Carlo's Steelhead Wrap Up

Fly Department manager Carlo Bongio sent over just a few shots from this year's excellent steelhead season

"The first wild steelhead was caught and released from a local tidewater stream in sonoma county. The second photo taken in the boat is a Smith river hatchery Steelhead that was kept for the barbaque. The last photo with the flyrod is a Russian River hatchery Steelhead that was also kept. The point of this post is to make sure that all anglers understand that all wild steelhead in California must be released. You will notice tha large intact adipose fin of the wild steelhead compared to the clipped adipose fin of the hatchery fish. This winter's runs have been fair to good on most rivers on the coast. - Carlo"

North Coast Heating Up!

For the past couple of weeks, we've had our heads tucked down, focused on clearing out the inventory in our Santa Rosa store. Luckily, we have staff members and a few customers who have gotten a chance to be out doing what matters - checking conditions on the coastal rivers.

With the lighter rains and warm days of the past week, conditions in some of the quicker-clearing rivers have gotten to be excellent. So, after you drop by the Santa Rosa store this last week of the sale, then you might just spend a little time closer to the coast.





You never know what you might come up with...

Slick Trick For Steelhead

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.

We've been stocking P-Line Hydrofloat line for a while now, and it's starting to catch on as a slick way to fish downstream baits and lures. It draws a bit from flyfishing - it's actually Spectra line which has a thin floating layer laminated to it. This causes the line to suspend on the surface. You can actually mend the line as you would with a regular fly line.

Rigging the line up with a slip-float lets you drift your bait along with the current in a much more natural fashion further downstream. Regular line will arc toward shore much more quickly, and many anglers feel that they have been getting more hookups with the fish that are just downstream of where regular monofilament has begun to move towards shore.

We have a number of good rod options to use for this - the staff favorites are an ultralight setup with a 10'6" Fenwick HMG Noodle rod or if you are looking for something a bit more traditional the Shimano Clarus 8'6" spinning setup.

Russian River Steelhead Clinic Dates Set

The rains are here, conjuring up anticipation of fall runs on the coastal waters. It is some of the more challenging fly fishing , and there's no better way to learn the intricacies of it than to attend one of the always-sold-out Russian River Steelhead Clinics by Carlo Bongio of our Santa Rosa store. Carlo has just announced three dates for this one day clinic - Saturday, November 21st, Saturday, December 12th and Saturday, January 16th.

Steelhead fishing with a fly is truly a graduate school for anglers. Make no mistake, this is technically challenging fishing. But, when your first (or 50th!) steelhead takes your carefully drifted fly and rockets away like a freight train, the hours of casting and working the waters are sure to be forgotten.

Though many lament how the Russian River has changed over the past decades, there have been many improvements in the fishery, with between 5,000 and 10,000 steelhead returning each winter. It is an ideal place to learn how to pursue this winter-run fish, and techniques learned in this class are applicable to almost any waters. Carlo has optimized the timing of this course to maximize the possibility of hooking one of these hard-fighting fish.

Carlo Bongio has fished the Russian River in bad years and through tremendous runs. His careful note-taking and observations have made allowed him to consistently catch and release steelhead on the Russian River for over 30 years. His extensive knowledge and easy teaching style will unlock the secrets of this near-mythic fish.

As mentioned, these clinics fill up extremely quickly, and are subject to minor date changes due to water levels and conditions. For more information, please download our info/signup sheet by clicking below:

Or, if you have specific questions, contact Carlo at the Santa Rosa store - 707-542-4432.

Rivers Update and Class Info

Steelhead season on the Coastal rivers is winding down. However, this past week saw several fresh run steelhead caught on the Russian River.

Steelhead season ends on March 31st. The Russian River is still open to angling, but you cannot harvest a steelhead - even a hatchery fish - after that date.

Look for the middle of April to bring with it the first runs of Shad in the Russian. This hard-running fish is a kick to catch and release. Recent rains have helped to put some good water flow into the river system, and make it a much more exciting spring.

Flyfishing 101 - Space Available in 4/18 Session
If you are looking to learn how to fly cast, or just tune up and shake off the winter of inacivity, give a call to the Santa Rosa store and sign up for my next Flyfishing 101 Course, which will take place on Saturday, April 18th. This is a great way to get ready for serious spring fishing, or to finally learn what all the excitment is about with fly fishing. Class size is limited, and you we can supply equipment if necessary.

Bass and panfish should be in full swing by this time. As the weather warms up, these fish are hungry and moving into the shallower waters, making them perfect for fly fishing.

Go through your tackle and gear, get ready for spring!

- Carlo

Pallets of Product & Steelhead Festival

New Items Arriving Now
Well, the pallets of product we ordered in the big Vegas show are beginning to arrive. We are moving out the winter waterfowl items (Last chance to grab stuff still on sale! - Deals on decoys - 15% off! - and camo clothing - 30% off!) to make room for the spring items arriving now.

First on the floor are the new Daiwa D-Shock rod/reel combos. We have a 5 ft. ultra light, a 6 ft. light and a new 7 ft. med action rod outfits with a smooth Daiwa spinning reel matched to balance the outfit. Diawa has really been cleaning up their spinning reel technology and these are just awesome!

As a pre-season deal, I am going to price the entire line of rod and spinning reel combos at $29.99 each. Not only that - I will throw in the line for FREE! (Actually, I'm going to let anyone throw in the line - you don't have to track me down...) We will custom spool the reel with what ever pound test monofilament line you choose. These are excellent Ready-To-Fish setups, perfect for freshwater conditions.

This just the begining of the "Recession Collection" of items we have found to help ease the pain of the current economic times. Check back soon and I will let you know as new items arrive.

Healdsburg Steelhead Festival - this weekend!
As a added bonus we will have some special close out pricing on some Rods, Reels, Fly Rods, Fly Reels and some other items at super low prices at the Steel head Festival, this weekend in Healdsburg. ( Saturday Feb. 7th only) This special pricing will only be available at the festival, and they are so low that I doubt that there will be anything left!

More info on the Healdsburg Steelhead Festival -
healdsburgsteelheadfest.org

Talk at ya soon
Tom Nelson
General Manager

Steelhead Conditions

Well, it should be time for steelhead. But, this '09 season finds us with very low and clear water conditions. Low flows have closed the north coast rivers and creeks to angling. The only river opoen to steelhead angling is the Russian River in Sonoma County. The Smith and Eel river systems are under separate low flow regulations.

The amount of steelhead in the Russian river has been low and we are not seeing a large migration at this time, unlike 2007 when we had very similar conditions, but the river had thousands of steelhead coming in. So, what is happening?

I'm not sure, but feel it's a combination of things that may have occured. We still have fish, but we need to use low water tactics, such as longer and lighter leaders, smaller flies and lures, and a really stealthy approach.

As this is being posted, rain is falling and the forcast looks good for more. This could open the other castal rivers by next week (1/28). You can always check the DFG fishphone for flows at 707-944-5533.

The best advice for this week is "Don't Give Up!" Every steelhead year is different and conditions can change overnight