This site is dedicated to the flyfishermen whom fish the Sierra Nevada Region of California to assist in locating the necessary information to locate sites to fish, what flies to choose, and how to tie them.
I developed this site due to my interest in the region and the realization that most of the information that I was seeking was scattered throughout numerous websites and literature. I've included maps of the region along with links to those fly shops and guides who serve the area.

This is meant to be an interactive site with feedback from those who also enjoy fishing this wonderful region. I've enjoyed swapping flies with other fly tiers from all over the world. This site will also facilitate the hosting of those swaps. Due to the size of some of the images, you will find that a display setting of 1024 x 768 will work best for most moniters. The fish illustrations in the navigation bar are courtesy of Stuart Helmintoller of Los Osos, CA . To see more of his artwork, visit his web site at : http://helmintoller.com/streamside/ . The source information on the Fish section is taken mostly from Robert Behnke's book, "Trout and Salmon of North America". Joe Tomelleri provided the illustration content that I used in composing my own illustrations. His lifelike illustrations can be obtained within Robert Behnke's book, "Trout and Salmon of North America" at their TroutSalmon Website. Most of the fly selections are based upon visits to Sieran Fly Shops as well as e-mails from FirstFish (Chico), The Fly Shop (Redding), The Trout Fly (Mammoth), Sierra Drifters (Crowley Lake), The Troutfitter (Kernville), and Barrett's Outfitters (Bishop). I've also depended heavily on the publications of California Fly Fisher (Truckee) ; Ralph and Lisa Cutter's book "Sierra Trout Guide" and "Fish Food"; Bill Sunderland's book, "Flyfishing the Sierra Nevada" and "Flyfishing California's Stillwaters"; Denny Rickard's book, "Flyfishing the West's Best Trophy Lakes"; Steve Beck's book, Trout-Fishing the John Muir Trail"; Louis Bignami & Denis Peirce pamphlet, "North Tahoe Trout", Pete Heley's pamphlet, "California Brown Trout Guide" , John Barber's book, "Eastern Sierra Fishing Guide for Day Hikers", and Stephen Haggard's book, "Flyfishing the Tahoe Region". The Fly Tying information is gleaned from Dave Hughes book, "Trout Flies" ; Leeson and Schollmeyer's, "The Fly Tier's Benchside Reference"; A.K. Best's "Advanced Fly Tying", Rick Hafele and Dave Hughes, "Western Hatches" and Randall Kaufmann's books, "Tying Dry Flies", "The Fly Tier's Nymph Manual" and " Lake Fishing with a Fly" as well as many others.

Some Interesting Facts about the Sierras:

• There are 20 major Rivers, 14 on the West Side and 6 on the East Side. These are within over 24 watershed areas.
• Historically, there were no trout in the Sierras above 6000 feet. Except for Goldens in the Upper Kern and Lahontan Cutthroats within the Carson, Walker, and Truckee River Drainage.
• Starting in the mid 1800's, trout have been stocked into 85% of all the lakes in the Sierras over 2 acres in size.
• There are 649 lakes in Inyo, Sierra, and Toiyabe National Forests of at least 25 acres between 10660' and 11,480' elevation. 85% of these lakes contain trout: (Christenson 1977)
  • 60% Brooks
  • 36% Rainbows
  • 32% Goldens
  • 5% Browns
• There are 1,404 lakes above 7,900' elevation within the Sierras. Of these lakes, trout are in 63%, the rest fishless: (Jenkins 1994)
  • Goldens are in 36% of all lakes
  • Rainbows are in 33% of all lakes
  • Brookies are in 16% of all lakes
  • Browns are in 8% of all lakes
  • Lahontan Cutthroats are in 1/2% of all lakes
• Fish Planting ended within most of the Sierran National Parks beginning in 1970. Today, Sierran National Forests have 85% of their lakes with fish and the National Parks have 40%.

Gary LaFontaine Fly Swap (Winter 2008)

This swap was hosted by Ariel Levin, aka Fflutterffly, from the Kern River Forum Site.
Participants:
1. David Sisson............Airhead
2. Wildsteelheader.......Free-Living Caddis Larva
3. Rob Buhler..............Deep Sparkle Pupa
4. Sasquatch..............Light Cased Caddis
5. Ariel Levin...............The Creature
6. Steve Schalla..........Halo Emerger-Baetis
7. Casey Holcomb.......Dancing Caddis
8. Eric2......................Green Rock Worm
9. Sam's Dad..............The Mess

Favorite Links:

Upper Kern River Trip - Sept 26th-30th, 2007

The bridge over the Kern is the division of the Sequoia National Park on the left and the Inyo National Forest/Golden Trout Wilderness on the right. About 1/2 mile up from this bridge is the confluence of Golden Trout Creek into the Kern River. Within this stretch of water you will encounter Kern River Rainbows and Golden Trout.

Wrangler Anglers

This is the halfway point from the Golden Trout Wilderness Pack Station to Big Kern Lake at Willow Meadows. The USFS provides facilities maintained by Sierran Horse enthusiasts. From the left is Tyson McMullen, Kevin Miller, Steve Day (Pack Station Proprietor), Eric Schalla, Maria Rivas, and Guy Jeans (Fly Fishing Guide).