Current Fishing Report

My day with some gents from Bakersfield went pretty well. Though we had a bit of a cold spell, the weather was pretty nice and we only had to battle the wind for a short period of time in the morning. The flows on the Lower Sac are still low (3100cfs), but the water color is great and when the bugs start popping, the fish are noticeably move grabby. Other than about an hour, we had pretty steady action throughout the day, though LANDING fish is often more challenging than HOOKING fish. We hooked a few 20+ inch fish and really enjoyed seeing the various bugs popping off (caddis & mayflies, primarily). The fish are eating sucker spawn imitations too, so using one of those and/or a rubber legs was productive. But sometimes you have to take that stuff off and go tiny! We did it all and everything produced a fish or two. Now's a great time to get out, so book a trip today!

“Mine as well set the hook on that one!”

Greg’s first fish of the day was a 20 incher!

Yeah!

Steelhead? Trout? Yes.

The Lower Sac has been fishing very well. As we head into March it is one of my favorite months to be out there. Lots of different hatches throughout the river and the fish are on the chew. I had a great day out there with a single angler client. Fish were primarily eating caddis and mayflies for us. 

Trinity steelhead fishing remains good to great depending on day. We are getting fresh winter fish on the right floats .These winter fish are moving fast and you locate them one day and they have moved the next. I have been getting clients into is both nymphing and swinging with clear water tactics. A shot of rain could give us another push of fish. River has been less crowded lately and shoul have fishing through March and into April. This is agood time of year to do combo trips on multiple day bookings fishing both Trinity and Lower Sac. I am also doing znymph and swing combos on both Trinity and Lower Sac. We nymphing between the good swing runs. I have all rods etc for clients to use. Come and get a little piece of what's left of the best season in years on the Trinity Early March is a good time and dates are available. Let us show you a good time.A photo of client Nancy hooked up with her first steelhead.Get on the books and let's go!Good fishing,Peter Santley

 Steelhead fishing in Northern California remains a game of hit or miss. During a recent trip on a coastal river with friends Gary and John it was a hit with a nice fish to hand in the third run of the day. More recently, with new comers to Spey Derek and Tim we fished hard all day with only the satisfaction of mastering a few new casts to show for our efforts. Swinging flies for Winter Steelhead is at its best an opportunity to encounter a single fish, anything beyond that is exceptional. After a prolonged spell of no meaningful precipitiation since around the first of the new year the weather outlook seems to be shifting towards increased chances of rainfall for Northern California. Hopefully this will see a few of our coastal rivers bump up enough to usher in some fresh waves of winter steelhead. As of right now low and clear conditions persist on all coastal steelhead rivers in Northern California and beyond, but that picture is sure to change with increased chances of precipitation. A few rivers have closed due to the newly extended low flow fishing regulations and others are getting close to the deadline. With March fast approaching and the weather outlook shifting towards more favorable conditions we should see an uptick in fishing opportunities heading into the final act of the season here in Northern California. Stay tuned!

A beautiful bright hen from a recent outing

Gary with his coastal prize from ealier this month.

Here are some photos from our guests at Eagle Canyon today.  We have just a few dates left: March 7, 8, 17, 29 and 30.

Bryce with a big one

Korey with the first fish of the day

Kyle with a nice fish

Being brand new to fly fishing, I started my day with Christine and Adam with some casting (and mending) instructions. Casting a fly rod for the first time might seem a little scary, but one of the many reasons why the Lower Sac is a great place to learn is because you don't have to worry as much about trees or rocks or random things to snag and lose flies on. In no time at all they mastered the Mighty Sac "water load" cast, plus they got the hang of mending too, so we were off to the races! While it's fairly "easy" (relatively speaking) to learn how to cast and mend in order to present your flies to the fish, FIGHTING the fish and LANDING them is a bit more challenging! But both Adam and Christine got it done, landing some really beautiful wild rainbows. I should also mention that Christine landed a small baby chinook salmon that we immediately threw back so that it could grow up and come back to lay eggs to feed the trout so we can catch more, ha ha! All in all, it was a great day! We solved all of the world's problems (or at least figured out what they were!), discussed a lot about fly fishing, and enjoyed sunny weather and perfect temps. I was so proud at how well they did casting and mending and doing their best to set the hook and fight those fish! It all paid off in the end! Good job, Christine and Adam... you earned it!

