|
I guided father/son team Ivan and Greg today on the Upper Sac. We started above Dunsmuir where the water was nice and cool. In fact, the water was only 50 degrees when I checked it at 11am! The fishing was a little slow at first, but then we started hooking small and medium-sized wild trout in most of the pockets we fished. We did well with a brown jimmy legs and a twenty-incher size 12. The twenty-incher didn't quite live up to its name, unless you count the inches of fish cumulatively. Both Greg and Ivan got back into the groove of pocket-water fishing after a break of almost 6 years from fishing. By the end of the day they were short-line nymphing pros.  Ivan with a fish on |
I took Jake and Dennis from St. Helena out on the Lower Sac today. It was Dennis's first day of fly fishing ever and he picked it up really quickly. The river was a ghost town today - hardly any other boats out. The morning grab was a little slow, but from about 11 to 2 the bite was excellent. We had a weird lull around 3pm, but the grab was excellent in the last two hours of the float. Fish are eating Fox Poopahs and all sorts of random mayfly nymph patterns. Flows are at 12,000 cfs now.  Jake with one of many fish  Dennis is a natural |
I spent an hour yesterday fishing our private stretch of Battle Creek. Amazingly, it is still too high with runoff to fish in most areas. Fishing was outstanding in the few spots I was able to reach, though. I had fat rainbows up to 12 inches taking grasshopper dries and nymphs. The creek should be in prime condition in about another three weeks or so. |
I spent the last three days in a row on Pit 3. Getting around is more challenging at the new flows (roughly 300cfs), but the fishing has been very good. Every day we encountered big fish in the 16-18 range. There are tons of small and medium fish and the grab has been quite good. If you liked the Pit before, I think you'll still like it now. Just don't expect to fish it quite the same way as when the flows were 150cfs. We fished for under 3 hours yesterday morning and my clients hooked at least 30 fish. All of the fish look fat and healthy, even the little guys.  Healthy Pit rainbow  Nymphing Pit 3 |
Area waters continue to fish excellent, despite the full moon nonsense. Clients continue to hook multiple large fish every night during the hex hatch on Fall River while enjoying the beautiful sunset and moon rise over Mt.Shasta. It is pointless to aimlessly pound the water you want to hex in before 8:45 pm if you wish to catch fish. Upper Fall River has continued to fish superb, providing opportunities for clients to catch very large fish on drys and streamers every single day. Jeff Thompson, Exective Director of Cal Trout and ultra keen angler, hooked 5 or 6 very large individually hunted fish this morning on small baetis drys in a short window of time. The afternoons are windy, so sinking line techniques are productive at that stage, or just head to another river. The Pit is fishing excellent during prime times of the day if you aren't fishing a section someone else recently fished. Anglers skilled in the arts of agressive wading, bush bashing, and high stick nymphing can hook dozens of wild fish in all sections of the river system. The new flows have created an opportunity to fish new and challenging water, which is always exciting and interesting to a keen angler. It is still very fishable if you know the river, which we do. I have only 5 more trout guide days available in late July to fish the Fall, Pit, Mac etc. for the rest of the season, so give Marisa a call soon if you want to fish with me before I head to PA and the Bahamas for awhile. I'll be back out west in late September on the Rogue for a week, then head up to the Grande Rhonde and Deschutes until mid November...no more days are available for those venues. I will be available for the Trinity, Rogue, and Nor Cal/Oregon coastal steelhead rivers from November 16-Dec 20. Book early! |
The Lower Sac continues to fish very well. Mike Corley and I had a great day on the water with Brud, Don & Josh. Our first fish was a 20 incher, and the nymph grab was really good all day long. We had two doubles, had one fish eat two flies, and Don & Josh tried to catch the same fish once, too. Lots of hook-ups and lots of fun! Josh landed some nice rainbows on his first ever day of fishing.  Don usually smiles!  Josh with his first fish ever |
