Syns, Twins and Fins

Antelope Creek Lodge 2011 -Three Generation of Syn Flyfishermen from Meng Syn DDS on Vimeo.

It was slow to fair fishing. The weather was cold and wet and the water temps were under 50 degrees. We arrived late Thursday and was able to only fish for an hour or so. Michael hooked 5 and landed 3 and Mathew only got one.
The next day it was slow and steady al day. No real pods of fish come by but a fish now and then kept us interested. Michael was the hot stick of the line up! He was hooking more fish than anyone else in the line up. The guys were al staring at him and we even had people come down from their lawn chairs on the beach to say how they have ben watching him catch al the fish. It was like 4-1. The guys directly next to Michael landed maybe 3-5 fish and Michael hooked 16-17 and landed 12 or 13. Michael insisted on casting for himself so he really did catch all his own fish. Matthew did not want to cast for himself so I casted for him and he did well to but no where close to what Michael was doing.
So overall a slow trip at Pyramid but it was really great to see the boys get into some nice fish and for Michael to have so many hours of practice throwing 350 gr. heads.
The use of the camper is THE ONLY WAY TO GO! When we got cold we went inside and had some hot chocolate or coffee and snacks. It was nice to get up and fish right away too instead of having to drive to the spot.
WS

From: Wayne Syn
Sent: Sunday, April 03, 2011 9:25 AM
To: Wayne Syn
Subject: Pronghorn Lake Ranch fishing report

I’ll start by saying the fishing at Pronghorn Lake showed GREAT potential! That being said, we had some tough conditions and thus tough fishing for us on Friday and Sat.

The drive from Orland is about 4 hours and 10 minutes and an easy drive with no windy roads. When we arrived we noticed the water was off color. When we actually got on the water the visibility was 3 feet or less.

The Ranch owner did not tell us that before we came about the water conditions but I’m not sure that would have deterred me from going anyway. I needed to see the Ranch before I book for our Memorial Day trip there and this was one of the few weekends I could have gone.

For the price of admission ($155/person for up to 4 people OR $145/person if you have 5 or 6 people) you can stay in their very comfortable cabins. They are very small but cozy with a microwave oven and refrigerator and coffee maker. There is no sink or running water and no bathroom. The outhouse is about 50 feet away. The interesting thing about the cabins is that there is satellite TV to watch. I would consider the over all accommodations “fancy” camping. There are no showers so multiple day stays will be tough on some people unless you bring a solar shower.

Now to the fishing. There are 2 boats for rent but the lake is easily fishable from pontoon boats or prams. We began fishing our first day at 2pm and there were fish rising here and there. If you could get your fly on them, they would eat! Other than that it was pretty slim pickins. The visibility was so bad that you would have to get your fly on the nose of the fish for him to see it. The quality of the fish are right there at the top. I was amazed and their athletic build and their strength. I have not caught fish like this in California and the last time I saw fish like this was in Alberta.
We did not get into any huge fish but they are in there. A few fish in the mid to high teens were landed a few days before we arrived and another angler was there sharing the lake with us and he said he landed a 12 pounder.

The boys were primarily using small nymphs under and indicator and Benson was mainly stripping leeches. The weather was fantastic the first day with very little wind and almost blue bird skies. The next morning was a different story. The skies were gray with a stiff cold breeze that penetrated most of my layers. The fishing all but shut off most of the morning. We still managed to land a few fish but not as many as we had hoped for.

Bottom line…. I would go back there in a heartbeat. I love the condition of the fish and I think the lake has great potential.

WS

BTW, they do have RV hook-ups.

Burras Redfishing

At Pond 2, Bidwell Ranch, Wilderness Unlimited.