Current Fishing Report

Spent a cold and clear day on the Trinity with Nick and Dave.  We had a great day as far as weather and conversation, but the fishing conditions were tough.  The low and clear water proved to be a challenge.  We nymphed most of the day but also swung flies with single hand and traditional spey rigs.  We touched one fish briefly on the swing and had two nice encounters on nymph rig.  On the second grad we were able to bring a beautiful wild hen to the net.  All in all an enjoyable day, but it's hard work hooking up right now. 

Dave trying his hand with a single hand swing set up.

Finally! A nice reward for a long day fishing for Nick!

I spent another long day at Eagle Canyon today getting ready for Opening Day on Saturday.  The new shade structure is coming along nicely.  Much more importantly, what about the fish?  The fish are huge this year!  Our average fish is 7.2 pounds.  We have a lot of fish over 10# in the ponds this year.  The weekend of Dec 16/17, just one week after opening day, is still open right now.  Jump on it and take a crack at these big fish before they see a lot of anglers

James with a big one

more progress today...

The upper Rogue has been fishing awesome this past week.  The weather has been amazing, with temperatures hitting the 60s in the afternoons.   Leslie and I have been hooking fish on the swing every day.  Our clients have been landing mostly wild fish in that 6-8 pound range.We rarely see more than one other boat a day on the water.  For late fall steelhead, it doesn’t get better than the upper Rogue!

I've been up at Eagle Canyon pretty much every day this week making preparations for Opening Day this Saturday.  The lakes look great!  Our shade structure by the upper shed finally bit the dust this winter and I am busy building a replacement.  We have plenty of openings left in December but we're down to just 5 open weekends left for the whole season.  Mid-week availability is pretty good for the most part.

The lakes look great

The old shade structure is history

I had a fantastic time with Doug yesterday, swinging for steelhead. The fish were very grabby and the ones we encountered were prime specimen Rogue steelhead. If you're looking for an uncrowded river with excellent swing water, look no further. 

A gorgeous wild hen

Scenic views

Great day introducing Spey casting and fishing on the Swing, Fred is a quick study, both trout and Steelhead to 4lbs helped in the education process as well as properly breaking in a brand new rod, Great Company, Great Weather , Great day, what more could an Angler or Guide ask for...Tight Lines

The Trinity is in Great shape, a little boney up top but fish are spread throughout the system. Some days are scratchy, other days are pretty darn good, Steve and Ken arrived for a couple days of Spey casting for Steelhead, day one was slow but they didn't loose faith and day two we got into them pretty good.... Sounds alot like Steelheading... Commit to the Swing and you will be justly rewarded...Tight Lines

Ken with a Nice hatchery Buck

Ken with his Buck

Bent to the Cork !

 I have spent most of the last two months on the Trinity River chasing fall run steelhead with my clients and fellow guides on the Confluence team. We have had some great days both swingng and nymping. Fishing has been a lot better than this time last season. As the fall run appears to making its way to the upper stretches of the river, We are starting to see signs of new winter run fish this week. The numbers of winter run fish will be increasing over the coming weeks. This is a good time to get out and do some steelhead fishing. I have some dates available I am trying to fill .  Dec 6th and 7th ,10th and later dates too,    We have the guides to handle your group trips also. It's steelhead season come out and join us for some fun on the river,December and January should be good!  Good fishing,Peter SantleyGuide 

Today I guided Lloyd and Jack on the lower Sac.  We had a little rain to begin with, but then it stopped and we had a very good morning.  Both hooked and landed several really nice fish, all the while thinking the weather gurus were way off with their forecast.  Our good fortune ended around noon.  A system moved through and dumped rain for about an hour...and then there was the wind!  The afternoon was very different from the morning, we had a mixture of calm weather, wind and rain...and for whatever reason, it just shut the bite down.  All in all, it was a good day for the end of November.  I'm looking forward to spring fishing on the Sac!

Jack with a beauty!

Lloyd with a really nice fish!

.The Trinity Basin has recieved several good bouts of rain this Fall with the most recent being this past Sunday into Monday and blew the river out from Rush Creek down. The Trinity was back in shape in the upper reaches on Tuesday, the recent rains have been just what the Doctor Ordered, Steelhead are on the move. The Summer/Fall fish are making there way to there final destinations and Fresh Early Winter Steelhead are filing in, right on there heels. As long as the Weather stays active, like it has, the fishing should remain good for the forseeable future... Happy Thanksgiving and Tight Lines !

One of three wild ones that Rob landed Friday

I had high expectations when I met Earl bright and early this past Saturday outside of the general store in Salyer. We were set to do a day float from Hawkins Bar down to the Salyer bridge, and with the Trinity on the drop after a big push of rain I was hoping we would find a fresh fish or two somewhere along the way. The night before had been cold, with temperatures hovering around freezing, so I felt confident in the bigger bugs and heavy chunk of T-14 we were throwing. We spotted a few steelies holding in a tailout behind dark Chinook but couldn't get one to commit. Earl finished strong with an end of the day half pounder that was as bright as bright could be, but he gave us the fin when we got him to the bank and slipped off the line. I was surprised to see few fish in the lower river after such a healthy amount of rain. November is usually when the first larger winter runs start to make an appearance, but all of our efforts to find a big adult went unanswered. In the end it was still a beautiful day to be out on the water. Right now all rivers on the North Coast are on the rise and blown out. When they drop in it'll be game on for the first hopes of swinging up a coastal chromer. Get your game face on, the shows about to begin.  

