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Good Finally a break from the endless rain this past week which led to some amazing conditions on the Olympic Peninsula. Next season is already booking up, so contact me early if you want a spot for 2017. |
We have just opened up two new dates at Eagle Canyon: April 15 and 17. These dates are available for groups of 2-8 anglers. We also have room for 2 anglers on April 11th. Conditions are great at Eagle Canyon right now. The water is very clear and sight-fishing opportunities are abundant. |
Good We're approaching our last couple weeks of the season at EC- In the last couple weeks we've had several guest see their fly line backing! The most successful anglers lately have been casting a floating line & long(ish) leader with a slow retrieve as well as using small indicators w/ 1 or 2 flies suspended underneath. Sounds easy enough right? Flies have been getting smaller and smaller as the weeks go on. Yeah they might hit a size 6 black leach, but don't spend too much time trying. Size 16-18 Hogans s&m, (flashback & regular) pheasant tails, tailwater tinys, olive micro mays, prince nymphs, as well as midges & sucker spawn (oregon cheese, glo-ro) have been the main meal ticket. There's only a couple open days left so don't wait to book!  Tim with a nice one! |
Good Eagle Canyon is getting technical these days. We had beautiful weather, but sometimes that makes for challenging fishing. We could see the big trout swimming around ignoring our flies today. The morning was particularly slow. The best time of day was 2-4pm. Most fish were hooked on nymphs under indicators. 4X tippet worked okay. Some of the best flies included olive tailwater tiny's size 18, micro mayflies size 16, Hogan's S&M nymphs olive size 16, and other small mayfly nymphs. Fish were also hooked on crystal buggers and damsel nymphs on the retrieve.  Chris with a big one  Great view of Mt Lassen today  Cody with his first trout on a fly rod |
Great The Sac is getting better by the day. The visibility is improving daily and the flows are coming back down. After several days at 20,000 cfs, the flows are dropping gradually and should be back at 5,000 cfs by the 28th. The improving conditions made for an unforgettable day for Jim and his son Trey. Their first time floating the Sac and they hooked so many fish we lost count! The fish are getting really grabby and it is only going to get better as the flows continue to drop. Hungry fish and beautiful spring weather makes for perfect time to book your spring fishing trip on the Sac! |
Good Today we took our Project Healing Waters group out on the Lower Sac. Conditions were challenging with flows near 18,000cfs, but the fishing was fairly productive. The river is scheduled to get back down to 5,000cfs by Monday.  Mike with a Lower Sac bow  Hooked up below the Sundial Bridge |
Good We hosted a Bay Area chapter of Project Healing Waters today at Eagle Canyon. The group is organized through the Diablo Valley Fly Fishers club in Walnut Creek. They sure picked a beautiful day to fish Eagle Canyon! The weather was perfect and the fish were receptive - after a while. The bite was slow in the morning but picked up in the afternoon. Our best flies included flashback PTs size 16, olive micro mayflies size 18, olive tailwater tiny's size 18, glo bugs in various colors, split-case PMDs size 16, and red copper johns size 16. We did best fishing nymphs under an indicator, but fish were also caught on streamers. The best fish landed was over 10 pounds and we had a hook-up and lengthy battle with a fish that was around 12-13#.  Paul started off with a huge one  Classic Eagle Canyon tangle - note the fish scales on the hook!  Felix caught on really fast and landed quite a few |
Good news! Flows are scheduled to start dropping tonight. Tomorrow the flow will be 17,500cfs and by Monday the flow will be down to 5,000cfs, a much more normal spring-time flow. If you've been on the fence, you should book your spring Lower Sac trip now! |
I took a stroll across the lovely Sundial Bridge this afternoon. The Lower Sac is high and off-color. The flow is around 18,000cfs. I think by Monday the color should be much better. Stay tuned...  Above Sundial Bridge  Below Sundial Bridge |
Great Guest Report from Shawn from Oregon:We had a blast at the ponds. Sam was VERY helpful with my son. He needed a casting lesson and Sam was attentive. Caught MANY GIANT trout. On PT's and eggs, about 50-50. |
