Current Fishing Report

Since all steelhead rivers are currently blown out, lets have a look at some fun hosted travel options for 2020 and beyond.  Contact me with any questions.  Cuba 4/23-5/2  El Faro Lodge, primarily a tarpon trip to a remote epic new lodge with no angling competition whatsoever.  Includes 3 nights in Old Havana.  Trip is full, inquire for 2021.Bolivia 7/10-7/19 Pluma Lodge, sight fishing for Golden Dorado at one of the top lodge operations in the world.  Maybe 1 spot left at a discounted price.  Most epic flyfishing trip available in the world for adventurous anglersDean River 8/7-8/14  Kimsquit Bay Lodge, arguably the most famous steelhead river in the world.  Maybe one spot left for 2020, 2021 is already full.  The Dean is on every steelhead angler's bucket list.  Its extremely difficult to get a spot here to have a shot at the hottest steelhead on the planet.Skeena River 8/30-9/13 Skeena Spey, arguably the other most famous steelhead river in the world.  Trip is (always) full, but inquire for 2021. After 10 years of exploring the system and lodge offerings, I can say with full confidence that Skeena Spey is the top lodge on the Skeena River System.  Louisiana Marsh 12/1-12/5 French Quarter of New Orleans, prime time for sight casting to mega Redfish. Trip is full, might add a 2nd week.

Skeena River specimens can be tough to get, but always memorable

Hosted travel is an awesome way to experience destination travel and meet new buddies

Redfish are one of the higher regarded fish for salt water anglers looking to stay close to home

Bull Redfish pull extremely hard

Birds eye view on the Skeena

Tailout fish in British Columbia...epic eat

Just another day at the office for Doug

British Columbia dry fly player

Chris with a truly mega Golden Dorado from a remote Bolivian tributary

Moments in British Columbia

We will focus on Tarpon in Cuba, with maybe some permit fishing as well

The water in the Amazon reminds me of the crystal clear rivers I use to guide in New Zealand

Kevin Kay and I spent the past three days with a really fun group of guys on the Trinity and the lower Sac. We spent the first day on the Trinity where my guest Jay landed a very nice native steelhead. Both Skip and Jay landed a handful of half-pounders as well, but as a group they decided to fish the Sac, hoping it would be warmer. On Friday, Kevin’s guests Jack and John hooked into some really nice fish while my guests Skip and Jay had to work a little harder for their fish. Today I was with Jack and John and we had a really good day with Jack landing a nice hatchery steelhead towards the end of the day. It was a great time with a great group of friends!

John, Jay, Skip, and Jack

Jay with a very nice Trinity steelhead

Jack with a Lower Sac steelhead

John with his first for the day

Jay with a Sac steelhead

Jack with a nice one

John with another nice fish

Beautiful!

Some weather is on its way in the form of rain and snow. A period of winter weather is due on the Trinity this coming week. Rain and snow is a part of winter steelhead fishing on the Trinity. Generally more snow up high and less around the river. Some good fishing can be had on stormy days. Come prepared with Jackets , layers and gloves. We need the moisture and the fish like it. Dont plan your trip around the forecast. Go steelhead fishing weather or not!See you on the river.Peter

The coastal steelhead season in Northern California is off to a catagorically slow start. We've had bouts of rain to bring in the first flush of chrome fish from the salt but nothing constituting a major storm so far. I've been out on several occasions since the holidays guiding and fishing for myself and have heard mixed reports from fellow guides and anglers alike. All said and done it seems like fishing has been slow up and down the coast. That being said there are fish being caught, it's just not a bonanza. A few days before the new year I got out on the water with Ken Frank from the Bay and we fished on the MS Eel. Day one saw a steady rain and light pressure from the bank with few other boats on our float. A nice grab on the hang down came easy in the first run we fished that morning, but with the exception of a small half pounder that got off in the afternoon that would be all the excitement for us. Looking ahead into next week it looks like someone is finally going to turn the faucet on high. Our cycle of glancing blows from storms making landfall to the north will come to an end. Some major wet weather is on tap as of this writing with chances of rain blocking out the 10 day forecast. It looks like a possible pineapple express in the works. Hopefully this will be the bugle call for our anadromous friends still milling around in the ocean waiting to get a wiff of their natal stream. As always with heavy rainfall, look to the Smith River to be a player early on. The Eel, which has been fishable since Christmas and in need of a good old fashioned gully washer will most likely be out of the picture by mid week. Stay tuned....

