EP057: Rob Ramsay - Fly Fishing Christmas Island - History and Perspective from a Superhost
Release Date: 12/03/2020
EP058: Travis Hawks - 2020 State of The Truckee River
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
Welcome to season 6 of the Reno Fly Shop Podcast. We felt it fitting to start it off with the 2020 State of the Truckee River with Travis Hawks from the Nevada Department of Wildlife. This is our 6th State of the Truckee episode presenting the results of the NDOW annual sampling of the Truckee River fishery. We started these recordings (2016) in the middle of a multi year drought and as you will hear in this recording the Truckee River has made a miraculous recovery. Fish populations and composition in many locations are as good or better than ever sampled. As Travis presents, Mother Nature...
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EP057: Rob Ramsay - Fly Fishing Christmas Island - History and Perspective from a Superhost
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
Christmas (Kiritimati) Island has been considered one of the best flats fishing locations since it was first explored in the 1970s. It has allowed countless anglers to cut their teeth fly fishing for bonefish, trevally and triggerfish. The chance to visit this destination once is on every anglers bucket list. Imagine having the chance to fish Christmas Island, not only once, but every year for the last 20 years. And not just for a week but the entire month of January. Sound impossible? Let me introduce you to one of the nicest guys to walk the flats of Christmas Island, Rob Ramsay. Rob began...
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EP056: Helen Neville and Mary Peacock - LCT Recovery - Challenges and Opportunities
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
Dr. Helen Neville, Senior Scientist with Trout Unlimited, and Dr. Mary Peacock, professor of Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno, have been instrumental in the efforts to protect and recover the Lahontan Cutthroat Trout to its historic range. While both specialize in the genetic sequencing of LCT, Helen’s and Mary’s research have differed in that their recent focus has been on the stream form and lake form, respectively. Much of our conversation focuses on the Truckee River watershed and the complex issues that must be considered in the recovery of the LCT in a significantly...
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EP055: John Bartlett - johnmontanacarp Shares the 4 rules for Carp on the Fly, demystifying where to find them and how to catch them
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
"The biggest surprise for the new carp angler is that carp don't always live in ugly places." - John Bartlett, @johnmontanacarp 16 years ago, John Bartlett started to chase carp on the fly… As a lifelong trout angler, John grew up using light rods and fine tippet around Montana and the Pacific Northwest but as things began to evolve in his life he had to adapt if he was going to get to fly fish. He began to explore and establish an option for fly fishing closer to home to allow spending time with his growing family. Today, he still chases the occasional trout and goes on annual...
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EP054: Brad Befus - The Anatomy of a Fly Line and Why They Matter
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
Today’s podcast episode is one that I have thought about doing for a while. It finally came down to the 1,000th time I heard shop staff stress to a customer how important a fly line is to overall casting performance that I went ahead and recorded this episode with Brad Befus, the president of Scientific Anglers. If you have spent any time here in the shop you will undoubtedly heard us stress the importance of considering the line when purchasing a new rod/reel setup. It is the component part that most likely is the least expensive in the whole rig and/but will have the greatest...
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EP053: Travis Hawks - 2019 State of Truckee River
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
"It is amazing how the Truckee River has responded since 2015 in its recovery from damaging drought. Now in 2019 we are at or near top conditions ever recorded." -Travis Hawks, Senior Fishery Biologist, NDOW Five years ago Travis Hawks and I got together to catch up and discuss how the Truckee River was faring in the middle of one of the worst droughts ever witnessed. Travis and I have known each other for years and as a result we could be candid and open about what Travis observed during NDOW’s annual Fall biological sampling. In 2015 Travis’ data...
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EP052: Gilbert Rowley: Creating Good Content and Being Responsible When Doing It
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
"When creating GOOD content you can not plan too much” -Gilbert Rowley Hey everyone, welcome to the Reno Fly Shop Podcast. I am excited to bring you these episodes to keep you informed on what is happening in the fly fishing world and to introduce you to the people that are creating positive impacts and steering it forward. While fly fishing is romantically interative and experiential. Most of our world is digital from this audio podcast to email to YouTube and much of the information we get about fly fishing when we aren’t on the water is from this digital world. We have the...
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EP051: Capt. Chuck Ragan - Fly Fishing Guide, Zen Punk Rocker and Bass Master
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
I feel the most grounded and at the most peace when I am on the water.” -Capt. Chuck Ragan I am excited to bring you today's guest, Chuck Ragan. It was difficult to find time to sit with Chuck due to his very busy schedule as a fly fishing guide and professional musician. As we tried to put this episode together we traded many phone and text messages. It was always fun to find out where he was at the time and the spots varied from Europe, Asia to all over the U.S as he was touring with his band Hot Water Music. We didn’t give up and when we did get together to record this episode...
