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BOB QUIGLEY

In 1974 I moved to the small community of Dana, in northern California. One afternoon after fishing the morning's PMD spinner fall on the Fall River, I struck up a conversation with Bob Cockroft, who is now a renowned guide and fly tier. Bob, like me, had relocated to eastern Shasta County's trout Shangri-La to fish and peddle his creative flies to anglers and local lodges. We talked about different streams, and Bob mentioned that he was getting ready to go to the Williamson River and asked whether I would care to accompany him. I had heard of the Williamson's giant fish from Polly Rosborough at a tying seminar years earlier. Needless to say, I cashed in every fly I had, and we were off to Oregon the next day in Old Orange, a '51 Chevy pickup.

The Williamson River is famous for its large rainbow trout (above) and intricate hatches.

It was the beginning of summer and hot-—105 degrees. The trip went smoothly, and we had to make only one stop north of Tule Lake in an alfalfa field to cool us and Old Orange with sprinklers. Ninety minutes later I caught my first glimpse of the Williamson River while crossing the Highway 97 bridge. The Williamson River has long been known as the best trophy wild-rainbow fishery in America. It also may be its most unique river and challenging to fish. The relatively cold river flows into the relatively warm, shallow, and rich Klamath Lake, which produces some of the largest trout in America. As the lake warms in summer, many of its large rainbows move into the cooler waters of the Williamson, where they feed on a rich meal of aquatic insects. Their arrival in the river makes for some of fly fishing's most challenging, and rewarding, fishing.

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Bob Quigley is a fly designer and author. His latest fly-tying DVD is Tying Bob Quigley's Signature Flies (Pegasus Productions, 2004, pegasusvideo.net). He lives in Ashland, Oregon. This story originally appeared in the July 2006 issue of FLY FISHERMAN.

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