Current Fishing Report

I guided Mike, David and Will on Lewiston over the 4th. The weather was perfect and the crowds minimal but the fishing was slow. We only managed to land 3 fish for about 4+ hrs of fishing, the fish we landed where caught striping various color small leaches on full sinking and intermediate lines.I saw very little insect activity, maybe due to a swinging barometer, the day before we had the most intense thunder showers here that I have seen here.I,m sure the fishing will improve.  

Dave with a scrappy rainbow

I had a great day today tagging along with some friends on the Middle Fork Feather.  We drove down within a few hundred yards on ATVs.  That made the hike a lot easier!  We got down there early, which was good because of the heat.  It was close to 100 degrees when we came out in the early afternoon.  We found lots of wild rainbows in the pocket water and plunge pools.  The biggest fish I saw were about 12 and the average fish were 8-9, but there were a lot of them.  The most productive setup was a Chernobyl ant with a size 14 beadhead nymph about 3 feet below.  The fish ate both flies, and the bigger fish definitely went for the dry.  It was a lot of fun going back to one of my old haunts!

Another HOT day in the North State, seems like there is no escape with this heat wave extending all the way from the Northwest to the Southwest. Redding hit a high of 115 on Tuesday but I would estimate that on the river it was closer to 100. The fishing was decent, we hooked fish throughout the day and they were nice sized, healthy, chunky, rainbows.The fishing on the Lower Sac will only get better as the summer rolls on and the fish become more accustomed to the Summer flow regime.Don't let the summer pass you by without spending a day or two on the World Class Lower Sac !

another chunky rainbow

We had a really good morning today on Fall River.  Bob & Kathy hooked and landed quite a few fish on nymphs.  Our biggest fish was 17, and we caught a lot of small and medium-sized fish.  There is a decent PMD hatch from 11am to 2pm right now.  Fishing was tougher after lunch.  We tried to catch some fish on dries but the risers were pretty spread out.  It was pretty amazingly hot out there today.  Cooler weather would be nice. 

Bob's big fish of the day

Fall River is providing some stellar opportunities for the dry fly fisherman at the moment, both during the day and hex hatch in the evenings. I have been out hexing the last 16 nights, and have a pretty good understanding of where the fish are. Pressure is high, except where I have been fishing. There were 3 nights that it didn't happen, but we hooked fish anyway. I'm sticking around in July to continue pounding these fish...inside joke. Some killer technical dry fly fishing can be had between around 11 and 3 during the day for some very large fish looking up.

Captain Ferber heading out for the hex hatch

The weather was hot on the Mac today but the fishing held up fairly well.  We pretended that we were in Montana and fished dry/dropper all day.  We had a lot of fish come up to look at or eat our Chernobyl ants and a lot more ate the nymph dropper.  Our biggest fish was only about 12, but it was a lot of fun.  The fish are pretty packed into the shallow riffles and pockets right now.  A lot of the really obvious buckets and pools are fishing pretty slow.

We had good fishing today until 11am and then it totally shut down on us.  It turns out the flows went down and back up today by about 1000cfs.  Not a recipe for success on the Lower Sac.  Fortunately we landed two really nice fish before the bite turned off.  Both were on small olive mayfly nymph patterns.  There was a huge PMD hatch, size 18-20, from noon until 4pm.

The crazy weather continues.  It was actually overcast and relatively calm all day today.  That made for a great PMD hatch, but the fish were super selective.  It was challenging to see and to select a fly that they would eat regularly.  We got a few good fish 12-16 on nymphs, though.  We did well on the hex hatch despite HORRIBLE conditions and absolutely no hatch.  Tom and Mary Ann landed five fish, pretty good for no light, no hatch, and no bugs!

I fished Lewiston over the weekend and it fished Very Good. The fish are spread out and not podded up like earlier in the season. The dry fly action is limited to VERY technical midge fishing to smutten trout, why not they have a billion midge to choose from. Swinging and stripping small leeches is a different story, the fish are aggressive and the takes solid. The grab has been solid from around 9 am to 3 pm and there is plenty of lake to find some solitude. I have often wondered whether the sores I have noticed on some fish were caused by Lamprey, last year I swore that I saw a fish swim by with a Lamprey attached, it was confirmed yesterday when I landed  a fat 16 rainbow with a fat 10 lamprey firmly attached.The water in Lewiston Lake does not warm up in the summer like most lakes in the state, the water stays cool all summer and the fishing will be consistent through the Fall.Get off the couch and book now!   

