I borrowed Solis’ two-weight and tied up a handful of white and fluorescent green Wooly Buggers the night before.  Rumor had it, that was all I would need as these fish were not picky. Here is what we were treated to:

Small creek – beautiful fish.

This fish taped at 14 inches. Look at the gut on her…

I’ve been testing the new William Joseph Exodus II and loving it. It is big enough to carry my camera, an extra lens and my lunch while also fitting a couple of fly boxes and the rest of my essentials in the front pockets. So far – its a keeper!

The wildflowers were also in full bloom and putting on quite a show near the banks of the creek.

Epic fishing, close to home!

This only whet my appetite to spend more time chasing fish, so I called up my friend Brad McFall with Mammoth Fly Fishing and created a plan. We decided that we would hook up on Thursday and fish the East Walker River. I woke up Thursday morning to snow coming in sideways, but decided to take our chances and dress for a wet, cold, windy day of fishing. Here is what it looked like outside my front door:

We got to the river, layered up and got everything rigged in the blowing snow.

We fished for the first hour in the snow, catching quite a few fish. Eventually the sun came out, but the wind never let up, and we got into a bunch of fish.

We drove home from Mammoth on Friday and got ready for the arrival of Corey Kruitbosch. From the freezing weather (and multiple layers) of Mammoth to fishing the Pacific in board shorts, this was about as opposite an experience one could have. I met up with Corey for sunrise service on Sunday, and got right into a bunch of surfperch.

Although we didn’t catch anything worth bragging about, I had a great time fishing with Corey and picking his brain on photography! What a nice guy. The many small perch kept us busy until we couldn’t resist the smell of cooking bacon, coming from the houses and restaurants behind us, any longer. We called it a morning and walked to a breakfast place in our wet board shorts, leaned our rods against the table and settled into some coffee and breakfast. Before it was over Corey and set up another trip to fish out of his drift boat this summer. I can’t wait.

Another great day in San Diego.

Met up with my friend Conway Bowman bright and early Thursday morning to stalk some Carp and trade a few stories. Conway recently acquired an East Cape Caiman Flats Skiff and was eager to hit the skinny water in search of tailing Carp. Conway had assured me that this was the ultimate training for casting to spooky Bonefish and mudding Redfish.

We no sooner motored across the lake before we started spotting Carp tailing in inches of water. Armed with a handful of flies and a six-weight it was game on.

Here is the ride:

The man with the plan:

And the adversary:

I even got some time on the stick:

We cast to tailing fish all day and finished with several fish and many more hooked and lost. These are really fun (and strong) fish! It was really cool to see literally thousands of Carp in the lake, many spawning and lots of fish on the chew. It seems that Spring has sprung here in San Diego. The warmer weather will heat up the water further and the fishing will only get better.

With the temperature approaching 90, we ended the day around 2.30 and headed for the lake store. Ice cold ballenas of Tecate never tasted so good!

Here are the fly images that I provided. This is my first shot at fly photography and any input is appreciated.

Bulla’s Gremmie

Cronin’s Surfin’ Merkin

Van Allen’s Viking

Endress’s Razzler

Foxy Clouser

Silberberg’s Bean Burrito

Borski’s Bonefish Critter

Calhoun’s Swimming Crab

Also if you pick up the issue, check out the stunning photography on the cover (front, back and a nice spread inside) from my friend Brian Gregson.

The day before we left I made a quick run to Bishop to fish with my good friend Rusty. The water levels on the Lower Owens had recently dropped and the fish were getting used to it. We fished the Wild Trout Section of the Lower O and brought a few fish to hand.

Another version with less blur on the water.

And a landscape from the same evening.

To start with, they sent me a Surge Pack that features the ZIP-NO technology to test in the surf. Willy J has upped the game by using earth magnets instead of zippers on this line of packs which should be appealing to anyone who fishes in the saltwater. The saltwater environment is highly corrosive and one of the first things to fail on most saltwater gear is typically the zippers. Due to the number of packs that I have been through because of failed zippers, I was really looking forward to trying out this pack. I have been using it in the surf for a month or so and am very happy with it so far. Look for a more extensive review in this blog soon. Here is the Surge.

Along with the Surge, William Joseph also sent along an Exodus backpack. This pack is sweet, combining a traditional backpack with a fishing vest. The cool thing about this pack is you can remove the “vest” portion of the pack by simply zipping off the “vest” leaving you with a simple backpack. It also has a water bladder sleeve and a frame that keeps the pack slightly lifted off your back so that air can circulate. Since I am always carrying a camera, I have been using this pack quite a bit. I have been using this pack for about a month as well and am really stoked with it. Look for a more detailed review here soon as well. Here is the Exodus.

Check back here to see how these packs have held up in the salt as well as other William Joseph products as I get my hands on them.