Current Fishing Report

My good luck continued today on the Upper Rogue River.  I fished with Jordan Harris, an independent guide from Ashland who has hundreds of Upper Rogue steelhead trips under his belt.  It's a bit early for steelhead, but we decided to give it our best shot today.  We had plenty of action on steelhead smolts and small rainbows up to 12" throughout the day.  By 10am we had landed a couple of small steelhead in the 18-21" range.  Around 11am we found the real deal, a nice 5 pound fish that was holding in a choppy riffle.Jordan has availability on the Upper Rogue and the Klamath Basin.  On the Rogue, Jordan offers both nymph/indicator trips and spey-only trips.  To check his schedule, click here.  Jordan is really fun to spend a day with and he is very dedicated to his craft.  We're looking forward to working with him!

An early Upper Rogue steelhead

I spent the day fishing the Klamath Basin with Craig Schuhmann, a local to Klamath Falls who has been guiding in the Klamath Basin since 2004.  And what a day it was!  We fished small leech patterns and nymphs on clear intermediate lines all day.  I don't think I've ever had so many hookups on sinking lines in a single day of fishing as I did today!  We found some fish that were very grabby.  The bite was great at first light and didn't let up.  Things got even easier mid-day as a light breeze put some chop on the water.  The fish in the photo was big, but I hooked and lost another that was considerably larger.Craig has open dates between now and the end of September.  He says that September is his favorite month to fish the Klamath Basin.  To check his schedule, click here. 

Andrew with a big Klamath Basin rainbow

Fishing is good in northern California right now!  I spent a day in the Redding area with fellow guide Luke Geraty today and we caught some very nice wild rainbows.  Our Yuba River guides have reported good a  good hopper grab on many of their recent trips.  Fall River is fishing well with light pressure and quality fish spread out throughout the river system.  We expect good fishing to continue throughout the fall.  Fall-run king salmon will be spawning in a month.  With a bigger fall run this year, we're expecting great egg-drop action on the Lower Sac, Yuba, Feather, and Trinity.

Luke Geraty with a healthy rainbow

Recently, every day on the Yuba's been different. Colin and I ran trips together and separately. Some days fish poked their nose up to grab hoppers and other days, they seemed more interested in nymphs - nymphing's been good. Today was a mix of top water and sub-surface action, with some fun hopper grabs. Watching a wild trout rise to inhale your hopper is always exciting. It's not red hot action yet so it takes some patient, accurate and persistent casting to pull a few fish from the shadows but the grabs are worth the effort.

Well, it's getting hot, which can put the fishing off. Fortunately, this hasn't been the case on the Yuba, which is coming into prime time hopper season. We've been getting some dry eats and some dry dropper grabs as well. Good hopper action will continue into September. Colin's had some good fishing with clients on both the McCloud and the Upper Sac. Mike Wright shared that the HEX hatch on Fall River is about done but fishing is still good throughout the day. Luke's been on the Lower Sac which was slow but he had a good day on the Trinity. You still have options despite the heat.GUIDE TIP: As the water warms, fish might need more time to recover from a fight – give it to them. Don't put the fish back and let it go. Hold the fish in the water, facing upstream, as long as it takes for it to recover. Rainbow trout will feed in water up to 70 degrees – this is their upper limit. 

I gave an OKAY rating because we're getting into the dog days of summer a little early. Our major hatches are slowing down and temps are rising fast. The Lower Sac fished mediocre for me last week. Not terrible but just so-so. Similarly, the Trinity trips I ran recently were slow, good and then, slow. We caught fish but action was intermittent. This isn't unusual, it's getting hot, so knowing what's fishing and when to go is key this time of year. Fall River is definitely a place to consider. It's in the mountains and stays a bit cooler. Both Mike Wright and Scott Saiki are having excellent fishing throughout most of the day. The late evening Hex hatch is also something to experience and now's the time to book. I've fished it with Mike and you will have fun. You can book a full day or an evening half day, with a focus on throwing Hex. Hat Creek is a good option for a fun morning half day if you enjoy technical dry fly action. This is some of my favorite guiding. We hunt fish. I put you on them with the right flies but success is largely in your hands. Stalking, good casting and delicate presentation are required to fool rising fish in slow, glassy smooth water. Unlike some other rivers we float, the Yuba has a terrestrial season and early indications suggest we'll have hopper action this year. We've already had some interest from a few fish and I expect more with each passing week. It's a good mid-summer float option that can also offer some streamer action. If you want to get out but you're unsure about fishing this time of year, contact us. We can help you pick a trip that puts you in the right place at the right time. 

The team's been BUSY! Mike Wright's been having excellent fishing on Fall River with beauties like the fish above. Colin and I ran a swing trip on the Yuba with some late day action, while Luke, Kevin, Colin and I have all been on the Lower Sac. Spring flows are variable but will hopefully stabilize soon which should deliver good fishing. The Upper Sac is nymphing well with late day dry fly action, thanks to some fat stoneflies offering themselves up to hungry fish. I ran a short trip on Hat Creek today which offered up some technical but exciting dry fly action. Now's a good time to be on the water because temps are comfortable the fishing is solid just about everywhere.

