American Shad are entering the Sacramento drainage, fish were caught at Howe avenue saturday. Shad fishing is always memorable, what with the warm temperature, balmy weather and screaming joggers. Keep an eye on your backcast - as fishing in a urban setting means onlookers behind you that don’t announce themselves.

Tom Chandler of the TroutUnderground took me on a whirlwind tour of the Upper McCloud river. Not much catching but the scenery was inspirational as the river is swollen with snow melt and the falls are in full plumage.

We’ve seen clothes that can store and generate power, what’s always been in doubt is what we need the power for….
The Boys at MIT have answered part of the mystery with the HCID (Handwear Computer Input Device), a glove based computer interface currently destined for the military.
“Old Guys” use fishing to “get away from it all” […]

I took my brother out to Cache Creek on Opening weekend, it gave him a breather from the Big City - yet we didn’t have to face the hordes of fishermen out for the Opener. Hot, marginal fishing, and a lot of walking was our destiny, with Ma not there to protect him.

Carp spawning is worse than policing the kid’s at Lover’s Lane, they’re persistent and insist on the “group” thing. Interesting to watch - as Mother Nature rarely affords us the opportunity to do so.

The Caddis Variant is an elegant Caddis imitation that is dressed lightly and uses very little hackle. An excellent searching pattern, and floats well when dressed. It’s in the vein of the Elk Hair Caddis, and may be easier to tie.

The collection of angling history amassed by Ernest Schweibert will be auctioned by Lang’s Auctions and eBay, April 25th and 26th. Hundreds of flies and books, dozens of rods and reels will be available for public bidding, representing nearly 100 years of fly fishing history.

I finally stumbled on the fly fishing equivalent of those “late night medical breakthrough” shows with faux MD’s hawking snake oil. We’ve all endured them - hosted by some ersatz skeptic who adds little other than, “Well, Doctor Bob - how can the viewers get Miracle-Krill?”
This 50 page tome claims to perfect your fly fishing skills […]

Smallmouth Bass are among my favorite gamefish to catch on flies - they’re the ultimate assassins, camoflaged and voracious. I like their “red eye” as it always seems to hold malice with each stare, making me thankful I’m a lot bigger than them.

In traditional fashion I brought one dry fly and a half dozen spinners, those by accident, and was completely unprepared for the massive outpouring of insect life.
Another couple days of balmy weather and the upper elevations will be abuzz with critters, here on the valley floor I walked into a five hour long spinner fall […]