The anticipation is everything

Blue bird day with Ken Frank in a good run on the Eel

Old and golden on the coast

Its definitely winter steelhead fishing on the Trinity river now. Fog, rain, snow and short days. Winter steelhead are constantly moving and a trick to locate. We find them good one day and can't find them the next day. This is true steelhead fishing. Nymphing has been better lately as water temps have dropped. You can still swing one up if you commit to it. A good shot of rain could fire things up and also warm water a bit. The last 30 days have been some of the best of the season including some larger fish.Winter run is mostly wild fish and they seem to keep moving headed to the tributaries to spawn. Generally January and February fish well especially after some rain. The forecast next week looks a bit cold with some snow showers. True steelhead weather prevails. We have guides to get you on the river also multiple boat trips for groups. We would live to spend a day or days with you hunting the steelies down. Plenty of available dates. You won't catch them reading this report so book a trip and join us on the river.Good fishing,Petet

Nick and his fishing buddy Dave came up to hunt for steelhead with me. We did a long drift and covered a lot of water but alas there were no adult fish to be found. We did get a bunch of half-pounders however which at least kept us on our toes. Nick also hooked a big and unusually fresh (for this time of year) Chinook salmon but the fish did not cooperate with the netting process so no photo. We are back to low and clear water on the Trinity so you really have to work for them, but what’s new, that’s steelheading!

Had a fun float with Jared and Ryan yesterday. Jared caught his first steelhead and we put some healthy fish in the net both hatchery and wild. Nymphing has been the most successful tactic so far. It has been pretty normal winter steelhead conditions with cloud cover helping the bite. Once we get some rain it could pick up substantially.

Here is a report from Peter who fished Eagle Canyon today:"This trip was more difficult than all of our previous trips in the past.  We had to change flies a lot and the normal black wooly buggers, copper johns, and midges did not produce. I don’t think we got a strike or landed a fish until the afternoon. Thankfully, we landed 5 fish by the end of the day.  Three in the large pond and two in the small pond. The flies that produced the fish were purple, maroon, and olive wooly buggers. Thank you again."

