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Gino Bernero, Mike Peters, Tom April and I are teaching the guide school at Clearwater Lodge at the Pit River this week. We had our first full day on the water today and the Pit fished okay. It felt like it had been worked over a little bit, but we still hooked quite a few fish. We have a great crew in this year's guide school and we're looking forward to a great week.
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We had pretty good fishing today on the Lower Sac through Redding. Flows came up to 6000cfs overnight. These flow changes usually screw up the fishing for a day or two, but not today! We had good action in the morning on a size 18 olive Tailwater Tiny. Mid-morning was a little slow, but things picked up after we got below Bonnyview boat ramp. We landed a couple of nice 16-18 fish today. Our best flies in the afternoon were the Sloan's Mighty May, brown 16 and Burk's HBI size 16. We even had some dry fly fishing in a couple of spots.
 Lower Sac  Lower Sac |
We were on the no indicator program again today. We floated a section of the lower river near Red Bluff. Other than people out in jet boats enjoying the great weather, we had the river to ourselves today. We hooked a couple of nice trout in the morning while high-stick nymphing a small side channel. We also landed some smaller trout while swinging nymphs. We were on the lookout for rising fish, but there weren't any to be found today.
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We were on the dry fly / swing only program today. Our best catch was this close-up of a tom turkey strutting his stuff. There was a great hatch of PMDs mid-day, but we did not find a single consistent rising fish to cast to all day. The fish didn't want to eat nymphs on the swing either.
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We floated from the Posse Grounds to the Sac RV Park today. The nymphing was very slow today despite a great hatch of PMDs mid-day. The fish we hooked on nymphs were all big, though. We landed a couple 17-18 fatties on a size 18 Morrish anato-may in olive. At the end of the day we found a big group of fish rising. We landed five on dries, including a couple 14-15 bows. It rained on us lightly most of the day.
 Dry fly hookup! |
Hands down, New Zealand has the best trout fishing in the world for accomplished anglers...just ask long time Confluence Client Dennis Taniguchi, who came back for his 2nd trip to the South Island. Words, photos, or video footage (although we have plenty) simply can not describe the week of fishing and wonderful non angling experiences that Dennis had. The multiple trophy fish Dennis landed did not come easy, but he took advantage of the incredible opportunities as they seemed to continuously present themselves. Dennis really stepped up his game since last trip, and it paid off. Off the water, Dennis hung out with the laid back people of Garston, which is surrounded by the best trout fishing rivers in the world.
You just don't know if you don't go. In 2010, I have week long all inclusive packages that start off at just $3900...more affordable than your average brainless hack job fishing trip to Alaska where a fish will eat a cigarette but. If you are a keen angler, you need to get a hold of me. I am only going to do NZ for about 3 more seasons. Airfare is cheap at the moment as well. Book now, before I retire.
 Dry fly trophy...Church River tributary  Dry fly trophy....Church River  Dry fly trophy...Church River |
The nymph grab was a little tough for us today, but we still caught some really nice fish. We floated from Bonnyview to Anderson. There was very light boat traffic. We saw some incredible mayfly hatches today starting around 1pm. The PMDs were first, in a tan size 16 to start and then olive size 14 later. There were also march browns in a size 12 or 14 later in the afternoon. It was just a little too windy to get any surface action, unfortunately. We also saw some golden stones flying around. Our best flies today were a size 18 black micro mayfly and a size 16 beadhead pheasant tail.
 Lower Sac  Lower Sac |
We floated down low today and had great fishing all morning long. We hooked a lot of fish on prince nymphs size 12, S&M nymphs size 16, and beadhead baetis nymphs size 18. The river was kind of crowded today, especially for the lower river. The wind finally stopped blowing today - the weather was perfect! Despite a decent hatch of march browns, little yellow stones, and caddis, action slowed down in the afternoon.
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We fought with the wind again today. Fishing was tough but for a brief window just after lunch when the fish decided to eat for a while. Best flies were a size 16 pheasant tail and a size 16 olive S&M Nymph. We floated from Anderson to Balls Ferry and had the river totally to ourselvels.
 Lower Sac |
Despite heavy winds and a recent increase in flows, the fishing was pretty good today. The river came up to 5000cfs yesterday morning and dropped to 4500cfs mid-day today. Fishing was good from about 10am to 3pm. We had a lot of grabs on Hogan's Spring Fling Pupa size 16. The Morrish Anato-May in Peacock size 16 was good, too. Fishing was slow in the afternoon when the flows dropped again.
