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Great I had an excellent day on the Lower Sac today with Bruce and Rick from the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers Club. We fished near Red Bluff and had 10 miles of the river totally to ourselves. Nymphing was pretty productive in the morning. Bruce even landed a 16" rainbow on his first drift. As they day went on we had lots of nymph hookups, a couple of double hookups, and landed fish up to 17". The afternoon was the highlight though with excellent dry fly fishing for rainbows from 8 to 14". There was a mixed hatch of PMDs and march browns and the fish were rising freely. It's rare to be able to drift and fish dry flies on the Lower Sac. Usually you can do it here and there, maybe two good spots in a day. Today we spent the last 3 hours of the day fishing dries while on the move and had non-stop action. A rare treat! Bruce playing a fish Lots of fish like this today |
Good Gino forwarded this photo from today's trip in southern Oregon. Nice fish Bill! Bill with a great steelhead |
Great This is a guest report from Ben who fished Eagle Canyon yesterday with 3 buddies:"I had a great day fishing with our group yesterday. We did really well on the blood midge with a brass bead in the afternoon. The black midge worked on the small pond in the morning. We also got a couple stripping leaches." |
Good Winter seemed to be evading California's North Coast for most of January and February. Abnormally high temperatures coupled with little to no precipitation had many of us winter steelheaders scratching our heads, wondering when or if we would have the conditions that are synonymous with the sport; cold. wet. rain. The spell seems to have finally broken. As of today all rivers on the North Coast are on the rise, and with plenty of snow in the hills and more rain forecast into next week we can expect many of our rivers to remain high and off color for the time being. There are still plenty of fresh steelhead coming into our coastal systems mixed in with a good amount of down runners and some halfpounders. I had an epic day with a few buddies earlier this week. With the hopes that this storm system would coax some fish holding in the lower river to move up, we were rewarded for braving the storm with a few sea bright hens. Not a bad way to bring February to a close. Once we see our coastal rivers drop in and turn green it should be game on. See you on the water! A freshly minted hen came to hand in the last run of the day. A coastal native just starting to show her blush. Winter colors on the coast. |
Good I enjoyed a great mountain bike ride near the river in Red Bluff today. The trail took me down near the river a few times and I noticed the fish were absolutely chowing dry flies! There was a great mid-day blue winged olive mayfly hatch and the fish were all over it. This is a great sign since we lost a lot of our bug life last year after the huge winter flows. It was only about 50 degrees out today, so hatches should get even better with warm spring weather. |
Good I had the pleasure of guiding Don the past two days on the Sac. Don has been fishing for a very long time, but had never used a strike indicator, nor had he ever used a two-handed rod. Open to learning new techniques, Don asked if I could bring one of my trout spey rods so he can learn to how to cast. After some instruction, he started to get the hand of it! After swinging the first run, we fished an indicatorless nymph rig and immediately hooked into a couple of really nice fish. Then we tried fishing with an indicator, and he quickly learned how successful this technique is. For two days, we switched-up our techniques and hooked fish with both. The best was when Don started hooking fish on the swing! Combo trips are a fun way to break the day up and break away from the norm. |
Okay Last weekend I got on the water with Ben, Larry, Greg and Chester with fellow guide Colton Schwenning. We fished hard for three days on the coast hoping to dial in a winter steelhead but we never connected with the allusive ghost of the coast. Conditions were tough with the river being low and clear, yet despite unseasonably low precipitation for Febraury we still saw a good amount of fish in the system on the two days we floated. We had some nasty weather thrown at us on our last day together with hail, snow and strong winds giving us a run for our money. In the end our guys fished hard until the last and we all had an awesome time together. Even when the river doesn't offer up a fish the beauty of the redwood coast never fails to impress. Looking ahead into the waining days of Febraury and into March we have several wet weather days forecast. We've finally had a taste of winter, with snow falling as low as 400 ft on the coast and nighttime lows in the upper 20's. I've been seeing fresh fish come in on some of the shorter coastals in anticipation of a rise, so for anyone thinking the best of the season is past, think again. The later season offers some of the best fishing opportunities for swining up a fesh one. Light angling pressure and a mix of hefty adults and bluebacks (smaller chrome steelhead that run late) make for a proper finale to the winter steelhead season. Ben up high on a snowy morning the crew. Larry, Greg, Chester and the mastermind, Ben Greg with a fresh tie. (photo Colton Schwenning) Larry in the zone down low In the big trees on the coast. |
Okay The wind was relentless and gusty all day today! It made casting, mending, and boat handling quite a challenge - and it really seemed to put the bite off. There were a fair number of boats on the water, and I saw very few hooked-up. Jake and Nicole struggled, but worked like champs to get the best drift possible. Jake hooked into a few fish, but only managed to bring one to net. The extended forecast is calling for a chance of rain next week. Let's keep our fingers crossed! Jake with a chunky fish |
Good Today was a lot if fun! I did a combo spey - indicator trip today with George. We started the day nymphing, and the bite took some time to get going. After hooking a few on nymphs, we stopped and swung a run and immediately started hooking up! After swinging the run, we ran a few laps and hooked several more on nymphs. We stopped and swung a second run and the grab was on! The fish were not as grabby today compared to the past two days, but George ended up having a pretty good day by the end. We saw some adult caddis, but only a few random fish were feeding to the surface - so no dries today. With the low flows, this is great way to fish the lower Sac! |
