Current Fishing Report

Guest report from Tony Carbonell from Red Bluff: "Eagle Canyon Trophy Trout Lakes is not just a fly fishing outing, it is an experience. The fish here are truly one of a kind. Not only are they colossal in size but their girth seems to be centered in their shoulders  which truly give them an advantage over the novice angler. Bull runs  and chasing fish down is not uncommon.  If you want to challenge your  fly fishing skills try hooking into one of the double digit size trout  that reside in the two lakes. Pulled hooks, snapped tippet, broken hooks  and even the occasional boot failure can result in lost fish. The  fishing was truly incredible. Bring an assortment of gear. We used a  number of different flies with a multitude of presentation techniques.  We hooked most of our fish stripping steamers but also used small nymphs  under an indicator and spey rod techniques. It is challenging, fun and a  must do if you have ever held a fly rod."

Newbie Malcolm with his first Eagle Canyon trout.

Bill holding a nice fish.

Guide Mat helped Tony land a beauty.

Liz used a slow retrieve to fool this large trout.

Tony with a hefty one.

Rookie Malcolm on the upper lake.

Tony used a quick retrieve and brown Woolley Bugger to fool this broad shouldered trout

Buddies Ron, Ted, Jim & Harvey returned to Eagle Canyon for a two-day trip this week.  These guys have been coming to Eagle Canyon since the nineties!  As usual, they all connected with some really big fish on this trip.

Jim with a girthy bow

Harvey with a big rainbow

I had the pleasure of spending two days with Don and Cindy on the Lower Sac as a celebration of their wedding anniversary... and the fishing was great! Other than a couple of hours of rain and a cold front, the fishing was steady throughout the two days and we put a good amount of large trout in the net. The SUPERIOR flies were BWOs... and a couple fish ate some caddis. But the mayflies were on the trouts diet and we took advantage of their willingness to eat. The water clarity is great, the flows are down to their winter drop, and the fish are chowing. Now is a great time to get out! On a related note... husbands who put their wives in the front of the boat clearly love their wives, haha! We had a really great time and even managed to land all of the doubles we hooked, which was really cool!

Guest Report from Dave who has been to Eagle Canyon more than 30 times since 1993. He and his buddy George fished the lakes on opening weekend in 2010 and have returned many times since. "Lakes were in great shape, both produced well. Most fish came on stripped flys. This year is one of the best for girthy double digit fish. Eagle Canyon is a 'One of a kind Fishery!!'"

George with a fish on the line

Dave with a big one

We had a great group up from the Chico area to fish the opening day of  Eagle Canyon.  Skill levels ranged from beginner to experienced and all  the anglers in the group had a great day.  We caught fish on dry/dropper  rigs, floating lines with wooly bugger type patterns and stripping  leech patterns on intermediate sink lines. Many fish in the 8-14 pound  range were caught and gently released.  Many hooks were bent straight.   Many smiles and high fives were exchanged. If you haven't made it up to  Eagle Canyon yet, come check it out!  This group estimated they caught at least 70 fish!  This group is already eager to place the winning bid on next year's Opening Day trip.

We spent a half day on the Sac and though it was SUPER WINDY, both Kai and his daughter Iris got into some beautiful wild rainbows! The bite wasn't on any particular bugs and the fish are a variety of mayflies and attractor patterns. Iris did great and caught fish immediately even though she had never fly fished before, including the fish of the day... a 23 inch stud of a fish!

Two boat trip with Kevin Kay and while the morning was a little slow, we had an absolute killer afternoon. Despite the weather being a little chilly, the caddis still popped off in the afternoon and we got into a lot of fish. Hard to improve on the birds nest fly... but pretty much every caddis worked. Gene and Nick both got their first Lower Sac fish, which was great! Now is a great time to get out! Let's go!

Steve and Mono came up to fish the Trinity with me and while the water is low and clear, we had a banner day! Steve put multiple adults in the net, including this 29 inch hatchery hen! The fight was incredible! Steelheading on this amazing river will only improve, so now is the time! Book a trip today and if you wanna see some cool video, check out the footage from this day on our YouTube channel!

Delta report from Captain Bryce Tedford: Pretty epic day with Ricardo & Brian, they got after em! 

David and his son Christopher spent a couple days with me on the Sac and we got into some really nice fish! While the salmon return was terrible and the egg bite pretty light, the fish have been chowing on mayflies and midges in the morning and caddis in the afternoon. Well worth it! And lots of 20+ inch fish!

