Current Fishing Report

I stopped in at Eagle Canyon today to visit with longtime guests John, Tom & Dean.  The grab was pretty slow other than for about 2 hours mid-day.  They made up for the slow fishing by landing some truly huge fish today.  The best flies were a red blood midge size 14-16, zebra midges in brown size 16-18, and a small tan mayfly nymph size 16-18.

Tom with a beast

Dean with a truly big trout

I got to guide an old friend Greg and his buddy Jim from Sebastopol today.  Fishing was tough, but they both managed to land beautiful fish!  This next weather system seems to be holding, so it looks like we will finally get some rain!

Greg with a very nice hatchery hen!

Jim with his first ever steelhead!

I had the pleasure of guiding Dean today.  He fished very hard all day and was rewarded by landing two of the three fish hooked.  All were nice adult wild steelhead.  The fishing pressure is still fairly light, but I expect that to change very soon.  With the next system arriving next week, the flows should come up a bit more and hopefully more fish will move into the upper river.

Dean with a beautiful wild fish!

Had a good time guiding Tom from Walnut Creek. We floated upper river today and despite the low + clear conditions, Tom landed a nice adult steelhead. We’ve gotten some much anticipated rain which should push some more fish into the mix. 

Tom with his first 2018 steelhead!

The Trinity remains challenging.  I guided the past three days with decent success - hooking one to two fish per day.  I have been seeing some very bright fish moving through, so that is promising.  The flows have come up slightly with the recent rains, but it is still very low and clear.  We have a new storm is headed our way next week and it appears we may get some measurable rain.

Here are some photos forward by Tony from Red Bluff. His group fished Eagle Canyon this past Saturday, January 6th.  Tony said: "Always a great time. The fishing was slow at times but steady all throughout the day. The fish seemed to attack our flies in flurries. As a group we hooked 25+ fish and landed about 18-20 fish. The largest about 10-12 lbs. We caught a surprising amount of fish on a size 14 gold hare's ear under an indicator. Very exciting hooking big fish on small flies. I was talking to the guys and we are already planning a trip for next year."Part of Tony's group is doing the Combo Special so they will be fishing the Trinity River with us, too.  The combo special has a minimum of 4 anglers and you spend one day at Eagle Canyon and then another day on the Lower Sac or Trinity River with our guides.  The price is $350 per person for 4 anglers, $325 per person for 6 anglers, or $300 per person for  8  anglers.

Wet weather has finally returned to the North Coast. After an unsettling dry December the new year has begun with all coastal rivers set for a significant rise. Most if not all rivers subject to low flow restrictions should see enough of a push to open. The Smith is projected to bump up tonight by several feet, and rise again mid week. The Eel River is forecast to add multiple feet by mid week. With some projections calling for a rise of 4ft or more, the main stem Eel will in all likelihood blow out. The good news is that with such a significant rise the stretches of the Eel that have remained closed to fishing since early December should stay open through the end of January when low flow restrictions end. Rain is always a welcome sign and necessary ingredient for winter steelhead. Coupled with king tides that occured earlier this week, things are looking very fishy indeed. The coast is calling.  

Tools of the trade.

Longtime guest Rocky from Woodbridge sent these photos from his trip to Eagle Canyon on Saturday.  He said fishing was great!

Here are some photos sent from Steven and friends who fished Eagle Canyon last weekend.  Looks like fun!

Had an awesome day with Steve looking for some chrome up on the North Coast. After almost a month of dry weather we were finally treated to some rain earlier this week giving our coastal rivers a much needed recharge and putting some color back into the water. As expected, the rain brought more than just a hint of green back into the rivers. A fresh pulse of sea bright steelhead finally got what they too had been waiting for and have shown up at long last.Steve went 1 for 2 today, bringing a chrome dart to hand before hooking up with a nice adult that ended up coming off. I saw a few fish holding from the bank and also witnessed another spey fisherman hook up and land a nice adult. All said and done, the fishing on the coast was good. Things should start to really heat up here in the next few weeks as more rain is forecast to fall. I'm looking forward to the new year and spending days on the water chasing chrome. Happy holidays from the North Coast!  

Soaking the bucket, waiting for the pull

Chrome dart.

Steve finds a nice adult. Gets corked. Gets the fin!

Sunrise

Beautiful days on the coast.

This fishing report was almost about a rare bird-sighting, but Ron saved the day and caught two really nice fish at the end of the day.  He landed a wild fish around 6 pounds and a slightly smaller hatchery fish.  Those were our only two opportunities on a long and mostly chilly day.  We spent a lot of time busting ice out of the guides today.  Fishing pressure is really light right now.FYI, the bird-sighting involved a pileated woodpecker. 

