Current Fishing Report

Had an excellent two days of swinging flies with Dick Compton on the North Coast. We had the good fortune of starting our first day off with the river showing great color after rising the day before and falling through the night. We beat the boat crowd by an inch to a favorite run and Dick was soon rewarded by the firm handshake of a winter steelhead. We stayed on the lower river for the rest of the day hoping to intercept some fresh fish coming up from the esturary. The river was on the high side throughout the day making it a challenge to find good swing water, but we managed to get into a handful of runs that were textbook. The second day we looked high and low. We started up river hoping to swing up a well rested fish or two and avoid the boat brigade on the low river. No luck. We finished our day without another hook up but still had an amazing time. Giant redwoods, a wild river and chrome fish are a hard combo to beat. Looking ahead we have another high pressure system that looks to stay parked over Northern California for the next 10 days or more. With no forseeable rain in the forecast all rivers on the North Coast should be running green by the weekend to early next week at the very latest. February is nearly here, putting us at the midway point of the winter steelhead season. It's time to go fishing! 

Dick Compton fighting the good fight.

This hen looked like she had seen some action before her morning smash and grab

In the bucket, waiting for another handshake

Not a bad way to start your day.

I had the pleasure of guiding my friends with the Peninsula Fly Fishers the past two days.  The recent rains raised the flows a bit more and there was even a hint of color, but fishing remained tough.  Saturday we only hooked into one adult fish - a nice wild hen.  Today we went one-for-two, but sealed the deal with a very nice wild buck!  Looks like the recent storms have past and there is no significant rain on the foreceast.  Let's keep out fingers crossed we get some more rain in the coming weeks! 

Peter with a beautiful 27 wild buck!

Peter had quite a fight on his hands with this beauty!

Snowy start to our day

Matt + Allen from Redbluff found some steelhead yesterday. Matt found the first fish of the day just minutes into the float. Lately it’s been about having the flies in the right place at the right time. Present the flies well and good things can happen. Tight lines. 

Matt w/ fish on!

Lunch time

Winter Steelheading continues on...we're still seeing New Wild Winter Steelhaed push into the Trinity, the numbers don't seem to be quite as good as they were a couple weeks ago but still good fishing. We've had a bit of rain and snow over the past week, water flows are up and a little color has been added, water temps have dropped a few degrees over the past week, that may have slowed the fishing a bit. I think Swinging for Winter Steelhead on the Trinity will be Well Worth the effort for at least a couple more weeks.Tight Lines... 

Just Rewards...

Anticipation

We just got back from the Sacramento ISE Show.  It was great to see so many of our guests and colleagues at the show.  We are down to just a handful of open dates left for Eagle Canyon:January 25, 29-31February 1, 14-15, 19-25March: noneApril 2ndThe weekend of February 24-25 just opened up due to a cancellation.Grab a date while you still can!

I got to spend the day chasing winter steelhead with my very good clients (and friends) Jesse and Julian.  This morning was the coldest temps we've seen in a couple weeks and I've seen an increase in fishing pressure the past several days.  Julian hooked into his first ever adult steelhead, and he brought his A-game.  After an epic batttle, Julian landed an absolutely beautilful, bright wild buck!  Fishing was tough, but Jesse landed a very nice native half-pounder.  Not a bad day for winter steelheading.

WOW!

Katie and I have our Eagle Canyon booth at the Sacramento ISE Show.  Dates are filling up quickly and we only have about 11 open dates left.  Stop by booth 2121 in Building C - we would love to see you and talk about Eagle Canyon and Confluence Outfitters.

Had a good time with Tom + Geoff today on the Trinity. We got a break in the weather and had a beautiful day on the river. We found only half pounders today but that’s steelheadin’ for ya. 

Geoff with a wild juvinile

Here is a guest report from Joe Jimenez, Outings Chairman for the Amador Flyfishers.  They fished Eagle Canyon on January 18th."We arrived expecting heavy rain and strong winds all day long. We did get rain but not nearly as much as was forecasted. The wind turned out to be a light breeze for the most part so that was also a plus. The fishing started off slow in the morning with only a couple of fish landed. It took off in the afternoon. There were in excess of 30 fish caught. All were large but many were over 10 lbs. Everyone had a great time and all said that they look forward to coming back. Thank you for having us." 

After a canceled trip last year, the Gates crew made their annual migration from SoCal and Phoenix in search of winter steelhead.  Joe had the magic touch, hooking four adults and landing two.  Howard fished hard and was finally rewarded by hooking a nice adult at the end of the day, but couldn't manage to bring it to net.  The flows are finally starting to come up and it looks like we have several storms headed our way!  