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EP050: David and Dillon Renton - Raising a Family on the River and Making Big Water Small on the lower Deschutes River
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
We are excited to introduce you to today’s episode which is the first installment of a new series we are presenting in partnership with Fly Water Travel. We will feature a new destination every few months for the next year. During each episode we will present information and exciting details about fly fishing destinations around the world by chatting with the guides and outfitters that make these trips possible. We will introduce you to world famous destinations in freshwater and saltwater, domestic and international. We hope to pull back the curtain by sitting with the colorful people...
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EP049: Landon Mayer: Master of the Short Game and Hunter of Giant Trout
Reno Fly Shop Podcast
Look before you step. Look before you fish.” – Landon Mayer, Mastering the Short Game Today's guest, Landon Mayer, like many successful people, is many things all at once. He is a guide, an author, fly designer, he is a film maker, and a loving committed husband and parent. And like many successful people this hectic schedule fuels his desire to create than to consume. He doesn’t have to move about the country presenting and instructing at shows and to clubs on fly fishing and fly tying. Nor does he have to travel around the world to create a new instructional video,...
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Christmas (Kiritimati) Island has been considered one of the best flats fishing locations since it was first explored in the 1970s. It has allowed countless anglers to cut their teeth fly fishing for bonefish, trevally and triggerfish. The chance to visit this destination once is on every anglers bucket list.
Imagine having the chance to fish Christmas Island, not only once, but every year for the last 20 years. And not just for a week but the entire month of January. Sound impossible? Let me introduce you to one of the nicest guys to walk the flats of Christmas Island, Rob Ramsay. Rob began fly fishing Christmas Island in the 1990s and once he wrapped his head around the fishery and the quirks that make it truly unique he began organizing trips for his friends and family. As the word quickly spread through immediate group the sphere of anglers began to increase and soon Rob had the month of January planned out.
THE ULTIMATE ATOLL – Dylan Rose, Fly Water Travel
Every trip that arrives into Cassidy International Airport has a person that is assigned as the host. The host typically facilitates guests preparation for the trip, their arrival and smooths wrinkles as they move through the week. The ability of a host to do this well once is commendable. To do this for 4 weeks in a row is unbelievable. To do this every year for almost years earns the unique designation of SuperHost.
In today’s world it is common to have the sentiment of “been there, done that” and move onto the next adventure. I find Rob’s stories and appreciation of Christmas Island so authentic that I could listen to them for hours. From his first trip and then through the years Rob allowed Christmas Island and the great people that live there touch him deeply.
You will hear Rob download some amazing nuggets of info and experiences of why he has earned and wears the moniker of SuperHost. Rob recaps the history of fly fishing on Christmas Island, his own personal experiences and how he is still pushing the boundaries of what anglers experience on his trips.
Rob shares his experiences of success and failure and we get to discuss some of the common myths and narratives surrounding Christmas Island and what it takes to chase the fish there with a fly rod. Having hosted trips over the past 5 years I thought I was developing a pretty good understanding of the destination. At the end of our conversation not only did I realize I, excitingly, have a long way to go to understanding Christmas Island. But this recording made me as excited to visit as I was before my very first trip.
I hope you get stoked on this great saltwater destination and think hard about visiting for your first time or revisiting one of the most unique saltwater fly fishing destinations in the world.
I hope you enjoy
SHOW NOTES:
April 14-21, 2021 Christmas Island trip hosted by Jim Litchfield and the Reno Fly Shop
Tide Info for Christmas Island (spend some time with this to dial in your dates)
Rob’s Bio:
Born into a fishy family in the East San Francisco Bay area. Outings to family in Nevada City/Grass Valley included fishing the many forks of the Yuba River. My Grandparent visits included Clear Lake bass excursions and a Great Uncle had a cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains that was awesome for winter steelhead on the San Lorenzo River.
Keenly supported by my Father and family. I was hooked. All of this late 50’s early 60’s exposure provided a firm foundation for my love of this sport.
I spent the late 60’s and early 70’s going to college in Southern Oregon and tried to talk my fiance into getting married at an old fish hatchery in the Ft. Klamath area. We ended up at Lake Tahoe.
Destination travel fishing started in the early 80’s to Alaska . Late 80’s through current times added saltwater venues to most of the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera and the Gulf side, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Seychelles atolls, St. Brandon’s atoll in Mauritius and my favorite Christmas Island.
Alaska’s March-Oct fishing season has had me as a resident since completing my cabin in 2008. Santa Cruz Mountains and Bishop is my residence in late Fall through Winter. Small late Fall stream fishing for resident browns and Goldens can be epic . San Lorenzo River kicks
into gear Dec1. Christmas Island is all of January. Feb is prep time for Alaska. ……………….repeat.
New and vintage fiberglass rods have been added to my freshwater excursions over the past few years and have added another twist to this sport for me.