This past week has produced some excellent fishing on all local wild trout waters. Fall River, McCloud, Pit and the smaller wild trout streams have been excellent during the prime times of the day. The hex hatch is still going strong. I've fished it every night since it started. Clients have hooked multiple fish every night this past week...not all make it to the net, but some epic fish over 20 inches have been landed this past week. During the day, Fall is still producing some superb dry fly opportunities for very large fish every day if you are patient. Between the dry fly action, sinking line techniques are producing some big grabs and hookups from aggressive fish. The Mac is fishing excellent with dry fly techniques when the sun is off the water. Nymphing is ok if you work enough water and use alot of split shot. Smaller dry fly streams are fishing well during the afternoon hours. This past Sunday, I took Dennis and Joe to a stream and we did not see another soul. We hooked dozens of wild fish on drys in a pristine mountain environment. We had BBQ on the deck of the Fall River house, and enjoyed our privacy and company until it was time to hex. We launch for the hex 1 mile away on our 2nd Fall River access. We are offering our Fall River Special, which many of our clients are taking advantage of. Spend 2 nights at one of our superb rental properties on Fall River or Hat Creek. We fish the hex hatch the first evening, full day the next or split with hex the 2nd, and a half day on the 3rd day for $599. We fish for wild trout, use Sage rods, and provide all terminal tackle and no regimented meal times.  The coolest hatch on Earth  Adin and Kristen Lyle...Adin is already keen  A superb Nor Cal native rainbow |
The morning nymph grab was fantastic today. I guided long-time client Frank and daughter Alex today. Alex hooked up on her first drift, Frank on his second, and we had ten fish in the net before we even got past the Sundial Bridge. The action was much better in the morning, but we caught fish throughout our float. Alex lost a really big fish today about 21 inches after a long battle. We had several 17-19 rainbows. Small mayfly patterns were best in the morning and caddis pupas worked better in the afternoon.  Alex with a big bow  Lots of great fish like this today  Big Lower Sac rainbow |
The pressure on the Fall River system was amazingly quite low this past holiday weekend. The hex hatch was stellar where I was, and didn't see another boat the last 3 nights. Many, many large fish have been brought to the net. Hatch starts between 9-920 lately. During the day on the upper river, the PMD hatch is not as consistant as it has been over the last few weeks, but there are still opportunities for some epic moments. Some large fish are keying in on the few baetis that are coming off, and you can have some amazing opportunities to targeted rising fish in unique places. They don't key in on them at all if you are sidedrifting and waterloading your corkie rigs...good luck with that this year. You can catch some nice fish under 10 inches like that though, but don't do it in a run where you see a boat that is actually fishing.  A superb wild rainbow of the system  Corley on the Mac  Fall River PMD...last week |
We are in full hex mode on the lower Fall River. If you have never tried it, it is quite and experience. There is something really unique and relaxing about heading out after dinner for a mellow boat ride. As you sit there and watch the sun set over Mt. Shasta, it is real easy to comfortable in your seat as the sound of the river and birds lull you to sleep. The problem is, the hex is about to hatch and pure mayhem is immenent.
During the day though, the hatches on Fall River have been excellent. Baetis and PMDs will keep you busy til lunch. The Pit is also fishing well. Still a little high, but the fish love it. I have a bashed shin to prove it. The McCloud fished well a few days ago. The flows are down to a perfect height and we're seeing good Golden Stones and some huge Drakes on the upper Mac. Hat Creek offers it's usual challenges. If you really want to test you dry fly skills the morning Trico spinner fall will do so.
We will have some good fishing for the next month. Drop us a line, and we'll go wet one!
Here's a few pics from the past couple of weeks.
