Current Fishing Report

June is coming, and so is the famous Fall River Hex Hatch which is one of the primary reasons why I spend the early summer months in the beautiful Fall River Valley.  Mid June to mid July is prime for catching the hex hatch in the evening and head hunting with dry flies during the day on the Fall and other venues. Fishing has been pretty good on Fall River between 1 and 3.  Not much dry fly action yet, but will be picking up in the next few weeks. The Mac has been solid with good afternoon dry fly fishing.  Pit 3 has been good in the afternoons with lots of yellow sallies.  Hat Creek has been pretty tough lately.  Small mountain streams have been fishing excellent. Venues that depend on hatchery fish such as Baum Lake, Burney Creek, and Cassel Flats have been fishing very tough, due to almost no fish being present.  I'm heading to Baja next week to chase Rooster Fish and explore another hosted travel venue.       

Hex Hatch happens right at sunset..epic

A double hex hookup

Fall River fished very well for us today.  The weed beds are growing in nicely and the fish are spreading out throughout the upper part of the river system.  We fished to giant pods of fish and hooked fish from 6 inches to 18 inches.  The nymph grab was so good that my client Shirley hooked two fish at once on her two nymphs.  The dry fly fishing was very difficult and the streamer fishing was okay.  This should be an excellent season on Fall River.

I guided Bill and Randy from Sacramento on our private stretch of Battle Creek today.  This was my first Battle Creek trip of the season and it was delightful.  We caught all of our fish on dry flies.  In the morning the best fly was a size 14 parachute Adams, but by mid-afternoon the fish wanted the big flies.  We fished a lot of rubberleg dries size 10.  The size of the fish was better than normal, with several 12 rainbows hooked.  We even saw a spring chinook holding in one of the deeper pools.  Water conditions are perfect and the fish are eager.  If you like small stream fishing with 3wt rods and dry flies, come check out Battle Creek this summer.  It's spring-fed so it fishes well throughout the entire season.

The river fished well for us today.  We floated from Anderson down.  It was a beautiful day, we had plenty of solitude and the fish were pretty grabby in the morning.  We did well with small mayfly nymphs and big stonefly nymphs for the most part.  We did well with the indicator nymphing, but also had fun swinging nymphs through some of the shallow riffles with our 5wt rods.

Just finished up three days of guiding my good client George from the Danville area. Although it's been a bit windy for dry fly fishing, the nymph fishing was excellent all day long. If you get the chance get up to the Inter-Mountain area for some fantastic trout fishing!  

I hosted a group of 5 keen anglers in late April on an incredible fishing trip to two unique lodges strategically located in the Yucatan.  We had an awesome trip both on and off the water.  Our group hooked well over 100 juvenile tarpon ranging from 10 to 50lbs.  We only used floating lines and focused on sight fishing for the acrobatic, aggressive, hard fighting tarpon that we stalked in beautiful mangroves and open water.  We encountered massive schools of rolling tarpon in the open water on calm days, and if it was windy we headed into the sheltered mangroves.  Truly epic fishing, all out of really cool panga boats with awesome casting platforms.  Most of the tarpon were hooked within 40 feet of the boat.   The food and accommodation were superb.  The guides were great, and the price of the trip is hard to beat in the industry.  I will be hosting two trips back there next April and early May.  Contact me for details and very limited availability.  I will be posting a highlight video to Youtube in a few days and share some photos on my next report.