Adam’s first fish ever!

Christine was committed!

Since Mark and Chuck had one of those magical days on the Trinity, they figured Lady Luck might give 'em a big goose egg on day number two. So when in doubt, go to the Lower Sac! With all of those resident trout to target, it's also pretty nice not having to wear waders! I mean, someone has to fish in the 70 degree sunny weather, right? Plus, the Sac didn't disappoint. Other than a handful of 16 inch fish, most of the 'bows that these two put in the net were very impressive, both in length and girth. We kept taping 'em and one after the other was around the twenty-two inch mark, including one that was close to twenty-four. Geez. What a day! Anyway, you're probably curious about the fishing details, so here's some of that: the flows are still low -- 3,100 cfs. Water color is great... visibility isn't an issue and fish are proving that by eating size 18 bugs. Which bugs? Book a trip and find out! Ha ha! Jk (or am I?). We caught fish on just about everything... small tiny mayflies, caddis, eggs, rubber legs, etc. Plus some of the guide sorcery stuff, but truth be told there wasn't a single fly that was really the "it" fly. We saw PMD's and a massive caddis hatch, as well some some midges here and there. The morning until about 1pm was solid and we had action pretty consistently throughout. From about 1 until 3, it got slow, but great conversation amongst good people can sure make the time go by quick. As soon as the clock struck 3pm, all of the fish received the notice and they started eating again. Not a bad day... not a bad day at all.

Rosy Cheeks!

Smile!

Trout hogs!

Look at those colors!

Caddis!

First fish of the day was a beauty…

Chuck and Mark are long time Confluence guests and I've had the pleasure of guiding them before on the Sac... so we figured why not try the Trinity. If you've been following things related to steelhead world, you know that all we talk about is how badly we need rain, blah blah blah. It's obviously our default setting these days. But the day was booked and when you are chasing a fish of a thousand casts, you just have to go and pay your dues. Well by 11am we had hooked four adults... note that I said HOOKED, not landed. Two of them decided to "peace out" before we could put them in the net, but that's steelheading. It's what both drives you crazy and keeps you coming back. But what REALLY keeps you coming back are when you hook and land 30 inch steelhead on size 18 flies! And Mark did just that. The stars aligned and after a really long fight, we put that fish in the net. Chuck crushed it too because not only did he land a nice wild steelhead, he managed to get a beautiful brown trout on "Last Chance Riffle." It was a great day... hard to top considering what one should reasonably expect given the water clarity, lack of rain, and difficulty related to steelheading. Tomorrow we're gonna go check out the Sac, so hopefully our luck continues!

30. Inches.

Saying good bye to some steel

Grip and grin!

BROWN TOWN!!

Another look at that dinosaur

Lunch time

Derek and his buddy Will had a great day today on the Sac.  The recent heavy winds finally died down and that made all the difference in the world.  We had steady action from beginning to end so no complaints from any of us!  It was 80 degrees again today and we are starting to see more bugs hatching, which bodes well for fishing in the near future.  

Will is a happy guy!

I did a no-bobber trip today on the Lower Sac with guest Mike from Carson City.  We put some time in chasing steelhead in the morning to no avail and had some limited trout-spey action.  The highlight of the day was an entire afternoon of productive dry/dropper fishing.  We caught fish mainly in the 10 to 16" range on a hopper/dropper rig throughout the afternoon.  Today was the first day I've really seen the mayflies pouring out of the choppy riffles.  The fish weren't quite ready to eat on the surface, but they were eager to jump on a small mayfly nymph!  It's great to see some heavy hatches starting up.  We have another TWO WEEKS of dry weather in the forecast.  Book a trip soon for some great trout action on one of our valley tailwaters!      

