Thanks for the report Wes, sounded like a lot of fun. We have some very small high mountain lakes like the pond you described. Can be very hard & frustrating fishing at times. Especially when you don't have the right flies.
BP -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Wes Wada Sent: Sunday, August 03, 2003 10:40 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [VFB] Sugar Creek Ranch trip Just a bit more on our recent fishing trip to Sugar Creek Ranch in northern California. Again, these folks are clients of ours. Tom Tully mentioned a brochure he picked up in Reno...well, Tom, if that brochure has a complex fold and a green, grey, gold and orange color scheme, then you have the brochure I designed for them. The trip was particularly satisfying for me as a fly tyer, because patterns I have come up with over the past few years all fished very well. It was almost a VFB swap special *g*. My biggest trout, a five-pound buck rainbow, took the SAAP Body Fur streamer I've been playing around with, and for the second straight trip, that fly produced my personal best fish. The Black Flash Cripple pattern in sizes #16 and #18 always does well in the early mornings and evenings when fish are swirling the surface for midges and emerging mayflies. Finally, when I ran out of Carty's General Terrestials, a deer-winged foam fly I swapped in Del's beetle swap saved the day. And a winged foam carpenter ant pattern was its usual dependable self. Just really great when patterns you have developed as a fly tyer are productive! (Three of those flies were developed to fish the Eastern brook trout and Atlantic salmon of Oregon's Hosmer Lake.) One of the most fascinating things you can do at Sugar Creek Ranch is to fish Alder Pond. This small pond, which you can almost cast across on its short dimension, is relatively shallow and crystal clear. You can see every fish in the pond. What makes it fun is that it's the perfect place to test flies. The project this trip was to try out a variety of scud patterns. I had been told prior to arrival that the size to have was a #12. The results? The most realistic of the ties (a take-off on a Shane Stalcup pattern) drew zero interest. The fish barely glanced at the thing and made no effort to get closer. Another with a plastic baggie back and olive dubbing brushed-out legs got their attention, but all the fish turned away and got no closer than two feet of the fly. The only scud patterns that attracted interest were those with flashback materials. Fish would swim over and start following the fly. One got his nose right on the fly, but did not take. It's possible that the flies were too large, and I had been given the wrong advice for size. Fishing patterns in stillwater is much different than fishing them in rivers and streams. These stillwater trout see a lot of flies and are wary of anything that looks unnatural. As opposed to fishing in moving water, these stillwater trout really have a chance to eyeball the potential meal, and are quick to reject anything suspicious. As far as the scuds go, the next try will be a variety of scud patterns using flashback materials in the tie, with some smaller sizes thrown into the mix. Just amazing that the fly tied to be the most realistic looking was a total loser! A side note: though I tied a number of flies on circle hooks, as luck would have it, never had a fish take any of those particular flies, so no conclusions yet on effectiveness. The experience of being at the ranch was another winner. I fished about 24 hours spread over three days, and except for spouse Linda, never was fishing in water cast to by another angler. Never saw another soul even though there were other people fishing the 150 acres of the ranch. That's what some people pay big money to experience in July in California. And yes, it was hot at times...went over 100 degrees the first day there. I try to get out onto the water at least by 6 a.m., have a good 90 minutes of cool, sunless, quiet fishing time casting to working fish. Fish til about 11 a.m., then break for lunch and the relative coolness of the lodge. Read, relax, take a nap, etc. Finally we both would head out around 6 p.m. and fish til dark. Linda hates the sun, and I have become a lot more wary of getting burnt to a crisp. Anyway, had a great time. One time into the backing with a scorcher fish, and a lot of hard-fighting four-pounders brought to hand. Makes those long hours at the fly tying bench during the winter seem very worthwhile. Wes Wada Bend, Oregon Webmaster for: Sugar Creek Ranch http://www.sugarcreekranch.com North Platte Lodge http://www.northplattelodge.com The Inside Angler http://www.insideangler.com
