We had another outstanding day on the Lower Sac today.  I guided Dave and Jeremy from southern California.  We spent a lot of time wading and it was highly productive.  Dave and Jeremy both found spots where they hooked about 6 fish in one spot.  All of the fish we hooked while wading were over 16", and a few were over 20"!  There is a great mixed hatch of caddis and PMDs and fishing is pretty phenominal from 11am to 4:30pm.

Over the last few weeks, we have had some truly amazing moments.  We've hooked many fish that were in the ocean just hours before, and even landed quite a few.  There is nothing like hooking a winter steelhead shortly after they enter a river...very coveted in the angling world of a true steelheader.

 

Dennis Taniguchi, star Confluence client for many years has been here for 10 days.  He has hooked over 20 winter steelhead with Gino fishing on the xxx, the xxxx, and the xxxxx.  He got skunked a few days also, which is part of true steelheading.  Committment brings rewards to the true angler.

 

My client Mark landed a superb chrome hen yesterday on xxxxxx, and my client Francis hooked two epic fish today swinging the first riffle above tidewater on the xxxxx, after sight fishing on the xxxxxxxx and xxxxxx.

Randy and I did some scouting today...

Fishing continues to be good on the Trinity River.  We had great weather, plenty of action, and hardly saw any other fishermen today.  Dana and Steve from Chico both landed the biggest fly-caught steelhead of their lives.  The big fish liked the small flies today.  We had a great hatch of march browns, but it was a little too sunny to have a lot of rising fish.  Dana rose two fish to his dry fly, though.  Steve and Dana are headed to Eagle Canyon tomorrow as part of our Combo Special, just $325 per person for two great days of fishing.

We hosted "Veterans First Fly Fishing" at Eagle Canyon today.  This is a group of volunteers that helps provide therapy to our armed forces vetarans through fly fishing classes and outings.  The participants have been going to fly tying and fly casting classes on a weekly basis.  Some even fished today with flies they had recently tied.  The volunteers, headed by Ken Brunskill and Larry Lack, put on a great lunch and assisted the participants on the water.  It was a great success and we look forward to hosting this group again next year.

Sightfishing for bonefish and GTs in barefeet on the flats is one of my passions in angling.  Christmas Island is the mecca for this experience.  There are 2 spots left for my Christmas Island trip for the week of April 24-May 1st of this year.  This is one of the finest saltwater trips you can take on Earth.  Great for beginning to elite saltwater anglers.  Also one of the best values in the industry for destination travel.  Contact me for details about this fantastic angling adventure.

Just finished up a couple of great days on the Upper Rogue with JR Hubbard and Carl from Leland's Fly Shop. JR's goal for this trip was to get prepared and spey casting tuned up for his upcoming Tierra Del Fuego adventure. Carl was in search of his first spey rod swung steelhead. We accomplished those goals. The only thing in question was how to survive our frigidly cold frozen foggy days. The answer: mega fire.

Overall, we hooked six fish in two days, all on the swing. We got fish on a variety of large streamers, two on the blue Deuce Wigalo, one on a black Deuce Wigalo, one on a Black/Egg Sucking Dirk Wiggler, a Black Pick Yer Pocket, and one on a  purple/pink/black fly that Carl tied. Also, we were two for two on epic campfires and hooked a fish at each campfire spot! Can't beat that. Thanks JR and Carl for some memorable days on the water.

The only mediocre aspect of our trip are my phone pics!

Today was my last Fall River trip of the season.  I spent it with Kevin and Bob from the Sacramento area.  Conditions were challenging with cold weather and a stiff breeze.  We tried to find rising fish but the hatch just never got going.  We covered some water and eventually found a couple of very large trout, but we worked hard for them.

I guided John & Patty again today for a half-day on the Upper Sac.  We started in Dunsmuir and it didn't seem very fishy, so we moved downstream to the middle part of the river.  Patty hooked a huge fish on a brown rubberlegs in one of my favorite spots.  It was a long battle, but the fish got the best of us in the end.  We got one more fish on a rubberlegs and another on a tailwater tiny.  John landed a fish on a copper john fished under a Stimulator.  We saw a few October Caddis flying around and even got one fish to strike our stimmie.  There are tons of October Caddis shucks on the rocks at the edge of the river.  If you like fishing big dries in the afternoon and evening, this is the time!

I spent a lovely day on Battle Creek with Ivan and son Greg from Palo Alto.  Conditions are perfect on Battle Creek right now.  There is plenty of water, but not too much.  The spring chinook are spawning, so the native rainbows are on the egg grab.  And there are good hatches, so the rainbows are looking up.  Greg got a grab on his first cast, and the dry fly fishing was great all day long.  Ivan hooked and landed an 18" rainbow on a glo bug in one of the few deeper buckets.  This was by far the largest trout I've seen in the creek to date.  Greg landed several 10" rainbows on dries and we had plenty of little guys, too.

John & Burt had a pretty incredible day today on the Pit River.  Our first spot was loaded with fish.  They were hooking fish every 2nd or 3rd cast for the first 45 minutes.  They were all nice 15-17" rainbows, too.  We had a couple slow periods during the day, but overall the fishing was fantastic.  We caught fish on rubberlegs, prince nymphs, small pheasant tails, and small copper johns.  Our rivers are in prime shape for fall trout fishing now.  Come up and see for yourself!

I spent the day guiding Steven, Don & Lee at the Nature Conservancy Preserve on the McCloud River.  Fishing was a little slow, especially in the afternoon.  Don caught the best fish of the day in the morning, a 14" rainbow.  We fished nymphs with and without indicators, dry flies, dry/dropper, and streamers.  It was nice and cool down there and we only saw 2 other fishermen.  Our best flies were Eng Things and Princes in a size 14.  We had a good hatch of size 16 tan mayflies from 3-5pm.

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).