Okay Guided Steve + Paul from Madera yesterday on the Trinity. Paul hooked an adult steelhead on the first cast! Fishing has been a bit on the slow side but there's certainly fish in the river. Mayfly imitations have been consistently working. Paul with his first Trinity steelhead! |
Good I had the pleasure of guiding my very good friends Pat and Kate the past two days. They hooked a lot of fish both days. Some were pretty big, but most were in the 14-16 inch range. Today we experienced an epic caddis hatch that had the fish feeding on the surface for about 30 minutes! The weather has been very nice and the flows are dropping down to the minimum release of 3,250 cfs. It's time to start thinking about booking your spring fishing trip! |
We have just scheduled our 2018 Guide School for May 5-12. Our school is a full seven days and is based in the Burney/Fall River area. We open up the school to a maximum of four students. Andrew Harris, Gino Bernero, Dax Messett and other experienced guides rotate through as instructors during the week. We start with a day of casting, then spend two days on freestone techniques, two days on spring creek techniques, and a day in drift boats on the Lower Sac. Our students get plenty of practice guiding in both a one-on-one or one-on-two settings and in a clinic environment with multiple students. Classroom sessions include teaching and learning styles, logistics, licensing, permits, economics and marketing. Email Andrew Harris for more information about this year's guide school. |
Good Dax forwarded this photo from today on the Olympic Peninsula. He says water conditions are great but until today there haven't been many fish around. It sounds like they made up for it today with multiple hook-ups on the swing! Scott with a great fish |
Okay
Steelhead fishing on the coast remains tough despite having a window of ideal conditions for finding a few fresh ones. Last week I got on the water with Steve and Jim from the bay area. We fished on the S Fork on a
day that started with heavy fog and absolutely perfect water for swinging up some steel. With only two feet of visibility and a heavy green stain I was just waiting for one of them to get grabbed, but it was not to be. We ended up empty handed at the end of the day but did see a few fish caught by the boat guys as we made our way down river.
Just yesterday I got to fish with Mike from San Diego. We had a great day on the big river, the main stem Eel. We still had great water color (the main stem takes longer to clear
than the S. Fork.) making every good swing seem like it could be the one. Mike and I got to work on casting and it was great to see him start
to get into a rhthym with his 7130. We found one halfpounder that grabbed during the hangdown and quickly gave us the fin! The grey ghost remained allusive, as always.
Another spell of dry and unseasonably warm weather has settled over the North Coast. Most rivers are still holding good color, but some are beginning to clear up. Some rain is forecast for tomorrow and another weak system looks like it might drop some rain late next weekend. Despite a lack luster start to February, we still have plenty of time left for some great fishing opportunites here on the coast.
Dream water on the Eel Mike getting into a rhythm Mike in the last run of the day Steve and Jim searching for chrome Steve sends one out there Tall trees |
Good Here is a guest report from Dave who fished Eagle Canyon on February 8th:
3 of us fished ECL today, 2 in our party were ECL 1st timers.
Not much wind plus bluebird weather made it more challenging than usual.
We landed 9 fish between us plus the usual amount of LDR's.
Best fish measured 29 ½ inches and was about 13 or 14 pounds.
ECL, one of a kind fishery!! |
Great Here is a guest report from Will who fished Eagle Canyon on Tuesday:"We had a great time once again fishing the Eagle Canyon Lakes. The
weather was awesome and the fishing was good. Everyone in our group of 6
hooked into multiple fish with some in the 10 plus range. Fish seemed
to be keyed into dark leech patterns stripped in during the morning. The
bite slowed down around noon but picked up again in the late afternoon. By then, the fish were looking for nymph patterns (size 14-16) fished under an indicator. We picked up fish using pheasant tail nymphs, red copper johns and prince nymphs. The fish went back to looking for leech patterns during the last hour of fishing before sunset. We will certainly try to return again next year.- Will D." |
Good Here is a fishing report from Ron who fished Eagle Canyon on Saturday: "Great weather! Very slow fishing but VERY BIG FISH. Here are two of the 10 that our party landed." |
Good Eagle Canyon fished well on Saturday- the grab was good in the AM but slowed up a bit in the afternoon. Red copper Johns, San Juan worms+ midges worked swimmingly. You Pyramid Lake guys should check this place out! Troy with a Monster! Judy got a nice rainbow all on her own! |
Good Brian Kohlman and I enjoyed a busman's holiday today. I was fortunate to land this nice wild fish on my 7wt spey rod. It crushed a black and red Silvey's Silvenator in a beautiful tailout. Time to get out and fish! Andrew Harris swung this one up today |
Good True steelhead fishing in good weather! I have been guiding the Trinity lately with mixed results. Good days where we are hooking several fish and slower days one or two. Just got to keep at it and take advantage of chances when you get them. The weather has been very nice lately and mild for this time of year. Hatches of BWOs and March Brown's are bringing some smaller fish to the surface that are eager to eat a dry fly and are fun on 5wt rod, Today my clients hooked six fish and landed four and was best of last couple days. I am seeing mostly wild fish this week and some brighter winter run fish. I would rate the over all experience on the river right now good! Good weather, less people on river and some nice fish to be had and a chance to fis dry flies!It's not too late for steelhead on the Trinity!Book a trip with one of our guides and have a fun day on the river!Good fishing,Peter |
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