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It is hopper time on Battle Creek. I fished about a half mile of our private stretch of North Battle Creek today and rose countless wild rainbows to grasshopper patterns. In pools with good visibility I could watch fish move four or five feet sometimes to eat the hopper. No need for a dropper right now - the fish really want to eat that dry. I tried a few different types and the fish definitely liked the brownish hoppers the best. The creek is in great shape right now. Flows have finally dropped to fishable and wadable levels. The water temp was 58 degrees - amazing on a hot summer day. I saw about ten spring Chinook today, which is more than I've seen in a single day before.  They like the Dave's Hopper  Chernobyl Ant-type hoppers are working great! |
We started slow today on Fall River but more than made up for it mid-day. I guided long-time client Lloyd and his son-in-law Gio. Around 10:30 the nymph grab started and it was great! We found a pod of big fish and hooked quite a few. Lloyd landed several 16-18 rainbows and lost just as many more. Gio hooked his share of big fish and landed his first Fall River rainbow ever. In the afternoon we tried a different spot and Lloyd landed a huge rainbow about 3 pounds. There are tons of big fish around on Fall River right now and they're very grabby. Come up and see what it's all about!  Lloyd with a real big fish  Lloyd & Gio |
I spent the day with Harry and Dave from Sebastopol. They wanted to learn some new water on the Upper Sac, so we fished four different spots between Conant and Ney Springs. Today was not a big fish day. We did well with a prince nymph and micro mayfly nymph in the morning, then the rubberlegs worked well in the afternoon. The highlight was catching some small wild rainbows on dries in the later afternoon. Water temps are great right now, about 53 in the morning.  Dave on the Upper Sac |
I got out on the river last night with Katie and her brother Clint. We floated from Anderson to Balls Ferry. We spent most of our time swinging nymphs with our spey rods. Clint got his first spey casting lesson and was doing an off-shoulder double-spey in no time. He set the hook so hard on his first fish that it flew out of the water about ten feet! Katie hooked the best fish of the day on a 6wt spey rod. I got to throw a few casts, too. In about an hour of fishing we got at least a dozen grabs. It was a beautiful evening and we didn't see another boat or fisherman the entire float.  Clint Mackey swings it up  Katie Harris with brother Clint in the background  Andrew swinging a nice riffle |
We are pleased to offer a new private water destination! Sand Creek Ranch on the Upper Williamson River in Oregon has some of the best spring creek fishing in the West. This ranch has historically been off-limits to the public. Just recently opened to paying guests, we think Sand Creek Ranch will be a popular destination for dry fly enthusiasts. We are offering a 3 night stay for just $600 per person, minimum two guests. Rates include accommodations and exclusive fishing priveleges. When you book this ranch you will be the only party on 3.5 miles of prime spring creek water. The guest house is right on the river in the middle of the ranch. This is a great place to relax with friends or family in total privacy while you enjoy excellent spring creek fly fishing. Check out our Sand Creek Ranch web page for more details (http://www.confluenceoutfitters.com/fd_sandcreekranch.aspx). |
I've spent the last three afternoons playing around on the Lower Sac with friends and family. I confirmed that you can indeed catch fish on the Lower Sac without using a bobber. On Monday night I did really well side-drifting nymphs from the boat. That was a lot of fun because you feel the grab and you're tight to the fish right away. On Tuesday we did a lot of wading. Scott Saiki caught some nice fish high-sticking while wading and from the anchored boat. The highlight was last night when I caught four nice trout on my 5wt spey rod. There are a lot of caddis around right now so Fox poopahs and natural bird's nests are working well. There is a good baetis hatch in the last hour, too.  Andrew with his 5wt spey rod  No bobber needed to catch this fish  Scotty high-sticking from the boat |
Confluence Outfitters is excited to offer two women's fly fishing weekends this fall! If you are new to fly fishing or if you are looking to brush up on your basic skills, come and join us for a fun filled weekend of fly fishing during the most beautiful time of the year. We will be covering all the basics from gear and tackle, to learning how to cast, to on stream techniques that will empower you to fish successfuly in all types of situations. Our female instructors (Vanessa Downs and Brooke Matteson) have years of experience teaching and guiding and are committed to helping you have a great time and become independent on the water. There will be some fun classroom type sessions and lots of time on the water. Dates: Sept 16-18 and Oct 21-23. Women's weekends cost $650/person. The program goes from 3pm Friday to 3pm Sunday. We provide dinner on Friday night and all lunches. Guests stay in our lovely Hat Creek Retreat on the shore of Cassel Forebay. Each program is limited to six guests.
