By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
From a Seattle Post Intelligencer article titled "Judge Sides With Wild Salmon":
The push by property-rights advocates to count hatchery-bred salmon toward the goals of the Endangered Species Act is misguided and runs afoul of the law, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour ruled Wednesday in Seattle. His decision flatly rejects the idea that if enough salmon can be produced in hatcheries, there is little need to protect wild stocks. It also strikes down what environmentalists widely viewed as a Bush administration policy to appease building and agriculture interests. ...
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
Check this out ... kinda like catching a trout you hooked last year and finding your fly still stuck in its mouth. But way more insane. I had no idea whales could live for hundreds of years.
--Tim [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By Gregg Arnold
Clean water is key right now. Find it and find these; standard crab and shrimp imitation patterns always apply. This is the end of the real window for good redfish … prime time is October through March. Truthfully, the wind has been blowing all month … conditions generally suck! It is good work I would not trade with anyone. With tarpon season starting now, I’m beginning to focus my attention on Carrabelle.
But I just caught this fish along with a bunch more its size (29 pounds).
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By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
Three words can sum up this past week; wind, wind and wind. High pressure sitting off the southeast coast has been driving winds out of the east at 25-35 mph for the past eight days. The good numbers of tarpon that were here have scattered and many have temporarily headed for deeper water.
However, with enough pushes of the push pole and enough water passing under the skiff there are clusters of fish to be found. These fish have been both laid up in basins and traveling in the Atlantic fish lanes. I have had the most success throwing chartreuse, tan or a combination of the two rabbit strip flies.
Although this weather pattern is predicted to persist for the next several days, hopefully the fish will accept the rough conditions and push back into the shallows. [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By Al Keller
Just won the Professional Tarpon Tournament Series (PTTS) in Boca Grande on Sunday! The fish was 144lbs.
I had the winning fish last Sunday on for about an hour and a 15' hammerhead chased it down in the last couple of minutes and ate it. Check out the photo below. You can see more pics on this website.
I am in Fernandina Beach now for the FLW Redfish event. Fishing-wise, it’s prime time for tarpon now, which should last for several more weeks, especially in the 10,000 Islands. Wind can make sightfishing tricky, so getting an early start and working falling tides is the key. Staple tarpon patterns, like tarpon bunnies and so forth, are the ticket. Make a good cast and retrieve, and they will eat.
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By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By Tad Howard
As for the current fishing conditions. It seems like the smaller waters on the West Slope are still high but clearing faster than the Front Range.
Stillwater fishing has been exceptional with incredible midge hatches as well as the first callibaetis and damsels of the year. Colorado ponds-reservoirs offer incredible action when the rivers of early June are less consistent due to runoff. Static midge setups have been most productive on our guide trips in stillwaters over the last 2 weeks, although some fish have been chasing streamers and eating scuds. [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
Ling cod action remains spotty but some nice ones are being taken on live flounders and pogies. These critters love to hide in the structure, (e.g., jetties, wrecks, and rocks). Work these structures in 15-50ft of water.
Sea-run cutthroats: Action is good. Fish the outgoing tides, casting Decievers, candlefish, and other bait fish patterns. Poppers have been taking some nice fish as well.
Salmon season is opening! [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
Target: Deschutes. I’m planning to spend the next week or so guiding the Deschutes, below Warm Springs. We should see the start of the salmonfly hatch. The Deschutes is one of the few rivers in the country where the salmonfly hatch can solidly coincide with the golden stonefly hatch. It will be crowded. Flows are right where they should be @ 4,000 cfs. Also, I hear the summer steelhead have shown up already in the East Fork of the Lewis, in Washington state, near Daybreak Park. The North Fork of the Lewis also has steelhead in it now, but the East Fork is more conducive to flyfishing. [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By Mat Wagner
It’s going off in Wisconsin now … caddis hatches (tan) are producing in the mornings; sulphurs midday, and more caddis, craneflies and midges by evening. Swinging nymphs in the riffles is especially effective – be sure to try orange, sulphur-looking patterns. And woolly buggers are also doing the job. Timber Coulee and the West Fork of the Kickapoo are both smoking. Approach fish with stealth, on the Kickapoo, the station report at LaFarge is 2.73 CFS. [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By John Flick
Fishing is great here. The San Juan has been stable at around 1100 cfs, and the dry fly fishing was incredible today! This last cold period (and high moisture) has really helped prolong our season. We are wet and all looks good! Rio, Animas, etc. should come in around mid June, like normal. Creeks will start fishing around the third week of June, depending on weather between now and then. We got a short window on the Animas when it got cold and had 5 days of great float fishing with streamers. Shaping up for a great season, but don't look for anything to be too great, other than the Juan, before mid June. [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
The trout fishing in Northern California has been great all spring and into these early parts of summer. We had such a dry winter, and such low snowpack this year, that water conditions on all of our rivers are ideal right now, and there have been some great hatches: salmonflies and golden stoneflies on Hat Creek, the McCloud, the Upper Sacramento, and the Pit River, the Green Drakes just started coming off on Hat Creek, and the PMD spinnerfall on Fall River has been epic. Of course, the Lower Sacramento is almost always a sure bet with nymphs out of drift boats all day long, but the evening dry fly fishing is starting to pick up for the summer, too. Fish everywhere seem hungry and larger than average.
Check out this pic taken on Hat Creek recently; the fish ate a salmonfly dry.
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By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter

The makos are here!! Captain Dave Trimble caught 7 this week up to 150 lbs. also hooked some big 'ol Humbolt Squid on the fly (see photo). Look for the big bonito to show very soon, they are at Coronado Island right now and should be showing off San Diego in the next week or so. They are the big grade of fish -- 10 to 20pounds!!! Unreal on the fly rod. Standard baitfish fly patterns (deceivers, Puglisi, etc.) will apply.
--Conway [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
By Terry Gunn
All the Lees Ferry Angler guides agree: This spring provided the best and most consistent fishing that we have seen on the river since 1999. The trout are in great shape, strong and eager to eat … at least most days. The fishing is not as "easy" as it was in 1999, as a matter of fact; I would call the current fishing conditions technical. But if you know where the fish are and can make the cast and the perfect drift, and use the right fly you just might hook the strongest trout of your life. (A Lees Ferry Anglers guide can help you with the above.)
The water flow is going to change in June and this will change our approach to fishing. Most likely the midge fishing will be finished until we see lower water flows. Our focus will be shifting to drifting out of the boat and wading only in lower water flows. July will bring Cicadas and the best dry fly fishing of the year. Our cicada fishing rivals that of any other river in the country and happens most years. The summer drift fishing is often the best and... [ Read Full Post ]
By Tim Romano & Kirk Deeter
This week has brought warm, moist, still air and with the swallow-tailed kites still gliding over the twisted mangrove canopy that means one thing -- baby tarpon. Tropical Storm Barry gave us the rain we needed to push the fish from tight mangrove creeks into larger backcountry bays where we can reach them.
Most of the tarpon this time of the year will range from 5-50lbs. Try and tackle these tarpon on six and eight-weight rods. Use a standard saltwater tapered leader 10-20lb attaching a 40-50lb bite guard.
Little tarpon will take streamers, sliders and poppers. Brightly colored flies in our tea-colored water really stand out and attract the little silver kings. Expect more high-flying jumps and closer-to-the-boat battles with these smaller fish than you get from more mature-sized tarpon.
Tight Lines!
-AL
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