Current Fishing Report

My client Dave and I spent the second half of our day on our private beat on North Battle Creek.  It was my first time in there this year and I was amazed to see the changes caused by last winter's high water.  Some of my favorite spots were totally remodelled.  Lots of downed trees, too.  The fishing was good, though!  Dave's first fish was a 12" rainbow, which is about the biggest fish we ever catch on this section.  Dave had a blast with his 3wt rod and miraculously did not lose a single fly in a tree!  We fished dries all afternoon and had the best luck with size 8 grasshopper imitations.

This fish chowed a big grasshopper dry

Dave with the best fish of the afternoon

killer mayfly. Mahogany? Anyone?

I fished Steve and grandson Chris today on Battle Creek.  We got off to an early start and the river was in much better shape than 2 weeks ago when it was too high.  I was sweating bullets by 2pm though as we had covered a lot of water without many strikes.  Right before our first hike-out opportunity the fish went on the grab.  We decided to fish a little more and my guys got to experience what Battle Creek is known for - tons of grabs on dry flies.  We landed fish up to ten inches and rose a few larger ones on a variety of giant dry flies.  The best flies were a pink hopper and a Turck's tarantula, size 8-10.  We saw some golden stones in the air, tons of hoppers in the upper part of the canyon, and lots of dragons and damsels.  We also spotted 4 or 5 spring-run chinook - really cool to see these huge wild fish hanging out in crystal clear cold water all summer. 

I fished our private section of North Battle Creek today with some clients from my home town of Gridley.  I guess I'm used to drought conditions, because I was really surprised that the creek was flowing pretty high today!  Flows spiked up a little with the hot weather so there must still be some snowmelt up in the high country above McCumber Reservoir.  We were able to fish the wider parts of the creek, but the cascades were impassable so we weren't able to fish as much water as usual.  We caught some fish on dries and nymphs under dry flies.  Fishing should really pick up in a couple weeks when the flows drop down to normal summer levels.

The wider parts of the creek were much more fishable

Tom working a deep pool

You pretty much have to charge through the river

I fished with Cheryl from the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers today on Battle Creek.  Fishing started out pretty slow, but the bite turned on around 1pm and improved throughout the afternoon.  Cheryl had a 7'6 3wt, a perfect rod for our private section of Battle Creek.  She landed a lot of nice 10 rainbows and countless smaller fish on a variety of dry flies.  The best fly by far was a size 14 parachute Adams.  The biggest fish hooked was a 12 rainbow that ate a size 6 orange Chernobyl ant.  This was my best outing on Battle Creek so far this season.

Cheryl with one of many fish caught on dries today

Battle Creek is the perfect size for a 3wt fly rod.

I did a Tenkara trip today on Battle Creek with Mel from Berkley.  The creek is in great shape.  Plenty of cold clear water.  The fish weren't jumping on the hook, but we had plenty of opportunities nonetheless.  The native rainbows liked a parachute adams and a size 10 parachute grasshopper the best.Tenkara gear has come a long way in the last 3 years.  Many of the new rods have two or three locking lengths from 9ft to 12ft.  This variable length adds a lot of versatility, especially since the length of line that you fish is fixed.  The first Tenkara rods were 12-14ft and I really like the shorter lengths with the option to go longer.  6-10 rainbows are a lot of fun on these rods. 

I had a fun day on Battle Creek today with clients Dan and Frank.  Fishing was a little slower than usual and the fish were a bit smaller than we're used to.  Our biggest fish was about 10.  Usually there are some 12 fish in the mix.  We had tons of fun dry fly fishing, though.  As usual, there were some pockets that produced ten or more fish on dries.  We had good luck with a size 10 Royal PMX and a size 14 parachute Adams.