Mike with one of many on the hopper-dropper rig

Last call on a lovely riffle

Steve, a UK native now living in the Bay Area, took a much-needed break to join me on the Lower Sac.  Unfortunately the day started out windy and continued to blow and gust all day.  Wind is not our friend while drift-boat fishing, blowing your line and flies all over the place while making rowing and getting a good drift very difficult.  But we both stuck with it and Steve picked up the necessary techniques quickly and landed some beautiful fish.  Although it was 80 degrees today we are still in "winter mode" on the Sac with very low flows and not a lot of bugs.  It's a quality over quantity game right now.  This will change as we approach spring when the flows go up and the bugs (and fish) become more active.  Still beats sitting on the couch!

Getting ready to roll

View from the office

Wild rainbow, wild colors

Steve hooked up

I spent a fun few hours on the Lower Sac today with my wife Katie and fellow fish-farmer Angus from Scotland by way of Washington State.  Angus is more accustomed to growing trout than catching them in the wild, but he learned the nymph/indicator routine quickly.  He got the "big fish with Sundial Bridge in the background" shot and then we headed downriver.  Katie had a great day in the back of the boat, landing several very nice trout.  It was a beautiful day and by mid-afternoon we saw PMDs and black caddis hatching.  We have two more weeks of dry weather in the forecast.  That sucks for our snowpack but it makes for great midwinter tailwater trout fishing.  Book a day on the Lower Sac soon for some great trout fishing!

Katie Harris with a typical fish for the day

Katie Harris with her biggest fish of the day

I spent the last two days on the Lower Sac and the river provided us excellent fishing. We caught fish on a lot of different bugs and there was a handful of different hatches going off. The river has cleared up quite a bit recently and the clarity is great. With the warm weather we have been having it is starting to feel like spring which is one of my favorite times of year out there. 

Why not go steelheading when the temperature is in the mid-twenties? Oh... yeah... because your rod guides freeze and casting is more challenging! Well Mike and Allen joined me for a couple of days on the Trinity and our first day was cold, cold, cold! "Hey Luke... my reel isn't working. Do you think it's broke?", Mike asked me. "No," I replied, "It's frozen." Thankfully the sun poked it's way out and we survived the first day! Allen threw bombs with his spey rod but sadly wasn't able to connect with a #metalface. He did, however, catch a really nice wild hen on a golden stone fly. She fought REALLY well and was definitely a hot fresh fish, taking line, going deep, etc. She proved her grit by managing to jump out of Allen's hands just when we were going to grab a picture! But the thing that matters took place -- he hooked it, fought it, and got to shake her hand. Day two was a big warmer and through we didn't land an adult STEELHEAD, we did get a brownie! Not seeing as many of those these days, but when you do, it's like catching a unicorn of unicorns. It absolutely CRUSHED the pheasant tail Allen was using. Mike didn't hook a steelhead but he definitely fished hard, made lots of casts, and set on all of the bumps that we were hoping were steelhead. Did I mention that we could REALLY use some rain?

Throwing bombs!

Brown town!

Mike trying to stay warm!

Steelhead are the fish of a thousand casts!

