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The season is now in full swing at Clearwater. I just finished up a 3 day Discover Fly Fishing school with Ron and Rita from the Bay Area. Over the busy holiday weekend, we managed to avoid the heavy crowds on a beautiful mountain stream and enjoyed some great dry fly fishing. We also had great fishing on Burney Creek yesterday, hooking quite a few fish on nymphs.
Dry fly fishing us was OK in the morning on Fall until the wind came up. Kim and Izzy then had some great nymphing on lower Fall, although we weren't able to land the 5 exceedingly large fish we hooked...epic battles though. We ended the day on Hat, and caught some nice fish.
I sent a spy to Lower Hat, and he did super good on big drys...he's pretty keen though, and knows the goods.
Things are shaping up great...book a trip while you can...we are getting really busy!  Ron with a nice rainbow  Ron and Rita on a lovely back country stream  Guide failing to do cool pose with fish |
I had a great day on Fall River today. I started off with Tom from Alameda and his father-in-law Randy from Florida. Then after lunch they swapped with their good friends Aaron and Kim. Once Tom and Randy learned the drill of the downstream drift, they started hooking fish. We had a great nymph grab starting around 10am. Pheasant Tails, brassies, micro mayflies, and other small mayfly nymphs size 16-18 worked great. We got a lot of grabs on the dead drift and plenty on the swing, too. We covered a lot of water, and we found tons of fish everywhere we went. The nymph grab was awesome through about 3:30pm, then it shut off. Aaron and Kim picked up where Tom and Randy left off and hooked a bunch more rainbows. We landed tons of small and medium fish. We hooked some very nice fish 16-18 but none of them made it to the net today.  Mt. Shasta looks incredible right now  Randy with a big fish on the line |
The weather forcast is perfect for next week. Partly cloudy and temps in the mid to high 60s. Dry fly fishing should be excellent on Fall River and other venues.
Angling conditions don't get much better than they will be here at Clearwater in beautiful Northern California. The weather has been a struggle at times this spring, but this season is really setting up prime river condtions for June well into July. I think its going to be an insane Hex year on Fall River, which might run into late July this year. You better book your trip soon though, there are a very limited number of bookings left in June here at Clearwater.  Jim, finishing strong on a windy day  Rob and Nicko...dry fly purists  rainy day pillage fest |
I took out Dennis and Dustin from San Jose today. We experienced three seasons in a single day on Fall River. Have you heard the expression If you don't like the weather, wait 15 minutes? That's how it was today. It started off perfectly calm and overcast, then it rained, then it would be sunny, then windy, then pouring rain again... We rolled with the punches, switching techniques between dries, nymphs, and streamers. Dustin, who hadn't fished for a long time, achieved his goal of catching a fish - he even caught two!  Dustin with a Fall River rainbow |
The river fished a little tough for us today. Mike Corley and I had a group of four first-time fly fishers today. We got plenty of good drifts but the bite was just a little off. Carlos was top rod, landing several nice rainbows. We missed a few opportunities, and Jenny landed a nice fish right at the end of the day. I expect fishing to improve once our volatile spring weather moderates a little bit. I would be happy to see some forecasts with wind under 10mph!  Carlos with his big fish  This is how I roll |
Everything is in good order around Clearwater.
Do you want to fish drys? Fall River has been great in late morning into the afternoon on calm, overcast days. Other small streams have been excellent all day.
Nymphing? Pit River is ON FIRE between 2-4pm, and good the rest of the day if you can cover water and set the hook.
Streamers? Not telling...but its good.  Jeff with a dry fly fattie  Classic Pit 3 fish |
Man, the Fall River frog hatch has been insane! They are crawling all over you and your rod at times. Bring your frog patterns!
 the frogs are all over the show! |
Dan and I did a split trip today, spending the morning on the Lower Sac and the afternoon on Battle Creek. Dan caught really nice fish on his first two casts of the day. The size 8 brown Jimmy Legs stonefly was definitely the hot fly this morning. We had a lot of action the first hour of our float and then the bite slowed. The fish were on the grab on Battle Creek, though. We started off with a size 8 stimulator with rubber legs and the fish approved! Dan had a lot of grabs on that until the PMDs started hatching. We switched to a smaller tan mayfly dry and that worked really well. The last hour of the day was all about the big stonefly dries. Dan landed a great fish on a size 6 foam salmonfly pattern. It was an incredible grab and a beautiful fish!  These fish love big dries!  Dan with his best Battle Creek fish  Our first Lower Sac fish |
Today was day 2 with Dan and John from Folsom. We fished the Pit River, which is one of the best places to be on a windy day. The water was a little high and cold, so the fish weren't as active as usual. We did hook and land some nice fish, though. Our best fly was a prince nymph, size 14. John landed his best fly rod fish to date and Dan had quite a few hookups.  John with a nice bow |
I had a nice day on the river today with Dan and John from Folsom. We got a late start, around 11am, and the fish were grabby from the get-go. No big fish today, but we hooked a lot of them. We had a great time fishing dries for a couple hours after lunch. Dan landed two and got several other grabs on small PMD mayfly dry patterns. John was new to fly fishing but took to it quickly. He caught his first few fly rod rainbows today. Tomorrow we tackle the Pit River - stay tuned! |
Yesterday on Fall River, keen angler Jim Wilson got to experience 5 straight hours of uninterupted dry fly fishing. Every single cast was to a targeted rising wild rainbow. There were lots of different mayflies coming off all at once, so the fish were rather selective. We got them to eat almost every fly we tried though, even if it was only once! Just keep changing flies, and make good presentations, and you will have success.
The wind came up today, so we fished Hat Creek and the Pit. Hat wasn't happening in the morning, so we headed to the Pit. We got some fish to eat dries, and Jim landed 2 epic fish.
