Local Photographer, Fly Fishing Guide Kickstarts McCloud River Photo Book

May 22, 2012, by 2 comments
Rickards Kickstarter

Local photographer and guide John Rickards just launched a Kickstarter project in an attempt to fund his fine art photo book on the McCloud River, and because we’re a sucker for a nice old-school B&W print, I thought I’d pass it along to the Undergrounders.

If you’re not familiar with Kickstarter, it’s a crowdfunding site, and in this case, Rickard’s essentially pre-selling copies of book to support the production of the book.

Rickards Kickstarter

Rickards' Kickstarter page

 

If his project is not fully funded (he’s set a goal of raising $25,000 in 60 days), then the whole deal is called off, and those who pledged money aren’t charged.

If he does reach his funding goal, then his benefactors pay up, then receive the premium they paid for (book, prints, etc).

It’s a fast-growing service that takes an innovative “funding first” approach to projects, one of which included funding for an Olive The Wooly Bugger App by fly fishing blogger and children’s book author Kirk Werner (now closed).

Below is the project video created by Rickards.

See you on the McCloud, Tom Chandler.

Your Monday Morning Yosemite Water Porn

May 21, 2012, by 1 comment

We officially likey: A nicely photographed video about water in Yosemite Valley.

The Upper Sacramento Is Falling Fast (And A Note About Stoneflies)

May 21, 2012, by 5 comments

Last week I noted that the Upper Sac was still running high, but that the snow was disappearing fast from the surrounding mountains, and that I expected flows to start falling rapidly, and soon.

Well, it has.

Suddenly the Upper Sacramento is in the 1200 cfs neighborhood, which isn’t necessarily fun, but it’s certainly getting fishable.

Helpful Mysterious Hint Of The Day: those who are prone to throwing giant, prehistoric-looking dry flies might want to get their butts up here sooner instead of later.

That’s all we’re saying. At least for now.

A Few Fast-Disappearing Streams

Older Bro fished a fav Brookie stream and sadly reported that it was barely wet. The lake that feeds it is usually — at this time of the year — surrounded by several feet of snow.

Not this year.

In fact, there isn’t any snow up there at all.

The farther south in the Sierras you go, the worse it seems to get.

In other words, if you’ve been daydreaming a lot about fishing that small Sierra stream, then sooner might be better than later.

That reminds me it’s probably time to reconnoiter the handful of nearby small streams that have been too high to fish. When they come down, the fun really begins, especially given how much trouble I’m having coming up with daylong fishing trips right now.

Though we pay for it with higher gas, food, insurance and health care prices, one of the benefits of living in the middle of nowhere is the ability to find yourself standing on a happily fishable piece of water less than 20 minutes after the decision was made.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Suddenly That Drift Boat Isn’t Looking So Good To You…

May 17, 2012, by 2 comments
Mattias Adolfsson

Mattias Adolfsson

A better drift boat courtesy one of my favorite illustrators

 

(found via one of my alltime favorite illustrators: Mattias Adolfsson)

Weekly Short Casts for 2012-05-17

May 17, 2012, by No comments yet

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I’m Writing What You’re Not Reading (or, How To Enjoy Leftovers)

May 16, 2012, by 7 comments
Meadow stream

Meadow stream

One of a long list of places I'd rather be...

 

The weather is drop-dead gorgeous. Yet our hero sits in his downstairs office.

Writing his ass off.

To pay the bills.

In what should probably drive me to a deep reexamination of my acceptance of life as it is, I’m squirreled away in the dungeon while the real squirrels cavort in the 80-degree sunshine.

So now even common rodents are having more fun than I am?

While I’d love to craft an intoxicating, deeply personal look at last weekend’s small stream fly fishing trip, instead you’re getting the fly fishing blogger’s equivalent of leftovers; a picture from opening day that somehow didn’t make its way into the blog.

More to come, but probably not today. Or tomorrow.

Note About Runoff

The Upper Sacramento’s flows are still high and happy to spike slightly when the temperatures rise, but after Sunday’s drive into the mountains with Little M and Wally the Wonderdog, I feel safe in suggesting we’re at the tipping point.

Soon, the flows will start that stair step trend downward (they ebb and flow a little daily) and while they’re over 1800 cfs now, keep an eye on them; they’ll turn into something better relatively soon.

See you wondering when my fave little streams will round into shape, Tom Chandler.

Hope Dies Hard On A Fishing Trip…

May 14, 2012, by 11 comments
Snow drifts mean no fishing this stream...

No matter how much we stared at them, the snow drifts covering the road refused to melt.