After what seemed like a solid month of wet weather in December, a generous window of clear weather has graced California's North Coast. This prolonged dry spell has given us steelhead anglers the opportunity we've been waiting for. Over the past few weeks of January all coastal systems have been in play, with some fishing better than others. After having spent the better half of the month on the water I can say that the most consistent fishing we've had has come in just the past few days. Now, as we head into February we will need another shot of rain to keep some of the smaller and quick clearing coastal rivers in contention. We are lucky, however, to have a host of rivers that are still in prime shape for anyone looking to come find one of these elusive critters on the swing. If you have an itch to scratch I have lots of availibily starting around the second week of February for right now. On another note, an important regulation change has gone into effect on the North Coast steelhead rivers. Now the low flow fishing closure will be enforced through the end of April opposed to ending on January 31. This means that now most of the coastal rivers can be closed to fishing through the entirety of the winter steelhead season if they drop below the CFS threshold. It is important to call the hotline at (707) 822-3164 and follow the automated prompts to check on the status of the river you might want to fish. Considering that we currently have no rain forecasted going into this next month I think it is safe to assume that some of these rivers will potentially be closed to fishing.  

Having one of those days on the coast where it all comes together

First run first cast first fish. True story

Tony with a pint sized buck

Misty morning light on the coast

Tim and Nate came down from Oregon to do chase some steelhead and catch some trout. We spent our first day on the Trinity and managed to land an adult early in the day that happened to eat a golden stone fly. As we were removing the barbless hook from it's mouth, I noticed that it had TWO other BARBED hooks in it's side and wrapped in about 15 inches of leader. C'mon, people... barbless!!!! I wonder if that fish allowed us to catch it just so we could take care of it? Who knows... but it's a theory. We decided to go check out the Lower Sac on day two and it didn't disappoint. They both hooked some HUGE trout, LOST some HUGE trout, and had a great time. The fish on the Lower Sac were eating a variety of flies, despite there being ZERO bug activity above the surface. We didn't get any mayflies to pop off but that didn't seem to stop the trout from eating some of our flies! Spring fishing is just around the corner and I can't wait! Black caddis!!! Sucker spawn!!! PMDs!!! Let's go!

Say, “Cheese!”

Nate crushing it

Tim’s steelhead

A handful

Check out those spots!

Tony and Alan joined me for a day on the Trinity and boy did we fish hard! These guys can cast, mend, and have spent a lot of time on the Trinity, not to mention have spent a lot of time fly fishing. Despite the conditions being REALLY TOUGH for steelheading (i.e., low flows, crystal clear water, & bright sun), we managed to hook a few fish. Early in the float Tony hooked something that we never got to really see, so we can't confirm whether it was an adult or not, but whatever it was managed to break the hook on the nymph. Yes... break... the... hook. *sigh* But we kept at it and by the end of the day both of these gents landed a fish, hooked a few rocks and trees, and had a great time plus some fun stories. I've been busy on the river the past few weeks and by the time I'm home from the Trinity and have everything ready for the next day, I'm passing out. These winter steelhead days can sure take it out of you... but it sure is worth it when you hook up with an adult!

Tony with a grip and grin

Alan showing the goods

I escaped the office today and spent a really nice day on the water with guests Steve and Ron.  These guys have been fishing the Trinity River for a long time and have seen it all: great fishing, slow fishing, big fish, no fish, and everything in between.  Today started slow but by the end of the day we had connected with a lot of adult steelhead.  The numbers of fish and quality of fish were definitely on the plus side of "average".  The fish today ate pretty much every fly we tried, from rubberlegs to eggs to tiny mayflies.  If you're contemplating a trip, don't hesitate to book one soon!  There are plenty of fish in the river, some quality fish, and they are on the grab!

