Well, I wish I could say I’ve been on the water, but I’ve been on the DL since the 17th due to some medical issues. That morning I woke up with a kinked neck and moderate pain. Its happened in the past many times as a result from my professional snowboard days, basically hitting the ground with so much g-force that it loosens teeth. This time it was different. Through the day the pain intensified to point that my body temperature was elevated, sweating, and I was pacing around the house trying to keep busy and to keep my mind off it. Late in the evening my chest began to tighten up, and my left arm began to tingle and go numb. I thought I may be going into cardiac arrest so I drove myself to the ER at 11pm. After many scans, muscle relaxers and hard core pain meds my diagnosis was compressed nerves in my neck, and because of inflammation and swelling of the muscles around the area, the pressure of such was the culprit of the most intense pain I’ve ever experienced.
I got through it, and currently I’m healing pretty well, but
also taking it easy. Doctor’s orders were simple – No guiding. That hurts as my
whole reason for being on this planet is to be on the water and teaching my
guests the finer points of fly fishing, and sharing our incredible natural
world. So this will be a report that utilizes my guide buddies, friends, and
fans experiences for the last week. I’ll start with my last day that I guided
on the 15th and it’s a mirror of the past few months, except I had
some older guests so we couldn’t cover water like I normally do. These guys
were all about dry fly eats, and I put them on many fish. Skwalas and Pinkies
were the most effective patterns. I’ll say one thing… you don’t have to see
risers in order to play the game. Only 1 out of 7 fish was a rhythm riser, the
rest were out of the blue while fan casting blind to productive water. Observe
more…cast less.
On that day, I was amazed seeing several Skwala nymphs emerging
from the water and crawling up on the cobbles to hatch. The Skwala hatch on the
Lower Yuba is one the greatest spectacles I’ve ever seen in my 49 years of fly
fishing. It’s the longest, most prolific, and dynamic Skwala hatch on the
entire west coast. Saying it is legendary is an understatement. Joe Garza of
JAG Fly Fishing shared with me the first confirmed report of March Brown
mayflies hatching mid stream. He also said that there were fish eating not the
duns, but emergers just under the surface. Joe also shared with me that the
fishing has been difficult with lower than expected numbers, and for a drift
boat guide who covers miles of river, that says a lot. He thinks it is the
months of angler pressure that has impacted the behavior of the fish. Currently
the flows are at 747 cubes, and fishing pressure has been hit or miss.
Follower Casey Brunt also shared this cool photo of a salmon
fly – Ptaranarcys. Though the population
of these bugs is small on the Lower Yuba River, they are available to the trout
and steelhead. Match the hatch.
This is going to be my last report for the Lower Yuba River
until fall. Without a doubt this past winter guiding season has been the most
enjoyable ever. I’ve never been so busy and in demand before, but like I’ve
always said when it comes to my business – Put in the hard work and you’ll see
results. I’m going to take a few more weeks off to heal up, and do some
scouting in the Northern Sierra before taking on an already nearly full guide
schedule for April through June. I’m really looking forward to it as my heart
is dear to the old growth coniferous forest of the Lost Sierra. I can’t thank you all enough for your
continued support, it means so much to me.
See you on the water…
No comments:
Post a Comment