Current Fishing Report

Gino, Dax & I had a great day today at the 3rd Annual Spey Fest put on by the Shasta/Trinity Fly Fishers.  Dax started the day with a presentation about Common Spey Casting faults and fixes.  I gave a presentation right before lunch about lightweight spey rods for Lower Sac Trout.  There were a ton of vendors there and attendees got to sample all of the best spey rods in one of the best swing runs on the whole river.  Don't miss this event next year!

Andrew talking about lightweight spey rods

Dax Messett (aka Max Dessett) wired for sound

Dax and I spent the afternoon on the Lower Sac prepping for our Spey Fest presentations.  After we practiced casting with our spey rods, we switched gears and did a little bit of Tenkara fishing.  Trout were rising all over the place in the choppy riffles.  I fished a 13.5foot Tenkara rod with about 13 feet of level line and a 5foot tippet.  We took turns stalking rising fish with this setup.  The fish were chowing down despite the high winds.  Dax and I hooked well over 20 fish on dries.  The fish ate parachute adams and limestone cripple PMD imitations.  It was a pretty fun way to fish.  It's amazing how close you can get to these fish in the fast water.

Where is the reel?

Fish on

Daxkara

The weather has been crazy this past week but the fishing has been excellent on all waters. The Mac and Burney have had superb Green Drake hatches when the clouds are out. Fall River is starting to have alot more windows of dry fly opportunities. The Pit is fishing well. Hat is fishing ok. Small Creeks are on fire. Life is good up here! Fishing should be excellent this weekend, but you should check out the spey fest on the lower sac, where Drew, Gino, and I will be giving presentations. It will be a great event for anyone interested in spey casting. Stop at our booth and say hi.

The Pit River is fishing incredibly well.  Bruce and I started out the day with a couple 15-16 rainbows on nymphs.  We worked on indicatorless nymphing, which was new to Bruce.  He learned the technique quickly!  We detoured to Burney Creek for a while and caught a few more fish, then hit another section of the Pit.  There were little yellow stones flying all over the place and fish were visibly feeding.  Bruce landed dozens of fish from 8 to 14 on dry flies.  It was the best mid-day dry fly fishing I've had on the Pit in a long time.  The stones are mostly a size 12-14.  There are caddisflies and the occasional green drake in the mix, too.  The fish were really looking up.  We finished the day on a small stream where Bruce caught about a dozen more fish on dries on my 3wt Sage SPL.  Tons of fun!

I had a great day on Battle Creek with Ivan and son Ian.  Ivan fished the creek last September and really enjoyed it.  Ian hadn't fly fished in a few years, but got back into it in no time.  Our best flies today were large stonefly dries.  A size 6 orange stimulator and a size 8 red Turk's Tarantula did the trick!  Ivan hooked the fish of the day, a 13-14 rainbow on a size 8 brown stimulator.  We also saw a couple of spring chinook, both about 10#.  Pretty cool.

We hooked about 15 fish in this spot

These worked

We are proud to introduce a new fishing rental: the Albaugh Ranch Guest House.  It's located in McArthur and is just 15 minutes from our launch on Fall River.  This large ranch home is the perfect place for large groups.  There are 9 beds and plenty of room for up to ten guests.  The property has tons of parking for RVs, boats, or other trailers.  The view of the working cattle ranch and Mt. Lassen to the south is fantastic.  There is a huge patio for grilling and dining, too.  The price is right, too, just $200/night for up to four guests.  Add $25/night for each additional guest.  It's a great value and a great place to stay while you fish Fall River, Hat Creek, Burney Creek, and our other fisheries.

Fishing has been really good the last few days up around Fall River.  The McCloud, Pit, and the area's small streams are in their prime right now.  We've seen great hatches of PMDs and green drakes this week.  Some golden stones are starting to show, too.  Fall River itself is still low and not very weedy.  That should change fast with warmer weather.  The weeds should grow in pretty thick in the next two weeks, raising the water level and restoring the river to normal summertime conditions.

Small streams have been outstanding lately

Dax's new raft - assembly took 2 hours and 8 beers

Katie and I met up with Dax today at Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic National Park.  This is a great fishery because it combines wild rainbows and browns with some of the best scenery in northern California.  It is also one of the best places in our area to sight-fish to cruising trout.  The fish here are very smart.  It's a fun and very rewarding game to cast to visible feeding fish and watch them refuse, ignore, and occasionally eat your fly.  We also saw bald eagles, ospreys, and baby ducklings, and I caught the first two fish ever in Dax's new raft.  It was a great afternoon of fishing!

The fishing continues to be solid on Lewiston Lake. The lake has been heavily stocked with 12 Rainbow's, they were hot for the stripped wooly bugger and the dry-dropper rig when weather permited. The natives have pushed into the heavier current looking for easy prey, leeches swung on an intermediate line did the trick. Looking for the weather to stabilize and warm, with increased insect activity the natives should move back into the flats and offer some long awaited dry fly fishing! 