 Mega bow  Secret Creek  Wet wading snake |
Living on Fall River has its perks. I have had some time off after a busy streatch, and have been doing some highly enjoyable fishing. I've been fishing Fall River for a few hours during the hatch, catching a few sighted large fish on a dry each session. I have no idea how the nymph grab is, because I just look for the big heads to come up. Then I mosey to one of the small creeks I have been fishing with my 3 wt, and enjoy more dry fly fishing for wild fish. Then I take a nap, then bbq dinner. At around 8:45, I head down to lower Fall River and wait for the hex to start, then I pillage. The last 5 nights have provided some of the best hex fishing I've seen in 11 years fishing the hatch. It should stay strong all month, but I have been educating the fish each night, so you better get up here.  Hexalicious  Bella, enjoying the hex hatch  another fish coming in |
I have never seen more bugs in one night than I did tonight on Fall River. The hex hatch was like a thick hatch of baetis, but with size 6 hexes. Despite massive numbers of bugs we were still able to do really well. Dax and I had the night off so we got to do some fishing ourselves. Dax brought a 3wt Redington that was super fun to cast. We had plenty of grabs and one of my own hex patterns produced really well. We both caught a fish on the 3wt. The last three fish we landed taped out at 18, 20, and 21 and were in superb condition. This is the best hex year I've ever seen on Fall River. Don't miss it. It's just starting! |
The hex hatch has been incredible the last four nights in a row. The fish were so grabby tonight - I was really impressed with the number of bugs, fish, and opportunities. My clients landed about five and hooked about ten others tonight. We had some great battles with long runs and multiple jumps right in front of the boat. The bugs were out early tonight - we got grabs on dries from 8:30 on. Come up and fish with one of the Confluence Hexperts. The hatch looks like it will last all month and a bit into August! |
The hex has been insane the last 3 nights. You need to be on your game at the beginning of the hatch, before there are too many bugs on the water. Great friend and Sage rep Jamie Lyle and his buddy JR came out with Gino and I the other night and caught fish at will. I fished a number of small creeks in the area with my 3wt and a dry fly yesterday. I think I hooked 127 fish or something like that...for all you numbers guys out there. All were wild, non hatchery reared fish. I even used a rod made in America, which I think makes a difference. Overcast today...Fall River will be epic... |
The hex hatch is in full swing on lower Fall River. 20 minutes of glory is usually starting around 9:20pm. We are also hooking fish pre hatch stripping hex nymphs under clear sinking lines starting around 8:30.
The upper river is also producing excellent dry fly opportunities almost every day. Big fish are really looking up if you are patient and focus on them.
Pit 3 is fishing well for adventurous waders. Smaller creeks are also dropping into shape offering easy wading and great dry fly action.
The Mac is high, clear, and beautiful. Great hatches are happening mid to late afternoon and in the evenings. I like to camp with clients up there and fish it during prime times for a few days to get the whole experience in. The Mac is one of the best freestone rivers in the states. |
The hex hatch is on and going strong on Fall River. I found a great spot 2 nights ago where the bugs were pouring out of the shallow weedbeds. The big rainbows lined up to eat them like pigs at the feeding trough! Best of all, we were able to position the boat within about 15 feet of these fish. John & Jim had about a dozen hookups and landed five. The hatch looks to be a good one this year. Come up and see what it's all about! |
The Pit River may be higher than before, but it still fishes well. The key is to find spots that are safely wadable. The pocket water is still the best place to find fish. I had a great morning with Chris from Palo Alto. We got a few on nymphs under an indicator, but then really cleaned up when we switched to a dry and dropper. Chris hooked at least two dozen rainbows on the dry-dropper rig. It was a ton of fun! He also landed a smallmouth bass - see the photo! We finished the day on a great small stream fishing dries.  The new, bigger, gnarlier Pit 3  Smallie  Nice Hat, Chris! |
The Upper McCloud is still high, but it's crystal clear and fishing really well for aggressive waders. Jon Hazlett and I spent the day with a group of four in the Fowlers area. The morning was a little slow, but after lunch the grab really turned on. We had a great mixed hatch of golden stones, little yellow stones, salmonflies, green drakes, and assorted smaller mayflies. We caught a lot of wild browns and rainbows. By the end we were hooking several fish on dry flies in each pool.  McCloud rainbow  McCloud brown |
Fall River continues to produce superb dry fly opportunities for discerning anglers. I have had clients this past week who share my passion of hunting the large wild fish of the Fall and only using drys to catch them...it works if you have patience and skills. This is the most exciting way to fish the river and provides some epic moments. There has been some massive fish landed this week on drys.
The hex hatch has been insane. Confluence has access on the lower river right where it happens. I motored up about 100 yards last night and watched Dave and Jeremy pillage. Hatch has been starting at 9:30 and has been insane.
Lots of fools on the upper river this season. If you come up and fish on your own...please use proper etiquette. If you want to low hole people, kick up wakes, or side drift from drift boats or your sled, the Lower Sac is fishing excellent right now. Fall River is a classic unique river...show some respect if you fish here. |
I just spoke with Gino Bernero and he said last night was the first good hex hatch of the year. With continued warm weather, it should just get better. We expect the hatch to last until the end of July this year. |
|