Ron gets the job done

I spent the last 3 days with guests Steve and Jon and fishing was tough.  We covered almost 50 miles of river and did 4 floats in 3 days.  We finally found some fish on day 3 and managed to land 3 out of 4 adult steelhead hooked.  The river is low and clear and the fish are wedged into some pretty tight spots right now.  Conditions will stay the same until we get some rain, which looks like will be at least another week off.  Fishing pressure is very light right now.  It's a great time to enjoy some solitude and catch a steelhead - just not a great time to catch a bunch of steelhead!

Finally got on the board with this fish yesterday

I had a chance to get out on the water this week with fellow angler and regular steelhead bum Colton Schwenning. I was excited to use my new 14 ft raft for the first time and do a little scouting to see if any fresh fish had come in from the salt despite the lack of rain. It didn't take long. I found a beautiful dime bright hen that was all too eager to come to the fly. A sure sign that even with low and clear conditions the steelhead are making their first push on the coast. We ended the day with Colton finding two nice half pounders. The weather was beautiful and it was exciting to see a river transformed from what is usually a burly torrent of water to a gentle coastal stream. All in all it was a great day and the fishing did not disappoint.Dry conditions continue but perhaps not for much longer. Wet weather is forecast on the coast early next week with some projections calling for half an inch of rain. While this isn't a significan amount it might be enough to coax a few fish to begin moving up river. Some of the smaller coastal systems have closed this week due to low flow restrictions, but there are still plenty of great options for wetting a line and hoping for the tight line grab of fresh chrome here on the North Coast!See you on the water.   

A beautiful bright wild hen on a clear day. Always amazed. Always grateful.

Hope dies last on the coast. Every good cast can be the one

New whip ready for action.

I spent the past two guiding another group from the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers.  My guests Rich and Al nymphed on Thursday and the fishing was tough.  Al hooked one very nice adult while we floated the upper portion of the river.  Today was a swing day with my guests Diane and Karen.  They were very thorough as they worked all the runs and Diane was rewarded with a small native adult.  They fished with Gino on Thursday.  Karen swung-up three adults and Diane hooked into a brown trout.  Not to sound like a broken record, but conditions will likely not improve much until we receive some much needed rain.

Longtime guest Ron had this to say about his two-day trip to Eagle Canyon:"The fishing was very good the first day and much slower the second day.  The fish are getting bigger and bigger!!  All of us caught fish both days and had a great time."

This report is from long-time Eagle Canyon guest Dave Earl, who fished yesterday: "Stripping streamers was on fire in the morning, all 3 of us had quality fish landed within minutes. Later we had to switch to nymphs under an indicator to get grabs. We all landed about 10 fish each including a 10 pounder and  a 12 pounder . I'm pretty sure  the same 12 pounder was caught a second time about  2 hours later. Eagle Canyon: a one of a kind flyfishing experience!"

Due to a cancellation, I just opened up my calendar for chasing coastal winter steelhead on the swing on the beautiful Southern Oregon Coast.  I have a rare week of openings available from January 22-28, which is prime time. The Southern Oregon Coast in January should be on the bucket list for any winter steelheader.  We chase true chorme here, within miles of tidewater on multiple river systems both big and small.  These wild rivers have excellent swing water, beautiful scenery, and dependable fishing conditions due to the amount of rivers within striking distance.  Please contact me with any questions.  Enjoy your holidays! Dax 

Someone turned the faucet off on the North Coast. Sustained dry weather has all rivers running low and clearing fast, some more so than others. The salmon runs seem to be winding down as we move further into December. I fished on the Eel River last week and heard a report of some nice half pounders being caught. The main stem Eel is holding good color, along with the Van Duzen. The next forecasted rain for the area looks like it will be here by the weekend, with more rain projected into the following week. The first runs of winter steelhead are due to make an appearance at any time, and with some wet stuff on the way fishing should pick up. For low flow fishing closures on the North Coast call: (707) 822-3164  

Prawn flies and clickers. Hard to beat the classics

End of the day on the coast

Salmon runs have come to their end. Steelhead on tap

Today was Opening Day at Eagle Canyon.  We enjoyed a beautiful day and some pretty good fishing, too.  The weather was almost too nice - there wasn't a ripple on the surface all day.  The bite was definitely slow for Opening Day but everyone hooked into multiple fish.  The largest to hand was about 7 pounds and I saw quite a few 10 pound plus fish hooked briefly.  There are some big fish out there with flies (if not entire leaders) in their mouths!

Chad with a nice one

Nice fish Danny!

Young Jack with a big rainbow

Peter Santley and I guided a great group of guys the past two days. The air temps have been very cold this week, so the water temps are dropping and the river is very low and gin clear.  Fishing was very tough for both of us both days.  Jim landed landed a nice wild fish on Friday, and we had a brief hook-up today. We really need some rain for conditions to improve.  I'm hearing rumors there is a new batch of fish moving upriver, so hopefully we will see them in the coming days.

Jim with a beautiful wild fish!