 Lower Sac |
We fished the Upper Rogue pretty hard today with our spey rods. Jon Hazlett and I entertained a great group from Kiene's Fly Shop in Sacramento. We floated from Dodge Bridge to Tou Velle. We only saw one other boat all day. The fish were not on the same program, but it was great to fish some incredible swing water. We got one good tug in the afternoon.
 Bad-ass steelhead guide pose |
Jon Hazlett and I guided a great group from Leland Fly Fishing Outfitters in San Francisco today. We floated from Shady Cove to Dodge Bridge on the Upper Rogue. The weather was beautiful and water conditions were perfect. We fished a variety of techniques, alternating between swinging runs with our spey rods and fishing nymphs from the boat. We had three adult steelhead hook-ups today and one wild fish made it into the net.
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Brian Kohlman and I guided together again today. We had a great group of guys from the Sebastopol area for the second day today. We fished in the Cottonwood area today and had the whole river to ourselves. The wind that was forecast for yesterday finally caught up with us today. It was hard to keep the flies in the water at times. Nevertheless, we did hook a good number of fish. It was hard to see the grabs with the wind frothing the water, so a lot of fish threw the hook pretty quickly. Our two big fish of the day did not make it to the net, but they were exciting nonetheless. Our best flies today were the amber prince size 14 and the black copper john size 14. Hopefully the wind dies down tomorrow!
 Brian Kohlman hard at work |
The blanket caddis hatch (brachycentrus) is under way! From about 11am to 4pm today we had clouds of caddisflies blowing around the boat and countless caddis on the water. The grab was great during that window on various caddis pupa patterns, including the Morrish Hotwire Caddis chartreuse size 16 and Hogan's spring fling pupa size 18. We landed some very nice fish today. In the morning our best fly was a pheasant tail size 18.
 Lower Sac  Lower Sac  Caddis flies on the water |
We enjoyed another beautiful day on the Lower Sac today. We floated from the Posse Grounds to Bonnyview and waded all the best wading spots. The wading was very productive today. We found a lot of nice fish in the shallow riffles and drop offs. Our best fly today was a beadhead pheasant tail size 16 or 18. Most of the fish we hooked today were fourteen to eighteen inches.
 Lower Sac  Lower Sac |
If you enjoy good nymph and dry fly fishing for wild trout, you should book a Lower Sac trip soon! We floated near Red Bluff today and hooked a lot of trout. Action was good all day lay long on various nymph patterns. The best were the black copper john size 16 and the amber prince size 14. We even had some great dry fly grabs at the end of the day. We had the whole river to ourselves, also!
 Lower Sac |
We floated from Bonnyview to Anderson today. What a day to be out! The weather was perfect - warm and calm. Fishing was slow in the morning, but the bite was wide open after lunch. Despite clouds of caddisflies flying around, most of our action was on mayfly nymph patterns. There was a great hatch of PMDs and March Browns from 1pm to 4pm. Our best nymphs were a size 16 black copper john, a size 14 amber prince, and a size 18 red copper john. We put a lot of fish in the net today - come on up and enjoy some great spring time trout fishing!
 Lower Sac |
Many anglers have taken advantage of the strong US dollar in New Zealand and the very inexpensive airfare this season. This results in the more famous New Zealand rivers getting alot more pressure than I have seen in the past. The Mataura river, which flows through my back yard, is possible the most famous of them all. I have only guided or fished it three times this season, due to the many anglers and guides flogging it on a daily basis. The good thing about this is that I just keep finding more and more rivers that NO ONE fishes, except myself and clients I take there. Sometimes, we only run across 2-6 fish a day on these rivers...but they are quite willing to eat a well presented dry fly. Oh, and the smallest fish we would run across would be about 23 inches. Book soon for 2010. As it turns out, more and more anglers are wanting to endure my relentless pursuit for angling excellence, and availablity is becoming more and more scarce every year down here. I am only planning on doing NZ for about 3 more seasons, so get on it. Its the best fishing in the world...if you can cast.
 No footprints here  ahh...spring creeks in February  tiny river, huge brown |
We fished a short float on the Lower River today. The bite was slow before lunch but then turned on pretty good in the early afternoon. Best flies were a size 14 beadhead pheasant tail and a size 16 Hogan's S&M nymph. We had the river to ourselves - not a single other boat on our float today.
 Lower Sac |
We focused on dry fly fishing today on the Trinity. There was a pretty good hatch of callibaetis today, with some march browns mixed in. We even saw a couple of green drakes on the water. Our best catch was a 20 adult steelhead about three pounds on a size 14 march brown dry.
A major storm is expected starting Sunday. Fishing for fresh winter steelhead should be great when flows begin to drop after this storm.
 Trinity River |
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