After a sunny first week or so of the opening season, we have had some needed rain and overcast conditions the last 4 days.  We have had some great fishing on all waters so far this season, and fishing will only improve.  Here is a summary of the current fishing conditions on the trout streams of Nor Cal: Fall River:  There were some fishable hatches in the afternoon on the overcast days, which presented some dry fly opportunities.  Nymphing has been pretty tough overall.  Sinking line techniques have worked ok at times.  Dry fly fishing and nymphing will improve as the weed beds continue to grow and provide more cover for fish and insect hatches.  Mega crowded on weekends. The Mac:  Mornings have been slow, but afternoons have provided some great dry fly fishing as well as nymphing.  Flows are perfect for this time of year.  Crowded on weekends. Pit: Exciting wading can provide some great nymphing.  Low crowds. Hat Creek: Fishing is ok.  Some dry fly targets in the afternoon in the flat water.  Get used to the size of fish...this isn't 1982.  Pressure is high in all of the bumpy water, solitude in the flat water. Small streams: Superb dry fly fishing in summertime flows.  Low crowds. Baum Lake, Burney Creek, Cassel:  Good streamer fishing.  Barren of truck trout at the moment...all are dead after the opening week slayfest.       

I guided a half-day on the Lower Sac today with Hugh, Hugh and Peter.  The weather was all over the map, with rain, wind, and sun at times.  The grab wasn't great, but all three guys landed fish on nymphs, and most were 17-18.  Flows are holding steady at 11,000cfs.

Hugh with a nice fish

Peter with a rainbow

Tom, Dax & I guided a great group of guys on Opening Day this past Saturday.  Tom took two of them on Fall River.  Tom said it was a little tough, but they still hooked over a dozen fish, all on nymphs.  Dax and I took the rest of the crew to one of our favorite small streams.  The guys had a great time casting dry flies to eager fish.  The weather is HOT up here for this time of year.  I can't remember ever doing any wet wading on opening day, but we did it today.  Our small streams look like they typically do in mid-June already.  We saw big golden stones, giant stoneflies, and even adult grasshoppers flying around this weekend.

Wet wading on opening day!

Idyllic small-stream fishing

Well, after 3 weeks of chasing tarpon in Mexico, I am back home on Fall River. Andrew, Tommy, and I all have our boats in the water and have scouted most of the river out. Not many weeds and hatches just yet, but the color is excellent and we found some giant pods of fish that have not been pummeled for 5 whole months! The streamer grab should be insane if you are on fish. The grab will be tough later in the afternoon high sun, but they might still eat nymphs in the deeper slots lower down river where there is more color. The Mac and Pit are in excellent shape as well. The forecast is warm and sunny for this week. I have spent many an opening weekend in cold rain and snow, so I will enjoy the weather. Clouds would be most welcome too... The Hat will be mega crowded at the powerhouse riffle and lower riffle section. Seek solitude and technical fishing in the flats between. The smaller creeks should be in great shape for dry fly fishing. I will soon post a report and pics of the Mexico Tarpon Tour. It was absolutely insane. Amazing fishery. We hooked many, many, Tarpon, and had an absolute blast off of the water as well. Possibly the most exciting fishing I've done over my many angling travels. I will host two trips there next year, contact me for very limited space.

The river came up again today and is now at 7000cfs.  There aren't any more scheduled releases at the moment, so hopefully the flows will stabilize for a while.  Fishing was pretty good today, especially considering the strong north wind and the raised flows.  Stan and Bob from San Francisco both landed some nice 16-18 rainbows.  Small mayfly nymphs were the best for us.

Andrew Harris will soon be headed to southern California to speak at 7 fly fishing clubs in early May.  Here is his speaking schedule:May 7: Santa BarbaraMay 8: Orange CountyMay 9: PasadenaMay 13: Golden StateMay 14: Wilderness Fly FishersMay 15: SespeMay 16: EncinoAndrew's presentation will be about fly fishing the Trinity River watershed.  It will cover trout fishing in the Trinity Alps, the Upper Trinity River, Trinity Lake, and Lewiston Lake plus the incredible steelhead fishing the river has to offer.  Andrew is looking forward to seeing many of his regular clients and sharing his knowledge of the Trinity River watershed with the members of these fly fishing clubs.