Our private section of Battle Creek fished really well today.  Ivan from Palo Alto was back for his 3rd trip on Battle Creek.  The fish were on the grab from the get-go.  We had a lot of luck with a size 10 Turck's tarantula, but our best fly was a size 12 parachute adams.  Ivan had one spot where he hooked five fish in five casts!  Our biggest fish was about 10, a great fish on a four weight rod.  We also saw a couple dozen spring Chinook today.  These fish are really amazing.  Just to see them is a treat.  They'll hang out in the creek until mid-September and then they'll spawn and die.  Last year Battle Creek had a record run of 700+ spring Chinook. 

I had a fun day with my client Dan on Battle Creek today.  The rainbows were pretty grabby all day.  We had great luck with parachute Adams in the morning and then a size 10 royal parachute madax X (PMX) in the afternoon.  Battle Creek fishes great all summer long.  It's spring-fed so the flows don't change at all.  If you are looking for some excellent small stream fishing, it's hard to beat!  We also saw about 10 big spring-run chinook today.  They'll spend the next three months hunkered down in the deep holes and then spawn in mid to late-September.

small stream fishing at its finest

Bring your 3wt rod!

Notice the size 10 royal PMX

I guided Bill and Randy from Sacramento on our private stretch of Battle Creek today.  This was my first Battle Creek trip of the season and it was delightful.  We caught all of our fish on dry flies.  In the morning the best fly was a size 14 parachute Adams, but by mid-afternoon the fish wanted the big flies.  We fished a lot of rubberleg dries size 10.  The size of the fish was better than normal, with several 12 rainbows hooked.  We even saw a spring chinook holding in one of the deeper pools.  Water conditions are perfect and the fish are eager.  If you like small stream fishing with 3wt rods and dry flies, come check out Battle Creek this summer.  It's spring-fed so it fishes well throughout the entire season.

I had a great day on Battle Creek with Ivan and son Ian.  Ivan fished the creek last September and really enjoyed it.  Ian hadn't fly fished in a few years, but got back into it in no time.  Our best flies today were large stonefly dries.  A size 6 orange stimulator and a size 8 red Turk's Tarantula did the trick!  Ivan hooked the fish of the day, a 13-14 rainbow on a size 8 brown stimulator.  We also saw a couple of spring chinook, both about 10#.  Pretty cool.

We hooked about 15 fish in this spot

These worked

I took a peak at our private stretch of Battle Creek today.  It looks great!  It's already low enough to fish and there are bugs all over the place.  Book your trip now for some great dry fly fishing!  A day on Battle Creek involves some tricky wading and a couple short stints of strenuous hiking.  It's well worth the effort!

I spent a lovely day on Battle Creek with Ivan and son Greg from Palo Alto.  Conditions are perfect on Battle Creek right now.  There is plenty of water, but not too much.  The spring chinook are spawning, so the native rainbows are on the egg grab.  And there are good hatches, so the rainbows are looking up.  Greg got a grab on his first cast, and the dry fly fishing was great all day long.  Ivan hooked and landed an 18 rainbow on a glo bug in one of the few deeper buckets.  This was by far the largest trout I've seen in the creek to date.  Greg landed several 10 rainbows on dries and we had plenty of little guys, too.

Today was day 2 with Pete & Karen.  We spent the day fishing about 1/2 a mile of our private stretch of Battle Creek.  This was a great place to spend a really hot day.  The water is 58 degrees and the canyon is heavily shaded, so it felt nice and cool all day even though it was about 100 degrees in the valley.  The dry fly fishing was very good today.  Pete and Karen both had countless fish go after their flies.  We landed wild rainbows up to ten inches on grasshoppers, parachute adams, and black elk hair caddis.

It is hopper time on Battle Creek.  I fished about a half mile of our private stretch of North Battle Creek today and rose countless wild rainbows to grasshopper patterns.  In pools with good visibility I could watch fish move four or five feet sometimes to eat the hopper.  No need for a dropper right now - the fish really want to eat that dry.  I tried a few different types and the fish definitely liked the brownish hoppers the best. The creek is in great shape right now.  Flows have finally dropped to fishable and wadable levels.  The water temp was 58 degrees - amazing on a hot summer day.  I saw about ten spring Chinook today, which is more than I've seen in a single day before.

They like the Dave's Hopper

Chernobyl Ant-type hoppers are working great!

