April 2014 - The Oakland Casting Club

On April 12, 2014, fifteen members of The Oakland Casting Club made a pilgrimage to sacred ground: the property owned by the University of California along the main stem of the Yuba River. The OCC has been coming to this stretch of the Yuba since 2005. That’s when Aram Aykanian started organizing this trip. To honor his contributions to the club, we have kept the name of this particular outing, continuing to refer to it as Aram’s Trip. This part of the river is an unadulterated stretch, free of greed, and hills of dredged riverbed. In stark contrast to the river flowing along the bottom of a beautiful valley, the river and land several miles below (where we normally fish) lies the area raped of its resources by hydraulic mining in the 1800’s. Although hydraulic mining was deemed unlawful in 1883, the scars remain. It is estimated that over 685 million cubic feet of sediment was washed into the Yuba, raising the riverbed over 100 feet in some sections. During this time, the Sacramento Bridge had to be raised 20 feet! It is astounding how much damage a small number of people can cause. To mitigate the mutilation of the Yuba River east of Marysville, the California Debris Commission began to dredge the river, creating the irregular hills of rock seen today. It is sad to think that those hills of rock that desecrate the valley were not caused by the miners, but by the people who had tried to restore the river. The land through which the Yuba flows was once a land that was inhabited by small villages of Native Americans. The river’s name is a variant of the Spanish word “uva” (grape), dubbed by early Spanish or Mexican scouting expeditions who found wild grapes growing along the banks. As I walked along the trails above the river at the end of the day as the sunlight began to waiver, I could imagine smoke rising lazily from a distant village. Picture 1: The river valley (as Andy and I walked back to the parking lot towards the end of the afternoon). Photo courtesy of Andy Wojnoonski. That day, the weather was awesome: blue skies and enough gentle wind at times to roughen the surface of the water (masking one’s presence). The water was slightly off color due to the silt that had been brought into the river from the rains two weeks prior. Fish rose sporadically during the day in the upper stretches, and we didn’t see much insect activity. Although Andy and I found nymphing to be more successful, Aram, Austin, Matt, and Richard caught their fish on streamers, nymphs, and dries. Lower on the property, Phil, Charlie, and Ralph brought many fish to the surface on a small, red caddis pattern. Picture 2: Proof that Andy (left) and I caught fish. Andy’s fish was caught on a Prince Nymph, and the one on the right was caught on a bead-­‐headed pheasant tail. Although the Yuba River’s history stretches back hundreds of years, The Oakland Casting Club also has a “rich” history. There was some semblance of an Oakland casting club in the late 30’s at Lake Temescal, but it appears that it was dissolved to form THE Oakland Casting Club on March 10, 1941 (the emphasis is mine). We have had many national and international casting champions rise from our ranks. Henry Mittel, Chris Korich, Alice Gillibert, Rene Gillibert, Nicole Gillibert, Elaine Gong, and Maxine McCormick are but a few examples – who are current members. A number of past members have been responsible for many developments in materials, coatings, and tapers of fly rods and fly lines. I currently cast with a former member’s rod, Eldon Maddern. It is a Fenwick Eagle, a fly rod that was designed by Jimmy Green (another former member). Jimmy is credited as one of the men who designed and produced the first graphite fishing rods; the famed HMG series (the older and more expensive brother to the Eagle). He is also the man who designed the tip-­‐over-­‐butt ferrule. There are many other members of The Oakland Casting Club who have made major contributions to fly casting and fly fishing. But, I will stop here. Our President, Henry Mittel, will point out that this fishing report has digressed into a history lesson. However, history is important. A fishing report will disappear. The Oakland Casting Club celebrates its 75th birthday in two years, and I hope that the club’s proud history continues to get richer with the contributions and help of its awesome members. Picture 3: Andy was complaining about the well-­‐known “shrinkage” phenomenon (we’re talking about fishing) and how things look smaller in his photo (still talking about fishing). The secret is to hold the fish closer to the camera. See? Six inches look like a monster, baby (still talking about fishing)!!