Why hello there! I know that there are a few people on the forum that flyfish, and I was wondering if I could get some advice.

My uncle-in-law is an avid fly-fisherperson, and mainly fishes for trout in the Eastern Sierra (Mammoth Lakes Area). He has all the essentials as far as gear goes, so it is difficult to buy a gift for him.

I was wondering if any of you could recommend a unique / uncommon fly that he could fish well with his 5-weight. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Calling George. George, you out there??

Gflo, does he fish for the stockers or the wild trout? I've spent many a day up there fishing for the stocked trout (with spinning tackle). There used to be some pretty large trout in the stream that feeds the SW corner of Crowley Lake. Beautiful bright colored rainbows, much brighter than the stockers.

I would estimate that he fishes for wild trout around 2/3rds of the time, and fishes for stockers 1/3rd of the time (usually when he brings his son with him he will fish for stockers). I'm not familiar with everywhere he fishes, but I'm pretty sure he goes up to towalame meadows sometimes if he can, but probably just fishes hot creek most of the time.

I love fishing the mammoth lakes area as well. I tried Crowley this summer from shore with an ultralight spinning outfit, but the wind really picked up and made fishing not so enjoyable.

Scott, you know that the flies I tie are larger than most stocked trout .....

Gflo, buying a gift for an avid fly fisherman is really a challenge - he probably has more stuff than the average fly shop.
Vintage collectable fly tackle would be a valued gift but pricey.

Yeah, I know, but I had to ask! They usually stock trout around 12"-14" if they are still stocking the same sized trout that they used to stock in the mid 1990's.

Get an autograph from George.

Alper's trout farm recently moved its location, and from what I have gathered expanded their operation so they are stocking more trophies than they used too!

Most of the DFG stockers are still in the 12-14 inch range. I would say they are closer to the 12 inch range tho. The Alpers trout plants, which are just as regular and extensive as the DFG plants (usually only in lakes though) have pretty much every fish easily topping 1 pound, most of them closer to 2, with quite a bit pushing 3+.

I'm not affiliated with this company and don't know anything about their quality, but I'm thinking of getting a belt through them. Some cool fishing-related patterns.

http://elizab.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Scree...y_Code=lm-belts