Joe with a nice hatchery buck!

Joe with this beautiful wild hen!

Green water returned to the rivers of the North Coast this past weekend after the first significant rainfall of 2018. This past week saw everything from the Eel to the Smith in prime condition and fish were found in both systems for anglers willing to put in the time and effort. I fished with Sang on Saturday up north. We had an awesome day poking around the Smith looking for fresh steelhead. While we didn't get into any fish we did dail up some hedgehog mushrooms between swing runs. Not a bad reward for a day on the river. A succession of storms are making ready to hit the coast starting tonight and continuing into next week. The Smith is projected to make it's most significant rise of the season over the weekend. All rivers will see a hard rise by early next week and in all likelihood we will see many blow out. Time to hunker down behind the vice and crank out those bugs! 

Sang bright eyed and bushy tailed in the first run of the day

A hat full of fresh hedgehogs

To the far bank

Waiting for the big pull.

Colton Schwenning swung up this savage buck fishing the coast over the weekend.

The usual suspects

Days end.

Here are some photos from the Redding Project Healing Waters group that fished Eagle Canyon on Sunday. Nice fish guys!

I had a great time guiding new clients Austin and Kevin!  Both were fairly new to fly fishing and this was their first attempt at steelheading.  Austin had a new Redington two-handed rod and really wanted to learn how to use it.  I set Kevin up with one of my Sage 6wt two-handers and taught them the double-spey and the C-spey.  They both picked up the casts pretty quickly and were swinging for steelhead!  Neither hooked-up while swinging, but Austin landed a nice hatchery fish right after lunch.  A short time later, Austin hooked into a dime-bright wild fish that gave him a fight he'll probably never forget!  The extended forecast is promising, so I am cautiously hopeful this will bring in a new batch to fish to the upper river.

Austin with his first steelhead!

Today I got to guide my old friends Dave and Craig from Sonoma County.  The weather was beautiful, but fishing was very tough.  Dave hooked one adult, but it didn't want any part of my landing net.  That was our only chance at a fish, and I didn't see any new fish moving through.  

Spent a few days guiding for Winter Steelhead on the Trinity this past week, it didn't disapoint. Plans were to guide on the North Coast but it's been in constant flux, too low , too high and a few days that have been just right, at the same time Mid Trinity was in good shape , chose the safe bet and it paid off ! Swung up multiple Chromers each day and landed at least a fish a day per angler, good Steelheading in my IMHO...primarily bright, wild fat hens in the 5-6 lb class and full of fight and one wild buck 7-8 lbs. typical Trinity Winter Run.My availablity for the remainder of the Season is none existant... not to early to think about a Spey/ Swing trip for next Fall/ Winter ...My primary Steelhead destinations will be the Trinity, Lower Klamath, Eel Drainage and the Lower Sac... this past Fall the swing fishing was excelent on the Lower Sac for Battle Creek Steelhead in the 2-5 lb class, all had a ton of fight and a blast on 4wt and 5 wt Spey rods...fun stuff !Feel free to contact me for trip info - Tight Lines 

Flight Time

Perfect Hen

Winter on the Trin

I stopped in at Eagle Canyon today to visit with longtime guests John, Tom & Dean.  The grab was pretty slow other than for about 2 hours mid-day.  They made up for the slow fishing by landing some truly huge fish today.  The best flies were a red blood midge size 14-16, zebra midges in brown size 16-18, and a small tan mayfly nymph size 16-18.

Tom with a beast

Dean with a truly big trout

I got to guide an old friend Greg and his buddy Jim from Sebastopol today.  Fishing was tough, but they both managed to land beautiful fish!  This next weather system seems to be holding, so it looks like we will finally get some rain!

Greg with a very nice hatchery hen!

Jim with his first ever steelhead!

I had the pleasure of guiding Dean today.  He fished very hard all day and was rewarded by landing two of the three fish hooked.  All were nice adult wild steelhead.  The fishing pressure is still fairly light, but I expect that to change very soon.  With the next system arriving next week, the flows should come up a bit more and hopefully more fish will move into the upper river.

Dean with a beautiful wild fish!

Had a good time guiding Tom from Walnut Creek. We floated upper river today and despite the low + clear conditions, Tom landed a nice adult steelhead. We’ve gotten some much anticipated rain which should push some more fish into the mix. 

Tom with his first 2018 steelhead!

The Trinity remains challenging.  I guided the past three days with decent success - hooking one to two fish per day.  I have been seeing some very bright fish moving through, so that is promising.  The flows have come up slightly with the recent rains, but it is still very low and clear.  We have a new storm is headed our way next week and it appears we may get some measurable rain.