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CURRENT ISSUE

March/April 2008 - Volume 16 Number 4
28
The Eastern Sierra: Between Bishop and Lone Pine
If you’re after Sierra trout, here are ideas for day trips.
By Peter Pumphrey
30
The Poor Man’s Tarpon: Shad Fishing in California
This Central Valley fishery heats up in spring and early summer.
By Phil Fischer
32
Poppers
They’re the surest way to experience exciting warmwater fishing.
By Richard Alden Bean
34
Indicator Clousering for Halibut
It’s kind of like jigging....
By Robert Ketley
36
Switch Rod Tactics and Techniques
The name of the game is versatility.
By Craig Nielsen
38
Searching for Mr. Chironomid
These flies don’t necessarily imitate miniscule midges.
By Scott Sadil
40
How to Survive Fly Fishing
Preparing for being lost, injured, and other angling emergencies.
By Kirsten Koths
Fish Different

My first summer in Truckee, eight years ago, I was driving south along Boca Reservoir when I noticed rise forms by its dam. I had heard from a friend that smallmouth bass could be caught along the dam at Prosser Reservoir; maybe these were smallies, too, I hoped. I pulled off the road, assembled my trout rod, and tied on a small white popper. It wasn’t easy to cast or keep off the rocks behind me — I had left my long, light Little Truckee leader attached to the line. Once on the water, though, the first few chugs of the bug brought a strike from a 17-inch, beautifully formed and colored rainbow trout. Two more rainbows came to hand before a couple of Jet Skiers decided to spoil the angling.

Like a lot of fly fishers, I tend to stick with what’s been proven to work. Usually this is enough to bring hookups, so there isn’t much incentive to change. If I had thought the fish rising at Boca that summer’s evening were trout, I would certainly have tried a different tactic — probably dead drifting a midge or Callibaetis dry. Doing so would almost assuredly have been successful, but I wouldn’t have had nearly as much fun.

It’s good to think outside the proverbial box every now and then, even if it’s by accident. Once the snow’s gone, I’m going to make it a point this season to try novel tactics and rigs. (Panfish poppers on the Truckee River? Hmm. . . .) Of course, I may end up kissing the ol’ skunk, but when you think about it, every cast we make, every fly we tie to our tippet, is inherently an experiment. Stretching the usual hypotheses might bring some interesting payoffs.

I hope you’ll join me in the lab.

Richard Anderson

Publisher and Editor


 
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