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Living on Fall River has its perks. I have had some time off after a busy streatch, and have been doing some highly enjoyable fishing. I've been fishing Fall River for a few hours during the hatch, catching a few sighted large fish on a dry each session. I have no idea how the nymph grab is, because I just look for the big heads to come up. Then I mosey to one of the small creeks I have been fishing with my 3 wt, and enjoy more dry fly fishing for wild fish. Then I take a nap, then bbq dinner. At around 8:45, I head down to lower Fall River and wait for the hex to start, then I pillage. The last 5 nights have provided some of the best hex fishing I've seen in 11 years fishing the hatch. It should stay strong all month, but I have been educating the fish each night, so you better get up here.  Hexalicious  Bella, enjoying the hex hatch  another fish coming in |
I have never seen more bugs in one night than I did tonight on Fall River. The hex hatch was like a thick hatch of baetis, but with size 6 hexes. Despite massive numbers of bugs we were still able to do really well. Dax and I had the night off so we got to do some fishing ourselves. Dax brought a 3wt Redington that was super fun to cast. We had plenty of grabs and one of my own hex patterns produced really well. We both caught a fish on the 3wt. The last three fish we landed taped out at 18, 20, and 21 and were in superb condition. This is the best hex year I've ever seen on Fall River. Don't miss it. It's just starting! |
The hex hatch has been incredible the last four nights in a row. The fish were so grabby tonight - I was really impressed with the number of bugs, fish, and opportunities. My clients landed about five and hooked about ten others tonight. We had some great battles with long runs and multiple jumps right in front of the boat. The bugs were out early tonight - we got grabs on dries from 8:30 on. Come up and fish with one of the Confluence Hexperts. The hatch looks like it will last all month and a bit into August! |
The hex has been insane the last 3 nights. You need to be on your game at the beginning of the hatch, before there are too many bugs on the water. Great friend and Sage rep Jamie Lyle and his buddy JR came out with Gino and I the other night and caught fish at will. I fished a number of small creeks in the area with my 3wt and a dry fly yesterday. I think I hooked 127 fish or something like that...for all you numbers guys out there. All were wild, non hatchery reared fish. I even used a rod made in America, which I think makes a difference. Overcast today...Fall River will be epic... |
The hex hatch is in full swing on lower Fall River. 20 minutes of glory is usually starting around 9:20pm. We are also hooking fish pre hatch stripping hex nymphs under clear sinking lines starting around 8:30.
The upper river is also producing excellent dry fly opportunities almost every day. Big fish are really looking up if you are patient and focus on them.
Pit 3 is fishing well for adventurous waders. Smaller creeks are also dropping into shape offering easy wading and great dry fly action.
The Mac is high, clear, and beautiful. Great hatches are happening mid to late afternoon and in the evenings. I like to camp with clients up there and fish it during prime times for a few days to get the whole experience in. The Mac is one of the best freestone rivers in the states. |
The hex hatch is on and going strong on Fall River. I found a great spot 2 nights ago where the bugs were pouring out of the shallow weedbeds. The big rainbows lined up to eat them like pigs at the feeding trough! Best of all, we were able to position the boat within about 15 feet of these fish. John & Jim had about a dozen hookups and landed five. The hatch looks to be a good one this year. Come up and see what it's all about! |
The Pit River may be higher than before, but it still fishes well. The key is to find spots that are safely wadable. The pocket water is still the best place to find fish. I had a great morning with Chris from Palo Alto. We got a few on nymphs under an indicator, but then really cleaned up when we switched to a dry and dropper. Chris hooked at least two dozen rainbows on the dry-dropper rig. It was a ton of fun! He also landed a smallmouth bass - see the photo! We finished the day on a great small stream fishing dries.  The new, bigger, gnarlier Pit 3  Smallie  Nice Hat, Chris! |
The Upper McCloud is still high, but it's crystal clear and fishing really well for aggressive waders. Jon Hazlett and I spent the day with a group of four in the Fowlers area. The morning was a little slow, but after lunch the grab really turned on. We had a great mixed hatch of golden stones, little yellow stones, salmonflies, green drakes, and assorted smaller mayflies. We caught a lot of wild browns and rainbows. By the end we were hooking several fish on dry flies in each pool.  McCloud rainbow  McCloud brown |
Fall River continues to produce superb dry fly opportunities for discerning anglers. I have had clients this past week who share my passion of hunting the large wild fish of the Fall and only using drys to catch them...it works if you have patience and skills. This is the most exciting way to fish the river and provides some epic moments. There has been some massive fish landed this week on drys.
The hex hatch has been insane. Confluence has access on the lower river right where it happens. I motored up about 100 yards last night and watched Dave and Jeremy pillage. Hatch has been starting at 9:30 and has been insane.
