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!

I took Randy to Burney Creek and Hat Creek today.  Burney Creek is high but is fishable in a few prime spots.  Not a lot of fish around, though.  Hat Creek looks great despite getting shallower every season.  Randy landed a nice 12" rainbow on a nymph and hooked a bunch of smaller fish on dries.  There was a sparse hatch of small PMDs size 16-18 in the afternoon.

 

In general, the hatches seem late all over the intermountain region.  No sign of stoneflies on the McCloud or Hat Creek, although a few are buzzing around on the Pit.  Fall River is having a late start, with the fish not dispersed yet and the weeds just starting to grow in.  This late start bodes well for the next few weeks.  Book a trip soon for some good dry fly fishing.

I guided Randy from Washington State on the McCloud today.  I took a look at the Upper McCloud on the way in.  The Upper is blown.  I'll take another look in about two weeks.  Then it should be perfect.  The Lower Mac looks great, though.  We had a fun afternoon of fishing dries in the pocket water.  The fish weren't super-grabby, but we rose quite a few.  The big hatches of stoneflies and green drakes aren't coming off yet.  We saw lots of random mayflies size 12-14 and that's what the fish were interested in.  A size 14 parachute adams did the trick. 

I saw a few rainbows still on redds - be careful where you wade right now.

Dax and I fished the Pit today on our day off.  Pit 5 was raging today - it looked about 2000cfs - totally unfishable.  In stark contrast, Pit 3 and 4 looked great.  We caught a few fish on Pit 4.  There are a few big salmonflies about and some large mayflies, too.  It was pretty windy today and fishing was challenging, but conditions were great in Pit 4.

Opening Day of Trout Season is just 2 days away.  I will be guiding Fall River the first three days of the season.  According to Dax Messett, Fall River is low and clear and looks great right now.  Here are some other opening day forecasts:

 

blown out.  5000cfs at Lake Shasta.

 

Pit 3 and Pit 4 are at their normal summer levels of 330cfs and 415cfs.  Fishing should be great for the adventurous waders out there.  Pit 5 is at 700cfs, which is on the high side.

 

400cfs at Ah-Di-Na.  A little high, but very fishable.  Should be excellent.  Upper McCloud is high but fishable.

 

Always reliable on the opener.

 

6000cfs from Keswick.  This is a great flow!  Lots of wading to be done still.  Fishing has been excellent the last two weeks.  The Lower Sac is always a great opening day option, even though it's open year-round.

 

Keep checking our fishing report for current conditions this coming week.  Look for a Fall River report Saturday night.

Here are some photos from Sunday April 15th.

Everything is pretty much still high on the Oregon Coast after the brutal storm we got last week.  I fished a few smaller rivers today that are starting to drop into shape, but another big storm is supposed to roll in tomorrow.  I will catch a fish tomorrow, for sure, before the rivers blow again.

 

This weekend, if the rivers drop into shape, might be the last opportunity to hook a bright chrome winter fish on the coast this year.

I guided brothers Jim & Ted on the Trinity today.  Our morning was pretty good.  Jim was the hot hand with a nice brown and two adult steelhead in the net on small nymphs.  We had a few dry fly opportunities throughout the afternoon and Ted landed a half-pounder.  A lot of steelhead are spawning now.  The river is a total ghost town.  Today was Saturday and Randy and I had the place to ourselves.  There is a great hatch of assorted mayflies.  Look for browns rising in the shady runs.  The big browns don't like the bright sun too much.

Sightfishing for bonefish and GTs in barefeet on the flats is one of my passions in angling.  Christmas Island is the mecca for this experience.  There are 2 spots left for my Christmas Island trip for the week of April 24-May 1st of this year.  This is one of the finest saltwater trips you can take on Earth.  Great for beginning to elite saltwater anglers.  Also one of the best values in the industry for destination travel.  Contact me for details about this fantastic angling adventure.

Just finished up a couple of great days on the Upper Rogue with JR Hubbard and Carl from Leland's Fly Shop. JR's goal for this trip was to get prepared and spey casting tuned up for his upcoming Tierra Del Fuego adventure. Carl was in search of his first spey rod swung steelhead. We accomplished those goals. The only thing in question was how to survive our frigidly cold frozen foggy days. The answer: mega fire.

Overall, we hooked six fish in two days, all on the swing. We got fish on a variety of large streamers, two on the blue Deuce Wigalo, one on a black Deuce Wigalo, one on a Black/Egg Sucking Dirk Wiggler, a Black Pick Yer Pocket, and one on a  purple/pink/black fly that Carl tied. Also, we were two for two on epic campfires and hooked a fish at each campfire spot! Can't beat that. Thanks JR and Carl for some memorable days on the water.

The only mediocre aspect of our trip are my phone pics!