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Good I took buddies Ron and John out on the Upper Sac today. We did a noon-to-dark trip so we could fish the evening hatch. It was a good call! Nymphing was pretty good during the day and we had quite a bit of surface action during the evening hatch. The hatch was a mix of caddis, little yellow sallies, and mayflies. We didn't see golden stones, but got quite a few grabs on big dries nonetheless. The big fish of the day was a brown trout about 18" that ate a big dry fly at dusk. Wet-wading was very comfortable during the heat of the day but we switched to waders for the evening hatch. We lucked out today and had two great sections of the river all to ourselves.  John fishing the pocket water  Ron landing a fish |
Great Spent several days this week on the Upper Sac fishing various techniques. Stone flies are hatching everywhere. It's not too hard to figure out what's on the menu for these fish- keep it simple! Nymphing/high-sticking is by far the most productive method to getting hookups. Swinging/stripping a sinktip line through the deep pools has been working too. The evening "magic hour" can come+go pretty quick so have a dry fly rod ready to fish- rigged and ginked!  Upper Sac rainbows fight hard!  Andreas w fish on |
Okay I had the pleasure of guiding my good clients Tom and Judy
on a walk-wade trip. The fishing was
very tough on Hat Creek, but Tom landed one nice rainbow about 12 inches. After lunch, we went to Burney Creek and it
was extremely crowded due to the holiday weekend. Both had lots of action while fishing a
dry-dropper rig! Judy had many grabs,
but could not react quick enough to close the deal. Tom landed a handful of nice sized fish and ended
up having a decent afternoon.  Powerhouse Riffle  Lower Burney Creek |
Okay Guided Brandon & Donna on the lower + upper Sac. This was their first introduction to fly fishing and they did great! We've all been rookies at one point or another but Brandon + Donna did really well learning everything from how to cast to how to read water. Good times with good people!  Brandon with his first fish on the fly  Donna with her first ever trout!  Upper Sac |
Good Recently spent a day with some amazing people from my childhood. I took Keith and Eric down the Lower Sac and the day was all I hoped it would be. The fishing was also really good. Lots of amazing stories about family and friends from multiple generations kept the day speeding by and the fish were the cherry on the sundae. There was a great dry fly hatch from around 9-11 am and then the nymph grab stayed consistant all day. We never saw another boat all day on the lower section we floated. Such a great day.  Eric with a smile and a fish that match!  Catching up with great friends while enjoying a great view.  Keith having a ball.  A dear friend and a great day! |
Okay Infamous Scott Coulter... This guy is one of best Spey casters on the planet. The man is surgical with a two hander in his hands- but today’s trip was mostly indicator fishing which brought out a little of the beast in Scotty;) We had a beautiful day on the river and dodged most the drift boat traffic. |
Okay Guided father/son Brad + Ben, both new to fly fishing. Ben (age 9) did a great job learning the ropes. After lunch he was ripping casts as far out as dad!  Brad w his first LSac rainbow  Ben with a little help from dad! |
This past weekend I got to hangout with Roff and Bob, two old time fishing friends who came north for some instruction based guiding. We spent three days on the main stem Eel River going over spey casting fundementals with a wide array of rods and reels. Roff wanted to hone his skills in preperation for an Atlantic Salmon trip so we had our work cut out for us. We covered everything from sustained anchor casting with skagit heads to touch and go with scandi lines. Finally, on the second day we lined Roffs big gun, an 8140, with a traditional spey line. After about an hour of Roff throwing a 44ft head I handed him back a rod lined with a skagit head and watched in amusement as he could now effortlessly cast it across the river. It was exciting watching both Roff and Bob progress from making a simple switch cast to holding two big coils of running line and bombing casts out over picture perfect swing runs! It wasn't all practice either. Bob had the hot rod on the second day when he picked off two Pikeminnow (Squawfish) on the swing. Between sessions I was privy to some epic fish stories that both Roff and Bob have in spades. All in all it was a great time spent with some great folks.  Bob hooked up on a squawfish  Break time.  Roff and Bob on the Main stem Eel.  mini spey clave on the North Coast. |
Red Hot One of the best events in steelhead fishing is happening this weekend at the annual Sandy River Spey Clave in Oxbow Park. It is the legendary annual gathering of two handed casting enthusiasts that provides a format for the exchange of Spey casting and fishing information. The event features:-25 free educational on the water flycasting/flyfishing demonstrations by the best two handed guides and instructors on the planet.-Spey classes on Friday for $10!-Free food each day!-hundreds of rod/reel/line combos from top manufacturers to try for free!Stop by the Sage/Rio/Redington tent and say hi to Leslie and Dax |