Why book the Yuba now? The spring fishing is usually very good, and 2026 has been, but the weather also makes the day more enjoyable. The river lacks shade and right now, the weather's perfect – not too hot, not too cold. Flows are very fishable and the action has been good. May and June are likely to offer some good hatches that can get fish looking up.

Captain Bryce Tedford reports that delta striper fishing the last two days was "Awesome"!

The Yuba's a great river that offers blue ribbon fishing for wild rainbow trout. It's closer to the Bay Area than the Lower Sac which makes it a more friendly day trip option. It's been fishing well and will continue to through the spring and into the summer.

Spring flows can be highly variable. Sometimes sudden and significant flow changes can negatively impact fishing on the river you've booked. If this happens, we'll usually be able to suggest one or more alternatives, rivers where flows are steady and will provide better fishing. If we get thrown an unexpected monkey wrench, we'll contact you, walk you through your options and give you an honest opinion. Today's trip was an occasion where the change in venue made sense and the client had a great day with Luke, Matt Dover and me. Thank you to all the veterans, past and present, who serve our country. Project Healing Waters, San Francisco.

The Feather spring run of steelhead has been solid with chrome newcomers still arriving. We've had steady action most days from start to finish. It's a rare mix of nice weather and steelhead.

After a few down years, the Lower Sac might be coming back to its former self. Luke recently had some good fishing and today, I had an excellent trip with my clients. It's fun to see healthy Lower Sac footballs readily coming to the net again. The weather was perfect and the river fished like we haven't seen in a few years. Welcome back Sac!

Conditions are prime right now for wading in the Lower Sac, flows havn't been this low in the Spring for a number of years. Good wading conditions should hold through the third week of April. Hit me up if you want to get out here while the gettins good for Swinging Flies ! Next oportunity will be in the Fall.Thanks, Randy T Hamann 

Spring means trout or … does it? The Feather offers a shot at some valley steelhead … spunky, hard fighting seafarers returning home. They're not monsters but they fight hard and made the same ocean journey as fish twice their size. Recent trips have been delivering good fishing which should improve through April and into May. Colin and Mike have been running walk and wade trips in the mountains and Mike has his Fall River boat ready to go. Luke and Kevin have been on the Lower Sac and report good fishing. Luke's always up for chasing bass on Lake Shasta and has had some solid days recently. Ben, Colin and I have all been on the Yuba which is fishing well despite the pipe burst earlier in the year. Everything is waking up and turning on. It's a good time to shake off the winter cold and hit the water.

I decided to take my dog Minnie for her first boat ride and check out the conditions on the Lower Sac. We went way down river to one of my favorite riffles. She seemed to like the ride but turned out to be an impatient fisherman. I caught a few nice smaller trout on a dry (dropper haha) and then broke out the bobber rod while we drifted down river to the takeout. The trout were pretty grabby and we caught some nice bigger fish. But then I hooked into something bigger that really gave me a tussle. If you've ever tried to drift fish by yourself while playing a fish and trying to control the boat, you know how difficult it can be. With visions of steelhead dancing in my brain I finally got the fish to the surface and it's a……… Sucker. Oh well.  In any case, the flows are perfect and the weather has been great. It was 97° today. So far no signs of the crazy flow changes we've had the last few years so I'd say conditions are ideal and it's time to book a trip on the Lower Sac!

Minnie’s first boat ride

Spring is knocking, which means trout fishing is in play but there's some spring chrome around that can be a lot of fun. We bobbered most of them but we swung one up too. If the stars, weather, bugs and fish all align, we can even tempt a few to eat a well presented dry. Bobber, swing and throw dries in the same day! Sounds fun – no promises but it can happen. The run will continue into May and is just now coming into full swing. The entire crew has been on the water, so check in with us to see what's fishing or what's coming up.

The recent storm gave the river some color and a bit more water. Think, hitting fewer rocks and more fishable water. There's been decent numbers of fish around. Swing and indicator trips have produced decent action. Is it peak steelhead time? No. Can you still have a good day with fish in the 12-20" range and the chance of bumping a larger one - yes. A nice side note is there's few boats around, so it's a very peaceful day on the water.

If you're familiar with the Trinity you might know that flows are being managed differently, with periods of high flows well beyond the norm. Currently, the river's at 3,000 CFS, which makes it high and fast. Fishing is challenging but fish are being caught. Flows will begin dropping this weekend and will quickly revert to more favorable conditions. February should offer a good late season shot at steelhead. GUIDE TIP: Focus on fighting the fish first and getting it on the reel second. If it's big enough, it'll usually put itself on the reel with a long run and if not, it probably doesn't need to be on the reel.

We're finally getting the much needed rain we've been waiting for the past two months. Trinity Reclamation also pulsed flows, so they're on the high side but still very fishable. Lately, we've been seeing more wild fish which just adds to the "cool" factor. January and February are still prime time to chase some chrome!

Hot Wild Fish