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Okay Peter Santley, Scott Saiki, and I guided some very good
clients the past two days. The weather
was outstanding, but the fishing was tough! The flows were bumped 1,000 cfs in 24-hours,
which was significant given they were at 3,250. All three of us got our guests into fish, but they all worked very hard
for every hook-up. The river was
incredibly crowded on Saturday, but today we seemed to have it to
ourselves. Fishing should pick up this
week now that the flows are stable. Small
PMD nymphs still worked the best. Jim's first trout on a fly rod! Ted and his son Zach spending quality time together! |
Okay Had a good time guiding Paul + Ted from San Raffael on the lower Sac. It was pretty warm today, we would hook a few fish in a stretcjh and then go without any grabs for a bit. PMD nymphs+crackback’s+prince nymphs fooled a few fish today. Wet wading + throwing dries Paul with his first lower Sac ‘bow |
Great Tyler Lee and I guided a great group of guys the past two
days. The weather was ideal, and the
fishing was very good. The bite was a
little slow in the morning, but became more consistent until mid-late afternoon. My guests Dave and Wally connected with some really
nice fish both days. |
Great I spent the afternoon fishing the Lower Sac with local Chico-based guide Kayla Katayama. The fishing was red-hot for most of the afternoon. I landed 3 fish in 3 passes in the first run we fished. There was a thick hatch of PMDs most of the afternoon. Fish were rising in all of the usual dry-fly spots. The river is in great shape, hatches are great and the fish seem to be in very good condition. Andrew with a nice Lower Sac rainbow |
Good Brian Kohlman and I did a walk-wade trip today with four guests from the Peninsula Fly Fishers club. We use our jet boats on walk/wade trips on the Lower Sac so we can quickly get around to the best wading spots. We fished two techniques today: trout-spey and dry fly. Swinging flies with "trout-speys" - 2, 3 and 4wt spey rods - was pretty darn slow today. Fortunately the dry fly fishing was very good. We had a lot of great opportunities to cast to rising fish throughout the day. At times our odds were vanishingly slim due to the blanket hatch of PMD mayflies. Most of the time, though, the fish were pretty eager to eat a properly presented dry fly. We hooked fish up to 18" on dries and landed several in the 15-17" range. Hooked up on a dry fly Allen with a dry fly fish |
Good Andrew Harris and I guided a group of guests from the Peninsula Fly Fishers. The primary focus began as a trout spey trip and the grab was slow. We experienced an incredible PMD hatch and quickly changed gears. My guys had a hard time fishing dries because there were so many naturals on the water. My guest Chris swung up a beautiful 18” fish on a soft hackle. This is a great way to fish the Sac and learn, or perfect new techniques. Chris with a beautiful fish caught on a 4wt trout spey rod! |
Great I was part of a 4-boat trip today, which just made the “flotilla” even larger! The river is fishing very well now, so expect heavy crowds on the weekends. Our group was comprised of friends and relatives and it seemed everyone had a great time. Considering the heavy pressure, it appeared all the boats were hooking fish! Mike, and his father Dennis hooked a fair number of fish, but the quality and size was very impressive! I’m confident the fishing is going to continue to improve the rest of the month and throughout May. Mike with a beauty! Another really nice fish! Dennis with a very nice fish! |
Great Kevin Kay and I guided a wonderful group of ladies from
Southern California the past two days. This was their first trip to NorCal and I have a feeling they were
pleasantly surprised! The grab was
pretty consistent throughout the day on Thursday. The morning started slow today, but the bite
definitely picked in the afternoon. Every
time I looked, one of them was holding onto a bent rod! Nothing beats spring fishing on the Sac! |
Good I fished Ron and Kirt again today. The bite was a little slower than yesterday,
but still consistent. Kirt lost his mojo
and struggled to bring any to net today, but Ron did manage to land a couple
really nice and several in the 14-16 inch range. PMD nymphs were the hot ticket again. |
Great Today
I guided Ron from the Bay Area, and Kirt from Orlando. The day started with some light showers, but
then turned into a beautiful day. The
fish seemed pleased because the bite stayed very consistent all day. Today could have been epic had we landed all
the fish we hooked. Once again, all our
landed fish came on small PMD imitations. |
Good Here are a couple of shots of Greg with the Kern River Fly Fishers group. They fished the Lower Sac in the downpour on Friday and then fished Eagle Canyon on Saturday. The water was totally brown, the worst I've ever seen it, but the group still caught plenty of fish. It's amazing how trout can still feed in water that looks to us like it was no visibility. |
Okay I had the pleasure of guiding my good client Bob, and his friend Rick. The bite was pretty sluggish all day, but the grab did start to pick up the second half of the day. Everything today was on small mayfly nymphs. |
Good I was part of a 5-boat trip today as we guided the Kern River Fly Fishers. The forecast was calling for 2+ inches of rain today…and I’d say we got every bit of that! The constant rain did not deter any of the guys from wanting to fish and it seemed everyone was hooking up pretty consistently throughout the day. My guests Wayne and his son Robert were troopers! They are both very new to fly fishing and this was their first guided trip. They struggled in the beginning, but both got some solid hook-ups and landed a few nice fish.