I wasn’t really surprised; in this part of the world, the snow level is currently around 5500 feet. But you know, this road and this pass were going to be different. Then we rolled around the corner just past 5400′ and the dream of being the first into a small alpine stream died.

Snow drifts mean no fishing this stream...

The moment hope died...

 

Every time this happens I go through the usual stages; denial, anger, bargaining, depression over the lack of realtime satellite intel and finally, acceptance.

Usually, I don’t reach acceptance quickly. For a minute, I knew — despite the old tires — the Bronco could blow through the drifts, but even my fevered brain couldn’t ignore another set of *deeper* drifts waiting up ahead, and many more after that.

I pointed at the medium-sized streams of water running down the road and said “two weeks” and Older Bro nodded, though we both know it’s still just an attempt at grownup behavior.

That’s still too early to expect to make it into this stream, even given the light snow year.

Fortunately, our backup stream fished beautifully, and:

  • We caught pretty brown trout on dry flies
  • We tested a new fly rod against an old favorite (and arrived at opposite conclusions)
  • I firmed up a wader review (coming soon)
  • The “new” water I first fished last trip fished nicely again

Unfortunately, because were a little reluctant to walk away from catchable fish, we got to our Highly Experimental Stretch Of A Creek That Should Fish Great But Hasn’t a little late. This is the water that we’ve now fished (admittedly briefly) three times, yet despite looking absolutely perfect, it has yet to give up a single fish.

Or even a take.

We’ve crafted a whole series of worthwhile excuses for it — and I’ll be back again sometime soon — but after a while, you start to wonder about the nature of reality.

If a damned trout would just eat a dry fly, the universe would snap right back into its proper place.

Until then, everything feels just a tiny bit out of true, and I suspect it will remain so until I go back and invest a couple hours in the place, figuring it out or writing it off.

More to come as I get things written for my clients, Tom Chandler.

Happy Mother’s Day (After A Happy Fishing Day)

May 13, 2012, by 5 comments
Older Bro, precarious

Muscles were strained, dehydration was experienced, and yes, trout were caught — all after the stream we wanted to fish remained just out of reach, courtesy a couple snow drifts.

More after I discharge my Mom Day duties (Little M and I are taking a recon trip up a canyon and leaving the L&T [my Lovely & Talented to newer readers] to her massage).

Older Bro, precarious

I was ready, but the bastard wouldn't fall in.

 

See you doing dad things, Tom Chandler.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

The Small Streamfest (or, How To Make Better Investments)

May 11, 2012, by 8 comments

Tomorrow, Older Bro and I head into the hills for what I’m calling the Second Leg Of Our Google Earth Small Streamfest 2012 World Tour, and yes, we’re selling t-shirts in the lobby.

Trips like this generate enough hope to power a small city, though all that wattage rubs against the very real possibility of abject failure and disappointment, so you wouldn’t normally make a big public deal about it (like posting it on a blog or anything).

Still, we’re planning to confirm a couple places we have been, try a couple we haven’t, and also to fish some of our “normal” spots. (Hey, we know there are fish there, so why not?)

Because you’re fishing and looking instead of just fishing, you don’t catch as many fish on these trips as you could, but I see it as an investment; fewer trout now mean more places — and more trout — in the future.

And unlike your 401k, it’s an investment that’s probably on solid ground.

Since I’m posting this late on a Friday afternoon on Pacific Standard Time (thereby ensuring it’ll be read by upwards of three people), I’ll stop here, except to note that looking for new fish and new water in your own neighborhood offers the best of all worlds.

You’re dealing with few exotic diseases and a minimal carbon footprint, yet unlike that spot halfway around the world, there’s a chance you’ll make it back next weekend.

See you on the map, Tom Chandler.

My Article Appears In California Fly Fisher (and, The Klamath Dams Save My Ass)

May 11, 2012, by 4 comments
California Fly Fisher

The Underground’s nervous fingers produced an 1800 word article on the Klamath River Dam Removal issue for California Fly Fisher, which will hit the streets very soon.

Covering that human-driven mess in 1800 words means taking a few shortcuts, but overall, I’m happy with the article, which each and every one of you should run out and buy this instant.

Outside of the check I received for writing CA Fly Fisher’s “The Good Fight” section, it’s clear I benefited from the article in other ways; Little M recently used a word that raised the L&T’s eyebrows, and I only escaped punishment through clever use of reasonable doubt:

“She must have learned it during my many discussions of Klamath “dam” removal. Yeah, that’s the ticket.”

See? Fly fishing’s not just good for your soul. It’s good for your health as well.

See you practicing not saying the wrong things, Tom Chandler

California Fly Fisher