It's amazing how fast our water situation has turned around here in the north state. All of a sudden, Lake Shasta is TOO FULL for this time of year. Flows are scheduled to rise from 4,500cfs to 20,000cfs tonight. The release from the dam hasn't been that high in about 5 years! The river is fishable at 20,000cfs, but only from a boat with an experienced guide on the oars. If the flow remains steady fishing should be good by Tuesday. Stay tuned... |
This is what the Upper Sac looks like at 3500cfs! Photo taken from Sims footbridge looking upstream. |
Rain continued to crush the PNW last week, but we have a break coming this week. The Olympic Peninsula has got 11 inches of rain since March 1st, so not much fishing has been going on. Like with all winter steelhead venues, we should have some amazing fishing when things drop into shape here pretty soon... I just opened up my calendar for the OP for 2017. I was fully booked about 6 months out for 2016, so you might want to make your reservation soon. New regs go into effect next year, and it should be an amazing season. Like all winter steelhead venues, I give a full refund if we have to cancel a trip due to weather. Getting blown out is part of being a winter steelheader, so is being there at the right time and hooking a fish of a lifetime. |
Good We have a group of four long-time clients at Eagle Canyon today. The weather is pretty horrible today - cold with persistent rain and high winds. The kind of wind that makes you lose your footing at times. Nonetheless, our guests were getting into some really nice fish. Small beadhead mayfly nymphs were working well, as were some brightly-colored jig-style flies. |
Good Here is a photo from our group on Wednesday.  Nice fish Ken! |
Okay Flows are still nice and low on the Lower Sac, but the water clarity is not very good. We had 2-3' of visibility today. The weather was good and we had a good mixed hatch of baetis, PMDs and even a few march browns. It just seemed like the fish couldn't see our bugs very well.We still had a great day and even managed to land a couple really big fish. My clients didn't have many opportunities but managed to land two of the biggest fish we've seen this month.It's hard to guess what this pending storm will bring - the river may be blown out for a week or more. Stay tuned...  Kathy with a big one  Kyle with a 20 incher  Quite the battle to land this fish |
Good I spent a couple of hours at Eagle Canyon today. The water is a bit off-color with about 2 feet of visibility. The fish aren't having any trouble seeing the flies, though! We had a really good baetis hatch today, about a size 16. I saw a couple fish working the dries in the shallows at the top end of the small pond. I had good luck on a variety of nymphs, including glo bugs, micro spawn, copper johns, S&M Nymphs, Poxyback PMDs, and baetis nymphs. A tried-and-true rig is two nymphs under a small corkie indicator. Space them out about 18 apart with the top fly 18 under the indicator. Periodically lift your rod and chug the indicator across the surface about 3 feet at a time. That gets the fish's attention. Most of the strikes come right after you drag the indicator.  Some of the flies that worked today |
Good Being dry flies when you come out! BWO (size 16s) and March Browns (14-16s)White leaches/zonkers seem to work well in the evening. Micro mays and damsel nymphs seem to be a consistent meal ticket. Floating, and intermediate line or 'hover' line with minimal splashing on the water w your line. 10+ pounders have been making it to the net this week! |
Red Hot The river fished extremely well again today. We had excellent nymph action from the get-go. Our first fish was a beautiful 18 rainbow. My client Dave from Muir Beach also rose about 10 fish to dry flies, landing one that was about 17 and another 16. There is a good hatch of PMDs mid-day right now that has the fishing looking up in certain areas.  Dave landed this one on a dry fly |
Red Hot The Lower Sac fished great for us today. My clients Phillip and Mitch put a bunch of fish in the net and landed some real quality fish, too. All of the action was on nymphs today - mostly PMD nymphs. The river is about as low as it ever gets right now, but it's full of hungry fish and the mayfly and caddisfly hatches are getting better every day.  Phil with the first fish of the day  Mitch pillaged today |
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