Lake Shasta was at roughly 21 feet from crest before yesterday’s storm. With all the rain we received, I expect the lake to rise significantly, which could lead to a bump in the releases from Keswick Dam. Wayne was rewarded nicely for his efforts |
Good Wet weather didn’t hold Greg+ Rich from getting into double digits today. The Sac is fishing good right now! Greg w a nice buck Rich w his first fish of the day |
Good Pete + son Peter did really well today at Eagle Canyon. We had perfect conditions with overcast and little wind.The guys stripped in small nymphs most the day and hooked into several nice sized fish in the 8-12 lbs range. |
Okay Guided Tom + Wayne from the Bay Area today on the L.Sac. The weather was absolutely gorgeous.The grab was a little sluggish today but we picked them off. Puppas+princes’+black copper johns were the big hitters today. At lunch today saw some huge stone flies on the rocks. Don’t forget about those size 4 rubber legs. Tom with his first L.Sac rainbow |
Good I had a great time guiding George and Keith from the East Bay. This was their first time floating the lower Sac, so they struggled a bit with the subtle grabs. The grab was spotty in the morning, but it really pick up again in the afternoon. Most the fish landed were in the 12-14 inch range, but they both hooked into some big fish. I’m having my best luck on PMD nymphs, but the fish are eating rubberlegs pretty consistently below Bonnyview. Looks like we have 2-3 inches of rain headed our way. That’s great news since many of our reservoirs are still pretty low. George with his largest of the day Keith with another cookie-cutter |
Good Andrew
Harris, Randy Hamann, and I guided a group from the Golden Gate Angling and
Casting Club on a Trout Spey outing on the Sac. We were unable to launch our jet boats at Anderson or Balls Ferry due to
the low flows, so we decided Red Bluff was our best option. Martin and Ryan both hooked into a lot of
small hatchery steelhead. Martin hooked
into a really big fish right after lunch, but it managed to give us the middle
fin. A few minutes later, Ryan hooked
into a really nice fish but we had to settle for a LDR. The fishing was really consistent until about
3:00, then the grabs were harder to find. |
Great Brian Kohlman and I fished with some great folks from Sacramento and the Bay Area today. The ladies were the hot hands today and did most of the fish landing. Fishing was pretty good throughout the day today and we saw some nice healthy fish up to 19" in the net. Spring fishing is in full swing now and the fish are pretty grabby. We had good hatches of caddis, PMDs, and march browns today. We had a great grab on a dry fly mid-day and the rest of our action was on nymphs. Janie with the big fish of the day Brian Kohlman and his crew Tim had a blast Janie with one of many fish today |
Great I had a wonderful time guiding Ted and Eloise on a perfect spring day. Andrew Harris was guiding Ted’s childhood friend Tim and his wife Janie. Our day started off well, hooking into some really nice fish. Some we landed, some we didn’t – but that’s how it goes. Fishing remained pretty consistent all day with most of our fish eating small PMD nymphs and an occasional rubberlegs. The upper river above the Hwy-44 bridge will close April 1st and reopen August 1st. Eloise with a beautiful fish! Her fish fish of the day! Ted with a beauty! |
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