Well October has come and gone and I've finally had a chance to share a fishing report with y'all. As you have likely heard, the salmon return on the Lower Sac was absolutely the worst I have ever seen. All of the OG guides I know say it's the worst EVER, so that's discouraging. However, and this is important, THE FISHING HAS BEEN ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. While the egg bite was less consistent, the caddis and mayflies have been around and the fish have been CHOWING, CHOWING, CHOWING. As in, the fishing has been great. The real difference is that while the mornings are usually the best time during October, the afternoons have been really great this past October. With the cooler weather, the BWO's are starting to be a more consistent bug option and now I'm using more mayfly imitations than caddis, but every day is different. I'd like to thank everyone who came out and fished with me. I really appreciate it and enjoyed our days so much! The fishing is still great, so it's not too late! Plus... the Trinity is popping! Let's go! Hit me up if you wanna get out! I've got TWO days left for November but lots of days in December. Now's the time! 

Captain Bryce Tedford says "Pretty awesome day today with Ken & his fishing buddy Van!"  Looks like the delta is fishing well at the moment!

Steelhead fishing on the Upper Rogue is on fire.  Water levels are just under the historic average for this time of year and after a small shot of rain fish were on the move.  We are seeing good size fish mixed in with average size steelhead.  No need to start really early, we are putting on the water around 8:00 am.  While nymphing out of the drift boat we are recycling runs a lot in order to hook up.  Anchoring up and working a run is also working really well.  On the spey rod we are also finding success with traditional flies swung throughout the water column.  Weather has been all over the place. We've had temps into the 80's in the afternoon after chilly mornings.  Rain has been welcome last week and this week.  Temps are going to climb back into the high 70's before dropping back down next week.  The steelhead are starting to color up with a few bright fish mixed in.  When they take the fly, hold on.  They are still fighters and hooking them in faster water is exciting for everyone.  While fishing is good remember these are still steelhead and hard work is the only way.  Come prepared to see four seasons of weather in an afternoon.    

Delta report from Captain Bryce Tedford: We had a solid trip today with guest Riley, caught some solid fish & had some fun!

Michael and Troy are fishing buddies from Oregon who came down for a crash-course in Northern California fishing.  They hit the MCCloud, Upper Sac, and Fall River before joining me for a day on the Lower Sac.  They fish together all over the world and we're not disappointed with our amazing tailwater fishery.  The day started out with a bang and we had pretty steady action until we got to the takeout.  They were both impressed with the size, strength, and beauty of our native rainbows.  We even got to throw dry flies at some rising fish! Fall is finally here as we had cool temps and cloud cover most of the day.  No salmon yet, fingers crossed......

Jason and Anne made a quick trip up from the Bay Area to fish the Lower Sac.  They wanted to do a half day so we decided to fish from around 3 until dark.  We had pretty steady action throughout the drift thanks to some big caddis hatches.  We've been catching more smallish fish lately, maybe the big boys are waiting for the salmon to show up so they can gorge themselves on eggs.  Keep an eye on our reports so you'll know when the salmon (hopefully!) arrive.  

Project Healing Waters is a nationwide organization with many local chapters that focuses on exposing our veterans to the world of fly fishing.  We had the San Francisco chapter out on the Lower Sac for two days of fun.  We had seven boats and 14 anglers fishing the river on three different drifts, all the way from the Posse Grounds to Jellys Ferry.  Everyone caught some beautiful native Lower Sac rainbows while constantly needling each other and the guides. We have the capability to run large group trips, great for families, businesses, schools, whatever!  We'll make it happen.  And check out Project Healing Waters, they're a great bunch and worthy of a donation if you are so inclined.

This past evening on the lower sac was nothing short of amazing! Lots of large caddis hatching in the late afternoon resulted in great shallow water fishing at the top of riffles and into the skinniest of water in the tailouts. Size 14 nymphs produced some electric grabs and very quality fish. With the great caddis hatch we also observed quite a few mayflies coming off. If your looking for some great evening fishing or even looking to test your dry fly skills a late afternoon is the float for you! 

Jesse Flink with a stunning fish.

Ken and I rowed out of the posse grounds boat ramp at first light on a hazy morning in search of some big end of summer trout this morning. With a few fires north of us the river was Smokey but it didn't affect the fish from eating small mayflies and various Caddis patterns! With this being Kens third trip on the lower sac after fishing many other nor cal and Oregon rivers he was greatly surprised by the quality of these wild fish. I'm free for many lower sac and trinity steelhead trips the following months let's fish!

Get your 8wt and your gotchas ready!  Confluence Outfitters guide Randy Hamann is leading a hosted trip to Andros South this coming April 7-14 2024.  This will be Randy's third time to Andros South.  He loves this destination because the guides are very good at getting you shots at quality bonefish.  During our week in 2023, guests landed bonefish up to ten pounds.  We also had fun chasing (and landing) barracudas and sharks.  As of this writing we have five open spots.  Get in touch with Andrew Harris or Randy Hamann if you have any questions about this trip!  

Big bonefish live here!

Sharks eat flies too

A typical Andros bonefish

The sunsets are amazing

Andros South has the best boats

Barracudas are a blast on the fly!