Fly Fishing - School - Itinerary
- About the Trip:
SYMG's Yosemite Fly Fishing School is a 3 day course in fly fishing. Set in Yosemite National Park, our classroom will be the Merced & Tuolomne Rivers in Yosemite. Techniques learned here will help you to confidently fish streams and rivers most anywhere. Courses are Friday morning through Sunday evening during optimal fly fishing times in the Yosemite area, and we fish the premier waters. Our highly experienced, personal, and professional guides have spent years perfecting their skills in and around Yosemite and look forward to working with you, meeting you, and spending a few glorious days on Yosemite's famous streams.
- Group Size: 2-4 participants with one guide.
- Grade: Beginner and Intermediate.
- Equipment: Bring clothes, personal items, and a fly-fishing rod set-up with flies (if you don't have your own rod, you may request the use of a rod on your registration form; the cost is $25.00 for the trip for a rental). You may print from our web page a detailed what to bring list, directions, and this itinerary.
- Cost of the Trip: $595 per person.
- Your Cost Includes: Guide(s), terminal tackle.
- Not Included: Accommodations, transportation, meals, tips for guides (10-20% of trip fee), rod & reel, fishing license. Optional trip cancellation insurance.
- Accommodations: We encourage all participants to stay at the Yosemite Bug Rustic Mtn. Resort (although they offer hostel accommodations, they also have cabins, tent cabins, and regular rooms) in Midpines, 10 minutes from the Merced River. Please make your reservations as soon as you make reservations for your trip. To learn more about the resort's lodging, cabins, and restaurant, and to make reservations with them, please visit their website at yosemitebug.com. We encourage you to make your accommodations reservations for the night prior to meeting your guide, and for the last night of fishing. The lodge offers a wide range of accommodations (and yummy food options) from $25/night to $120/night.
- Meals: You'll stop at the store for a sandwich or eat at Degnan's for lunch on day 1; have a sandwich on the porch of the general store for lunch on day 2; eat at the Tuolomne Grill for lunch on day 3; and eat at the Yosemite Bug lodge restaurant for dinners & breakfasts. Your guide will typically eat with you, paying for his/her own meal, and may vary lunch locations based upon where you're fishing and the group's desires each day.
- Recommended Fly Patterns: Clients should bring both dry flies and nymphs in the following patterns as a minimum. Dry: Elk Hair Caddis, size 14, 16. Adams, size 16. Royal Wulff, size 14, 16. PMD's, size 16, 18. Nymphs: Hare's Ear, size 14. Pheasant Tail, size 16, 18. Going to a fly shop can be a good education for those who have not yet visited one. There are no fly shops in the Yosemite area so we recommend visiting one in, or near your hometown.
- Preparation: If possible, beginners should take a basic casting class prior to the course, rent/watch an instructional video (Cabelas has many excellent instructional videos for sale), and/or purchase a copy of THE ORVIS FLY FISHING GUIDE by Tom Rosenbauer. The SIERRA TROUT GUIDE by Ralph Cutter is an excellent introduction to Sierra fly fishing.
- Day 1: Meet at 10am at the El Portal General Store and Market in El Portal, Ca. on Hwy 140, unless arranged otherwise. You'll meet the guide here, then head to the river, followed by an introduction: rod set ups, leader/tippet use, fly selection, reading the river, casting and fishing the Merced River in Yosemite Valley. We'll practice techniques and fish each day. Expect to return to the lodge after the evening hatch (usually around 7 or 8pm).
- Day 2: Meet at 10am. We'll work on skills and fish each day. Casting correctly; Forward Cast, Back Cast, Shooting Line, Mending Line, Quartering Casts. Upstream & Downstream retrieves and the art of "drag free" and "dead drift" fishing. Nymphing , what the fish are eating, how and when. Aquatic and terrestrial life in the meadows. Upstream dry fly presentation. Your guide will lead you to some of the most productive, and incredible landscapes of Yosemite's Tuolomne region. You'll fish the Tuolomne River and/or some of its forks this day. Return to lodge around 8pm.
- Day 3: The technical waters of the Merced River below Yosemite Valley will be our focus on our last day. We'll put together all that we've learned and fine tune techniques with the possibilities of tightening our lines on native Rainbows and wild Browns of considerable strength and size. Many of the most impressive fish landed each year come to the surface for dry flies. We'll finish up the day after the evening hatch, and an overview of other great waters to begin making plans to visit.
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