More NorCal Photos

Red Truck Fly Rods

The Truckee Can be Tricky

Long Time Due | Northern California Fishing

The Release

Red Truck Diesel 590-4 Your favorite 5 weight

Stanislaus Brown

Nymphing with the Red Truck Diesel

Yuba Rainbow

Lucky to find a spot that's easy to land a trout on the Pit R.

A full Pit River

Native Bow

Last week before moving to San Francisco

Graduation, Finless Trout, & more Brookies

Missing a fin doesn't stop this guy

Graduation Present (Paul Grant Original)

Dear River Brook Trout

Photographer/Girlfriend

Five minutes from my house

First fish on the yellow sex-dungeon

We Need Rain Up Here

Checked out the main vain of the Escanaba River this afternoon hoping to catch a hatch or strip some streamers. It was more windy than expected, yet one fish made it to the net. Water temps are down, water level is down, and clarity is up. It felt and looked like August out there. Water is scary low. I landed this little, yet beautiful brown as I was saying to a buddy, "I hope I catch a fish behind you".

Reflection | Late summer nights

More brookies

Salvelinus Fontinalis

In search of steelhead, caught this little guy. It was a present surprise. Then found a lost walleye in some slow water. Very unusual.

April Showers, err I mean 8" of Snow

Finally had a chance to get back on the water (trying to graduate and all) and decided to hit some local waters. Single rubber eggs were the way to go. I hooked up with two and my buddy shown in the photo landed two. This one took us 60 yards down stream, through a small fast waterfall, almost went through my legs, and after a good 10 minutes was in the net. Most memorable fight of a fish I've been apart of. Notice the lamprey mark!

Went back a day later and couldn't spot a fish, next day the river was full of suckers spawning.

It's About Time

Pays to keep your line in the water

Torn up stonefly nymph from Leland Fly Fishing, It was used to catch the first fish of the year two years in a row.

One of Boney Falls

Second fish of da year

First fish of day year

March: In Like a Lamb

Temps in the 50s for the past couple days. All it brought were a couple midges and a few rising trout. Nothing like casting to trout with the advantage of standing on the water like in the photo above.

First Spey Cast

On a balmy day in late February we decided to venture to some tail waters nearby. The last time I had fished here I caught one bow and lost one, this was back in December. Needless to say, it was nice to get out and not have to break ice from the guides. I also got to try out a spey rod for the first time. I can't say I got it down because it will take a couple hours, but definitely a useful tool. Here's a couple photos of the excursion. Nothing too exciting.

Testament of a Fisherman

I fish because I love to; because I love the environs where trout are found, which are invariably beautiful, and hate the environs where crowds of people are found, which are invariably ugly; because of all the television commercials, cocktail parties, and assorted social posturing I thus escape; because, in a world where most men seem to spend their lives doing things they hate, my fishing is at once an endless source of delight and an act of small rebellion; because trout do not lie or cheat and cannot be bought or bribed or impressed by power, but respond only to quietude and humility and endless patience; because I suspect that men are going along this way for the last time, and I for one don't want to waste the trip; because mercifully there are no telephones on trout waters; because only in the woods can I find solitude without loneliness; because bourbon out of an old tin cup always tastes better out there; because maybe one day I will catch a mermaid; and, finally, not because I regard fishing as being so terribly important but because I suspect that so many of the other concerns of men are equally unimportant - and not nearly so much fun.

-John Voelker (Robert Traver )