Plenty of Fat Rainbows like this in Lewey !

More than Trout in Lewey !!!

Last February we hosted the local chapter of Project Healing Waters, sponsored by the Shasta/Trinity Fly Fishers.  Read what they had to say about their trip to Eagle Canyon:http://www.shastatrinityflyfishers.org/phw.html

A lot of folks got scared off the last few nights with the strange weather we have been having here in the FallRiver Valley. The fish and hex bugs don't seem to mind. Jon and Steve took over Jon's brother's trip who bailed out. We hooked well over 20 fish, had 4 double hook ups, and landed over 10. Thanks to Jon's brother making the introduction to good fisherman possible on the best hex night of the season. The night before Jonny and I hooked over 20 fish as well. We did not see a single other boat where we were fishing the last two nights. Epic.

Jonny on the spot

The month of June is shaping up just like it should, great fishing and great weather. Lots of summer time hatches are appearing in the mornings and evenings and Confluence Outfitters is taking advantage of those hatches every day. If you can break away give us a call and get up to northern California for some fantastic fishing 

The Pit River has been fishing well for the angler who is willing to charge around and cover water. There are some slow periods of the day, but when it on, it is on fire. Nymphing or dry dropper rig is your best bet to get into fish. Black size 14 nymphs have worked best for me.

Here is a shot from hexing 2 nights ago.  Burt & John got at least 50 grabs on hex dries despite some poor conditions.

My client John from Menlo Park ladned a 20 rainbow on a hex dry this afternoon.  The hatch is really good this year.  On a cloudy day like today there are a lot of hex that come off during the daytime.  Some really nice fish take notice, too.  Burt and John got about 10 grabs on hex dries this afternoon.  We're hoping for no wind and a clear sky for this evening's hex trip...

John got this one on a hex dry today

A fairly large hex adult

Burt landed this fish on a small nymph

I snuck away on another epic trip to Mexico a few weeks ago to chase the famous rooster fish of Baja. Much more technical fishing than the juvenile tarpon of the Yucatan, but a must do for the ultra keen angler. The operation that I used was superb in every aspect, with excellent guides, pristine beachfront accommodation, and the best authentic Mexican food I have ever had. I am putting a trip together for next April or May along with two other Tarpon Tours that are in the books. Flights to Mexico are affordable, the package deals are the best value in the saltwater industry,and the fishing is some of my favorite in the world. Contact me for details.

Jeff from Alaska with an epic rooster

Guide Justin spotting cruising roosters

We had some funky weather the last few days but fishing has been great overall. The Mac: nymphing in the morning has picked up, but its all about the afternoon dry fly fishing most days. Hat Creek: the recent chilly whether has slowed down the hatches, but warmer whether will improve fishing next week. Fall River: hex hatch is full on when conditions are good. the best fishing during the day has been nymphing, but I had some epic dry fly fishing today from around 1 to 3:30. Small streams are still fishing excellent.

We had an outstanding day today on one of our local small streams.  The weather is very strange for June.  Highs were in the low 70s today and we had overcast all day.  The fish were looking up for dries all day.  Burt and John landed many wild fish up to ten inches and a few hatchery fish that went a little larger.  Our best flies were a Turck's Tarantula and a brown stimulator size 10.

The Hex hatch is really going off this year. I fished it the last 4 nights in 4 different locations and caught fish in all of them. Last night we landed a fish around 4 pounds that had shoulders that reminded me of a New Zealand brown trout. We did not see any other boats where I was. During the day we fished the lake system and landed multiple fish between 18 and 20 inches. The fish in upper Fall are really spreading out now, so you don't need to race to the upper river with everyone else anymore. Confluence is on the water every single night in multiple locations on the river. We have access to both the upper and lower river to make sure that our clients have the best opportunity to be in the best possible spot for the hatch on any given night. Our team of guides is the most experienced on the river for hexing, by far...by leaps and bounds actually.

I guided the Upper Sac today.  We sampled three sections of the river, from Pollard Flat up to Dunsmuir.  There were a lot of golden stones flying around in the afternoon.  We got a couple grabs on golden stone dries, but I bet it will be incredible this evening.  The fishing was so-so for us today.  We had to cover a lot of water to get a grab.  We caught a few small to medium-sized rainbows on nymphs.  Water levels are nice and low and the river is highly fishable.

Hooked up on the Upper Sac