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Anatomy of a long shot

By Tom Chandler 5/24/2006

My Ginko-eating readers will no doubt recall my desperate plan to visit "Longshot" lake, a can't-fail idea I cooked up to fish an alpine lake where the trout would be plentiful and the water clear. Unfortunately – as this icy picture from Alert Local Guide Steve Bertrand shows – my plans were perhaps a little premature (assuming they didn't include an ice auger and lots of life insurance).

Fly fishing
That's not a snowfield. That's a lake not even on the verge of iceout. [S. Bertrand photo]

With that plan thwarted, I'm looking at a trip to the Upper Rogue this weekend; stoneflies exert a powerful pull on most fly fishers, and the chance to fish with Underground Bamboo Groupie Kent and Guide Dave Roberts sweetens the pot to a considerable extent. More as it happens.

For those – like myself – who are condemned to another day of quiet desperation, I humbly offer Today's Underground Entertainment.

First, MidCurrent brings us the gripping story of nymph fishers denied their favorite lead putty, a desperate tale sure to bring tears to the eyes of dry fly guys everywhere (I'm getting kinda misty just writing about it). I've never used the lead putty in question (couldn't figure out how to make it float), but the inordinate amount of teeth gnashing suggests people are fighting cancer with the stuff as opposed to sinking flies with it.

The ever-entertaining Moldy Chum site brings us a link to a wooden boat manufacturer whose boats absolutely scream class. Vigilant readers will remember that my Maine-based brother in-law crafts wooden Grand Lake Stream canoes during the winter, and there's really nothing quite as pleasing to the eye as catching smallmouth bass on bamboo fly rods from a wooden boat.

Carp on the Fly

Finally, from the deep, dark recesses of Oregon emenates a nice new blog dedicated to fly fishing for Carp, an arm of the sport that's really found its legs recently. Big, rubbery lips are suddenly all the rage, and I admit to having fond memories of catching carp in a decorative apartment pond when I lived in the S.F. Bay Area, where I quickly learned not to underestimate the damage a five-pounder can do to a poorly tied leader or underweight rod. See you on the best Carp water, TC.

AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

8 comments
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RRivers; Weather for this weekend should be warming, which will likely help get the salmonflies moving on the Upper Rogue where I'm fishing Sunday. Of course, the slaw dog bribe was for information of a slightly different sort (bluegill water), but I called my buddy Guido and have a different solution in the works. And oh yeah - ignore the van with the smoked windows you see in your rear view mirror...
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Tom, the yellow salmon fly hatch was pretty strong on the middle rogue last week, I'm in S.F. this week, so I'm not on the river. Didn't see any of the real big orange bugs, though where I am at you never do, not like the upper. I guess its going to be cold and rainy. That can help the mayfly hatches, though I don't really know how it effects the stoneflies coming off. The flow is in a good range ... more though. Sun and clouds/rain mix can sometimes make for spectacular PMD/PED hatches.
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Semantics aside, it's still you. It's all you, baby. Bluegills? Always liked bluegills, and for that matter I'm still eyeing the yellow perch at Iron Gate reservoir. But this weekend I'm on the Rogue hoping the stoneflies start throwing themselves at trout in an unholy way. Still, rriver might be getting an e-mail offering him a slaw dog in return for certain information... 8-)
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I had "big fish-itis" and was cured by the beauty of a trout on a 3 weight or a 5 wt bamboo rod. I had forgotten how much fun Blue Gills were until fishing for them just recently. Another southern Oregon guy "shucks" took me Blue Gill fishing a week ago last Sunday. I had not done this since I was as kid in Canada. I'm 50 years old, and I was thinking about how much fun we had for a couple of hours ... more before I finally went to sleep Sunday night. If you have not done this for a while, give it a try. The first pond we went to, Shucks was using a red foam spider and did pretty well. I had tied some foam flies too, but they did not float well. (Not enough foam). I switched to a size 18 Adams, and started catching fish. Most were dinks so we moved to another pond a few miles away. Shucks did ok on the foam spider, but the Adams really killed them. (So to speak, we released them all). These were all good fish, most at least six or more inches across and 8 or more inches long, that really put the bend in a three weight. A few were real monsters. He lost the foam spider, and used one of my Adams. It produced for him too. What surprised me was the fearsome top water takes. I guess I had forgotten. That is what got us laughing. They would boil it, jump on it, attack it. Sometimes you could see the wake of the fish heading toward the fly (like jaws), then a swirl and gulp. I think I went through 4 or 5 Adams. They destroyed them, and still would hit them when only the hackle was left. My guess is we caught 75 - 100 fish between us. Pretty much a fish every cast. We fished the same spot for 2 or 3 hours. Not even moving, just casting to a different spot if we caught too many one one place. I can't wait to do it again. We were the only guys there. A pleasant evening.
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So getting to the semantical side, from what the two of you answered, it is not just me... Here's what I said: "what you would normally consider a lesser alternative suddenly seems like a really good idea?" And since you both stated you found alternatives to fishing for trout,("Now that I live in the near salmonid-free zone") and ("and that I initially fished for them out of sheer, Bay-Area-induced ... more desperation,"). So the correct answer to "is it just me?", would be "no". BTW, I do love those bluegill - not just good fighters but some mighty good eatin' too. And they are quite plentiful in the Tujunga debris basin where I used to fish (those I didn't eat).
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No, this time it really is just you. I admit to once being an anti-carpite, and that I initially fished for them out of sheer, Bay-Area-induced desperation, but then the scales fell from my eyes and I saw the light. As for the rest of it, you're probably right. Would the Trout Underground Faithful be worshipping the Tennessee Slaw Dog if we could instead spend our time casting Green Drakes to 17" ... more trout? I think not.
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It's just you. ;) Even before I left the glory of the Rogue Valley, I vigorously affirmed that while steelhead were fun, there's nothing like the mighty bluegill that matches the scrappy fun-by-the-ounce ratio. Now that I live in the near salmonid-free zone, I chuckle at the rabid trout fishers here who stalk the mighty rubber rainbow in a single artificial fishery while they're surrounded by hundreds ... more of miles of waterways ripe with unexplored glory and untold numbers of green feisty fishies. The capr (not a misspelling... but a westflyism) is an interesting phenomenon - not a fish that will win many beauty pageants outside of a specific Asian market, but one that earns your eye and piscatorial respect. Anyhow, while I like fishing for the silvery salmonids, fishing is as fishing does for me... and I have no wait for ice-out which is both a blessing and a curse. Of course, I'll soon be in the 120 degree heat of Western Asia, wishing I could break away from work to trek up in to the Himalayas in search of Mahseer. See you from the other side...
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MMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm caaaaaaarrrrrrrp. Ever notice how when you're denied something, what you would normally consider a lesser alternative suddenly seems like a really good idea? Like when you can't fish, you think using four-wheel-drive on a steep muddy hillside is a good idea? Or when your wife is out of town, 12-14 hours in a bar seems reasonable? Or when the Upper Sac is running at like close to three ... more bazillion cfs, carp seem like a beautiful gamefish... Or is it just me?
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