Fly fishing in northern California during the winter can be mysterious because sometimes you just don't know what you are going to get! Will it be rainy? Sunny? Cold or warm? Will you be wearing waders or shorts and a t-shirt? One simply won't know until you get to the water! At any rate, I spent six days on the Lower Sac in the past two weeks and I'm finally getting a chance to give somewhat of a "river report" for anyone curious how the river is fishing. First, I had two brother-in-laws, Matt and Mark. Matt is from MI and has done a bit of fly fishing and Mark is a resident of northern California and fast becoming a solid angler. We did two days in a row and both days it was pouring rain on us... but that didn't impact the fishing whatsoever. Matt and Mark both caught some great fish and despite the rain, we were able to hook fish on a number of different nymphs, primarily rubber legs and small may fly imitations. I did a quick YouTube river report if you want to see some of the footage (https://youtu.be/6xE-Put_5Kc). Overall the fishing was pretty good (a guide's conservative way of saying "great"). The water was around 7,000cfs. The next couple of floats were about average. This time of year is less about quantity of fish and more about the quality of fish and on each of these floats, the Sac did not disappoint! A couple of the days were about as warm as you can expect and my guests were shedding layers as the day progressed and as the bugs started coming off the river (i.e., baetis!!!). One day in particular stands out, Dec. 26, because I was able to get out with a friend and we took my 5 year old son, Soren. Soren is totally committed to fly fishing and despite missing about five fish in a row and his guide-dad yelling at him to "Set it!", he finally hooked up with a nice little 'bow. And that's a point I'd like to make for anyone looking to hire a guide. One of the things we really value at Confluence is taking the time to instruct our guests well. Spending a day with a guide is not just about catching fish... I hope that every one of my guests walk away from the trip with a greater appreciation for the fishery, more knowledge about the water and bug life, and more skill as an angler. And it's super fun to take kids out on the water, so if you want to get your daughter or son, or one of your grand children out, hit Confluence up! Anyway, on Saturday I had two guest from Bakersfield and let me tell you, they could cast! They could mend! They were really great anglers and very experienced. In fact, one of the guys, Wayne, has literally fished everywhere! I would think of a place to fish and yep, you guessed it, he'd been there! Unfortunately, despite their skill, the fish weren't as cooperative and we would have hoped. Yet they still managed to get a handful of fish to the net but nothing in the 20+ range, which was a bummer. That being said, at the end of the float, Dave hooked what we thought was an absolute HOG of a fish and after we fought it going downstream for awhile, we finally saw that it was a California golden bone fish (i.e., a sucker). The disappointment was heavy but I guess there are worse ways to end a float. Yesterday I did a half day float with Mike from Red Bluff, and the water has dropped down to 5,320cfs. When we got onto the river, it was a little cloudy with a slight mist but after about thirty minutes, the day's weather became spectacular (t-shirt time!!). The fishing started off slow but once the sun poked out, I immediately saw some caddis coming off and so I tied on a perfectly-matched-hand-tied tan bird's nest and it was game on! Mike landed some quality 'bows on caddis and rubber legs. And by the way... the thing about the Sacramento River is that it is a really, really big river. Even when the water flows are lower, there is a lot of water to fish and you can find trout in lots of different locations. Case in point, we dropped around a corner and found two boats and a few walk-in-waders fishing a run that's traditionally really good so I ended up scooting over to the other side of the river that I rarely fish and wouldn't you know that we caught fish! Don't hesitate to fish shallow water!! And don't assume the trout are only in one type of water! Fish are like people and seem pretty unique and diverse ;) Get out and fish more in 2020! I've got openings and would love to take you out... plus, the "other" egg bite is just around the corner! Tight lines... 

Soren is a 5 year old pro and will, Lord willing, be rowing me in a couple of years!

Brendon with a nice bright 'bow for the day after Christmas!

Dave's big 'ole sucker.

Mike caught this in a top secret location that took me years to discover.

Matt's MI trout aren't quite as fat or long as this one!

Lower Sacramento River size rainbow.

Mark, from the back of the boat, yanked this one.

Here is a fishing report from Rocky who fished Eagle Canyon today: "We had a great day at the ponds. The weather could not have been more  beautiful, but as a result, we had to work harder for our fish.  Absolutely still water with fish changing what they ate all day. Most  productive flies were olive sealbuggers and size 20 midge patterns. Average size was way up compared to last year, at least for us.  Thanks again for a great day. It's my favorite way to welcome in the new  year. Best part was the incredible sunset we were treated to on the way  out. Wow!  See you next year."

Here is a fishing report from Wayne who fished Eagle Canyon today:"I hooked 10 and landed 5 and Dave hooked 8 and landed 3.  Most were in the 7-8-9 lb range with one 15 # . best fly was the red sno-cone # 16 and a black wooly bugger. We probably missed more than we hooked.  Nice to meet you and hope I get to make that trip in March"

Kevin Kay and I worked together on a father-son Christmas fishing trip today. The weather was terrible! We had steady rain and it was cold and windy. I guided my guest Steve on the Trinity last month with the GGACC group. His sons Nick and Matt are new to fly fishing but they were troopers given the conditions. Nick hooked into a really big fish first thing but lost it after a pretty epic battle. A short time later Steve got an early Christmas present – a very nice hatchery steelhead! Matt was with Kevin and did very well too. Even with the flow bump, the river is still fishing really well. Merry Christmas and hoping everyone has a fishy New Year!  

Matt with a very nice fish!

Steve with his Christmas steelhead!

