Next Monthly Meeting:
Thursday, January 8, 2026 7:00PM
Our speaker at the January meeting will be Lee Haskin. Lee began to fish San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay in the 1970’s, with a primary interest in catching stripers with top water bugs. About that same time Lee and old friend and mentor, Del Brown, began fishing the South San Francisco Bay for stripers. However, in the early 1980’s, the San Francisco Bay’s incredible striper fishing dropped off.
Lee then concentrated his efforts on San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay. He targets the grassy flats on the O’Neill Forebay and the islands along Highway 152. Lee successfully fishes these areas from a float tube.
Although Lee enjoys catching stripers throughout the year on his own flies, specifically Lee’s San Luis Smelt, he is particularly fond of throwing his favorite gurgler patterns along the weed beds of the O’Neill Forebay.
Lee found that his Gurgler Series could fill a niche with top-water loving fly fisherman around the world, and enjoys introducing people to this versatile pattern. A number of Lee’s fly patterns incorporate foam in the design, including the Neutralizer Series, which has become very popular for tarpon, redfish and snook. His commercial fly tying business keeps him busy filling fly orders for folks all over the world.
Leader’s Line
Happy New Year!
The end of 2025 brought us some great events. We had the Swap Meet and Chili Cookoff on December 6th at the clubhouse. We had a large group of members, and I think everyone that had items for sale and those that were buying did very well. There was a good selection of several types of items. I want to thank Drake Johnson and everyone who helped out. Also, those that came out to support the event.
Another great event was the Holiday Potluck. There was a great diversity of food, and it was all good. Thanks to Kim Lloyd and his great group of volunteers for making it a very special evening for all who attended.
Now we look forward to the New Year. We all should now be concentrating on friendship, conservation and educating our new members; also, getting out and supporting all our fishouts.
Now is the time to make sure your membership is renewed. Remember, only those members in good standing are eligible to participate in the club’s clinics and fishouts.
Our Annual Dinner is on March 28th at the Blue Goose in Loomis. If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, please do. Tickets are only available HERE on the website. None will be available at the dinner or monthly meeting so please take advantage of this opportunity to support the club and have a great time doing it. This is the one and only fund raiser which uses those funds to help operate the club, help educate members and provide conservation funds to various organizations. It’s a fact, it costs money to run the club. Join us for a fun evening.
LET’S HAVE A GREAT 2026.Go out and have Fun!
Robert Farley, President 
New on the GBF site:
- The 2026 batch of fishouts and classes/clinics is rapidly evolving. Click here and here for details.
- See Lower Yuba hatch chart on the articles page, bottom RH side just above the Bill Carnazzo info.
- Launch of the updated Golden Trout Program was announced Nov 18, 2025
- A reminder that all historic FLY TYING JAM recipes back to May of 2017 are available here in a single location under the Fly Tying menu tab. New to fly tying? Check out the educational links at the top of that page.
- A list of GBF member achievers for the Fly Fishers International Fly Casting Skills Development Program is now available here.
- Collectors and aficionados of vintage rods and reels will now find contact info for long-time expert Jim Adams of Adams Angling on the GBF Links page under Vintage Fly Gear, Books and More. A good source to check the value of grand-dads vintage fly gear.
To join GBF, please click here.
To renew your 2026 Membership, please click here.
To purchase 2026 Annual Dinner tickets, please click here.
Purchase your Annual Dinner tickets by Jan 31st and you’ll be entered into an early bird raffle for 50 – $2 Annual Dinner raffle tickets!
| Dinner Tickets Reserved | Members Renewed | ||
“The fish and I were both stunned and disbelieving to find ourselves connected by a line.”
-William Humphrey in “The Armchair Angler”
The January Leader
Our Monthly Newsletter
(Past Issues)
Search our website!
Please patronize our sponsors who’s generosity is critical to our mission.
Our Sponsors!
Article of the Month
Tips & Trivia: Myths, Legends, Lies, & Other Fishing Facts – Ralph Cutter, California Fly Fisher
Local River Flows: COMING SOON!
 GBF on Facebook |
 Visit CalTip |
