Carlo Bongio of our Santa Rosa store just returned from an April bonefishing trip to theTurks and Caicos Islands in the British West Indies -

In the above photo, Carlo is dealing with his first 150 yard bonefish run - plenty of time to worry about all the connections in your setup!

Looks like everything held just fine! - A nice bonefish caught at the Turks and Caicos Islands!

"The Ghost of the Flats" - gives you a good idea why these fish are reasonably difficult to spot, and quite easy to spook - pretty clear water conditions.

Another strong running bonefish, brought to the boat for a quick photo before release.

More success on a wonderful trip - if you have questions about bonefishing or techniques, or just want to hear some stories first-hand, give Carlo a call up at our Santa Rosa store!

Mike Coopman - a guide up in the Crescent City Area, checks in with this huge hatchery steelhead -

This is Tracy B. with a 21lb Smith River hatchery Steelhead. It was hooked at Pink Rock and landed underneath the Hiouchi Bridge approximately 45 minutes later. Tracy was using a HSR 9000 G-Loomis, a Shimano Stradic MGFA 4000 with 10lb main line and 10lb leader, with a #4 Gamakatsu hook, shrimp pink glow bug yarn and a jaw braker fish pill. All of which were purchased by Coopman's Guide Service at Western Sports Shop. Thank you Tom and crew.

If you want to contact Mike Coopman's Guide Service, call (707)465-1367 or email catchin2manyfish@hotmail.com

Santa Rosa Fly Department Manager Carlo Bongio travelled up to the northwest recently for technical and after-hours clinics courtesy of Sage Fly Rods. He got an opportunity to fish the Calawah River on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. He admits that it was probably one of the tougher days out - out of 18 anglers, only two fish were caught. This one wasn't Carlo's, but we still thought it was a pretty iimpressive fish. Many of you will recognize the angler as Andy Burk of the Reno Fly Shop (a great shop to visit if you are in the area). That's an 18 pound steelhead that he caught and released.

Of course, Carlo has had a pretty good winter this year - between torrential rains and epic weather, Carlo has managed to catch and release some beautiful, fresh fish. These three were tidewater estuary steelhead over the past season.

Steve Sylvia checks in with some great Sturgeon results from early February -

2/12/06 - 72" sturgeon caught & released in San Pablo Bay
Angler - Dan Perata

2/3/06 - 58" Sturgeon caught & released in San Pablo Bay

2/25/06 - Lorin Sylvia's First Sturgeon - 32" caught & released in San Pablo Bay

Western Sport Shop team members Joe H. and Tom N. took time on their last day off to give some farm pond bass a bit of a workout

Any day that starts with a fish like this can't be all bad -

...and before too long, the bigger fish came out to play -

     
Western Sport Shop's 5 Day Long Range trip photos are now viewable online!

Click here to sign up for the next Shogun Trip - 5 & 8 Day Trips are now scheduled!

Click here to see all of the photos from the trip!

Western Sport Shop Fly Fishing Guru Carlo Bongio strapped on the backpack and headed out to the High Sierras recently - enjoy his photos here!

"These photos are of my son Anton and me fishing the Golden Trout Wilderness Area out of Lone Pine, CA. We alsofished Hot Creek (near Mammoth Lakes), Mammoth Creek and Red Lake Creek. We caught Golden Trout, Brown Trout, Rainbow and Brook Trout. Plus, we had the bonus of finding Porcini mushrooms in the High Sierra. Enjoy!"

John Q recently forwarded his photos from a recent trip to Tarpon Cay Lodge near Cancun. He travelled down there with Lee Haskin (of "Gurgler" fame) and had a great time chasing small tarpon, bonefish and permit.

Here, Lee shows off a permit

Jumping Tarpon were the order of the day - most went airborne as soon as they hit the fly

John said he was pretty worn out by the trips end - guess if you catch 30 or 40 of these every day that could be the case

By the way - John spends his fall running Fall Run Guide Service in the SF Bay. If you want book a trip during the best time for large striped bass on a fly rod, head over to his website ( www.FallRun.com ) and give him a holler.

JIm Purcell from our Santa Rosa store shares this beautiful trout from his recent trip to Montana

"The attached pic is of my best effort during the Wyoming trip . . . . a 6-lb. cutt/bow (24+ inches w/14 inch girth) taken on #16 Parachute Adams dead-drifted 10-feet following a "perfect" 50-foot cast beneath the over-hanging willow branches. WOW !!!!! "

Members of the Western Sport Shop Staff participated in the Rohnert Park Kids Fishing Derby - A HUGE turnout of parents and avid young anglers made the day a great success! Click here to see a bunch of photos from the day.

Carlo Bongio from our Santa Rosa store and Lynn headed down to southern Florida to chase some peacock bass (shown above). While not the huge monsters found in South America, these fish (actually chiclids - not a true bass) are beautifully colored and hard-fighting. Despite a raging chest cold, Carlo hooked up numerous times, while Lynn did well herself.

Fishing took place in the canals south of Miami in April, 2005 - Carlo poses here with one of the nicer fish of the day, alongside his guide, captain Mark Hall. You can book a trip with Mark through his website - FlyFishPeacocks.com Tell him Carlo sent you!

When do you want to service your fishing reel? Well, before it starts growing green fur like this one did... We were extremely lucky to have fishing reel tuning & repair expert Alan Tani in our San Rafael store during April of 2005. He gave another of his free "Hands-On Reel Repair Clinics" for all those who wanted to come down and get dirty. All that was needed were some reels in need of cleaning (see above photo) and a willingness to learn. Below, Alan surveys his students as things get going early in the day.

It was great to see so many people who wanted to learn - we'll schedule another as soon as we can get Alan back up our way. If you would like to be notified for the next "Hands On Reel Repair Clinic", sign up for emal newsletter by clicking here, or use the signup at the top of this page

Globe-trotting Gurgler fisherman and San Luis Reservoir expert Lee Haskin sent over these photos to show us the variety of fish which will take gurglers. In this case, the classic trifecta - Bonefish - Permit - Tarpon!

We stock Lee's Gurgler kits in our stores, and have been extremely lucky to have him tying at our Fly Fishing Fair. Lee is also showing off a BogaGrip in the tarpon photo, as well as SunGloves. Lee is also a regular contributor to the Dan Blanton Bulletin Board

Dave P. checks in with a big thanks to Richard B. in our San Rafael store, for helping him get set up with the right gear for this Baja trip over the winter. Here he shows off a nice morning's catch of tuna and a mahi-mahi (dorado).
(Richard will be the chartermaster for our Shogun Trip this September - sorry, it's full, but if you want to be waiting-listed, call Richard at our San Rafael store)

Need to break your "dry spell"? On Wed. Feb. 2 Danny purchased a Shimano Calcutta 400 feel from us hoping to change his dry spell. We loaded up Danny's reel with Ande 20lb test mono. That Saturday, Danny caught this 11lb bass and this 56 in. sturgeon. The next day Danny caught this 62in sturgeon. His dry spell has ended.

Digging through the photo archives, we came across this shot from last fall - one of the last trips of the 2004 Salmon Season - good fish all around, with your webmaster at left, John Q. of Fall Run Guide Service, and Dick P.

Below, Carlo Bongio gives a custom fly casting clinic for a group in Santa Rosa. Carlo works out of our Santa Rosa store, and can put together casting and fishing clinics for your group. Here he shows the finer points of fly presentation to a group from the Oakmont Anglers club. Got a group? Call Carlo at 707-542-4432. In Marin? Call Larry at 415-456-5454