Current Fishing Report

 Happy Autumn! It was a fun weekend on the water with some nice steelhead caught on swung flies. Fall colors are just starting to turn and days swinging flies on the river can be quite scenic. 

It was a festive few days on the river this weekend with lots of rafters, kayakers and paddleboarders out on the water enjoying the holiday weekend. The fishing was slow overall, but September is finally here and fishing should start to pick up. Fall is my favorite time of year to fish the Upper Rogue, the fall colors and fishing can be phenominal! 

Had a great day on the water this weekend with Bruce. The hot weather is beginning to cool off and smoke has really cleared up over the past few days. We spent time working on Spey casting techniques. Bruce had an epic encounter with a large, bright hen. It was a very acrobatic fish that proved to be quite a challenge.

I had a fantastic time with Doug yesterday, swinging for steelhead. The fish were very grabby and the ones we encountered were prime specimen Rogue steelhead. If you're looking for an uncrowded river with excellent swing water, look no further. 

A gorgeous wild hen

Scenic views

I had a freind and colleague visiting this weekend to swing flies here on the Upper Rogue.  We enjoyed our days here cruising down the river with fall colors popping and very little angling pressure (fly only season on the Upper Rogue).  Kayla swung up an epic wild hen, and we had multiple other aggressive fish crush our swung flies swinging both skagit heads with MOW tips and scandi set ups with floating lines.  The Rogue has been a good bet this year....  

Had a great swing trip with Christian and Michael. The fall colors are just starting to emerge and the Rogue is fishing awesome. The morning started off a bit slow with a few half pounders, but as the day continued, the fishing improved. We ended up hooking up with 4 adults by the end of the day. 

 Had an amazing time exploring BC with Dax for a few weeks. The rivers are all wild and undammed, and the fish are like any other steelhead I've caught in my entire life. Definetly the big leagues and land of giants for a swing angler. The scenery was also breathtaking. I'm looking at putting together a hosted trip for next fall, so please feel free to reach out with interest or questions. 

Early mornings make for spectacular scenery

There is always a chance for rain and a river blowout....

First BC fish was dime bright and fiesty.

Occasionally you get a Coho too.

The Rogue river has seen great numbers for steelhead returns this year. I've been out in the evenings for a few hours at a time and have been swinging into some nice chrome. The recent smoke from all the fires in NorCal and Oregon has finally cleared out as well, so the air quality is very much improved. September is a iconic month for swinging flies on the upper Rogue, usually fishing a leader and a traditional fly. If you're looking for good steelhead conditions, the Rogue is where it's at. 

Salmonflies are popping on the upper Rogue river. Dry fly fishing at its best, the fish are really looking up for this hatch. It won't be here for too long, so don't wait to book your trip. 

Had a great weekend with Anthony and Tom. The weather and conditions cooperated and we were able to fish the Sol Duc, Hoh and Bohachiel. We hooked into a couple and landed a nice one.

Had a swing trip with Kayla and Mac from Fish First Fly Shop in Chico on Saturday. It was a cold and blustery day, and the river was on the rise, but we still had of fun on the water. We focused on spey casting techniques and reading water. Kayla also caught her first Trinty river steelhead. I think her smile says it all. 

Fished this past week all around NorCal working on a project with GoPro and Cal Trout. Over the course of the week, we fished the upper Sac, Hat Creek, the McCloud river, Klamath river and Fall River. The weather was cold and rainy, but the fishing still managed to be great. Fished with nymphs, streamers and dries, and caught fish with each set up. I even managed to swing up a bass. It was an awesome week, and with the weather starting to warm up again, the hatches should really start to pick up again.  On Fall River the past few days, the Hex hatch is really going off. This is my favorite hatch, not just because of the aggressive takes, but also because watching the sun set over Mt. Shasta is never the same experience twice. 

A nice one at the lakes

Fall river sunsets

Best hatch and the best beer

Mikey Wier with a nice rainbow

The last week on the Trinity has been great. I spent a few days on the lower section of the river swinging flies and working with clients on spey casting technique. While there didn't seem to be as many fish in this section of the river, it was nice to get out of the crowds and mayhem of the upper river. We even hooked into a few nice fish.  Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday on the upper/middle river the nymph grab was on. The small amount of rain we got on Saturday has brought in a fresh pulse of grabby fish. There were a quality amount of adult steelhead caught this weekend. The only downside was the crowds. As November progresses we should see the fish spreading out more along with the hordes of anglers.

Mark with a large wild buck. A nice job handling the fish!

Stephen bombing a cast out there.

Did some filming for an upcoming project with Trout Unlimited, check out that drone!

Nice wild buck Kevin

Carrie with some speed on his spey cast.

My favorite fall colors

Father and son duo Ted and Zach with Zach's first steelhead. It was a wild one!

A birds eye view

Had a great ending to this year's trout season on the McCloud river. The Golden Gate Angling Club was up from San Fransisco for a two day clinic. We went over wading safety, proper rigging, fly selection, and most importantly we got to explore a lot of the upper and lower parts of the river.  A mixed group of beginner and expert anglers, I really enjoyed spending time with everyone. I love teaching new skills to beginning angers and refining skill sets for the more experienced angers. We even got some much needed rain on the second day; nothing beats fishing in the rain! Looks like the rain dance temporarily worked, but I'll keep up the effort as we can always use more precipitation here in northern California. Now for full throttle steelhead season!! The fishing on the Trinity has already been very productive, and will only get better as the season progresses and we get more rain. 

