Current Fishing Report

This winter steelhead season has been pretty dramatic to say the least.  Since December I've been dealing with high water from Southern Oregon to the Olympic Peninsula.  Just when things start to really shape up for prime swinging conditions, another big storm pummels the Pacific Northwest.  Some epic fishing has been had between storms though, and it is good for future runs of steelhead, as they are able to make it safely upriver without getting pummeled every inch of the way.  When the rivers drop its going to be amazing.  Southern Oregon and Nor Cal coastal rivers are in good shape at the moment though, and they aren't supposed to get continued rain like up here.  Wish I was back down there at the moment!  

Leslie Ajari hooked up on her first day on the OP

Rare morning sunshine

another perfect swing run on the Peninsula

A rainforest chromer

Tough fishing continues on the Trinity River.  We did a mega-float today to try and scare up some fish.  My client Scott landed a nice wild fish in the first half hour and then that was it.  Lots of 0, 1, and 2 fish days out there from what I've heard from other guides.  So in other words, back to normal steelhead fishing.  We had it pretty good on the Trinity through January and now the fish are harder to come by.  Most have been bright wild fish, though.

Scott with a wild one.

Spent a short but very productive day on the Yuba River with Dave from Sacramento.  We fished from 8am til around 2pm today and with only one rod in the water most of the day, we hooked into a bunch of nice fish.  We managed 6 to the net.  The weather was perfect and even though the water still had a brown tint to it, the fish didn't seem to mind.  Only saw three Skwala's all day and definitely nothing feeding on the top.  Great Day!

February?

One in the boat before the bridge!

So fun!

Guest Report from Dave from Grass Valley:Today was pretty good, not easy but decent for a bright, sunny, calm day.  Fish are all super hot and healthy but most takes are subtle.  The fish in the photo ate a red zugger on the drop. 

Dave with a big one

Jerry in his tube

Here is a photo forwarded to me by Gino Bernero from his guide trip today.  Nice fish!

That's a chromer!

There are steelhead to be caught on the Trinity River right now but they're not exactly jumping into the boat. We floated a lot of miles today and made a lot of really good drifts to hook 1 adult fish and several trout today. The weather is great, the scenery is outstanding, and if you keep making good drifts you'll have some good opportunities to hook a nice steelhead.

Here are some photos from the Deep Creek Fly Fishers day at Eagle Canyon.  They had a really good day with most fisherman landing 3-5 fish and some landing over 10.

Gary's biggest fish

The Steelheading continues on! The sharp change in weather from from cool and rainy to Warm, Bright and Dry has put the Steelhead in a bit of a funk, those that work hard and make accurate presentations can expect a few opportunities a day. Almost an equal mix of hatchery and wild fish are showing, the river flows and color are perfect, get out there and get after it !

Had a great day on the Trinity guiding alongside boss-man Andrew Harris. With 2 boats w 4 clients, everyone hooked up. When does that ever happen? Matt & Allen from Red bluff did a great job today mending line & riding seams. My duo brought a couple half pounders to the net within the first few minutes of the float, but we wanted the real-steel. Right after lunch Matt hooks into a monster that breaks him off at the exact time Allen hooks up w nice wild hen that breached the water close to a dozen times. Sigh talk about an emotional rollercoaster. Oh yeah- he played the fish perfectly and high fives were exchanged. Good stuff.

Nice wild fish Alan

Tony seals the deal

Long-time guest Dave forwarded these two photos from Friday.  He said the fishing was good and he even had a couple of fish over 10 pounds.  Sounds like fun!

I did a steelhead clinic for the Deep Creek Fly Fishers today at Indian Creek Lodge on the Trinity River.  This is our 3rd annual clinic.  We spent the morning in the comfortable fisherman's lounge on the 2nd floor of the lodge going over flies, rigging, and reading the water.  We spent the afternoon fishing along Steel Bridge Road.  Mark, one of the students in the clinic, even managed to hook and almost land a very nice steelhead!

Mark with a big fish on the line

Fishing improved quite a bit today, although the adult steelhead were still hard to come by.  The weather was about 20 degrees warmer and the fish were much grabbier.  John and Rick landed almost a dozen trout and John got the fish of the day, a 6-pound wild steelhead.  The river is still high but very fishable.  Fishing pressure is light.

John with a nice wild fish

Rick caught a lot of trout today

We're in the money!

I fished with John and Rick from Reno today.  It was a very cold and wet day and the fishing was TOUGH.  We caught three small trout, but didn't find an adult steelie today.  I spoke with some other guides and the best report I heard was two fish hooked.  The river is in excellent shape though and should be fishable down to Junction City by the weekend.

Spent a great day on the Lower Sac with Jeff from Sacramento. The upper section of the Lower Sac fished quite well for us. We had good battles all day. Weather was beautiful and the fishing was as good. Lots of boats since most every where else is blown out. Good thing about the Sac is lots of room to fish.

Lots of these to keep us busy.

The Trinity blow out overnight and is muddy from top to bottom.  The next few days are supposed to be a lot drier so hopefully the river will be fishable by Tuesday.

I fished a rising river with brothers Tom and John today.  We get poured on in the morning but the afternoon was nice.  We managed to stay ahead of a big plume of muddy water all day, but fishing was still tough.  We landed several half-pounders and Tom landed one nice wild adult fish that made our day.

  Had a good time floating the upper section of the river yesterday with John Anderson from Truckee. Brought 3 to the net and 'quick-released' a few others! Despite the lower section of the river being blown, the upper reaches of Trinity is quite fishable and has a nice green tint to the water. Saw a few hatches but nothing hit the dries. 

We've had some tough fishing here these last couple weeks. Seems mother nature is letting us know she's still there. Windy & rainy conditions has been making things challenging. There was even a tornado warning issued in the Eagle Canyon area the same time a group of 4 was on the water. The anglers that do the best I've seen are the ones willing to cover a lot of water and can present the fly in a somewhat delicate manner. Normally 3x Flouro will suffice in the morning, but 5x will most likely be needed by the afternoon.    Flies that have been working are; (sizes 12-18)  - red copper johns  - olive micro mays- prince nymphs - hares ears - beaded olive, black, purple, crystal wooly buggers    

Leslie Ajari is featured in the latest episode of the Reno Fly Shop podcast.  Her interview focuses on steelheading in northern California.  She breaks down the difference between summer and winter steelhead and describes the best way for beginners to get into steelheading and spey casting.  Leslie also discusses her role in the Confluence Outfitters Spey Camps on the Lower Klamath River.Follow this link to listen to the podcast. 

The Trinity is currently fishing well and dropping into shape. The Snow, Heavy Rain and High Water have passed, leaving a dropping, clearing river in it's place. The upper stretches of the river are Greening Up nicely, while much of the river is still seeing high flows, that should change over next couple of days as we are in for a drying trend over the next few days. In addition the water temps have taken a nice bounce up and we are hooking Adult Steelhead on both the Swing and under the indicator. Still landing some Fall/Summer fish but most are bright Winter fish, a mix of Wild and Hatchery Run. Tight Lines.....