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NEWSLETTER #28 -
SEPTEMBER 2004
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Leland Fly Fishing Travel Newsletter – September,
‘04
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE
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BUSH STREET “DESTINATION DAY” 9/28 – NORTH PLATTE RIVER, WYOMING
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WHEN TO START CHILDREN FLY FISHING?
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TRIP REPORT: NORTH PLATTE LODGE
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FANTASY FISH AND DAYS
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QUIPS AND QUOTES
This is the twenty-eighth edition of our monthly
newsletter with updates on great fly fishing venues
and insights for our traveling fly fishers. We want
to help you match the right location with your fly
fishing goals and objectives and properly prepare
you to fully enjoy the experience. We’ve been to
most locations and pride ourselves on our ability to
research new sites. One of our services is to
compare and contrast different lodges/outfitters.
Whatever unbiased information on timing and
locations we can provide comes at the same cost to
you as booking direct – i.e., no extra cost.
BUSH STREET SHOP DESTINATION DAY, TUES, SEPT 28 –
WHAT MAKES THE NORTH PLATTE A SPECIAL EARLY/LATE
SEASON FISHERY?
Next Thursday has been designated as our monthly
Destination Day in the Bush Street shop. I’ll be in
the shop from 11:00am through the evening. The
scheduled slide presentations will be at 12:30 and
5:00pm and will focus on the North Platte and what
makes it a special early and late season fishery –
Also, I’ll have with me the photos from our recent
trip to the North Platte (see below). Personal
slide presentations by appointment can be scheduled
on any of our great destinations. Let me know if
you’d like to make an appointment and what
destination you’d like me to be prepared for. Drop
in and say “hi” and let’s discuss the exciting
possibilities of fly fishing travel.
STARTING CHILDREN IN FLY FISHING – HOW OLD SHOULD
THEY BE?
What is the right age to take a youngster fishing
for the first time? There may not be an exact
answer to this question, but there are some definite
guidelines. If the fishing environment is one that
guarantees fast action and easy hook-ups, a child of
three or four can be captured by the magic and
excitement of fishing. I recently accompanied my
four year old granddaughter, Abby, and her father,
Jody, on her first fishing “trip.” A few months
ago, Jody gave Abby a pink and baby blue “Barbie”
spin-cast outfit made by Shakespeare, complete with
a “Barbie” landing net. The rod was about
two-and-a-half feet long with a closed face spinning
reel built into the rod (like the old Zebco reels
with a push button release for free-spool). He
taught her how to cast it on their back lawn.
Surprisingly, she got very good at it quickly –
heavy weight tied to the end of the line helped.
We went on a picnic to a small farm pond up the Napa
Valley that held black bass, but more important,
lots of bluegills. We used a small row boat and
pushed off shore about 20 feet. We could see the
bluegills over the weedbeds beneath the boat in
about three feet of water. Our choice of fly was a
small bead head nymph with a bobber above it to give
it weight. After a few failed attempts by Abby to
get the fly in the right spot, Dad took over the
casting duties. We had Abby jig the fly as she
reeled it slowly. A few minutes of this without a
solid hook up (lots of eats, but no sets) and we
went to “plan B.” Out came the container of worms.
Bang – a little piece of worm on that nymph sure did
get results. This turned into a great sight fishing
experience, the three of us leaning over the side of
the boat and watching the bluegills fight over the
“worm enhanced fly” as Abby reeled slowly. Soon the
bucket of water in the boat had 9 bluegills swimming
in it. Abby was really excited about her success as
a fisherperson. We decided it was time to quit and
leave the experience on a high note. The last cast
produced a special thrill as a small bluegill was
hooked and was swimming frantically. Out of the
weedbed below came a black bass and ate the
bluegill. The drag on that little Barbie set-up
turned out to be very smooth as Abby struggled with
that bass. We released the bluegills and the bass
back into the lake, had lunch, visited with the
goats and cows, and took a very excited little girl
home. A great “fly fishing” trip and the sort of
experience that provides a foundation to build a fly
fishing buddy for life.
