Current Fishing Report

Had a great day with Paul and Lee from San Diego on the Lower Sac.  Weather was warm and beautiful and the fishing was pretty good.  We hooked and landed a numer of fish with a few in the 18 inch range.  Caught a few on egg patterns even with a troubling lack of salmon in the river.  Great day with great guys.  Let's hope the salmon begin to show in better numbers soon.

Lee with a fish that deserves a better pic.

Paul hooked into a bunch of beautifully colored rainbows.

I just finished up a trip with Jack, John, Paul and Lee from San Diego.  We met when I presented to their club a couple years ago and decided to give the Redding area a shot this year for their annual fall fishing trip.  We fished them on the Lower Sac a couple days, and they also fished the Upper Sac, McCloud, Hat Creek, and Fall River.  Our days on the Lower Sac were pretty good.  There are very few salmon spawning just yet, so there is a kind of half-hearted egg grab going on right now.  Over the next few weeks we will hopefully see more salmon coming in.  Fishing was still productive, and at times it was very good.  We hooked fish up to 20 inches both days and landed a lot of nice fish over 16".

Jack hooked this one just above the Sundial Bridge

Jack's best fish of the day on Friday

I guided the Trinity the past two days and only saw a few fish both days.  Thursday we fished indicators and hooked a few small fish and couldn't keep the smolts off our flies.  I only saw a few boats and they struggled too.  Friday we swung flies with two-handed rods all day.  Both guys got a few good bumps each, but no hook-ups.  We saw a few fish on the move, so that was incouraging.  There are fish in system, but spread out.  There is rain forecast for next week, hopefully that will bring in more fish.

There are a few Steelhead about on the Trinity but they have yet to show in any great numbers yet, some guys are getting a few here and there. We are expecting rain this coming week and that just might be the right medicine. Fishing on the Lower Klamath has been pretty good at times so hopefully those fish are on there way !

Had a great time guiding with Andrew Harris on the lower Sac with Paul, Jack, Lee & John. Between the two boats, it seemed there was always a fish on. The egg grab is slowly picking up but the real action has yet to come. Countless fish were fought and lost but a few really nice fish found their way to the net. 

Had the pleasure of guiding Jim and son Kavi from Davis. We floated from Bonnyview and experienced complete solitude. The grab was fairly consistent with a few hogs breaking off early on. Being their first time ever nymphing from a drift boat they both caught on early and did great!

Guided Matt & Craig from Nevada City. We're seeing a few salmon here and there, but it's still a little early. As we all know it just takes a little rain to push in some fresh steelies. Matt landed several half pounders but the real excitement of the day was when Craig found himself in an intense battle against a fresh salmon that ultimately broke him off in the brush! We had a nice quiet day though as we passed only 2 other boats and one bank angler near the end of the float.

The fishing was up and down all day today for us on the Lower Sac.  Clients Michael and Andy struggled all morning with just a handful of opportunities.  Then fishing was excellent for a couple hours after lunch.  We had tons of hookups on nymphs and also had some fun wading and fishing a hopper-dropper rig.  Then the action slowed down again in the last hour of the day.  We landed fish up to 18" today.  No sign of salmon spawning just yet...

Michael with one of our best fish today

Andrew just had a cancellation in early October and has opened up the following dates:Oct 5-6-7 and Oct 12-13-14.  These are prime Lower Sac dates!      

We had a really great day on the Lower Sac today.  Clients Bob & Rich landed several really big fish in the 3 pound range and Bob landed one about 5 pounds that would have been a good fish on a steelhead trip on the Trinity!  I am really impressed by the size of the fish we saw today.  We floated Posse Grounds to Anderson and fishing pressure was really light.  We did very well all morning, then things got tough for a couple hours in the afternoon.  We finished off with a few nice fish near Anderson.  The wind really came up in the afternoon and that seemed to put the fish off the bite.  Flows are down to 8000cfs.

Rich caught this beauty right in front of Aqua Golf

Bob landed several big fish today

What do farmer's do on their day off?  They go farming - for fish of course.  The fish were not too interested in eating flies today, but my good clients Dan and Frank worked very hard and were rewarded for their efforts.  They hooked fish on a combination of mayfly and caddis patterns.  We're starting to spot an occasional salmon, so that is a very good thing.  The egg bite is right around the corner, if you haven't booked your fall trip on the Lower Sac - don't wait much longer!