The Confluence Outfitters 2013 Guide School is scheduled for July 20-28th, 2013.  We have 2 spots still available for this year's class.  This is a great school for serious fly fishers who are interested in guiding or instructing.  We cover spring creek, freestone, and drift boat techniques.  Classroom sessions include logistics, administration, permitting, teaching and learning styles, safety, and much more.  Throughout the course of the week participants get plenty of practice guiding on local rivers, including the Pit River, McCloud, Hat Creek, Burney Creek, and the Lower Sac.  Our instructors rotate throughout the week, giving students exposure to a wide variety of guiding styles.  Guide School is always a very fun week.  We hope you can join us.  The fee for the class is $1495 and includes lodging and instruction.

I guided George and Greg from Foster City today, the weather was less than ideal with gusty winds and thunder showers in the distance but the fishing was pretty good, and has picked up a bit from the last couple of days. The nymph grab was solid from about 9-3 mostly on smaller mayfly nymphs and a couple on rubber leggs.Nice fish Too! Many 16 to 18 !

George with a Dandy !

Greg with yet another one...

Our host Cory forwarded me these photos from Saturday at Eagle Canyon.  We hosted the Peninsula Fly Fishers club.  They had a great time.  Trip leader Patrick tells me they landed over 30 fish for the day.  They've already booked their date for next season!  It was a great way to finish our 2012-13 season at Eagle Canyon.  Stay tuned this summer for an update about our schedule for next season.

Randy and I guided a group of five today on the Lower Sac.  I normally don't like to have three people in my boat, but since one passenger was only 4 months old, it worked out just fine!  Jessica managed to land a Lower Sac rainbow with daughter Leila assisting from the Baby Bjorn.  Impressive!  First-time fly fisher Melissa also did very well.  She was shocked that she caught a fish on her first time out.  She landed several nice fish throughout the day.  Randy had a good day in the men's boat.  Good weather, good hatches and a pretty good grab today.

Jessica and Leila with a fish

Ali with a big fish

The Hassani family after a great family trip

I took clients Jerry and Jay to the Lower Sac today.  The grab was red hot from the time we started until about 3pm.  Jerry & Jay hooked dozens of fish, had a couple of doubles, and put a lot of fish in the net.  The fish are still focused on anything small (size 16-18) and brown most of the day.  There are some tan PMDs size 16 and a few dark March Browns size 14 coming off mid-day.  I also saw the first golden stones of the season buzzing around today.  The hot weather brings them out.

Jay and his big fish of the day

Jerry with a nice bow

Jerry with his big fish

I took clients Jerry and Jay up to Lewiston Lake today.  Fishing was a little slow in the morning, but the afternoon was excellent.  We found numerous pods of fish and some large solitary cruising fish.  We landed rainbows up to 20 inches and we also landed a couple of kokanee about 6 inches.  That was a first.  Almost all of our fishing today was sight fishing to cruising fish and pods of fish.  We had good luck with nymphs under indicators and dry fly and dropper techniques.

Jerry's big fish

We caught lots of fish like this today

The nymph grab continues to be excellent on the Lower Sac.  I guided longtime fishing buddies Bob and Michael today.  We had action from the beginning of the day to the last cast.  Bob landed a couple of 19-21 rainbows.  The average size of the fish is really good right now.  There are tons of 16-18 fish in the mix.  The fish ate a lot of different flies today, but the small brown mayfly nymphs were the best for us.

Cory and I hosted a group of six today at Eagle Canyon.  Fishing wasn't easy, but everyone in the group landed at least one fish and we landed fish up to 10 pounds.  The fishing is getting really fun this time of year - our big fish are moving into the shallows and feeding very close to the surface.  They are actively foraging for callibaetis nymphs and midges.  We haven't had much luck with dries yet, but hanging a size 18 beadhead nymph about six inches underneath a parachute adams dry has been working well.  Small nymphs like the brown Hogan's S&M size 16 have been working well.  Another good bet is fishing a size 16-20 nymph on a long leader on a very slow retrieve.