Lake Mead After 15 minutes fishing the area he recommended, I had a chance to test this advice as a good brown hit my fly and leaped, then bulldogged downstream. Following in a sort of "controlled stumble", I led it toward an eddy in the current, and after a few tense moments as my leader sawed through submerged weeds, I netted and released the 18 inch fish.

"Well, that's a good start" I thought as I checked my 4X tippet for nicks and adjusted my strike indicator for the next run. I was using #7 rod with floating, rocket taper line, a twelve foot leader, and two nymphs, a Beadhead Prince and a Tan Marabou Caddis. The brown hit the caddis pattern, as Jeff had predicted based on the fly's success on his trip. It's great to have a personal fly fishing consultant. I moved upstream, continuing to dead drift a short line through channels and behind current obstructions. Ten minutes had passed when another brown, about 15 inches, slammed the caddis, exploding at the surface and throwing the hook. On my next cast, I had another strike, and set the hook a litttle too hard on a 10 incher, sailing him through the air and across the river. When I crouched and pulled out my surgical pliers to release the small brown, I saw that once again, it was the Marabou Caddis planted firmly in corner of its jaw.

Then the hits stopped coming, so I changed flies, tying on an olive Hare's Ear and a Zug Bug. A half hour presenting these new offerings failed to cure the lockjaw, but just as I was lifting my nymphs from the water to change again, a fish tried to take the Hare's Ear. Inspecting what I thought was a piece of weed stuck on the hook point, I saw that in fact, I had impaled a caddis larvae on my fly- a larvae that looked remarkably like my Marabou Caddis.

Bingo! I put back on the #16 nymph and started hooking fish in every hole. I changed the other fly in the team three more times over the course of the morning, but the fish wanted only the caddis. Twice I had violent strikes that broke me off as the nymph was hanging in the current downstream at the end of my drift. I had tied a dozen of these nymphs, though, in preparation for this trip, so all each lost fly cost me was about 15 cents and a slight delay.

By midmorning, I was fishing the run just below the Big Hole pool at the base of the dam. I had fought 11 fish by this point, netting eight. Three of the lost fish all came from one pocket in a fast water section.

Two browns and a rainbow in the sixteen inch class, were hooked on three successive casts, and despite my attempts to run after them, each got downstream of me into whitewater, pulling the hook free.

I was alone when I started at dawn, and I had not encountered another angler all morning, but as I considered working my way back down the river, I saw late-rising anglers fishing or setting up at nearly every good spot.

"They missed the best fishing." I muttered as I made a final cast, then I happily ate my words when a 19" rainbow struck my fly and went airborne. This time I was fast enough to meet it downstream, disturbing another fisherman who shot me a dirty look. Hey, courtesy is a great thing, but so is landing a big fish in fast water, and I disregarded the scowling face as I netted my fish. One look at the fat, colorful trout, though, and the other man abandoned his attampt to shame me, hunching over to tie on his fly instead. I held my fish gently in the current until it squirmed out of my grip and darted away.

This river is an incredibly rich fishery, providing miles of good public access in both California and Nevada. Most of the fish are wild, but the Department of Fish and Game does a great job of augmenting the population with everything from large plants of fingerling browns to trophy size Lahontan cutthroat and Alpers rainbows. There are also some large carp and state-record class whitefish. The whitefish like beadhead nymphs and can provide great action to fill in your day between trout, especially in winter, when "whities"are most active.

There is every type of water here; deep holes for streamer work, pockets and runs for nymphing, and smooth, glassy flows for observing and matching hatches with dries or emergers. The river also responds well to a spinning rod and well placed minnow plug, especially in high water conditions. A #9 or 11 rainbow or minnow pattern Rapala Countdown, dropped in at the head of a run and worked back with a stop-and-go retrieve, can be absolutely deadly.

There is a daily limit of one fish over 18 inches in California, with only barbless, artificial lures permitted. Nevada has an even more restrictive, catch-and-release only section, known as the Rosachi Ranch. The Nevada portion is open to fishing all year, providing a superb winter alternative for devotees of moving water when the California stream season ends.

Right now the flows from Bridgeport Reservoir are still hovering around 200 cfs, perfect for wading and flyfishing. Spin anglers should try plugs early and late in the day, then fill in with a small Panther Martin or Vibrax spinner, dredged through pockets and flicked under overhanging branches.

Fly Recipe: Marabou Caddis

• Hook: standard nymph hook, 2x long, 1 or 2x heavy, size 12-18
• Head (optional): glass bead, black or gunmetal
• Thread: 6 or 8/0, color to match color of Marabou
• Body: 15 to 20 long herls of good quality Marabou, Tan or color of naturals
• Legs: mallard flank or other barred pattern feather
• Thorax: dark, natural dubbing, such as mink or hare's ear, with guard hairs for "buggy" effect.

Add the glass bead first, then dress the hookshank with thread. Tie in the marabou by the tips, at the rear of the hook. Wrap the thread forward, then wind the marabou herls forward, wrapping the hook shank up to or just before the bead. Tie off and trim. Tie a few fibers of mallard flank in over the tie-in point of the marabou, so that the legs "sprout" from just behind the head, angling back and away from the body. The legs should meet or extend just past the hookpoint. Add an inch or so of dubbing and wrap a small thorax (not to exceed 1/4 of body) over the tie-in points of the mallard and marabou, just behind the bead. Whip finish and add a micro-drop of head cement.

Remember, never stand in a canoe.
Mark Wiza