Fly Fishing Report, Upper Rock Creek, Montana

Too much coffee = blurry fish photos

Fished Upper Rock Creek on 9-24-2011 from 1-6 PM West of Phillipsburg on Hwy 38 N of Georgetown Lake. Just below the bridge caught 3 Cutthroats 8, 11, 15" on a green caddis pupa ext body dropper below a #12 grasshopper attractor. This area holds Bull Trout. I saw a couple in the 30" range but could not get a take, though one chased my 8" cut. Good source of information is the Stonefly Fly shop in Butte. Mike and Chris were very helpful with flies and river accesses. Check their site at www.thestonefly.com.


Submitted by: Dan Wallentine

Fly Fishing Report, Coeur D'Alene, ID

Coeur D'Alene, ID


The Coeur D'Alene River is about 20 miles east of CDA on I-90. Exit the Enaville exit. Fished 9-16-11, 2-6 PM above Bumblebee Campground on the north fork. Caught one Cutthroat 15" on #14 EC Caddis dry. Fished the main river about 13 miles from exit. Caught 3 Cuts, 10, 11, 13" on Royal and green drake attractors.


Submitted by: Dan Wallentine

The San Juan Shuffle

San Juan River, NM Fly Fishing Report

Sight casting in about 8 inches of water.

Healthy San Juan Rainbow!

Ed and a nice San Juan Bow

September 9-12, 2011


Spent three days on the San Juan River after all the Labor Day weekenders left town. Well, not all of them left. I fly fished with my buddy Ed and we had success with San Juan Worms (Brown, Tan, and Orange) #16, Chocolate Brown Midge Larva #22, Red Larva #18, and one fish took a size #8 Black Bead Head Woolly Bugger. We caught almost equal amounts of Browns to Rainbows from just above Texas Hole down to Lunker Alley. As usual, indicator nymphing was the technique of choice, mostly casting to the edges of the fast water and eddies.


It's been a few years since I made the trek to the San Juan and things have definitely changed. Areas have either filled in or have washed away. Likely due to the annual high flows in June that are meant to mimic spring runoff.


All in all, we had a good time with Ed landing 25 Rainbows and Browns on his first trip to the San Juan River. I came away with 36, with most fish coming to net in the 16-18 inch range and a couple over 20 inches.

Submitted by: Darin Wallentine

A Labor Day Tradition

Burney Creek, CA


I took all three of my boys, Caleb, Joshua, and Ezra to the massive plunge pool below the 129 foot Burney Falls in northern California. We had a great day and caught about a dozen nice Rainbows and Brook Trout.


Submitted by: Sean Wallentine

Yakima River, WA Fly Fishing Report

Fished with Scott Wilson of Troutwater Guide Service out of Yakima Fly Shop in Cle Elum WA (Marked on the Google Map above by the pinpoint (A)). We fished the afternoon from the Yakima from the confluence of the Cle Elum Riv. Any day flyfishing is enjoyable, but my technique, the inexperience of fishing from a boat and my physical limitations cost me some nice fish. Scott did a good job of getting me into opportunities and I did catch and release about 15 smallish rainbows. The salmon were just showing up and the larger rainbows will be nearby for the eggs. We fished both a two fly nymph rig and a dry fly. The dry was a very large white wing hopper pattern and later an October caddis. The nymph rig was a rubber leg patterm followed by an egg imitation. Most of the fish were caught on the nymph rig. If you're in central WA contact www.troutwaterfly.com. They are very ! friendly and helpful.


Submitted by: Dan Wallentine

It's Good To Have A Friend With A Lake!

Shasta County, CA


Fished streamers and nymph trailers for big rainbows. Enjoyed the time fishing with a friend. I'll have him post his 27" Rainbow soon, as a new Virtual Fly Guide! We both caught fish upwards of 10 pounds. And, we caught a bunch of 18 to 22 inch fish. Great time. My arm is sore...


Submitted by: Sean Wallentine

Montmorency Falls - Quebec, Canada

8wt Salmon rod shoot-out

What to do on a nice August weekend on an enchanted site? ... Call up a few friends, call in some favours, borrow 29 8wt 9ft rods and run them through their paces!

The last Saturday in August, some friends and I dropped into the tail out of the Montmorency Falls near Quebec City and tried out a few rods. There was no ranking system. We were looking for comments on rods. To keep things in perspective I had to imagine the rods were on a Quebec Atlantic salmon river. Short to long casts, medium to big flies. All day angling. We also had a mix of fly fishers ranging from a newcomer, 2 trout anglers a technical caster, an advanced caster and me.

I tried to look at it from the perspective of a day on the river. Would I be happy to see a client arrive geared up with such a rod considering the presentations and casts he or she would be doing. Further, would they be happy with the rod for years to come as they evolve in their fly fishing experience.

I’ll put the full results up once the magazine publishes the article, ... but here’s my personal pick.

All around best rod considering my personal style (a bit brutal on my rods):
Hardy Sintrix Zenith.

Why the hardy over the Sage One and Orvis Helios? All three will load easily close in and cast marvellously out past the belly. However, with the Hardy, even out past 60 feet, I couldn’t over load the rod (well, once, but I had to purposely turn it out of its axis to do it).

In the $150-$350 class, there are several excellent rods, namely the TFO’s, Pieroway, Vison and of course Redington.

Matching a rod to an angler is a pretty personal thing (IMHO). The only good way to do it is to drop into a good shop, string up a couple rods and try them. You’ll know when a rod is right. You’ll also quickly see when a rod is wrong for you!

Tight lines!


Submitted by: Christopher Chin

Freshwater Flyfishing Tips From The Pros

For all of you flyfishers looking for a new flyfishing app for your iPhone or iPad, downloading Freshwater Flyfishing Tips From The Pros is a must. Go to iTunes to purchase this outstanding app for only $2.99. The biggest names in flyfishing share their knowledge and can assist flyfishers of every skill level. Click on the following iTunes Preview link of Freshwater Flyfishing Tips From The Pros by Mark Williams and enjoy!