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View Full Version : Henderson Springs



Bill Carnazzo
03-31-2007, 10:03 PM
Henderson Springs Resort is a popular place. I had my first visit there this last week, along with 12 others. We spent 3 nights, and had 4 days of fishing. The lodge is a stately old building, elegantly appointed with wood inside. It is large, comfortable and holds 8 anglers in private rooms. It has a spacious kitchen, a big family-type room with a big fireplace, and a living room with a large screen television featuring satellite programming. We opted to bring and cook our own food, which resulted in considerable savings. Those who don't want to cook can opt for other plans. There is also a cabin located a short distance from the main lodge; it can hold up to 6 more anglers. The cabin is compact, comfortable and clean, and is warmed by a wood stove that heats the entire building. It has a kitchen and a small private room downstairs, as well as a family-type room. Upstairs there is a dorm-type arrangement.

We arrived Monday afternoon and immediately hit the water in float tubes and pontoons. Most of us fished Long Lake, which is closest to the lodge and cabin. Long Lake was "remodelled" this last fall to make it bigger and deeper; much of the brush and debris on the lake's bottom were removed. The result is a very healthy, interesting lake with varying terrain. Suffice it to say that you need to pay attention and hang onto your rod--the strikes from the large rainbows that inhabit this lake are vicious. No fine tippets here--I used 6 pound Maxima and/or 2x mono. I hooked and landed the largest rainbow I have ever tussled with on this first afternoon (outside of Alaska, that is)--a very husky, deep specimen that pushed 28 inches. I ended up the day with 5 nice fish in the net, and a bunch of long releases. Others did equally well. There is also a lake that is called, simply, the "pond." It's a small impoundment adjacent to Long Lake, and offers sight fishing to cruising rainbows, some of which are very large.

There are three other lakes on the 500 acre property: Frog Lake; Clear Lake; and Big Lake. Of these my hands-down favorite was Frog Lake. Why? Dry fly fishing to cruising and rising monsters! After kicking around the lake for awhile looking for fish, I spotted some risers in a small cove. There were callibaetis duns on the surface but the fish were taking those only occasionally. So, I tied on a #18 emerger pattern and immediately began hooking beautiful specimens--all rainbows except for one brighly colored brown. I ended up hooking 12 fish on dries, and landed 8 of those. I also used a callibaetis adult pattern, and a parachute adams--both in size 18. But the most interesting part is the tippet for this type of rig: 2x mono! I have fly fished for 40+ years, and do not remember ever tying a #18 fly to 2x tippet. Perhaps it was because there was a bit of color to the water, but whatever the reason it worked.

Aside from dry fly fishing, most of the time was spent casting and retrieving large subsurface flies, including articulated leeches in chartreuse and in black with cone heads; woolies in the same colors and with sparkle chenille; bunny leeches; Denny Rickards' stillwater nymph; and well-tied sheep creek specials. It appears that chartreuse was the most popular color, judging by the comments of my fellow anglers at dinner time each evening. That's what I caught my biggest fish with in any event. At times trailing a small nymph (or even a San Juan worm) paid dividends.

For equipment, all that is needed is a 5 or 6 weight rod capable of casting a weight-forward floating line and an intermediate sinker. Those are the only lines that are needed here, as the lakes are all fairly shallow and even in the deeper areas the fish seemed to be off the bottom. As between a pontoon boat and a float tube, I just used my "Super Fat Cat," even though I brought my pontoon. Wind is a big factor on these lakes, and it is (for me, anyway) easier to control a float tube in the wind. The lakes are small enough that getting around in a tube is easy. A hefty net is an absolute necessity here. Don't bring that one you wear on you back for the Upper Sac or similar streams--it just won't hold these fish.

I was very surprised at the healthiness of the fish. Their fins were in perfect shape, and they were husky. Normally fish just coming out of winter are a bit on the slim side, but not the Henderson fish. Their girth amazed me. I'm sure it has something to do with the fact that the fishing closes at Henderson in early June, and doesn't reopen until fall. In other words, the fish don't get stressed as much as I have observed at other venues.

You can read more about this excellent venue at the resort's web site: http://hendersonsprings.com/

JT
04-01-2007, 05:09 AM
Nice report, Bill. I may have to check more into this place.

Bill Kiene semi-retired
04-01-2007, 09:25 AM
Many of us at the shop have been to Henderson Springs Ranch over the past 10 years or more, which is one of the top private still water destinations in Nor Cal.

It is a very beautiful place.

May (top dry fly) and October are pretty wild months up there.

Weekends are very hard to get because of the repeat anglers. It is a yearly tradition with many groups.

They rent the Outcast 'Super Fat Cat' V-boats there.