NORTH PLATTE LODGE – A TRIP REPORT
Regular readers of our newsletter have read reports
from many clients in the past few years who’ve had
very enjoyable early season trips in late March and
early April to the North Platte Lodge in Wyoming. I
recently took a trip with Bob Noyes, John Gallo, Bob
Friend, Barney Osher and friends to NPL to check it
out.
What I found confirmed the reports I had been
hearing for three years:
A large average size fish of about 15 inches with
several in the 18 to 20 inch range.
Good numbers of healthy, football shaped feisty
rainbows (one 26.5 inch brown was released the day
after we left).
A comfortable lodge hosting only 8 anglers, making
it a great location for a small group of friends or
family.
Great guides who really know the water and can work
with newcomers to fly fishing.
The lodge owns the lease rights to over 25 miles of
river meaning that only their guides can anchor or
beach their boats and wade fish. No one else, by
Wyoming law, can even drop anchor or set foot out of
their drift boat in that section of river. This
keeps the crowds down.
A reasonable package that includes flies and leaders
(see below).
August/September downside: the weed beds are
prominent in the river after a summer’s growth and
you are constantly cleaning your fly. However,
there is some dry fly action in the fall. During
his last two days, Bob Noyes hooked three fish on
size #22 trico spinners that went 20 inches, an
interesting 20-20 combination.
If you want to “scratch your itch” as the spring
begins in ’05, here are the early season time frames
with openings:
3/17 - 21 (3 day fish)
3/21 - 26 (Easter Special $200 discount - 4 day
fish)
3/28 - 4/1 (3 day fish)
4/1 - 6 (4 day fish)
4/10 - 14 (3 day fish)
Prices - 3 day fishing, 1125
4 day fishing, 1500 - Easter Special, 1300
“FANTASY STUFF” FOR THIS ISSUE
While fly fishing is pursued for many reasons,
having a “fly fishing fantasy” experience is
something we all chase. Once in a while it actually
happens and this column is devoted to sharing those
special moments/days.
Rex Titus, as reported by his fishing companion Rich
Hosley, was fishing the Williamson River in Oregon
with guide Marlon Rampy. The day had been slow as
the day’s end neared. Several fish had been hooked,
but they either pulled loose or broke the 5x tippet,
and no fish had been released. In the last hole,
something big grabbed Rex’s #8 black leech. Twenty
minutes later, a monster wild rainbow of 14.5#,
fresh out of Klamath Lake, was weighed and
released.
In the last few years, Don Nelson has taken 20+
pound steelhead on the Dean River and a nine pound
rainbow out of the North Platte among his trophy
catches. But, the big tarpon had eluded
him……..until last month. For the last two years,
Don has been searching in the Florida Keys and
Belize for that fish. On a Belize mothership trip
in August, Don crossed the tarpon off his list of
“must catch species” when he hooked and landed a
seventy pound silver king after a mammoth battle of
over an hour.
On that same Belize trip, San Francisco shop
co-manager, Keith Westra, also took his first
tarpon, a 60 pounder. Keith also had his fly eaten
twice by permit, but alas, like most of the salt
water fly fishing world, he’s still looking to
release his first permit.
QUIPS AND QUOTES
Steve Raymond defines winter steelheading: “Long
hours of cold, interminable work, punctuated with
breathless moments of excitement.”
LELAND-FRONTIERS AGENT AGREEMENT
In addition to the many great destinations that we
represent, Leland Fly Fishing Adventures also has an
agreement with Frontiers to represent all their
properties (many of which we already book
independently). If you are considering any of the
destinations that Frontiers offers, please give us a
call as it’s virtually the same process as booking
through Frontiers, and we need the “bonus points.”
And, we may have some personal experiences that can
add to your knowledge and preparations.
Either phone or drop us an e-mail if you have
questions or would like more information about any
of our destinations.
An enthusiastic traveling fly fisherman,
Don Muelrath
Leland Fly Fishing Adventures
888-347-4896
flyfish@napanet.net
www.flyfishingoutfitters.com
e-mail Josh Frazier at
Josh@flyfishingoutfitters.com
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