Current Fishing Report

I had the honor of assisting with this Project Healing Waters group trip. My guests, John and Bill, had only been involved with PHW for six months and had never fly fished before. John and Bill were very lucky when it came to hooking fish, but the real challenge came in playing and landing the fish. Both managed to land their very first rainbow on a fly! This is such a great group and I believe all the participants had a great day on the Sac.

Bill with his first rainbow on a fly!

John with his first rainbow on a fly!

Guided Henry and Tommy from Project Healing Waters. We had the entire lower Sac to ourselves which is rare. I worked most the day with Tommy who had never fished before. By the end the float he could cast and mend with the best of ‘em. (See pic above with his first fish ever.) Yea buddy!

Good job Tommy!

I had the honor of guiding two long time Confluence Outfitter’s guests, Frank and Doug, in the 2nd annual Gabe Duran Memorial Fly Fishing Tournament. Cast Hope and the Duran family hosted this 2-day event, which consisted of 25 teams of anglers. The event was a friendly competition…but it was all about big fish! Fishing was tough given the number of contestants, but the real challenge was keeping the fly in the fish’s mouth! It was a fun two days and Cast Hope is an amazing organization that helps introduce kids to fly fishing and the outdoors.

I had the pleasure of guiding my guests Chuck and Kevin the past two days. This was there first time fishing the Lower Sac and they were quite impressed. The weather ideal and the fishing was very consistent and just a lot of fun! The flows are slowly climbing and are scheduled to be at 8,500 cfs by May 8th. May is a great time to fish the Sac – the temps are still reasonable and the fishing is still really good.

Chuck with a nice one

These guys can put up a good fight!

A face only a mother could love...maybe not

All day long

Kevin wih a beauty

My guests Doug and Greg had planned on a walk-wade trip for the opener, but decided last night they would prefer to float the Sac instead. We had a few light showers and some nasty wind for a short time, but it ended up being a pleasant day. The last time I took took the guys out Greg had the hot rod, but today it was Doug’s turn! We had a great time and had lots of laughs.

Doug with a nice one

Sometimes you have to look up!

Today was a great day with Jesse and his son Julian! The fishing was consistent all day and the weather held out until we got off the water. We had a few double hook-ups and Julian decided to go for the Lower Sac trifecta today – he landed several trout, a couple of squawfish (pike minnow), and even a sucker. It really doesn’t matter what eats your flies, it’s all about the fight!

Spending time together on the river!

Julian puttin' the screws to another nice fish!

What!

I had the pleasure of guiding Marko and Rick on a trout spey trip today. The flows have been consistently rising so the bite was slow. We fished in the Redding area hoping to swing-up some larger fish. They both got grabbed, but came away empty handed.

Great day on the lower Sac with Kevin + Randal. The guys killed it today- every fish landed was big!

Kevin with a nice buck

Randal with his first Sac river rainbow!

Peter Santley and I guided some great guests today. We had another beautiful spring day, but it looks like we may get a little more rain this weekend. The flows are continuing to go up and are expected to be at 6,000 cfs by the 26th. Even with the continued flow increases, the fishing was good today. I’m looking forward to focusing my efforts on lower floats, which are less crowded, so my guests don’t have to deal with all the shenanigans we are experiencing on the upper river. Small PMD nymphs still seem to be the flies of choice!

I fished the Lower Sac today with Brian Kohlman and local guide Kevin Kay from Redding. We fished a float that is considerably less popular than the Redding beats and the fishing was really good.  We landed a lot of fish from 12-15" and lost one really big fish.  Fun times and no crowds!

fishing in solitude

Peter Santley, Scott Saiki, and I guided some very good clients the past two days. The weather was outstanding, but the fishing was tough!  The flows were bumped 1,000 cfs in 24-hours, which was significant given they were at 3,250. All three of us got our guests into fish, but they all worked very hard for every hook-up. The river was incredibly crowded on Saturday, but today we seemed to have it to ourselves. Fishing should pick up this week now that the flows are stable. Small PMD nymphs still worked the best.

Jim's first trout on a fly rod!

Ted and his son Zach spending quality time together!

Had a good time guiding Paul + Ted from San Raffael on the lower Sac. It was pretty warm today, we would hook a few fish in a stretcjh and then go without any grabs for a bit. PMD nymphs+crackback’s+prince nymphs fooled a few fish today.

Wet wading + throwing dries

Paul with his first lower Sac ‘bow

Tyler Lee and I guided a great group of guys the past two days. The weather was ideal, and the fishing was very good. The bite was a little slow in the morning, but became more consistent until mid-late afternoon. My guests Dave and Wally connected with some really nice fish both days.

I spent the afternoon fishing the Lower Sac with local Chico-based guide Kayla Katayama.  The fishing was red-hot for most of the afternoon.  I landed 3 fish in 3 passes in the first run we fished.  There was a thick hatch of PMDs most of the afternoon.  Fish were rising in all of the usual dry-fly spots.  The river is in great shape, hatches are great and the fish seem to be in very good condition.

Andrew with a nice Lower Sac rainbow

Brian Kohlman and I did a walk-wade trip today with four guests from the Peninsula Fly Fishers club.  We use our jet boats on walk/wade trips on the Lower Sac so we can quickly get around to the best wading spots.  We fished two techniques today: trout-spey and dry fly.  Swinging flies with "trout-speys" - 2, 3 and 4wt spey rods - was pretty darn slow today.  Fortunately the dry fly fishing was very good.  We had a lot of great opportunities to cast to rising fish throughout the day.  At times our odds were vanishingly slim due to the blanket hatch of PMD mayflies.  Most of the time, though, the fish were pretty eager to eat a properly presented dry fly.  We hooked fish up to 18" on dries and landed several in the 15-17" range.

Hooked up on a dry fly

Allen with a dry fly fish

Andrew Harris and I guided a group of guests from the Peninsula Fly Fishers. The primary focus began as a trout spey trip and the grab was slow. We experienced an incredible PMD hatch and quickly changed gears. My guys had a hard time fishing dries because there were so many naturals on the water. My guest Chris swung up a beautiful 18” fish on a soft hackle. This is a great way to fish the Sac and learn, or perfect new techniques.

Chris with a beautiful fish caught on a 4wt trout spey rod!

I was part of a 4-boat trip today, which just made the “flotilla” even larger! The river is fishing very well now, so expect heavy crowds on the weekends. Our group was comprised of friends and relatives and it seemed everyone had a great time. Considering the heavy pressure, it appeared all the boats were hooking fish! Mike, and his father Dennis hooked a fair number of fish, but the quality and size was very impressive! I’m confident the fishing is going to continue to improve the rest of the month and throughout May.

Mike with a beauty!

Another really nice fish!

Dennis with a very nice fish!

Kevin Kay and I guided a wonderful group of ladies from Southern California the past two days. This was their first trip to NorCal and I have a feeling they were pleasantly surprised! The grab was pretty consistent throughout the day on Thursday. The morning started slow today, but the bite definitely picked in the afternoon. Every time I looked, one of them was holding onto a bent rod! Nothing beats spring fishing on the Sac!

I fished Ron and Kirt again today. The bite was a little slower than yesterday, but still consistent.  Kirt lost his mojo and struggled to bring any to net today, but Ron did manage to land a couple really nice and several in the 14-16 inch range.  PMD nymphs were the hot ticket again.

Today I guided Ron from the Bay Area, and Kirt from Orlando. The day started with some light showers, but then turned into a beautiful day. The fish seemed pleased because the bite stayed very consistent all day. Today could have been epic had we landed all the fish we hooked. Once again, all our landed fish came on small PMD imitations.