Bill Lynch’s fishing column: March 30

If you have a child or grandchild, age 9 to 15, who likes to fish, check out the Kids Fly-Fishing Camp that is operated by my friends Rachel and Jim Andras this summer near Ashland, Oregon, June 18-22, and June 25-29. They just announced that they are taking registration for this summer.

Had this camp been in operation when I was a kid and my parents had let me go, I would have thought I’d died and gone to heaven.

I’ve observed the classes in action and I can say without a doubt that the kids there were having a wonderful time.

The day-camp classes will cover entomology (bugs), fly-casting, conservation, knot tying, reading water and fly-tying, approaching the water on your own and playing, handling and releasing fish.

Both Jim and Rachel are terrific with kids (they have two of their own) and have a lot of experience teaching at kids fly-fishing camps.

The classes include pond fishing and a half-day float trip on the Rogue River. The cost is $375 per camper and there is an eight-child maximum per class.

For parents or grandparents, you can stay in Ashland, take in several of the Ashland Shakespeare Festival performances, dine in great restaurants and do some fishing on the Rogue, which Jim Andras can set up for you.

For more information, you can call Rachel at 800-488-5794, or go to kidsflyfishingcamp.com.

Rachel also offers private casting lessons and Jim is the best fishing guide in Southern Oregon. She will also be offering a special two-day “Beginners to Beyond Women’s Fly Fishing Workshop” on April 28 and 29 and May 5 and 6.

Finally, if you just want to fly-fish for steelhead, set up a trip with Jim. He knows the Rogue River steelhead on a first-name basis. You will have delightful day fishing with him.

Fishing guide Hogan Brown sent me an email this week and said the dry-fly fishing on the lower Yuba River is really good right now. It is a great winter fishery and can be reached in about 2-1/2 hours from Sonoma. Call Hogan at 530-514-2453 or go to his website at hgbflyfishing.com.

Close to home, sturgeon and striped bass are biting like crazy in the pay in the sturgeon triangle near the Pump House. The freshwater runoff has especially increased the sturgeon bite. Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael has lots of live shrimp bait and he says the tides are good right now. Call Keith at 415-456-0321 for the latest reports and to book a bay fishing party boat.