Written by: Mark Schaller, Orvis San Jose
It’s always gratifying when a difficult-to-access piece of water offers a big return on your investment.
Photo by Jack Golan
Fellow Orvis sales associate Jack Golan and I ventured out of the shop last week to scout a new section of water, which we suspected, might hold some big trout. We had picked up some nice fish on a smaller, more easily accessed part of this river earlier in the year and hoped the more challenging access to this new section would be worth the extra effort.
I had number of strong takes on seemingly big fish early on, and then, in the late afternoon, I hooked up on this beautiful brown. Fooled by a Purple Psycho Prince, she immediately headed for fast water. Had I not been rigged up with 3X Fluorocarbon, I would have surely broken this beast off.
Wild trout like this are certainly worth a little extra work.
Photo by Jack Golan
For those of you who have gotten comfortable fishing the same piece of water, either because you have been successful there, or it’s just easy to access, I challenge you to venture out and find your “Location X.”
Mark Schaller and Jack Golan are Fly-Fishing Sales Associates at Orvis San Jose (CA).
Jack sold me my first rod combo. He was real enthusiastic about fly fishing. Maybe I can get a hint about such a location. I haven’t caught a brown yet.
You could try most all of the Sierran west side streams, and even the Truckee if you are VERY careful to know the many and difficult regulations there. Two of my favorites are the South Fork of the Kings River in Kings Canyon and the North and Middle Forks of the American River above Folsom Reservoir…
https://sfkingsriver.org
https://upperamerican.com