spent my 20's establishing reforestation nurseries in California, Oregon, and Washington with nurseries along the Umpqua River (Oregon) and the Lewis River (Washington).  In fact , I even had an office 20 feet from one of the premier steelhead holes and could watch the guides pull up some beautiful fish...  AND I never found time to go fishing. 

Now I'm in my late 40's, 300 miles from my home waters of the Eastern Sierras, and I am usually thinking about that next fishing trip.  I mostly fish Crowley Lake from a float tube.  Most of the fly patterns I use are for stillwater.  Crowley is a trophy trout lake with Browns and Rainbows in the 18"-24" size class.  Sacramento Perch are also plentiful and many believe that world-record sizes exist there. 

I've included in my fly selection three mini-leech patterns, each with a different type of dubbing.  These flies can be fished a variety of ways from a fast troll to a slow retrieve and twitch.  I've had 50-fish days on all three of them.  Midge action is also a big thing at Crowley.  The sensation of getting a 24" Rainbow on a size #18 Midge gets the blood flowing.  Midges can be fished from shore working the drop-offs.  The Grey Ghost also works well at Crowley, imitating the shad fry, particularly in the Fall.  If the lake action is slow, we have great stream fishing in the head waters of the Owen River, Hot Creek, and the San Joaquin.  The Grand Slam of Trout is available as Goldens, Browns, Rainbows, and Brooks are all within 100 miles.