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We're offering a new special that should appeal to folks who are interested in spey casting but have been hesitating to try it out. There are great numbers of summer steelhead in the Upper Rogue right now. This is the perfect venue to learn how to spey cast and catch your first fish on a spey rod. The special starts with a day of drift boat fishing on the Lower Sac. The idea is to get you a little closer to the Rogue and get all of the bobber fishing out of your system. Once you've caught bunches of big wild trout on the Lower Sac, you drive another 2.5 hours up to Medford. The next day you commit to swinging flies on a spey rod while fishing the Upper Rogue. If you've been looking for an excuse to try out your spey rod, this is it. Once you try summer steelheading on the Rogue once we're sure you'll come back again. $395 per day, good through November. |
We have just released our 2011/12 schedule for Eagle Canyon Trophy Trout Lakes. Opening day is Saturday, November 19th, 2011. Opening Day of 2010 was incredible. One group of three estimated they landed 500 pounds of fish in one day! To give everyone a chance at fishing with us on Opening Day 2011, we are putting it up for auction on Ebay starting October 1st. The winning bidder will have the lakes to themselves on Opening Day and can bring a group as large as 5 anglers total. Opening bid will be $1000, which is our normal $200/person rate for 5 anglers. Opening Day 2010 was off the charts, but the rest of Opening Week was pretty amazing as well. To get even more anglers in on the excellent opening week fishing, we are running a modified schedule our first week of the season. The lakes will be open Saturday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday, with rest days on Sunday the 20th, Tuesday the 22nd, Thanksgiving day, and the day after Thanksgiving. Scheduling alternating rest days will ensure a near-Opening Day experience for everyone fishing that week. Starting Tuesday, November 29th we will revert to our normal schedule of no more than two days of fishing in a row. Rest days will be scheduled around our bookings. Our season will close April 15th, 2012. |
From now until October 31st, you can reserve any open day at our off-season special rate of $175/person. Reserve as many spots as you like at this rate. You can specify your fishing dates later if necessary. |
The A Team at Confluence Outfitters is very serious about chasing steelhead. It is a huge part of our angling journey, passion, and occupation. We pursue them on days off, and days on, year round, because it is our passion. We fish for them on dozens of different rivers from Nor Cal to BC. The Trinity is a magnificent steelhead river, but it is only one of the many steelhead rivers that we guide our clients on. There are already very fishable numbers of steelhead on the Rogue, which is an easy trip up I-5 from Nor Cal. There are also fish on the Trinity. If you are serious and passionate about becoming an actual steelhead fly fisherman, book a trip with us on one of the many superb steelhead rivers in Nor Cal, Oregon, and Washington. Next season I am hosting a trip with Flywater Travel to a superb lodge for a week in steelhead mecca, British Columbia. I will be there for 3 weeks, hosting a very select group of 5 anglers targeting wild steelhead with primarily dry flies. More info on this and other hosted trips will be on our website very soon.
