A Year in Review 2016

Lost Coast Outfitters' 3rd year as San Francisco's Fly Shop

By Lost Coast Outfitters

December 31^st, 2016

As of December 2016 we have been in business for 3 years. Every year the Lost Coast Outfitters team works very hard to improve our community involvement, our inventory, our shop staff, our philinthropic and conservation efforts, and of course fish more. None of this would possible without the support of our customers, vendors, guides, and non-profit partners. Here's to another year of doubling down on being San Francisco's Fly Shop.

NEw Brands Added To The Shop in 2016

We believe the highest honor we can pay a product is to put it on our shelves. We added these brands to our already extensive collection of Sage, Rio, Redington, Simms, Beulah, Hatch, Galvan, R.L. Winston, Smith Optics, Scott Fly Rods, Hardy, Beulah, Echo, C F Burkheimer, Umpqua, Solitude, Filson, Finn Utility, C&F Design, Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics, Seamaster, Perfection Reels, Fishpond, Fisknat, Measure nets, Alpenglow Bamboo, Lamson, and Orvis.

Conservation & Philanthropy

Lost Coast Outfitters priotizes non-profits that focust on local conservation, children, and vetrans. We are very proud to have helped the the non-profits below in 2016.

This First Coastal Trip of Year

We swung every willow line, hole, seam and divot we could discern with only the occasional bump from the juvenile fish in the system or a submerged willow. No fish were caught, but this is steelheading. Go when the conditions are good and you have a chance. It just takes one fish to make it all worth it.

Lost Coast Outfitters Waxed Gualala River Hat

Olympic Penisula - Steelhead Trip

While most of rivers were blown out a few of the more wild and rugged rivers were clear. In three days we managed 2 fish. We fished hard from sunrise to dark everyday throwing thousands of cast. The fish we did manage to connect with were dime bright and fresh from the ocean. The largest was about 14lb and certainly the type of fish that makes the trip worth it. Thank you Varley for an awesome weekend.

A free day on the South Fork EEL

With a free day, a buddy and I took off for the So. Fork of the Eel River in the early hours of the morning. We started our fishing in Benbow behind the inn. Right off the bat I hooked a nice fish that had me into my backing twice before she came unbuttoned. The rest of the day was bright and sunny without another bump.

TuRKs & Caicos BoneFish Trip

My wife caught a 10lb bonefish on this trip and keeps asking me when I will get around to catching my first 10lb bonefish?

Annual Pond Cleaning

This is always such a fun and rewarding event putting in a little elbow grease in to a place we love so much.

SPey-O-RAMA 2016

Lost Coast Outfitters sponsored the saturday lunch and passed out koozies with filled with Fort Point. Our Bloody Mary Station on Sunday was a hit too! Congrats to Gerard Downey, Martin Keiley, and Mia Sheppard who took first place in their divisions.

In Search of the Perfect Cast

This was 4th year of In Search of the Perfect Cast. Every year when the days are long we meet out at GGACC for an informal whiskey tasting and fly casting session. A huge thank you to our instructors Michael Krasnobrod, Erik Duisenberg, Steve Morikowa, John Anderson who make the class a huge success.

TRout Opener -Fall River & Hat Creek

We had fantastic dry fly fishing for trout opener. I took my friend, photographer, and web designer to a few of my favorite places in Northern California below are photos by David Dines. www.dines.co

Middle Fork American Class V White Water Trip

Maybe the most intense trip of the year. Throwing 4 inch streamers to 20+ inch browns all the while trying to navigate Class IV and V rapids. Huge props to Rise Up who crushed it. I am really looking forward to this trip again next year.

Black Canyon Of The Gunnison River

Salmonflies and Large Browns easily put this trip in the top 3 trips of 2016. Black Canyon Anglers did an amazing job on this 3 day float trip.

Annual Montana Road Trip

When you marry a girl from Montana a few weeks in Montana a year are mandatory. No complaints here I always love really getting to know new areas and Twin Bridges to Ennis has really become like a second home to me.

British Columbia KinG Salmon

A spur of the moment trip that resulted in me catching the largest freshwater fish of my life. It was truly an incredible few days of fishing.

GGACC YOUTH PROGRAM

Perhaps one of the most rewarding projects in 2016 was getting the GGACC Youth Program up and running.

NORcal Labor Day Weekend

Fishing & Camping near the Upper McCloud with our friends from Pladra. What a fun weekend.

Middle Fork American Round 2

MCCloud RIver

LCO Hires Brett WEdeking

Brett Wedeking comes to us from the Evergreen state where he spent most of his time swinging for steelhead, and roping sea-run cutthroat in Puget Sound. He has spent most of his life in the fly fishing world, working in a fly shop and guiding in Washington. He spends summers dodging wayward casts, guiding for Mission Lodge in Bristol Bay, AK. Brett is a writer, published in The Drake and Northwest Fly Fishing, Fly Fisherman and others.

When he's not in the shop Brett is often found swinging a two-hander on the North Coast, plying the water for chrome or bombing casts into the depths of the Delta looking for that 30lbs striper. Brett is a total spey nerd and is always game to talk lines, flies and casting. He teaches single hand and two-handed casting for LCO in the East Bay. When the rivers are blown he sits at home in his underwear tying flies and drinking beer. An accomplished tier, he spins custom flies and teaches tying classes for LCO (fully clothed).

Brett is a well traveled angler with trips to Belize, Baja, the Yucatan, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Bahamas under his belt. He has fished all over the American and Canadian West too. Don't get him started about stripping giant streamers for trout on the Truckee (or Montana...). He's also a permit freak, so if you want to commiserate about getting skunked, over a nip of whiskey, he's your man. If you want to talk travel, tying, Alaska, steelhead or just about anything fly fishing come down to the shop Monday's or Tuesday's and chat him up.