Earl sends one to the far side on the lower Trinity

The is no anticipation like the anticipation of a tight line grab

Bugs for late season Trinity River steelhead

My second day with the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers was even better than yesterday.  It was a cold morning and VERY crowded on my float.  We took our time and hooked three fish right at the put-in.  Fishing remained consistent for the first half of the day, but slowed down after lunch.  We started with a very good landing percentage - but then the wheels kinda fell off.  All in all, Rich and George had an outstanding day hooking nine adults and landing three.  

George with his first steelhead of the trip!

George with a beautiful wild fish!

Rich with another nice hatchery steelhead!

The rains that were forecast to show up came and delivered. All systems on California's North Coast saw significant rises over the weekend and the roller coaster continues with more wet weather on tap. With so many variables in weather and flows finding the perfect conditions can be fleeting. You can study graphs and projected rises compared to rainfall percentages until the cows come home. Your best bet is to get out when you can and forget the forecast. The fishing has been amazing at times, and slow during others, but for swinging flies that's par for the course. All it takes is one. I'm looking forward to transitioning into winter steelhead in the coming weeks. They're already starting to show up on the coast with the runs of salmon. Usually Thanksgiving is the unofficial start of the season, and with this next big push of rain it looks like it'll start off with a bang!  

A freshly minted coastal king.

Chris with the prize.

Colton with a chromed out king

Sometimes it really is that simple. Pink or Chartreuse?

A beautiful hen on the coast.

The Diablo Valley Fly Fishers are here and I had the pleasure of guiding Rob and Rich.  We received a fair amount of rain yesterday, so the flows have come up a little more and the color is ideal.  We did well today.  The river was crowded, so finding water is the challenge.  Rich started the day by landing a nice hatchery male.  Within a few minutes, Rob followed up landing two more nice hatchery fish and then ended up on the losing end after a brief encounter.  The extended forecast is calling for a few nice days, but then we have another system moving in that looks to bring some significant rainfall early next week.

Rich with a really nice hatchery steelhead!

Rob with his nicest fish of the day!

I just got back from the 2017 Pro Delta Days event put on by John Sherman and the crew at Simms.  It was an excellent event, very well organized and we also had some great weather.  I was joined by fellow guides Randy Hamann and Brian Kohlman.  None of us had fished the delta before so we had very low expectations for our fishing success.  Our first two days were really good and then our luck ran out on Sunday.  We landed a lot of schoolie stripers up to 4 pounds, mainly casting our streamers against rip-rap banks.  It was pretty cool to see bass boats that go 70mph, even if we were not in one!  It was also great to see so many of our friends from within the fly fishing industry.  We're already planning our next trip to this intriguing fishery.

Sugar Barge Resort, host to the 2017 Simms Delta Days event

Randy Hamann and Brian Kohlman getting bassy

Our highly functional and very not fast rental boat, a 17ft Triumph from the Sugar Barge

Randy with our best black bass.

One of Andrew's best stripers (that he didn't break off)

The Trinity is really starting to get a lot of pressure now, but the fishing remains good.  With the recent rains, the flows have come up a bit and we have more rain in store this week.  The river is expected to come up some more, but will remain very fishable.  I'm hoping this rain will trigger a new batch of fish to move into the upper river.    

Bob with a nice hatchery buck!

Rain is on tap for the North Coast. This looks to be the biggest rise of the fall season to date, and with it will come a push of fresh fish from the salt. All rivers from the Eel to the south to the Smith in the north have projected rises varying in degree from 1 foot to 3 plus. Batten down the hatches and break out the vice. Kings are coming to a coastal river near you. The Trinity should also receive a fresh pulse of fish with the rain we have in store. The lower river has been somewhat of a desert with most fish concentrated in the upper and middle stretches.  Happy hunting

The prize

Chartreuse is hard to beat when it comes to targeting fresh Kings.

I had a really fun day with Phil and Lori.  The river had dropped to 6,000 cfs early this morning, but the fishing was consistent in many areas, and spotty in others.  Small nymphs have been the most productive my past few trips.  The A.C.I.D. dam has been removed and the flows are scheduled to drop to the low 5,000's this week.

I spent the day swinging flies with Jeff and Shane from the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club.  Jeff had one brief hook-up and a few solid bumps while swinging.  Shane hooked one nice fish while nymphing, but it managed to leave us empty handed as well.  There are plenty of steelhead in the system and with the upcoming rain, conditions should definitely improve!  The word is out, so crowded conditions should be expected.

The Trinity continues to produce some really nice fish.  It has gotten very busy in the past few days, so the fish are seeing a lot more pressure.  Today was the first day of the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club's annual trip.  Joe landed a very nice half-pounder early on, and he and Kevin fished hard all day.  Later in the day Joe hooked into a very nice hatchery buck that gave him quite a fight.  We received a little yesterday and last night, so the river has come up a little.  We have more rain coming our way beginning Wednesday, so that should trigger some fish to move up river and the water levels should come up a bit - hopefully.  It's steelhead time!