 Spey Casting legend, George Cook on the Rogue  Gino enjoying the journey  A moment, last week |
I took Luke and Jake down to Pit 3 today. They've been fishing the Pit with spinning gear for years and were eager to learn how to fly fish the Pit. We did some adventurous wading, covering a few hundred yards of prime pocket water in just a couple of hours. They both had a lot of action on nymphs under indicators. Most of our fish were in the medium size range, but in our last spot Luke landed three 12-14 rainbows. We finished off the day with the rest of the family at Burney Creek.  Pit rainbow  Brown trout from secret spot |
Gino and I took our clients to the Upper Mac and Upper Sac today. It was a double Upper day. Both rivers are still higher than normal for this time of year, but they're fishing just fine. We did well fishing hopper-dropper style on the Mac. Nymphing with indicators was the best bet on the Sac. We fished the Dunsmuir area. Not a lot of big fish around, but we landed numerous wild trout.  Molly fishing a productive pool  Dax at Mossbrae Falls  Above Mossbrae Falls |
For true steelhead anglers, things are looking superb for this summer season into fall in Southern Oregon. More info to come... |
Fished the Upper Rogue today with Dax and our Sage Rep George Cook. George was high rod as he hooked 3, one of which he landed. His fish came on a light sink-tip, the new 12' 5wt VXP Sage Spey, and my new Deuce Wigalow fly in black. I hooked one on a skater. We have great water conditions (despite being a little high), tee shirt weather, and chrome summer steelhead around. What more could you ask for? |
Today was day 2 with Ivan and Greg. We floated the Lower Sac from the Posse Grounds to Bonnyview. The bite was pretty slow at first, but got progressively better from 11am to 2:30pm when we got off the water. The fish seemed really packed into the fast, shallow riffles and the heads of the riffles. We did well anywhere where we could cast our nymphs into the very top of a riffle. We hooked four fish in our last spot - guess where that would have been. Our best flies were a natural birds nest size 14 and a size 18 red copper john. Ivan and Greg both landed nice big wild rainbows today.  Ivan with his big fish  Greg with a nice one |
Steelhead season officially started yesterday as the lockout has ended after three months of intense negotiating. Went out early yesterday morning for a half day float with my good friend Chuck D Gehr. We expected to fish some nice water. We were sure to be amongst the gear slingin salmon fisherman. As steelheaders, we always fish with confidence and hope. What we didn't expect though, was that we'd go 4 for 4 on early Rogue summer steelhead.Charles hooked the first one, a large, bright wild half pounder about 18. His came on a full floating line and small traditional fly. I followed up with a sink-tip and a black Deuce Wigalow. It was another wild fish about 22. Charles hooked another on a floating line and Tiger Paw. It was all he could do to land this beauty on his 5wt spey. This was bigger yet as it went 26. Each fish was bigger than the last. We liked this trend. We could have ended the day right then and there. But, why not hook another?I followed up again with the sink-tip and larger fly and hooked and landed a 28 fish that totally destroyed me. Needless to say, we were mega stoked! The Rogue is sort of a mystery river this year. Like many rivers, we have high water. We had a dam, Gold Ray, come out last fall. Gold Ray used to have a fish counting station. Typically, we would know exactly how many fish have come over the dam. Usually by the end of July we'd have about 2,000 steelhead in the upper Rogue. Now, without the dam, we only know if we go. Reports from the middle Rogue suggest that there are LOTS of fish moving up. Our results from yesterday certainly support that theory. High water and no dams should give our fish lots of freedom and ease to blast up river. I am predicting a great season with some good fishing early. Bust out those steelhead rods and come fishing. Gino, Dax and I are available and ready to put you on fish.
 Steelhead breakfast item: Deuce Wigalow  Chuck stuck a beauty  Had to cowboy up to land this one |
I guided father/son team Ivan and Greg today on the Upper Sac. We started above Dunsmuir where the water was nice and cool. In fact, the water was only 50 degrees when I checked it at 11am! The fishing was a little slow at first, but then we started hooking small and medium-sized wild trout in most of the pockets we fished. We did well with a brown jimmy legs and a twenty-incher size 12. The twenty-incher didn't quite live up to its name, unless you count the inches of fish cumulatively. Both Greg and Ivan got back into the groove of pocket-water fishing after a break of almost 6 years from fishing. By the end of the day they were short-line nymphing pros.  Ivan with a fish on |
I took Jake and Dennis from St. Helena out on the Lower Sac today. It was Dennis's first day of fly fishing ever and he picked it up really quickly. The river was a ghost town today - hardly any other boats out. The morning grab was a little slow, but from about 11 to 2 the bite was excellent. We had a weird lull around 3pm, but the grab was excellent in the last two hours of the float. Fish are eating Fox Poopahs and all sorts of random mayfly nymph patterns. Flows are at 12,000 cfs now.  Jake with one of many fish  Dennis is a natural |
I spent an hour yesterday fishing our private stretch of Battle Creek. Amazingly, it is still too high with runoff to fish in most areas. Fishing was outstanding in the few spots I was able to reach, though. I had fat rainbows up to 12 inches taking grasshopper dries and nymphs. The creek should be in prime condition in about another three weeks or so. |
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