The Fishing is Turning On - Be Here and Enjoy the Warming Weather! Snow pack in the surrounding mountains is very good this year, and the ranch should have a bonanza of water for the ponds and lakes that should last the entire season.
Fantastic weather the weekend of April 12-13th! This should trigger the best spring fishing so far this year, and forecast for the coming week is more of the same.
We had a couple of visiting sporting writers visit and fish the ranch during a blustery rain-snow-wind day in March, but being experienced steelheaders, they just shrugged it off. One of the guys ended up catching a rainbow that was easily above eight pounds, out of the new pond. He was a using a red midge pupa about 3' below the surface, and for a while, was getting a hit on every cast. They got a picture of the spring lunker, and hopefully that will appear in an article, if not, maybe Mike can get a copy to put on the web site. One of the events anglers look for this time of the year is the "hatch" of alevins, the 3/4" rainbow fry. I was too early for this event during my last trip, but we are expecting it anytime soon. One of the people close to the ranch is predicting a banner year for alevins...a lot of spawning going on. Some years, the big rainbows gorge themselves on the small fish.
We are starting the third year of being able to offer the Guide's House as part of our lodging options. We are slowly but surely whipping the two-bedroom house into a really nice place to stay. We just added a wall-insert type air conditioning unit so you can chill out on those summer days. The Guide's House is within walking distance of the three North Ponds and, if you like, an additional 1/4 mile hike will get you to Tule Pond in the middle ponds. Of course, you can drive to both places, if you want. Lodging is $100/night for a maximum of three people. That's a total of $100, not per person. Ask Mike for details!
The new eighth lake opened last season! This five-acre lake is in the north ponds area both south and west of Lone Bear. Anglers are reporting the occasional catch of some huge lunkers. These "early arrivals" entered the pond while it was still under construction, and have had a couple years of chowing down on plentiful food with almost no fish competition or angler pressure.
The 2007 season of the Big Fish Cam is done. A new feature this year is a set of unedited fish cam videos, usually around 4-5 minutes long. Those visitors who haven't been able to view the cam at prime moments or who have dial-up connections can see a selected slice of fish life. Links to view the clips, and to download the players are on the VIDEOS page.
If you are considering bringing a large group, family gathering, or fishing clinic to the Ranch, ask Mike about the new Game Room and Meeting/Classroom space. It's the Ranch's best-kept secret.
Reel Man from a Apr. 2007 blog posting on the OpenRoad.TV web site tells the tale of his first visit to SCR. The humorous post, with great photos, is a nice account of one person's first impressions of the Ranch. VIEW BLOG POST
Here's a Nov. 27, 2006 article about Sugar Creek Ranch published in Bob Semerau's Uncle Bop's BIG FISH Net blog site. VIEW ARTICLE
Here's an entertaining article about Sugar Creek Ranch published on the Fish Sniffer web site. VIEW ARTICLE
Also view a beautifully written memoir by San Francisco Chronicle writer Tom Stienstra. VIEW ARTICLE