We're starting to see a few salmon mill around in the upper reaches of the river. Which can only mean one thing – it's almost egg-grab time! The most productive times to be on the river have been in the mornings and evenings. A combination of PMDs, princes, birds nests, and various bead patterns has been a sure thing. The caddis dry-fly action has been awesome right at sunset!

Colin with his first fish ever caught on a fly rod!

Matt with his first fish of the day!

This report is by Scott Saiki: Although Fall officially begins in just a couple of days, the Fall River seems to be a little unsure of which path to take.  Cool mornings lead to temperatures in the mid 80's, and the bugs seemed to be a little unsure of the season as well.  Bug activity was extraordinarily diverse which made the puzzle even more of a challenge.  Baetis, PMD's, Tricos, Callibaetis, and even terrestrials at every life stage were all in play with short windows of opportunity throughout the day.  Stan Jr., Bob, and parents Stan Sr., and Lucy came from San Francisco and Wisconsin respectively to try to sort out the puzzle.  Dry fly, nymph, swinging, and going deep all paid off at various times this weekend.  We worked hard for what we got, but there were some very memorable fish landed.  Thoughtful fishing and careful presentations are currently the order of the day, but when you "work hard," you are rewarded.  Generously!

Lucy with a great Fall River rainbow

Stan Sr with a nice one

I spent the last two days guiding clients Steve and Jim on a wade trip on the Lower Sac.  I use my jet boat on these trips so we can zoom around to the best wading spots.  We fished a variety of techniques, including single-hand swing, swinging with lightweight spey rods, streamer fishing with spey rods, and hopper-dropper fishing.  We hooked a lot of fish in two days.  Nothing really big, but we landed fish up to 16".  We even had a few hopper grabs while fishing hopper-dropper.  The river is at 8500cfs, a really nice flow all around.  Still a little high for wading some areas, but we had plenty of places to choose from.

Jim landing a rainbow

Steve swung up quite a few fish

Wading the Lower Sac

It's been a while since my last report, a busy building season is now transitioning into what is looking to be a busy guide season. Ive spent time on the Lower Klamath over the last several weeks and the conditions on the Lower Klamath have improved dramaticaly, the river is currently and should remain in Great Shape through the Fall ! Water releases out of Lewiston have increased which have cooled water temps greatly, the Steelhead have responded positively and are now steadily streaming in.We are getting into a mix of adult and half pounders, landing adults to 5lbs and seeing and hooking larger adults to 10 lbs ! I have a few prime dates left in October for the Klamath, if the Fall rains are late the Klamath will be fishable into November. If your passionate about swinging flies for fresh chrome the Lower Klamath should be on your radar. 

I spent a beautiful day on Fall River with Christine and Doug from Larkspur.  The weather was cool so we had to wait a while for the callibaetis hatch to really get going.  Our best fishing was from 1pm to 4:30pm when the fish were chowing down on callibaetis nymphs and dries.  We landed fish up to 18" and hooked quite a few fish in the 16-19" range.  River conditions are great - this is my favorite time of year to be on Fall River.

Here is a photo from my trip on Friday with Ted & Eloise.  Fishing was all over the map, with doubles and hook-ups coming fast and furious for a while and then long periods of slow fishing.  Caddis patterns are working best these days.

Nice fish (and hat), Ted!

Took my two favorite "clients" out for a day of chasing trout on one of the most beautiful streams in the world, Burney Creek.  Kids and I had a ball casting and catching fish all day with dry flies.  If you have a youngster that wants to get started in fly fishing, this is a great way to spend the day.  Sometimes, the best days aren't measured in fish.

Plenty of Trophies to be had!

Lots of casting practice.

Very Serious!

Fall River is fishing really well right now.  This is my favorite time of year to fish the river because of the intense callibaetis hatches.  When the wind doesn't blow, you can have dry fly fishing from 8am to 6pm as the fish rise to a mix of callibaetis spinners and duns.  The nymphing can be great, but this is prime time for catching a really big rainbow on a dry fly.  Bring an assortment of duns, cripples, and spinners and your A Game.

Jared landed this great fish on a nymph

John caught this 20 rainbow on a size 16 callibaetis dry

I had a great time guiding Rob and his nephew Roman.  Roman was visiting from Berlin and it was his first time fly fishing - but you would never know it.  Both hooked fish all day long and only one was under 16 inches!  The fish were super grabby with caddis patterns being on the menu today.  I'm starting to see some salmon in the upper river, so that means the egg bite is right around the corner!  Now is the time to book your fall trip on the lower Sac  because you don't want to miss out on all the fun.