Gino and I took our 2012 guide school students on the Lower Sac today.  I'm proud to say that they did well for their first day of rowing a drift boat.  No complete circles, and some fish were even hooked and landed while they were rowing!  The grab wasn't red-hot today, but the fishing were eating small mayfly patterns like micro mays and S&M nymphs.

I just spent two days with Ron & Judy and their grandson Troy.  Troy is 12 and is a natural at fly fishing.  That didn't help much yesterday on the Lower Sac, but it really showed on the McCloud today.  Troy landed dozens of fish on nymphs and dries.  The river is fishing great.  The Lower Sac was extremely slow yesterday, but I think it was related to the changing weather.  We picked up a few fish on small mayfly nymphs, but it was TOUGH.  The weather was very cool today - a welcome change from the hot weather last week.  Overall, fishing is good in northern California.  Get out there and try it for yourself.

Gino, Dax & I just guided a great group of guys for the last two days.  We did split days, fishing from 8:30 to 3ish on various destinations and then again at dusk on Fall River for the hex hatch.  These guys had some excellent fishing on the McCloud and Fall River.

 

We have at least another week or two of good hex hatch fishing.

Here are some photos from hex trips the last few nights

I spent the last two days with father/son David and Travis from Los Gatos.  Travis is relatively new to fly fishing and was a quick study.  He caught fish during the hex hatch on Fall River and while wading two of our local streams.  David landed fish on dries, dry and dropper, and indicator techniques.  The hex hatch is still pretty good.  Two nights ago was excellent, last night was a bit slow.  The hex are spread out throughout the lower river.

Lewiston lake fished well this past week, most fish were caught on small leach patterns, swung or stripped using an intermediate sinking line. Not much in the way of dry fly or nymph fishing, most of the naturals are super small...24-28'! Hopefully we will see more callibaetis during the day and or caddis in the evening.

Lewiston Should continue to be productive well into the fall.

I fished the Pit River for about 3 hours yesterday and it was excellent.  I tested out my 13.5' Tenkara rod and found fish in almost every pocket.  Just about any size 14-16 nymph worked well.  Most of the fish on Pit 3 are 9-12", but I caught a couple of fat 14-15 inchers.

 

The Tenkara rod is a high-sticking machine - read the next issue of California Fly Fisher Magazine for my review of these rods.

I've been out hexing almost every night for the past week.  The hatch is pretty consistent and there are plenty of big fish rising.  The action starts around 8:30pm and goes until dusk.  Most nights we have dozens of grabs on our big dries.  The fish can be hard to hook, so landing more than four or five fish in an evening is challenging.

 

Daytime fishing has also been good.  Fish are feeding on hex dries and nymphs, water boatmen, callibaetis, and PMDs.

The hex hatch is amazingly thick this year.  There have been a few hexes hatching in the morning hours on certain days, too.  The callibaetis hatch is getting thicker and the diversity of angling opportunities is increasing by the day on Fall River.  This hex hatch should last at least another month.  Check out our openings for July before it's too late.

 

 

This spring and summer has provided some excellent fishing so far.  The weather has been quite variable, brutal at times...but the fishing has been great overall.  

 

Current conditions:

 

Fall River: Be prepared for wind, other anglers, and tough fishing at times.  But also be ready for the odd daytime hex hatch, as well as bwo and pmd hatches from 11:30-2 with epic dry fly moments for the patient angler.  I've seen multiple fish in that 18-20 inch range hooked and landed this past week.  Bring your A game and be patient, and you will have a shot at some epic moments.  Zug Bug Alley, and the other upper famous runs have thousands of terrified fish stacked in them.

 

Mac: Superb dry fly fishing on overcast days.  Slow in the mornings, but really good from mid afternoon on.

 

Hat Creek: It's been kinda chilly for the trico spinner fall, but it should be pretty consistent soon.

 

Pit: Charge hard and cover water, and you will catch plenty of fish.

 

Burney:  Crowded and few fish above the falls.  Some nice wild fish are below the falls.

 

Baum: No idea...but it should be pretty good now.

 

Manzinita: Its been cold and windy, but warmer weather is expected next week.  Should be some players cruising the flats chowing drys.

 

Small Creeks:  Perfect!  The cooler weather has kept the small creeks fishing quite well. 

 

Thanks to the A list of clients I've had the pleasure of fishing with this past month:  The Grunbaums, Kennedy's, Mcmaster's, Bossow's, Carrol's, Mason's, and the Cal Trout crew for making this past month such a memorable one.  Some truly epic moments were had by all.

