

“For most of the day, we were nymph-fishing with two flies on each line, which in not unusual for this river. What was unusual and something I had never seen in all my years of trout fishing was that both Corbett and Charlotte simultaneously had two fish grab both flies. Fighting two fish on one line made for some loud yells from Charlotte, ‘OMG-OMG, grandpa … you're not going to believe this.’  

“I know now that there is one more fly-angler in the family. Being able to share a day like this with your son, granddaughter and friend, well … it just doesn't get much better.”

(Next week, Kyle heads north to the Deschutes River)

Closer to home, the best fishing this week was off the Sonoma coast, where Capt. Rick Powers, of Bodega Bay Sportfishing, has been brining home limits of rockfish and limits of lingcod regularly for his party boat clients. Rick added that there are a few salmon still biting. Call him at 875-3344.

Keith Fraser, at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, said that high winds, minus tides, and cold weather kept many anglers off the Bay last weekend and early this week, but all changes today, with much better tides and better weather. Keith recommends drifting shiners for striped bass and halibut and also going for salmon off Cal City. Call Keith at 415-456-0321 for details.

Mark your calendars. Leland Fly Fishing Ranch in Schellville is hosting a big striper and steelhead expo Saturday, Sept. 10. Admission is free. Leland’s Art Hau fished the Truckee this week and said the fishing was outstanding. Carrie Roche fished the Yuba this week and had amazing dry-fly action on a “Fat Albert” and E.C. Caddis, both of which are available at Leland.

Fishing on the upper Sacramento River and McCloud River is fair to good and typical for August, reported Bob Grace, of the Ted Fay Fly Shop. The Department of Fish and Game has also planted trout in the Sac at Dunsmuir, and in the upper McCloud near the campgrounds.