Early meeting this month! November 4th!

The DFf meeting for November is being held a week early due to Veteran's Day be our usual meeting date.

Don at June Lake! Check out those fish!

Went with my brothers on our annual October June Lake trip.  My two best trout (2# and 4#) were on a 3 wt. with a black woolly bugger.  Fishing was great.   A three weight rod on big trout is crazy fun.

 

Here is a picture from the Sierra Drifters Fish reports on 10/25/14. Still ripping lips at 90 years young! Morton Wakefield, member of Downey Fly Fishers, hit big numbers with his son Don!!! Jerry G. did the netting.

Fishing with Don from two weeks ago....

I am fishing on Fridays now and met Doug U. the master fly fisherman of Long Beach shoreline.  He showed me his floating line with a very long leader set-up and also gave me a Ghost Minnow to copy.  I am in awe of how far he can cast and have attached a picture of him with a loaded rod.    It was so hard to cast the first time out, I only caught one little Halibut but the next Friday I caught 5 halibut and one Yellow Fin Croaker.  I am slowly getting the hang of casting the crazy thing.

Monthly Meeting October 14, 2014

 Join us at 6pm for a fly tying demo, general meeting at 7pm

Alex Ramirez began his fly fishing career on the South Fork of the San Joaquin River at the age of 10 chasing wild trout. This youthful passion soon found him testing his skills for bass at the local lakes and golf course ponds. Alex went off to study biology at Stanislaus State University but you could always find him perfecting his skills on the local waters every weekend. Prior to his residence in San Diego Alex worked for a Northern California fly shop where he shared his passion for the sport by teaching numerous classes on tying, basic fly-fishing and still water tactics. In addition, he guided anglers on the Stanislaus River and was lead instructor for the Boy Scouts of America’s fly-fishing merit badge. With 28 years of experience fishing freshwater Alex shifted gears toward saltwater and became one of So Cal Fly Fishing Outfitters lead instructors for fly-fishing the local surf as well as Mission Bay. He continues to share his passion for the sport as a Rep for some of the major brands in the Industry such as Sage, Redington, RIO, Smith Optics, Outcast Boats, Tibor Reels, Solitude Flies. 

Alex will be showing a short video that takes us through Sage and an informative video about choosing a fly line and understanding line weights. He will follow up by showing us and talking about new products from Sage, Redington, RIO and other companies he reps. 

Upcoming free DFF Introduction to Fly Tying Class

This is a free six week course given following our 2 weeks Introduction to Fly Fishing class. 

Wednesday Evenings

October 15th through November 19th

6pm to 9pm

This week's adventure with Don

I am still fishing Belmont Shores.  I picked up my smallest halibut ever.  Barely longer than the six inch Doug U. ghost minnow.  I must have copied it correctly because the fish are hitting it.  The water is still warm so the fish are active.

awwww.... isn't it cute!

Southwest Council's Fly Fishing Faire last weekend

Last weekend DFF members helped out with the faire. The event was held at Cerro Coso Community College in beautiful Mammoth Lakes California. The college is small but very nice and you can't over look the location!

Where the vendors and indoor classes were located

Entrance and welcome area

There were tarps in the parking lot for a casting area

 

And this is the view from the parking lot... horrible

One of the two vendors areas

 

Close ups of the gorgeous pottery and Nu Cast reels 

 

Having fun in Mammoth

Several members, and spouses, of the DFF traveled to Mammoth last weekend to help with the Southwest Council Fly Fishing Faire. Between helping we managed to have fun! Years ago it was common for groups of us to travel to fish, attend functions, and just have fun with like minded folks but with the changes in the economy this was not happening as often.

Last weekend we were reminded how much fun this is and therefore we need to do it more!

Thursday night there was a vendor and volunteer dinner at Lake Mary Marina. DFF helped with set up and busing.

 

Fishing and kayaking on Lake Mary. As you can see the weather and fishing were cooperative!

 
Saturday night our group got together for a potluck dinner... Great food and conversation. Alan treated us to halibut, Britta made her famous Calico Beans, there was a huge salad, we also had before the meal treats and cake for dessert. We spent plenty of time reminiscing about past outings and members that are no longer with us, having laughs about adventures and misadventures of outings past.

A great time was had by all! We have to do this more often!

Upcoming Introdction to Fly Fishing Class

Wednesday Evenings
October 1st and 8th
Time: 6 PM to 8 PM

Monthly Meeting September 9th, 2014

Join us September 9, 2014 to welcome Fred Ramirez and Phil Davis 

for an incredible northern California trout program!

