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Fly fishers, especially those who ply cold waters for the fish they hope to hook up with, usually have to get wet to get on their quarry. Waders have been around in some form or another for a long time now and are as part of the mythology of fly fishing as creel, rod, reel, and the flies themselves. Today's modern wader designs employ high tech materials, innovative construction, and athletic tailoring designed to not only protect you from the elements, but to help you stay as comfortable and safe as possible when you're in the river, wading the flat, or trying to stay dry on the boat. At Lost Coast Outfitters, we think an appropriate pair of waders can mean the difference between a good day of fishing and a great one. That's why we offer the very best waders from Simms Fishing Products, Redington, and Patagonia. Waders play a central part of the fly fishing game, so why scrimp on your own safety, comfort, and fun?
"Life is too short for bad coffee and shitty fly lines."
- Bill Lowe
Characteristics:
After migration to the foliage and rocks of the shoreline, golden stoneflies shed the remainder of their nymphal shucks and quickly find mates under the protective cover of streamside vegetation. The fertilized females will then fly clumsily above the water, quickly darting to the surface to deposit eggs, making themselves easy targets for aggressive surface-feeding trout.
Many adults will also fall from the safety of streamside trees, weeds, and other vegetation. These unfortunate bugs wind up swept along with the main current and will often collect in the slower water of eddys and along deeper cut banks. Golden stoneflies in their adult stage are easily spotted as they are quite active during and after their streamside mating time.
Fishing Tactics
When fishing a golden stonefly dry it is very important to focus on the banks of the river. Don't worry about delicate presentation and get as close to foliage as you possible can to represent the insect falling into the current. Eddy's and other current changes are other solid spots to test your luck
Characteristics:
During the larval stage, which commonly lasts anywhere from 1 to 3 years, golden stoneflies spend the balance of their time using their powerful legs and low center of gravity to cling to the rocky bottoms of small to large rivers and spring creeks with moderate to fast flow rates.
During its nymph life stage, these crawlers are most commonly found in the medium to fast water of riffles and higher energy current seams. Prior to and during a hatch, these medium-to-large sized nymphs can also be found in low energy backwaters, eddys, and other shallow streamside environments. Golden stonefly nymphs thrive among the cool, well-oxygenated water of rocky riffles and these nymphs are most vulnerable to trout when they are either swept up by strong currents or when they leave their rocky homes to hatch into winged adults from the safety of the shoreline.
Their swimming ability is quite weak and these nymphs expose themselves by making adventurous crawling trips away from safety just before emergence and subsequent on-land hatching. Golden stones are an important hatch on many rivers in North America, and in the west, they are often associated with the prolific hatches of the giant salmonfly, which generally precede the hatches of the golden stonefly. These easily distinguishable nymphs are available to trout throughout the waters of North America on a year-round basis and commonly hatch from morning to evening hours.
Fishing Tactics
Standard nymphing tactics are the best way to imitate the golden stonefly nymph. Try high sticking or dropping this nymph under an indicator and focus on fishing the edges of color change, current change, or fishing the banks.
We have been fishing Hatch since the very beginning of their existence. It must have been 2005 or 2006 when we met John with his first prototype reels. Hatch Fly Reels has always had exemplary products and service which is why you will find them on our shelves and on our rods. Hatch has become the go to for our beach anglers who put reels through the ringer more than any type of fishing. Day in and day out Hatch Fly Reels deliver like no other reel. Made and serviced right here in California, Hatch Fly Reels are a no brainer for any west coast based angler.
Our Favorite Hatch Reels are Hatch 3 Plus Mid Arbor (as a 5wt), Hatch 5 Plus Mid Arbor ( as a 7wt), Hatch 7 Plus Large Arbor as an 8wt, and Hatch 9 Plus as a 7/8wt Spey Reel.
Catching fish on the swing is hard enough, but having proven flies certainly can help you keep confidence in your swing. These proven flies are what you will find in LCO's owner and steelhead junkie, George Revel's fly box. In California, Kamchatka, Alaska, BC, and Washington and Oregon, these flies have been proven to work.
Lost Coast Outfitters believes in using the best possible products when you have the opportunity to be on the water. Loon Outdoor Fly Fishing Products delivers the highest quality products with an environmental awareness that we admire.
That is what fishing with a conscience is all about; ascribing value to the health of the water we fish. We develop our products with these values in mind and make sure they are safe for fish, fisheries, and fishermen, without ever compromising quality or performance.
By offering reusable and biodegradable weights and indicators we make sure lost tackle doesn't harm wildlife. Our floatants, sinkets and cleaners are solvent-free and consist of water-soluble components that perform without polluting the water. And our tying paints, cements and wax are non-toxic and odorless, to keep tying benches free from harmful fumes.
Lost Coast takes pride in stocking the best flies on the market, handpicked for their construction and craftsmanship. If you don't see the box you want, or you're looking for the perfect gift, feel free to reach out to us directly and we'll put something together for you.
Wherever you're fishing, we've got you covered. Alaska, the Bahamas, BC, or the California coast – let us get you stocked up on flies.
Fishing Tactics:
Traditional Dry Fly tactics. Casting upstream and keeping a tight line to your fly as it drifts down. Focus on edges and clean drifts.
Photo by nrmiller
After hatching into winged adults, March Brown duns will flutter to nearby foliage and vegetation prior to mating. After emergence, males will create large mating swarms above faster riffles and females will fly into these clouds of sexually mature males. After the females are fertilized, they will deposit their eggs on the surface of the faster water. Both males and females will fall as spent spinners to the surface film, some will float high on the water and others will be swept below the surface. The Spinner will have more color on its body and also will have clear wings. Falls of March Brown spinners can be very thick and when the water is thick with these spent bugs, trout rise feed voraciously on the surface.
March Browns usually start to pop off right around the first week of March and generally around the early afternoon regardless of weather conditions.
In the hours leading up to emergence the insect develops a gas bubble in thorax that helps to propel them up to the surface. They release their grip form the bottom and start to drift downstream in the current on their trip to the surface.
Once they reach the surface they secure themselves in the surface film and emerge out of their exoskeleton where they must wait for their wings to dry before they can fly away. This is another stage in which these bugs are extremely exposed to fish. You can expect to see gentle sipping takes from fish when feeding on emergers.
Fishing Tactics:
Traditional tight line nymphing or nymphs under an indicator still work for this stage but I prefer to swing emerging patterns. Keeping a tight line casting downstream at a 45 degree angle and letting the current move your flies across the run produces a very similar movement to the insect swimming up in the water column and can be extremely productive when done properly.
If fish are feeding on the surface emergers switch over to a dry fly.
Favorite local March Brown Hatch is on the Trinity River. Catching Steelhead on a dead drift dry fly is pretty awesome. Not to mention the river is usually pretty empty. You will want to have March Brown in your box from March through May on many of California's rivers.
Characteristics
March Browns are the first large mayflies of the year to emerge. Members of the clinger mayfly family, March brown nymphs live in riffles and fast, rocky runs. They are very flat and almost triangular in shape with gills protruding from their abdomen. Nymphs are so well adapted to their environments that they are rarely found in drift until emergence.
Fishing Tactics
Traditional tight line Nymphing or nymphs under an indicator is the best way to imitate the March Brown Nymph.
Focus on fast water and make sure your nymphs are on the bottom!
