Current Fishing Report

The hex hatch has been pretty good the last two nights.  Dick and Matt from Roseville landed several nice fish each night despite an upstream wind and poor visibility.  The hatch is really thick - I can't wait for a night with no wind and clear skies!  The fish we've been catching during the hex hatch range from 14-18 and are really fat and healthy.  Dax has had some better luck lately with some 20+ rainbows, too. Daytime fishing on the Fall River has been up and down.  There is a ton of muck (dead algae) floating down the river, so dry fly fishing is nearly impossible and streamer fishing and nymph fishing is challenging.  When you can get a good clean drift or retrieve the fish are pretty grabby, though.  All the standard beadhead nymphs size 16-20 are working well during the mid-day PMD hatch.  We beat up on the small fish pretty good the last two days around lunchtime, but the bigger fish were elusive.   

fish on

The fishing on Fall has provided some big moments this past week.  The hex hatch has been pretty good most nights, but daytime dry fly fishing has not been very steady.  The good news is that my clients seem to land a fish over 20 inches each day I go out.  I had Al and Kate yesterday for their first day on the Fall, and were rewarded with terrific fishing for about two hours before it shut off.  Many big fish were hooked. Every day has a window where the fish are super grabby, with periods of tough fishing in between.  Like always, there are plenty of healthy fish in the river of all sizes.  Getting a clean drift is difficult, with lots of grass and algae clumps getting on you flies every drift, regardless of technique.  Instead of whining about it, clean you flies off every cast with a quick pick up and lay down to make sure you aren't fishing an algae glob instead of your fly...the fish prefer a fly.  I am totally booked until later in July, but I might open up a day or two off when the dry fly turns on.   Contact me if you are interested in head hunting large fish with dry flies.

Kate playing with a 20 inch fish on the first cast of the day

Mega Fall River rainbow

Dax and I had a blast guiding the Moore family from the Bay Area the last two days.  Their three kids (age 6-10) all caught fish on their own, almost all on dry flies!  We fished two of our favorite small streams and spent some time on Fall River, too.  The small stream fishing was excellent with eager fish rising to various dry flies.  There are still golden stones around on the McCloud and the fish are looking up!

I guided beginner fly fishers Brian and Chris today on the Fall River.  We started on the lower river and took a tour of the whole valley.  There were quite a few fish eating hexes in the morning.  Chris landed his biggest trout ever in the afternoon.  We ended the day with many exciting hookups during the hex hatch.  Great hatch tonight and the fish were really grabby.

Chris's biggest trout to date!

I just finished up a few great days with longtime clients Mike and Sherrie Kennedy.  We had a pretty epic day on Fall River, consistently hooking fish with sinking lines.  Sherrie landed quite a few very large fish.  The next day was a bit tougher on Fall River, but we went to a small stream that had green drakes hatching...we absolutely pillaged on drys for three hours.  

Sherrie Kennedy with one of the 17 big fish she hooked

Mike Kennedy enjoying a green drake hatch

a 24 inch mega fish that ate a hex dry during the day

Always a pleasure fishing The Mac. I had Doug from New York City today, and he could charge and fish well. We covered a vast amount of water and hooked many of the beautiful McCloud River wild red bands on various nymphs and drys. The morning was kind of slow, but we still hooked fish as we kept moving and covering lots of water. It shut off around 5:30. Pressure is heavy. Avoid dropping in right above or below another angler without conversation, this makes you look like a kook. There is lots of water to fish if you just hike a little bit, and a quick chat with other anglers helps everyone enjoy the experience on this famous river that is held in the highest regard.

I finished up a few days with some great clients Richard and Dan.  We absolutely pillaged the first day fishing sinking lines.  We just moved from pod to pod of fish, and the larger fish were finally super grabby.  We landed well over 20 fish, five over 20 inches, and most over 15.  The next day was much tougher, which is very classic of Fall River.  You need to get on it a few days, and hopefully have one of those all time fishing experiences. Hex has been different each night.  When its cooler and windy, it sucks.  When its warm and calm, there are lots of bugs...sometimes too many for the fish to notice yours.  If you see a spinner fall, you may struggle to catch fish unless you move somewhere else.  Or just stay and continue to thrash the water aimlessly just like you've been doing since 7pm, alerting the fish of your presence.  Always bring lights when fishing the hex, if you are renting a boat that doesn't have them, let the outfitter know they should properly outfit you with them, BECAUSE YOU NEED THEM.  

should have been here yesterday!