Patrick, Ling, Renee and Roger were a great group for day one.

Day two's group: Kevin, Debbie, Bob and Brad. Another amazing group of avid anglers!

Fall colors are poppin'

Using dry fly techniques on the upper river

High sticking pocket water down near Ah Di Nah

Fall river the past few days was a ghost town. With lower pressure, the fishing was decent with mid day baetis hatches as well as the fish keying in on the nymph and streamer grab. The weed beds have grown in quite a bit to offer extra cover for the trout. Fall river in the autumn season is absolutely a hidden gem. 

Scenery.

Sarah making a roll cast.

MT Shasta!

Way to go Dave!

No parr marks on this fish Marc! Well done!

This past Labor Day weekend, I had the pleasure of hosting a trip with Travis Johnson and his company All Waters Angling. We floated and camped on the Lower Deschutes river. This river is regulated for bank fishing only, which meant fishing from the boat was not an option. No problem here! With the big water and bouldery riffles, spey casting is by far the most effective way to fish this water; not to mention the most fun.  Travis is the world record holder for spey casting and an excellent guide and instructor. The river conditions were excellent. With Travis' help and that of fellow guide Caleb Lockyer, everyone was able to improve their spey casting, learn more about the river, and have some fishy encounters. Not to mention excellent cuisine and lots of laughs. I know I'm already looking forward to next year!   

Even I got to fish a little....

Gorgeous scenery is also included.

Chris with a hog!

Fish on!

Early starts mean being the first on the best runs

Zach with another fish on.

Travis landing a beautiful hen.

A well hooked chromer.

Love that tail!

Dave was a first time spey caster, his casting really progressed though out the trip

It was a superb evening on Fall river. The sunset was gorgeous and the Hex hatch was happening. I love watching the large, shapely profiles of the flies floating delicately down the river. Had some epic takes by large fish. This hatch is truly worth experiencing. 

I recently took a trip to majestic Utah with my raft in tow and floated and camped my way down the Green River near Flaming Gorge. I love the scenery on this river. It is absolutely breathtaking with red cliff canyon views, gin clear water, and lots of fish. Not sure if it was the cicada hatch that brought all the sports to the river, but the river was extremely crowded. At any given moment on the A section, you could look up and count 14 boats in one half mile stretch of water. And I thought the Trinity could get crowded! Despite an enormous amount of pressure and crowds on the A section of the river, the fishing was still great with proper rigging, line control and a good reach cast. The cicada hatch was popping in the morning with fish hitting big bugs on top, but by mid afternoon, the fish were eating sub surface. Sight casting streamers to fish hanging near the bank was very effective and it was nice to pull over and let the crowds drift by.We camped at Big Pine II campground (float in access only) on the beginning of the B section, and this part of the river was much less crowded. Fish in this section were much grabbier, and you could tell they had seen quite a few less flies recently. Less dry fly action (this could have been the stormy weather and less of a hatch), but they were eating nymphs very consistently. In the slower water, a spring creek nymph rig caught fish almost every cast. Bellow red creek the river was murkier, and the streamer bite in this section of the river was insane. Some of the best streamer fishing I have encountered. The camp/float section of the trip was a huge success.Up in Wyoming, the fishing on the Green was also great. Despite a recent increase in flows, the fishing bellow Fontanelle Reservoir was excellent. I brought my spey rod and swung streamers with quite a few grabs. There was even an epic thunderstorm late in the afternoon that kept things interesting. Nothing like brandishing about a 13' metal composite rod in the midst of a electric storm....

The first chunky 'bow of my trip.

This fish crushed a streamer and then put up a serious fight!

You can see where the river gets its name

One of my favorite Scotch's cooling to perfect temperature

A nice brown landed at the camp home water

Rainy days in Wyoming!

Hat Creek/Fall RiverMay 28th, 2015The past holiday weekend was quite busy in most local streams and rivers, but the fish were happy and ate quite willingly. Fall river fished well on a nymph, and also there were opportunity to catch wild rainbows on a dry fly. The evenings produced beautiful thunderheads, but we were spared rain. However, the clouds did make for some beautiful sunsets.Mornings on Hat Creek produced a good number of fish slurping at a trico spinner fall. A downstream presentation works best for these fish, with the trusty Hat Creek skate to get the fly/flies into the proper lane where fish are consistently rising.

Fantastic fishing on Fall River today. My client Peter had a double digit day and got a Fall River grand slam. He hooked and landed fish on dries, nymphs and streamers.  Early in the day, fishing a nymph rig was effective and he landed both large and small fish. The afternoon brought some wind, but it died down after and hour or so, and there was a solid PMD hatch. It seemed like almost every drift rose a fish, and he even hooked a fish in the 20 range. Later in the afternoon, the hatch was over and we switched over to streamers and nymphs again, which produced quite a few hook ups.  Smiles all around, life is good.