Fall River: Fishing is different every day, just like the weather this past week.  There are a few pmds and baetis starting to hatch, especially when there is cloud cover and light rain.  The fish are getting pretty wise to sinking line techniques, so we really are looking forward to more bug activity.  Pressure is pretty low. McCloud: Slow on cold mornings, so sleep in!  The best fishing there right now is on cloudy days from about 3pm onwards.  Lots, and lots of bugs...excellent dry fly fishing opportunities.  Pressure is moderate. Pit: Fishing is great for hard core waders willing to bash their shins and knees in the challenging new high flows.  High stick nymphing is catching alot of fish.  There are slow periods of the day, but if you tough it out and can cover water, you should hook dozens of fish.  Pressure is moderate. Baum Lake: no idea Burney Creek: Superb hatches of Green Drakes and big yellow mayflies.  The truck trout above the falls got a thrashing this weekend, but there are a few hearty survivors.  The wild fish below the falls are freely rising to dry flies.  Pressure is mega. Hat Creek: Fishing is ok for the most part.  The riffles are getting pounded, but low pressure in the flat water.  Had some pretty great hatches during the rain.  This week is getting warmer temps, so the stones will be all over the place.  the last 15 minutes of daylight is the best time to fish.  Pressure is high. Small Creeks: Prime!  Bring your 3 wt and a box of floaty dry flies and enjoy afternoon action.  Pressure is low on the ones I go to. Stay at one of our rentals.  They are the best accommodation in the area, by far.  Very reasonable rates, no set meal times, and quiet riverfront accommodation. 

A local at one of the small creeks I fish

Fall River mega fatty

Book your hex trip for July soon

The Shasta-Trinity Fly Fishers of Redding are putting on their 3rd annual Spey Fest on Saturday, June 9th.  The event is held at the gravel bar below the Barge Hole on the Lower Sac, near Anderson.  This is a perfect location since it has plenty of room for parking and casting. Andrew, Gino & Dax will be on-hand representing Confluence Outfitters.  There are 30-minute presentations throughout the day.  Andrew will do one on spey casting for trout with lightweight spey rods.  Gino is doing a distance casting clinic.  Dax is doing a presentation about the four most common problems with spey casts and how to correct them. All of the vendors will be there with the latest spey gear.  The gravel bar riffle is a great swing run, so you can walk right out and demo any rod you like in a perfect spot.  Lunch is free and there will be a raffle.  Confluence Outfitters is donating a one-day guide trip on the Trinity or Upper Rogue as one of the raffle prizes.The event goes from 9am to 4pm.  Look for us at our booth and in the presentation line-up.

Fall River is the lowest I have ever seen it.  The fish don't seem to mind.  There are some big pods of fish trickling down from the upper river.  Some days they are very, very grabby on the leech and some days they have total lock-jaw...then I go to one of the other great rivers in the area.  We should see more bug activity each passing day, which will make fishing more consistant.  Until then, it is a sinking line game, with a few very short windows of dry opportunities.  Hat Creek and the Pit River are starting to see good numbers of Stones now, so head there if you want some dry fly action.  

Carly hooked up in an epic place

Our Fall River Retreat is hard to beat

Dennis stalking browns on a backcountry river

I did my first no-bobber trip since the flows came up today.  With the river at 10000+ cfs, there are only so many no-bobber techniques you can do.  Today we focused on spey casting for trout, dry fly fishing and side-drifting nymphs on a tight line.  The highlight of the day was an hour or two of dry fly fishing right after lunch.  Ron and Gary worked over a huge riffle, methodically blind casting and occasionally targeting risers.  The grab was on and they had at least 20 dry fly grabs and landed a bunch of nice fish.  They both hooked fish on their spey rods, although most of those were smaller fish today.  Ron and Gary also landed fish while side-drifting.  We didn't catch any fish using a bobber today because - that's right - we didn't use one at all.

It was a tough day on the Lower Sac today.  I guided father/son Pat & PJ from Lafayette.  It was PJ's first day of real fly fishing.  He managed to hook and land several nice fish despite some challenging conditions.  Flows bumped up to 10,600cfs yesterday morning and the fish just don't seem to be settled in to their new lies yet.  We had a decent hatch of PMDs and other random mayflies, but the fish just never got on the grab.  PJ capped his day with a great 18 rainbow, though.  Fishing should improve if the flows remain steady.

Fall River and surrounding waters have had very little pressure and excellent fishing this past week. Conditions improve each day, and we are looking forward to some dry fly action on Fall River in the next few weeks. My clients have been absolutely pillaging on sinking lines the last few days.

Fall River and surrounding waters have had very little pressure and excellent fishing this past week. Conditions improve each day, and we are looking forward to some dry fly action on Fall River in the next few weeks. My clients have been absolutely pillaging on sinking lines the last few days.

Fall River and surrounding waters have had very little pressure and excellent fishing this past week. Conditions improve each day, and we are looking forward to some dry fly action on Fall River in the next few weeks. My clients have been absolutely pillaging on sinking lines the last few days.

We caught our fish in bunches today.  Long stretches between fish, but we usually found a few in each spot.  I fished in the Redding area with Bob and Bob from the Fremont area.  We had a great PMD hatch until about 3pm when a thunderstorm rolled in.  We had our best fishing from noon until 3pm.  PMD nymphs like Mercer's poxyback and flashback pheasant tails were our best flies today.  The river is at 10,000cfs.

I took a peak at our private stretch of Battle Creek today.  It looks great!  It's already low enough to fish and there are bugs all over the place.  Book your trip now for some great dry fly fishing!  A day on Battle Creek involves some tricky wading and a couple short stints of strenuous hiking.  It's well worth the effort!

Fall River has fished pretty good for the first week of the season. Pressure was very light until yesterday. The weather is awesome and the fishing will be excellent this next week. Pressure will drop off on Monday when the giant group of clowns staying at the circus tent across the river moves to another town.