This outing is exclusively intended for currently registered Level 1 students in the GGACC Learn To Fly Fish (LTFF) program.
Cost: $130/ person
Overview
The upper parts of the West Fork of the Carson are south of Lake Tahoe in Hope Valley, about 3-4 hours from San Francisco. We will be fishing above 7,000ft in several locations near the Hope Valley Campground in Alpine County, California’s least populated county. We will primarily use dry fly and dry-dropper techniques.
We will organize 4 groups of 10 registered, Learn To Fly Fish Level 1 student anglers (Saturday July 12, Sunday July 13, Saturday July 19, and Sunday July 20) to enjoy a day long fly fishing outing with LTFF club mentors. The groups will camp at a campground to be determined.
This is a great outing to gain more experience and confidence in your fly fishing game. A 5wt rod will be adequate. You will also want waders or wet wading equipment, depending on the weather. Of course, you always need to bring along your 2025 California fishing license. We will go into greater detail during the zoom call before the fish out.
Your registration fee of $130 covers campground fees and a DIY lunch for the day. You will be responsible for breakfast, dinner, snacks, and transportation. Due to the smaller size of the prospective campgrounds, carpooling is highly encouraged.
We will have four groups of 10 anglers each. The first group will arrive on Friday evening with the option for early fishing and fish all day Saturday. The second group of 10 will arrive on Saturday and fish on Sunday. We will have about 5 GGACC club mentors, offering ~2:1 student to mentor ratio.
Camping Equipment
You will need your own tent (with tent stakes, footprint/plastic tarp, and rainfly). Also be sure to bring: sleeping bag; sleeping pad (or air mattress, or cot); headlight or flashlight; cooking stove; water container; cooking pots / cooking utensils; camp dishes / eating utensils; wash basin; biodegradable soap; butane lighter or matches; paper or cloth towels; garbage bags; and a cooler with ice for perishables. All dry goods should be stored in the supplied camp boxes to keep away from rodents and jays. Optional equipment might include: lantern; camp chair; firewood; hand axe; coffee pot; small folding table; tablecloth for picnic table; etc.
Meals
We would like to organize a group meal Saturday evening. More information on this during the pre-fish out meeting.
We will be providing groceries for DIY sack lunches on each fishing day only.
NOTE: Other than the sack lunch on your Group's fishing days, you are on your own to bring (and prepare) your own food, or buy dinners or other meals out.
Fishing Gear
We recommend bringing a 5wt fly rod with floating line (6wt rod max! 4wt could work too). For dry flies, bring 9’ tapered leaders to 4X or 5X, with mono (nylon) tippet spools in 4X-6X. Also be sure that you bring bothaliquid (or gel)dry fly floatant and a dry shake floatant (dessicant-type) for treating your dry flies. If you want to try indicator nymphing, bring indicators, split shot, one spool of say 0X to 3X mono tippet material (to use 5-7' of this for indicator/ depth adjustment), and spools of both 4X & 5X fluoro tippet for connections to nymphs. We will primarily focus on dry fly and dry dropper techniques.
Flies
We will provide a set of flies. It is recommended that you bring a small fly box to organize and have these flies handy and ready to use with barbs crushed. Bringing additional flies is also a good idea. We will discuss what flies to bring in the meeting.
Other Stuff
In addition to forceps, nippers, vest or pack for fly boxes and other gear, sunhat, sunscreen, bug repellent, waders, boots, belts, water bottle (or other means to carry, or filter, drinking water), don’t forget your wading staff! A small net is always optional for trout, but it really helps in landing them with minimal stress and keeping them in the water while unhooking—both of which are extremely important for the fish’s survival. Camping gear should include headlamps or flashlights —the former is especially good for tying on flies during late evening fishing.
Registration Fee
The registration fee is $130 per student. This fee will cover the cost of all the campground fees, groceries for lunches, flies, etc. It does not include the cost of transportation, meals (other than lunch), or any other expenses.
Cancellation Policy
There are no refunds. In the event that a student is, for any reason, unable to attend, he/she may resell his slot (rod) to another LTFF member (by first pulling from the waitlist if one exists). It is the sole responsibility of the student to manage this transaction.
For questions, contact Charles Marsh at senor.charles@gmail.com