Fall River is in super good shape. The fish are spread throughout the entire upper river, and pressure is pretty light.
Our wild trout rivers are fishing excellent. Get up here!  Jim Wilson with a superb Pit River rainbow |
I fished our private beat on Battle Creek today with Mike Corley. This 3.5 mile stretch of water is brand new to us this year and I've been trying to learn my way around. So far, I like what I see! We fished a very rugged section of the creek this afternoon. There were even more salmonflies today than when I fished with Dax on Saturday. I saw some of the biggest salmonflies of my life today. The largest were almost 3 inches long! That explains why the fish didn't pay much attention to my dry flies until I tied on a size 6 foam giant stone imitation. Many of the fish were too small to get hooked by this giant fly, but that didn't stop them from trying! I had dozens of grabs and landed fish up to ten inches. I lost a nice 12 bow and Mike and I both missed strikes from some larger fish. This salmonfly hatch is in full swing and should stick around through the end of May. We should start to see some golden stones soon.  Mike Corley fishing a juicy run |
I fished our private stretch of Battle Creek today with my good friend Dax Messett. Water conditions are perfect and there are quite a few salmonflies around. Action was pretty slow in the morning, but the fishing got better throughout the day. By the time we headed out around 2pm we were getting grabs in every pool. Dax missed the fish of the day, a 14-16 rainbow that came out of a shady spot to try and eat a size 6 stimulator! We primarily fished large stonefly dries and had some great slashing grabs. I'm still exploring this great wild trout fishery - we learned some great new water today and I'm looking forward to fishing the entire 3.5 mile stretch this season. If you're looking for a private wild trout experience where you won't see any other anglers, this venue is hard to beat!  Salmonfly |
Fishing was much better on the Lower Sac today. The wind was gone and the fish were back to their usual habits. We had some action early on and the bite got really good right after lunch. Crane and S.J. from Los Gatos caught some nice fish on nymphs before we switched over to dries around 1:30pm. We had plenty of targets and tons of PMDs hatching for a couple hours. Crane hooked his best fish on a long cast with a size 16 limestone cripple mayfly pattern. We didn't land it, but it looked to be at least 16. The nymph grab shut off pretty hard after 4pm.  Crane with a nice fish  S.J. with a Lower Sac bow |
Fishing Report for Clearwater waters:
Fall River: The nymph grab is insane between 11-1pm if you can set the hook quick enough. Some excellent dry fly fishing if you can escape the wind and cast. Good streamer fishing in the morning. Bring a sweater...it's been cold!
Pit River: Big dumb rainbows...get your nymphing on.
The Mac: Flows are just about perfect. Hire a guide if you don't know this river.
Hat Creek: mmm...not so great right now. it will improve steadily.
Burney Creek: I don't know. Should be good soon. Best hatches in the area.
Baum Lake: A clearwater guide could be the difference between hooking 30, or 2 for the day.  What a fattie John!  Clearwater chef Tim, between meals  Fall River last week! Epic fishing though |
Brian and Jim had their 2nd day out in the wind today. I guess it followed them down here from Fall River. The strong and steady north wind made fishing very difficult today. We did two separate floats and had trouble finding fish all day. We ended up with about 5 in the net, which wasn't bad considering the circumstances. We had a fun day nonetheless. It was Jim's first time on the Lower Sac. Our best fly today was a tan Fox Poopah, size 14.  Brian with a Lower Sac bow |
I fished brothers Brian and Jim on Fall River today. I thought we were done with the foul weather after last week, but we had some more high winds and rain today. We got in some great dry fly fishing and nymphing nonetheless. Brian hooked a nice fish on his very first drift. We were dry fly fishing for the most part from 11am to 2pm. Jim landed two very nice rainbows on nymphs and another over 16 on a dry. The weather got super nasty around 3:30pm so we decided to call it a day.  Jim's first big fish.  Jim strikes again  Very cute ducklings |
You know the old saying about fishing in the rain...the fish are already wet, so they don't care if its raining. What about snow? Sleet? The fish on Fall River didn't seem to mind. Doug Roan and I fished Fall river the past 3 days, and had the entire river to ourselves. Doug caught a ridiculous amount of fish, mostly on nymphs. The dry fly grab wasn't happening in the 50mph gusty winds we had on Tuesday. Tough conditions, but what amazing fishing we had. We also caught some fatties on the Pit River, and a few on drys on Hat Creek. Doug is gonna be dangerous when he comes back to Clearwater in better angling conditions.
The weather is looking good for next week. Fishing should be excellent on Fall River and other local waters.  Doug enjoying good weather on Monday  Pit River rainbow  Doug braving the weather on the Fall River |
We took our guide school group down to the Lower Sac today. We drove through some significant snow on our way over the hill, but the weather was great once we got down to Redding. Our guide school students learned how to row drift boats today. I'm happy to report that all the boats stayed right-side-up and there were no collisions! We even caught some great fish! Cog and Chris took turns rowing my boat. They both managed to guide their clients into some fish and we only got spun in a circle four times. Chris landed the fish of the day, a twenty inch rainbow.  Chris with his 2nd biggest fish  Cog about to net Chris's fish |
Today was our first full day of the Guide School at Clearwater Lodge. We spent the day on the Pit River. Flows are a little higher than normal due to construction on Lake Britton dam, but fishing was pretty good. We saw lots of big salmonflies and some golden stones too. The guide school students hooked a bunch of nice rainbows. I landed a great brown on a demo cast. We have a storm coming in the next 2 days... Dry fly fishing should be pretty good once the storm subsides.  Andrew with a nice brown  Ryan with his first Pit River rainbow  Golden stone |
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