I spent an hour yesterday fishing our private stretch of Battle Creek.  Amazingly, it is still too high with runoff to fish in most areas.  Fishing was outstanding in the few spots I was able to reach, though.  I had fat rainbows up to 12 inches taking grasshopper dries and nymphs.  The creek should be in prime condition in about another three weeks or so.

I spent the morning fishing our private stretch of Battle Creek with friend and fellow guide Mike Corley.  This stream is just amazing.  Here we are in the 2nd week of August and the water temperature is only 58 degrees!  Needless to say, the trout were very happy and eagerly ate our dry flies and nymphs.  Battle Creek isn't a big fish destination.  What it lacks in size, it makes up for in numbers.  I probably hooked fifty fish in about two hours of fishing.  Wild rainbows up to 10 inches rose readily to our grasshopper patterns and devoured our dropper nymphs.  The section of stream that we fished today is easy to wade and would make for an ideal introduction to fly fishing for a teenager.  Mike and I wet waded and never felt hot at all until we left the shaded canyon.

Battle Creek Rainbow

Do you see what I see?

Dan and I did a split trip today, spending the morning on the Lower Sac and the afternoon on Battle Creek.  Dan caught really nice fish on his first two casts of the day.  The size 8 brown Jimmy Legs stonefly was definitely the hot fly this morning.  We had a lot of action the first hour of our float and then the bite slowed.  The fish were on the grab on Battle Creek, though.  We started off with a size 8 stimulator with rubber legs and the fish approved!  Dan had a lot of grabs on that until the PMDs started hatching.  We switched to a smaller tan mayfly dry and that worked really well.  The last hour of the day was all about the big stonefly dries.  Dan landed a great fish on a size 6 foam salmonfly pattern.  It was an incredible grab and a beautiful fish!

These fish love big dries!

Dan with his best Battle Creek fish

Our first Lower Sac fish

I fished our private beat on Battle Creek today with Mike Corley.  This 3.5 mile stretch of water is brand new to us this year and I've been trying to learn my way around.  So far, I like what I see!  We fished a very rugged section of the creek this afternoon.  There were even more salmonflies today than when I fished with Dax on Saturday.  I saw some of the biggest salmonflies of my life today.  The largest were almost 3 inches long!  That explains why the fish didn't pay much attention to my dry flies until I tied on a size 6 foam giant stone imitation.  Many of the fish were too small to get hooked by this giant fly, but that didn't stop them from trying!  I had dozens of grabs and landed fish up to ten inches.  I lost a nice 12 bow and Mike and I both missed strikes from some larger fish.  This salmonfly hatch is in full swing and should stick around through the end of May.  We should start to see some golden stones soon.

Mike Corley fishing a juicy run

I fished our private stretch of Battle Creek today with my good friend Dax Messett.  Water conditions are perfect and there are quite a few salmonflies around.  Action was pretty slow in the morning, but the fishing got better throughout the day.  By the time we headed out around 2pm we were getting grabs in every pool.  Dax missed the fish of the day, a 14-16 rainbow that came out of a shady spot to try and eat a size 6 stimulator!  We primarily fished large stonefly dries and had some great slashing grabs.  I'm still exploring this great wild trout fishery - we learned some great new water today and I'm looking forward to fishing the entire 3.5 mile stretch this season.  If you're looking for a private wild trout experience where you won't see any other anglers, this venue is hard to beat!

Salmonfly

I had a chance this afternoon to take a quick look at our private stretch of Battle Creek.  It doesn't open until the last Saturday in April, but the bugs aren't waiting!  I saw numerous giant stoneflies buzzing around, plus plenty of caddisflies.  The wild rainbows in this stream feed year-round, so they should be fat and happy come opening day.  Those of you that have already booked a day of private fishing on Battle Creek will doubltess enjoy incredible dry fly fishing.  I'm expecting to see giant stoneflies (aka salmonflies) throughout the month of May, golden stones through June, and then grasshopper action throughout the summer months.

Salmonfly!