Great Mike Wright and Peter Santley helped me with two really fun
father-son groups. Mike and I worked
together on Saturday, and Peter and I today. Ian and Davis are 14 years old and pretty new to fly fishing. I have guided these guys in the past and the
boys had a tough time the first couple years, but this was definitely their
year! The fish were super grabby on
Saturday and Chris and Ian hooked into a lot of fish throughout the day. The bite was slower today, but Todd and Davis
were both getting lots of grabs. Davis
had a breakthrough moment and mastered the art of playing and landing
fish! It was a great two days and the
weather was perfect!  Davis with his first fish of the day  Davis gettin' it done |
Good I
had the honor of assisting with this Project Healing Waters group trip. My guests, John and Bill, had only been
involved with PHW for six months and had never fly fished before. John and Bill were very lucky when it came to
hooking fish, but the real challenge came in playing and landing the fish. Both managed to land their very first rainbow
on a fly! This is such a great group and
I believe all the participants had a great day on the Sac.  Bill with his first rainbow on a fly!  John with his first rainbow on a fly! |
Okay Guided Henry and Tommy from Project Healing Waters. We had the entire lower Sac to ourselves which is rare. I worked most the day with Tommy who had never fished before. By the end the float he could cast and mend with the best of ‘em. (See pic above with his first fish ever.) Yea buddy!  Good job Tommy! |
Good I had the honor of guiding two long time Confluence Outfitter’s guests, Frank and Doug, in the 2nd annual Gabe Duran Memorial Fly Fishing Tournament. Cast Hope and the Duran family hosted this 2-day event, which consisted of 25 teams of anglers. The event was a friendly competition…but it was all about big fish! Fishing was tough given the number of contestants, but the real challenge was keeping the fly in the fish’s mouth! It was a fun two days and Cast Hope is an amazing organization that helps introduce kids to fly fishing and the outdoors. |
Great I had the pleasure of guiding my guests Chuck and Kevin the
past two days. This was there first time
fishing the Lower Sac and they were quite impressed. The weather ideal and the fishing was very
consistent and just a lot of fun! The
flows are slowly climbing and are scheduled to be at 8,500 cfs by May 8th. May is a great time to fish the Sac – the temps are still reasonable and the fishing is still really good.  Chuck with a nice one  These guys can put up a good fight!  A face only a mother could love...maybe not  All day long  Kevin wih a beauty |
Great My guests Doug and Greg had planned on a walk-wade trip for the opener, but decided last night they would prefer to float the Sac instead. We had a few light showers and some nasty wind for a short time, but it ended up being a pleasant day. The last time I took took the guys out Greg had the hot rod, but today it was Doug’s turn! We had a great time and had lots of laughs.  Doug with a nice one  Sometimes you have to look up! |
Great Today was a great day with Jesse and his son Julian! The fishing was consistent all day and the weather held out until we got off the water. We had a few double hook-ups and Julian decided to go for the Lower Sac trifecta today – he landed several trout, a couple of squawfish (pike minnow), and even a sucker. It really doesn’t matter what eats your flies, it’s all about the fight!  Spending time together on the river!  Julian puttin' the screws to another nice fish!  What! |
Okay I had the pleasure of guiding Marko and Rick on a trout spey
trip today. The flows have been
consistently rising so the bite was slow. We fished in the Redding area hoping to swing-up some larger fish. They both got grabbed, but came away empty
handed. |
Great Great day on the lower Sac with Kevin + Randal. The guys killed it today- every fish landed was big!  Kevin with a nice buck  Randal with his first Sac river rainbow! |
Good Peter Santley and I guided some great guests today. We had another beautiful spring day, but it
looks like we may get a little more rain this weekend. The flows are continuing to go up and are
expected to be at 6,000 cfs by the 26th. Even with the continued flow increases, the fishing was good today. I’m looking forward to focusing my efforts on lower floats, which are less crowded, so my guests don’t have to deal with all the shenanigans we are experiencing on the upper river. Small PMD nymphs still seem to be the flies of choice! |
Great I fished the Lower Sac today with Brian Kohlman and local guide Kevin Kay from Redding. We fished a float that is considerably less popular than the Redding beats and the fishing was really good. We landed a lot of fish from 12-15" and lost one really big fish. Fun times and no crowds!  fishing in solitude |
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