 

If you want to fish with me you will have to wait until late November on the Trinity.  I will be there for about 3 weeks chasing steelhead...book sooner rather than later.

I've been on Fall River the past four days.  We've had some strange weather the last two days with a lot of rain and cold hard wind.  Hex usually like hot and calm weather, so I was supprised two nights ago to see the largest hatch of the season.  It came at the end of a very windy and wet day.  Right at dusk the wind died and the bugs hatched in amazing numbers.  Too many bugs, in fact.  Fortunately we landed a couple of nice 18" rainbows before the hatch got too thick.

 

Daytime fishing has also been good on Fall River.  PMDs are hatching mid-day, and we should see the first water boatmen when the weather heats up again.  The hex hatch should go well into July.

I just finished up 3 days of excellent fishing with Gary from Chico and Tom from San Rafael.   We got around in the three days:  Burney Creek fished great with dry flies.  There are huge salmonflies all over the place at Burney.  The fish seemed to prefer a size 8 golden stone, but any kind of stimulator worked well.  We caught several nice wild browns.  The Upper Mac is fishing great, too.  The hatch is a mix of little yellow sallies and small golden stones.  The resident redbands and browns were eager to eat our dry flies.

 

Fall River fished especially well.  We were treated to some overcast skies and a five hour long hatch of PMDs.  The big fish were cruising the flats aggressively feeding on nymphs, emergers, and dries.  We hooked a lot of fish 14-18" during the day.

 

The hex hatch on Fall River is great right now.  There are almost too many bugs, though.  We got some great grabs and hookups, but the fishing is better when there are fewer bugs on the water.

The Lower Sac doesn't get much slower than this.  There was a great PMD hatch today but the fish just were not on the job at all.  Flows have bumped up 500cfs a day the last two days and the fish are in a funk.  It should fish really well tomorrow or the next day when the fish get back into a feeding mode.

I only have 8 available days left on my calendar for this summer, which are in the first few weeks of July.  You'll have to wait till late November on the Trinity if you want to fish with me unless you are already booked. 

 

Current Fishing Report:

 

Fall River: This will be the best hex hatch we've seen in a long time, and the last few years were epic.  Confluence has prime access on the upper and lower river, and we fish the hex every night.

Pressure is very, very high on the upper river.  Prime time is between 11 and 2, but you can scratch some fish up before and after prime time.  The dry fly grab is tough, but there are windows of opportunity if you are patient.  Weeds are finally starting to grow and the hatches are starting to happen more often.  Overcast days are the best...like everywhere else.

 

Pit: Fishing is great if you can cover alot of water.  There are slow periods during the day, but if you stick it out you should do pretty good.  Pressure is moderate

 

Hat Creek: The last few days of hot weather got the big stones out again.  Pressure is high at the powerhouse riffle and very low in the flat water.  Cassel Flats has a bunch of truck trout in it that will eat drys when there is a hatch...nothing wrong with that!

 

The Mac: Pressure is varied, no rhyme or reason to it.  All you can do is go and if it is crowded, go to another access point.  Fishing is scratchy in the morning and good in the late afternoon and evening.

 

Baum Lake: No idea. 

 

Manzinita Lake: Fishing is picking up.  You can target cruising fish with dry flys all day if that is your thing (it's my thing).  Confluence Outfitters has a permit to guide all the waters of Lassen Park...does your guide?  The answer is, no.

 

Smaller Creeks: Fishing is slow in the mornings and great in the afternoons.  3wt and dry fly...good stuff.  Often I fish the Fall until it shuts off then head to one of these smaller creeks.

 

We have very limited availability for our guide days and accommodations, so you need to book early if you want to fish with the A Team.

Dax had a last-minute cancellation and is now available June 22-24.  These are prime dates if you're able to book on short notice.

 

Did I mention the hex hatch has started and is happening big time?

The grasshoppers are taking over here in Red Bluff.  They were about a quarter inch long a week ago and now some of the bigger ones are about 3/4" in length. They're devastating our front yard, but they are pretty cool to look at!  Let's hope some fall in the river and we have a hopper grab on the Lower Sac this summer!

On Sunday I guided Andy and Ryan from Portola Valley, we fished the Pit River, Burney Creek and Hat Creek and had success on all.  Hooked and landed a few Pit river natives to start the day and moved onto Burney Creek and Hat Creek in the afternoon where each hooked and landed quite a few rainbow's each, a fine mix of native's and planter's. 

 

The fishing should only improve over the next month or so, make some time and book a trip now!