Steve with our best fish of the day

Ron fooled this one with a brown rubberlegs

Kirk and his son, Dane, came up to the Trinity to spend a day chasing those migratory rainbow trout that we all love. The weather conditions were probably nicer than you'd want for steelheading (sunny) but we still managed to hook fish and have a really good time together! Kirk used to fly fish a lot when he was younger and has decided to get back into it more, though you couldn't tell he'd taken a lot of time off because he could cast, mend, and fight fish like a pro. Dane, with only one year of fly fishing under his belt, CLEARLY has spent a lot of time fly fishing because you'd never have guessed he has only been fishing for a year! Water is starting to clear up a bit from the last rain we got, but it's still much better than gin clear, so no complaints! We hooked a few adults and a few half-pounders, so it's hard to complain about that given the typical expectations for a steelheading trip. Kirk landed a really nice wild fish and just as we were going to snap a photo in the classic "keep 'em wet" pose, it took off. Oh well... Kirk didn't care! He was just happy the fish was safely released and we got to shake hands. With the sun we didn't see as much BWO activity throughout the day which meant that the 5wt dry fly rod stayed in the rod holder all day, sadly. But there's always next time. Like every steelheader out there, I'm praying for rain! The typical pattern is rain comes and the river jumps up and gets some color and the steelhead get stupid again and the bite is good. Then, when the water drops down again and clears up, it turns into normal steelheading. So we're always just hoping and praying that we're there at the right now... sometimes you can predict it and other times you are just crossing your fingers. Next week I'm over there all week, but there's still plenty of time in February to book a trip, so hit me up at Confluence and let's gooooooooooooo!

Dane’s nice hen!

It kind of started with a phone call. Jason was coming up to fish with me again and since I've seen some BWO's popping off most days on the Trinity, I'd thought I'd give him a heads up. "You do much dry fly fishing?", I asked. "I've been seeing a pretty good hatch happening mid-day and maybe we could get a steelhead on a dry fly." "Let's do it," was his response. And thus began our two days on the Trinity. But before we talk about THAT, let's just make one thing clear: rain and steelhead go together like peanut butter and jelly. Every time it rains, the river fishes pretty well. So with each little bump, things improve. The flows were about 575-590cfs at Junction City over the two days and the color was just about perfect, colored up with what we like to call "steelhead green," though some of the creeks pumping into the Trinity are really more of a grey due to the snow melt. We had cloud cover the first day and on our second day had about half a cloudy day and half sun.Okay, so how was the fishing? It was excellent. Our last trip together was really good and this was REALLY REALLY good. Red hot, to be exact. On our first day, the metal faces were in all of the likely spots and we had hookups throughout most of the day, from the start to the end. Most of the day I ran some form of a three fly rig that included a rubber legs, yellow stone fly, psycho prince, or pheasant tail type of fly. They were eating everything, though the smaller stuff (size 16) seemed to have the most action. The two highlights of the day were easily hooking TWO adult steelhead on a dry fly, one of which was landed (see the photos). The one that got away still ate it and it was epic to have on for a few seconds, but size 16 dry flies without barbs are not really designed to land steelhead, right? So we were just grateful for that first one! The second highlight of the day, for me, was when we got to the VERY last bucket... the VERY last run... and I told Jason, "Hey... I've never gotten a fish here but I love this spot and it looks like it should have fish in it so I'm not sure why no fish yet... let's get one here." Would you know, Jason stuck one there too. Dude is a stick... and also lucky... ha ha.Our second day was a bit slower in that we didn't get action throughout the day but we can't complain. Steelheading is NOT a numbers game. You might throw a thousand casts and not even SEE one of those ghosts. But we still got a couple adults and they were both in the same spot. Those two fish were probably on a date or something and then Jason ruined it, ha! One of the fish was a clipper and had a $20 tag on it, so Jason will be able to find out where that fish has been and gone!Not a bad two days. Jason swung flies on the 'ole spey rod, fished nymphs under a bobber (I mean "indicator," sorry), and played the dry fly purist card and got some grabs on top. Hard to beat days like that.

A steelhead caught on a dry fly is the ultimate experience!

Drone shot!

I never leave home without a Mercer’s Missing Link… ever.

First fish of the day was a dandy!

“Let it keep fishing until the bottom of the run” works when it works!

Up close and personal with a nice hen.

Bonus fish at the end of the drift!

Annnnnnnddddd it had a $20 tag on it too!

Swing it like you mean it, Jason!

I’m falling more in love with the Flycraft and Tornado Anchor every trip!