Archives: Outfitters Posts

8 Reasons to Hire a Guide for Your Next Fly Fishing Trip by Bryan Quick Some of you may be wondering if it’s worth hiring a professional fly fishing guide for your next day on the water. This is a valid question, and one that deserves to be explored. Guides these days are not cheap (more…)

Simple Tips for Fly Fishing in the Summer Heat As we come roaring into summer here in NorCal, with several days tipping past the 100-degrees mark, we need to start changing some of our fishing techniques to protect trout. Normally in June our trout streams begin warming up, causing a corresponding decrease in the amount (more…)

Techniques For Dry Fly Fishing Recognizing Rise Forms Whenever we are faced with fish dimpling on the surface of an otherwise glass-smooth piece of water, the angler in all of us tends to panic. We wait so long in between these special moments of our fishing career (where the stars align, the wind is calm, (more…)

Techniques for Dry Fly Fishing Part One: Casting to Trout A sight seared into my memory is one large brown holding off of a cut bank just above the weir below Pine Flat Dam on the Kings River. It was late summer, and I was kicking up hoppers as I made my way up to (more…)

Top Five Flies for Fly Fishing Northern California By Bryan Quick We are often asked, “What is your favorite fly?” This can be a long discussion leading down riffles and tailouts into the fly fishing abyss. With so many great patterns out there, it is always a tough question to answer, and it begs the (more…)

Growing up in Southern California, I developed a passion for the ocean and water. Of course, this led to hitting the waves and learning to surf. Surfing is very spiritual to me. Those that have surfed onto the open shoulder will understand. It was a life changing event for me. Even as a guide today (more…)

Top Five Places to Fly Fish for Trout Near Redding California By Bryan Quick & Chris King The American West is home to so much great fly fishing you can spend a lifetime finding different waters to fish. Up here in Northern California, we are often faced with the enviable conflict of having to choose (more…)

A Day on the Trinity with Ernie Denison By Erik Argotti I first heard about Ernie Denison about 15 years ago when my good buddy Gabe Duran, who I guided with in Alaska, was moving back to his hometown in Northern California to start guiding the area. Like most guides who work in Alaska or (more…)

Of the attributes the most successful fishing guides possess, an in-depth, intimate knowledge of the waters they fish tops the list. Shane Kohlbeck is one of those guides whose knowledge of the Lower Sacramento River rivals anyone. Pick any day in the year and he will tell you which insects will be on the menu, (more…)

We would like to welcome Ian Stratte to the guide team here at The Fly Shop®. A California native originally from Eureka, Calif., Ian began fly fishing at an early age after finding his grandfather’s fly rods in the garage and taking them for a spin. His family transplanted to Redding, Calif., and he has (more…)