My name is Fred Ramirez. Phil Davis, my business partner, and I run Central Sierra Fly Fishing Adventures. We are a year-round fly fishing guide service in Clovis, CA. This area holds some of the best fly fishing in the Central Sierra. We have a wide variety of rivers, streams and lakes that offer the fly fisher a chance at rainbows, browns, brooks and the elusive golden trout.

I have lived in the Central Valley for 50 years, and have been fly-fishing here, and the Sierras for more than 38 years. I learned to fly fish at the young age of 12 in a small creek in the Sierras and have been doing so ever since.

Phil has been fishing the Central Valley for more than 48 years. He just retired from teaching, which now gives him even more time to fish!

In the summer we fish out of Vermilion Valley Resort at Edison Lake in the High Sierra. We also do horse pack trips in the High Sierra. We have multiple areas in which to fish. In the High Sierra we have Upper Mono Creek behind Edison Lake, Lower Mono Creek below the dam, and all the other creeks that feed into Edison Lake. We also have the upper and lower section of the South Fork of the San Joaquin River, as well as a few small High Sierra lakes we can fish with float tubes.

We are one of the first guide services to have a permit to guide in the Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks. We have a variety of waters to fish-from the South fork of the Kings River to many small creeks. We also guide on the three sections of the Kings River: the South Fork within the park, the upper section above Pine Flat Lake, and the Lower Kings below Pine Flat Lake.

We are proud to announce that Central Sierra Fly Fishing Adventures is a Certified Tenkara Guide Service. Tenkara is the traditional Japanese method of fly fishing, which uses only a rod, line and flies. Simplicity.

Give us a call. Don’t miss your golden opportunity! www.centralsierraflyfishingadventures.com (559)859FISH

29 inch trout!

DFF member Alan caught this beauty and said "Here is my largest so far.  It 29 inches long x 14 inch circumference. I've caught more 20 inch plus than I can remember.....  "

Don says "Meet Charlie - our newest addict"

I met Charlie at the DFF meeting last week and set up plans to fish on Sat. in the a.m.  It was his first time fly fishing the salt.  He tried several of my rigs with different line weights etc.  The attached pic show his efforts in the Los Alamitos Bay.  We hit the trough between the tides and had no moving water in the Bay which meant no bass - so we switched to the ocean side.  I picked up one powerful little butt and nothing else.

Don's weekly update

I caught six little bass in Los Alamitos Bay Sat. a.m.   These bass pull hard for their size!  Then I
tried the ocean side, no action, no birds, no bait fish , no bites.

More fishing with Don!

I wrecked my camera in the salt water, and have finally got a new one that is waterproof.  I have been away on vacations and fished mid-west warm water and took grand kids fishing.

I am trying to post some pics etc. to encourage others to get the blog going. How about it everybody? 

The Surf Perch bite has slowed down, the size is good but I’m only getting a few to hand.   I switched to fishing at Long Beach till November.  The water is warm and the fishing is good.  This a.m. I got five species totaling 11 fish.  My first Spotted Bay Bass!

Monthly Meeting August 12th, 2014

This months meeting of Downey Fly Fishers will be a club generated presentation evening. We will be having some of our most knowledgeable members giving demonstrations on many of the facets in the “Sport of Fly Fishing”.

There will be casting, fresh and saltwater fly tying, knots and set ups for both fresh and
saltwater fishing. Come and ask questions, a good chance to relax, visit, learn something new or just to brush up!

Tues. Sept. 9th - Fred Ramirez of Central Sierra Fly Fishing Adventures
Wed. October 1st & 8th - Introduction to Fly Fishing
Wed. October 15th thru Nov. 19th – Beginning Fly Tying Class

Follow us at …
Downeyflyfishers.org, this blog or on Facebook

This weekend! Saturday July 12th

 

Downey Fly Fisher members Todd Suttle and Zino Nakasuji will be presenting an eye

 opening program on Southern California carp hot spots and the techniques used to

 catch these fun and challenging fish. 

Saturday July 12 at 1pm at Marriots, 2700 W. Orangethorpe Ave.
Fullerton, CA 92833

Monthly Meeeting July 8, 2014

July 8th Guest Speaker Kevin Bell

Downey Fly Fishers is honored to have Kevin Bell as our July Guest Speaker. Kevin has been the General Manager at Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Store since 1998 and is the GM after the change in ownership of the shop in 2013.