Lots of fools on the upper river this season. If you come up and fish on your own...please use proper etiquette. If you want to low hole people, kick up wakes, or side drift from drift boats or your sled, the Lower Sac is fishing excellent right now. Fall River is a classic unique river...show some respect if you fish here. |
I just spoke with Gino Bernero and he said last night was the first good hex hatch of the year. With continued warm weather, it should just get better. We expect the hatch to last until the end of July this year. |
There is a great mixed hatch on Hat Creek in the evening right now. Golden stones, swarms of caddisflies, and assorted mayflies are all coming off in huge numbers. |
Many of our favorite small streams are in prime shape right now. I spent the day on a beautiful meadow stream with father/son team Dave and Jeremy. They landed dozens of wild rainbows up to 12 inches, all on dry flies. The weather is beautiful and the fish are chowing down. Come on up!  Jeremy fishing a nice run  Dave hooked up |
The weather has been superb this past week, and the fishing is getting better and better. Fall River has had some amazing windows of dry fly fishing, and the fish are starting to grab damsel nymphs under the i-line too. Michael, Ted, and Chuck all had superb dry fly fishing to individually targeted large fish. Did some fun sight fishing with Michael on the Lower McCloud for some rather large browns and rainbows. PMDs came off around 4pm. Lots of caddis and yellow stones on Hat Creek in the evenings at the moment. Pit 1 is still unfishable, but Pit 3 is fishing great at times for aggressive waders. Baum Lake is a circus, and even the truck trout are over the relentless bashing. The small creeks are coming into shape, and July is really shaping up to be truly magnificent.  Mike on the Lower Mac |
Today was my final day with Jon from Mill Valley. Our plan was to fish the Lower Sac, but with steady 25mph winds we opted for a plan B. I took Jon to one of my secret spots up in the hills above Redding. No wading required, and the fish were eager to eat Fukushima Ants, Royal Wulffs, and Purple Haze dry flies. We also landed some toads on a copper john. It was great to get out of the wind and have some productive dry fly fishing for big fish.  Lots of fish this size chowed our dry flies |
I had a fun day guiding a couple of kids going into 8th grade next year, Marcus & Nick. They picked up the indicator technique really quickly and did very well for their first time on the Lower Sac. Nick caught an 18 rainbow right below the Sundial Bridge, and landed a couple others, too. Marcus also landed a fish. All in all the boys hooked about 10 fish, not bad for a very windy day. Birds Nests and brown S&M nymphs have been the best. There is a good PMD hatch mid-day right now and some big caddisflies are around, too.  Nick with the big fish of the day  Marcus with a fish  Style points! |
The stonefly hatch is going strong on Hat Creek. The entire wild trout section is experiencing a mixed hatch of golden and giant stones. Fish are eating them during the day, but the evening dry fly grab has been the best.  giant stonefly |
Day 2 with Jon from Mill Valley: Jon got an unconventional grand slam today. He started with a bluegill from an undisclosed location, then racked up the trout species at Baum Lake. The trout included a rainbow, brown, and a deceased brook trout (really!). It's been a long time since I saw someone dredge up a dead fish off the bottom, but we did it today at Baum. It was a brookie that probably weighed 4-5 lbs alive, but that must have been a while back. Gross! All in all a good day, Jon finished strong again with an 18 rainbow at the end of the day.  Bluegill  Big Baumer |
Today was day 1 with Jon from Mill Valley. We fished Fall River all day. We ended up driving around a lot, but finally found a bunch of nice fish at the end of the day. Jon landed a nice 14 rainbow on a dry during the PMD hatch, but most of the fish we saw were incredibly difficult. It's nice to have a lot of big fish within 50 feet of the boat, but there are days when it's hard to get them to eat anything. We finished strong though, hooking five or six fish 15-18 on pheasant tails, hare's ears, and olive woolly buggers.  Jon's big fish of the day  Jon's Fukushima Ant |
The Lower Sac continues to fish very well. Flows were down to 9300cfs today and the fish were very grabby from the get-go. Temps were in the low 80s all day with solid overcast skies, so tons of bugs were hatching. Owen and Katie from San Francisco caught a lot of fish. Katie caught her first ever fish on a nymph and caught a fish on a dry fly, too. Owen did very well nymphing and landed an 18 rainbow on a dry. Our best flies were birds nests, copper johns, and cheese brains.  Owen with his first and biggest fish of the day  Katie with her first fish ever!  Lots of fish like this today |
The Lower Sac is scheduled to steadily drop through Saturday June 11th to 9300cfs. Fishing should be great this week as the river drops. Book a trip soon! |
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