This looks and jumped like a steelhead

Classic Fall River huge rainbow

The Golden Dorado of Fall River...mega

Epic

We had a really fun day on Fall River today.  Dan and Doug from the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers did a split day with me.  This time of year we do a lot of split days so we can fish the hex hatch in the evening.  We go from 8:30am to 2:30pm and then meet again after dinner for the hex hatch.  Fishing was pretty good in the morning and peaked with a great nymph grab from 1-2:30pm. Earlier on we had some good dry fly fishing.  The PMD hatch was thick, but the wind was blowing them across the water pretty fast.  Dan and Doug caught fish on nymphs, dries and streamers The hex hatch was pretty amazing in a wonders of nature sense, and less so in fishing terms.  The hatch was as thick as I've ever seen it.  The fish gorged for about 20 minutes and then seemed to be full, even though there were literally thousands of hex adults still on the water. 

Doug landed this 21 rainbow on 6X tippet

Erratic fishing is the name of the game on the Lower Sac.  Today we were fishing by 7:30am and fishing was good until about 10am, then it slowed down.  We hooked a few more fish in the early afternoon, but the bite was not happening.  Quite a few caddis and mayflies hatching today, though.

We fished lower down on the Lower Sac today and had a pretty good day.  The fishing was great in the morning on a variety of flies.  We had a rough patch after lunch, but then finished strong around 4pm.  There are very few boats out braving this heat wave.  We got an early start and that seemed to help.  Fish are eating small mayflies, tan poopahs, and red copper johns.

The Lower Sac was pretty horrible today.  The fish just were not on the job.  Fortunately our main mission today was rowing instruction.  My client Ron is headed to Alaska in August and will be rowing a raft on a DIY wilderness trip.  He got plenty of good rowing practice today in my Outcast raft.  It was a beautiful day on the river, but not a very fishy day.

Angry Birds!

Yeah the hex hatch has started on the Lower River. Next week should provide some insane fishing as the hatch starts to strengthen to fish that haven't been pressured much yet. You need to find them first, then pillage is on.I had a great day with Dave and Daryl on upper Fall today. Finally got to do some head hunting with drys for individually targeted big fish selectively feeding on top. We got em. Also had success with nymphs and streamers being patient and carefully covering a lot of water. Got several fish in that 20 inch class...epic.

The Confluence Fall River Retreat at sunset

A Fall River fatty

I had a great day with clients Dave & Darryl on the Pit River today.  We bashed around Pit 3 and lived to tell the tale.  The trout were really grabby.  Our best action was on a hopper-dropper rig in the shallower pockets.  We had grabs on the dry, but most of the action was on the nymph.

The Lower Sac is back!  After two rough trips last week the river fished really well today.  We hooked fish throughout the day and landed fish up to 20.  We caught fish on a lot of different flies, from eggs to caddis pupas to small mayflies.  Traffic was very light today, too.  92 degrees with light winds is pretty nice on the Lower Sac!

Fall River continues to be frustrating.  There are plenty of big fish around, but they are not very grabby.  Our best action today was from 11:30am to 2pm.  We hooked a few quality rainbows during that time on small nymphs.  The small fish weren't even very grabby.  The PMD hatch was pretty good today until the wind came up - hopefully fishing will improve as the PMD hatch gets thicker.

Fall River is fishing quite well at the moment.  The fish are on the move, spreading throughout the river, which is excellent.  Not much happening on top yet, but they have been eating various nymphs and leech patterns pretty good between 10:30 & 2:30.  Fishing should be excellent in the next few weeks, and we will start to see some hex very soon with warmer evenings in the forecast.  The famous Hex Hatch will be mega epic this year... big fish on dry flies at sunset...it never gets old.

Look at this amazing tail on this specimen

This fish required a bigger net

The Lower Sac was a bit slow again today.  We fought the wind until about 2pm.  Rowing and fishing got a lot easier when it finally died down.  We had the river all to ourselves today, floating 16 miles of river without seeing another drift boat.  My clients Marie and Donna landed several nice trout each.  It was Donna's first day of fly fishing and she managed to land three nice wild trout and hook a few others.

I had a really good morning on the Lower Sac today with clients Frank & Al from the Sacramento area.  We caught several fish in the 17-19 range on a variety of flies.  Then the fishing just turned off for us in the afternoon.  After 2pm it was very hard to get a grab.

Fishing was a bit tough today on the Lower Sac.  We landed five fish in a four-hour trip on five different flies.  The PMD hatch was really good and there were a lot of caddis around, too.  We're starting to get more fish on basic caddis patterns like birds nests and poopahs.  The river is in great shape - I'm sure fishing will improve every day so long as the flows remain steady.