We can officially say we are at the beginning of another winter steelhead season here in Northern California. With a series of moderate rain events and healthy rises under our belt the coastal rivers have all been in decent shape throughout the past two week period, but the steelhead have been characteristically hard to come by. I fished on the Smith river one week ago with Cory Robertson from the bay area. We squeeked into fishable conditions by the skin of our teeth and began the day with the river dropping from the top of 12' falling from where it had crested at 16.5' the prior afternoon. Conditions were ideal for swinging; marginal visibility and high cfs forcing fish to take the inside lanes. Cory had never cast a spey rod before this trip, but he was a quick study, getting dialed into his double spey to the point of being able to send out forty feet of running line by the time we were finished in the first run of the day. We pushed our luck in that first run and managed to beat the rain but by the time we stopped again to fish we were in for it. We ended the day with our Gor-Tex soaked through taking one last look back at the river which now had fallen to around 11.5' and had cleared significantly throughout the day. We didn't find one, but it was rewarding enough to have taught Cory how to cast and fish a spey rod with confidence.  Looking ahead things are lining up to bring us into the next decade with favorable river conditions on the North Coast. A steady rain is falling on the gutters as I type this report and should continue for most of tomorrow. Everything from the SF Eel to the Smith is on the rise once more. As we draw closer to the end of the month we should see the first big push of winter fish come into their home rivers to spawn. It looks like after this system moves through things will quiet down for the holiday week giving the rivers the needed time to drop and clear up enough to be fishable. The Smith will probably stay fishable throughout this rain event. Look for the SF Eel to come online sometime midweek and the MS Eel to be a player by late next week at the earliest. For everyone who has been biding their time waiting for ideal conditions to take shape on the coast your wait is nearly over. Merry Christmas! 

Cory waiting for that steel handshake

Standard winter steelhead swing thing

Eel River projection

Smith River Projection

Shiny and chrome

I had a really fun day with my guests Dave and Chuck. They fished Eagle Canyon Trophy Trout Lakes on Thursday and had an amazing day landing several REALLY big fish! This slightly skewed their perspective on “big fish” but they quickly adjusted! The morning was okay, but the grab really picked up around 11:00. We had a short lull after lunch, but then it really turned on for us! They both landed 20+” fish and several in the 16”-18” range along with the usual cookie cutters. The flows are bumping up to 7,000cfs on the 21st. Shasta Lake is only 46 feet from crest, so I’m not surprised by the increase.

Chuck with a nice one

Lots of fish in the 16 - 18 range all day

Dave with his best of the day

Fun day on the Feather yesterday. A shorter float produced healthy acrobatic fish. Nymphing in the mornings has been the best action.

Jesse and Dave had some time off from their jobs at Cal Fire so they decided to go fishing. It was a cold and misty morning; the water was warmer than the air! The bite before lunch was pretty consistent but the afternoon grab was a bit spotty. Looks like we’re settling into our winter mode on the big river. Altogether a good day; fish were hooked, landed, and lost as usual!

I had a great two days with my guests Bob and Dave. They wanted to focus on swinging flies, but also nymph between runs. Dave had the mojo on Thursday and landed a nice fish within minutes. Dave landed a second nice wild fish on a nymph a short time later. Throughout two days of steady rain, they fished hard and today Bob was rewarded when he swung up a nice hatchery fish on his hand built spey rod! Some half-pounders kept things interesting both days as well.  

Dave with his first of the day

Dave with another nice fish

Bob swung up this beautie on his new 7130 Sage X

Guest Report from Dave who fished Eagle Canyon today:"It stayed foggy and windless all day and fish were not super grabby until  afternoon when we focused on indicator fishing.We landed 12 fish between us, a couple were in the 10 pound range.  ECL, one of a kind fishery"

Dave with a big rainbow

Had a fun Feather River steelhead trip with Kevin and his friend Larry yesterday. The crowds that fall can attract have largely departed, we did not have one bank angler in our way and didn't see another boat all day. Kevin and Larry got after it and we put some good looking fish into the net. Nymphing continues to be the top producer and it should continue to stay that way.

Here is a photo from a group that spent a couple days fishing Eagle Canyon last week.  They had beautiful weather both days and it sounds like everyone caught lots of big fish!

Don's big fish of the day