Kevin started fly fishing at the age of 13 with the guidance of his father.  He learned how to tie flies at the Long Beach Casting club and spent many summers fly fishing the Eastern Sierras with his family.

Kevin started out at Bob Marriott’s as a part time sales associate while attending school to be an advertising photographer. He secured a position with Rockwell International as an advertising media person that lasted five years, and returned to Marriott’s, managing the satellite store in Irvine.   Kevin started out thinking that his Marriott’s carrier would be a short stint, but it blossomed into a 25 year career, with the last 16 years at the helm.

Kevin will talk about the history of Bob Marriott’s Fly Fishing Store and new classes that are available to the public along with how anglers can participate with Marriott’s social media with pictures and angling updates.  He will gladly answer and questions you may have about the shop’s history and present direction.  Kevin will bring in some new products for display and will answer any questions you may have regarding these products.

There will be a tying demonstration from six to seven.  

Monthly Meeting June 10, 2014

The Corbina Diaries…
The fish you may or may not catch but will hook you for life! 

Presented by Al Quattrocchi

Are you up for a fly fishing challenge? One of the most understood fish that inhabits our local beaches during the summer months is the California Corbina. For years they were prized by bait fisherman not only as fine table fair but for their finicky behavior and explosive runs once hooked. They were always considered a by catch by fly rodders, mainly in deeper troughs that ran parallel to the shoreline. The past ten years have been a corbina sight fishing renaissance amongst a handful of dedicated anglers. We now target these fish in shallow water and get them to consistently eat properly presented flies under the right conditions. Al Q will discuss the techniques, tides and tackle you will need to learn to begin your new adventure to a world class fishery that exists only a few months each year for those up for the challenge, right at our feet on our local beaches. Stay thirsty my friends...

Al will be doing a tying demo from 6 to 7, the main meeting will start at 7. 

Monthly Meeting May 13, 2014

Fishing the Kern River

 By Joe Margiotta of the Kern River Fly Shop

Joe's fishing biography;

I was born and grew up in Chicago. As a young boy my Mom and Dad would take me fishing at the city's lakefront on Lake Michigan. I remember the day I turned 3 and was allowed to hold the long cane pole on my own.

I caught a fish that day, it was a Yellow Perch; I was hooked for life.

When I was 16 I bought my first fly rod. I knew nothing about fly fishing except for an article I had read in Field and Stream magazine that got me interested. It was an 8' fiberglass rod with an automatic reel and a level line. I bought a small selection of dry flies, wet flies, and some small bluegill poppers based on nothing in particular; I knew nothing about what I was doing. In spite of the struggle of learning how to use my new outfit on my own I managed to catch some fish. I found Bluegill to be very cooperative and my first trout was on a dry in a river in northern Wisconsin. That little Rainbow was only about 6” but it was one of the most memorable catches of my life; I can still visualize that spectacular strike with the fish coming clear out of the water, my fly in it's mouth.

While I fly fished often in my early years I still turned to spin and conventional casting because I was more familiar with those methods and I was still learning to fly fish on my own. After moving to California, meeting people that fly fished became more frequent so I gradually turned more to fly. I haven't fished any thing but fly in the last 25 years.

I guide in the Southern Sierra and other parts of California. I teach beginning fly fishing classes and was one of the instructors of the first Youth Academies pioneered by the Santa Barbara Fly Fishers. I have taught “learn to fly fish” classes at the Artful Angler Fly Shop in Carpinteria and the Kern River Fly Shop in Kernville.

I have fished in many parts of the US and Canada, moving water, still water, fresh and salt. I have lived in and extensively fished the waters of Inyo and Mono counties. I now live in Kernville, home of the Kern River which I have fished for over 45 years.

Don's Lake Arrowhead Adventure

Submitted by Don Mulder

Tax season is over so I finished building a new 5 wt. rod and went fishing.  I caught a couple of Perch in the surf and then went on an after tax season get- away to Lake Arrowhead.  From the shore and a dock I caught a personal best Crappie, four small mouth bass and some trout.  I caught my biggest fish ever – twelve pounds on the Boga!  I was planning to release everything and didn’t even take a net along.  The people at the dock said I had to keep the planters because they won’t live.  I don’t know if this is true but I took it. 

Lake Arrowhead is a great fishery but it is private, you need  the Lake Association card to fish or be some ones’ guest as I was.  It is strictly monitored, the lovely patrol lady will ask you very politely but firmly and make sure you leave if you don’t have a card.