Current Fishing Report

I had the pleasure of spending the last two days with guests Ted and Frankie on the lower Sac. They have fished the world, but this was their first time on the Sac. The grab was pretty consistent all day Sunday, but it was a slower start this morning. By mid-late morning, the action really picked up and they ended up having a great day! Ted and Frankie hooked into several really nice fish both days. They were quite impressed at how hard our Sac rainbows fight, and they’ve been catching monster trout in New Zealand for the past 15 years! The temps are cooling, the smoke has finally cleared, the flows are dropping, and the egg bite is just around the corner! Gotta love fall fishing. October is my favorite time to fish/guide the Sac. If you’re thinking about a fall trip, don’t wait too long - our schedules are filling fast.

Frankie with a beautiful rainbow

Here are some pictures from Gino's guide trip on the Rogue River yesterday. Thanks to our guest Dick from southern California for forwarding these photos!

I had a great time today with guests Bob and Rich. The fish were super grabby all day, but they were also pretty slippery. Bob and Rich hooked into several nice fish throughout the day and unfortunately, we lost a couple really big fish after putting on an airshow for us. The mornings have been smokey due to the Delta Fire, but by early afternoon it clears up and we have sunny skies.

Spent a great day with John from Sacramento on the Lower Sac this weekend.  The fishing was really good. We consistently caught fish all day on a variety of nymphs.  Even had a little caddis hatch around noon to entice a few dry fly grabs. We drifted from Bonnyview launch to Balls Ferry Landing.  The  top of the drift was definitely affected by the fires in the area as far as air quality, but by 11 am we were under blue skies.  We saw a number of salmon rolling around as well and with that, I would anticipate that fishing would only get better as the weather cools in the next month.

Fatties all day long.

Top of the drift was a little smokey, but the fishing was still good.

Even I got to try

Great color

Recently spent a really good day with on the Lower Sac.  Fishing was pretty good, temps were warm, but the air was clear as we drifted from Anderson to Jelly's Ferry take out near Red Bluff.  There was a consistant grab all day and the fish were healthy and hard fighting.  Lots of airial hook spits!  With only one rod in the water all day we boated  a number of really good fish.

Busy with these all day.

I had a half-day trip on Hat Creek with Warren today. The weather was ideal and angling pressure was light. There was no morning hatch to speak of, but the nymph grab was pretty good. After some missed grabs, Warren hooked into several nice fish. He was very impressed with the natural beauty of Hat Creek and all the restoration work that was recently completed by CalTrout.

Brian Kohlman and I had a chance to do some fishing on the Lower Sac today.  We caught some really nice fish!  Action was pretty slow overall, but the average size was great.  The fish were keyed in on small mayfly patterns and wouldn't touch anything else.

Brian caught this fish on his first cast

Andrew's big fish of the day

Had a great day on the water this weekend with Bruce. The hot weather is beginning to cool off and smoke has really cleared up over the past few days. We spent time working on Spey casting techniques. Bruce had an epic encounter with a large, bright hen. It was a very acrobatic fish that proved to be quite a challenge.

This morning was very slow for Mike and Dennis. They hooked into a few small fish, but the grabs were very inconsistent. The action picked up in the afternoon and both hooked into a few really nice fish, but they didn’t want anything to do with my landing net. Mike landed one really nice one just over 18 inches. The flows have dropped again to 10,000 cfs.  I’m determined to crack the code!

Mike with a nice one!

We have just set our dates for the 2018-19 season at Eagle Canyon!  Opening day is Saturday, December 8th, 2018. Our season will end Sunday, April 14th, 2019. We are now taking reservations for the 2018-19 season. Call soon to book your preferred dates!  You can check availability on our website. Rates for 2018-19: Pricing depends on the size of your group. We charge $225/person for 1-2 anglers, $200/person for 3 anglers, $175/person for 4 anglers, $150/person for groups of 5 or 6, and $135/person for groups of 7 or 8 anglers.  Pricing for Lower Sac/Eagle Canyon Combo: Our Combo Special is available to groups of 4, 6 and 8 anglers. The Combo Special is a two-day trip with one day at Eagle Canyon and one day with our guides on the Lower Sac or Trinity River. Just $350 per person for a group of 4, $325pp for 6, and $310pp for 8. Opening Day Auction: As usual, we will auction off our opening day (Dec 8) on eBay.  The auction will start October 14th and bidding will start at $1250.  The winning bidder can bring a group of up to 8 anglers.  We hope to see you at Eagle Canyon this season!  Please call or email with any questions. -Andrew Harris 

Fishing remained slow for us again today.  We had very few take-downs and only a couple of hook-ups.  The flows are forcast to drop to 10,000 cfs by Thursday.  It was fairly smokey this morning, but cleared out nicely by late morning.

Today was my first day on the Sac since the Carr Fire steamrolled into Redding and throughout Shasta County. My guests were Bill and John, who are long time clients of Confluence Outfitters. These guys worked so hard today, but the fishing was tough. They both landed some nice fish, but the grab was pretty slow. I’m not sure if this is due to the upper section getting fished pretty hard since the re-opener, or if the flows dropping over the past several days has put them off. The flows are 10,500 cfs, and will likely continue to drop over the next month or two. The smoke is definitely clearing a little more each day, and the boat traffic was pretty light today.   

I know a lot of you are curious about the air quality in the Redding area. Although it is still smokey, conditions have gradually improved this week. Today is the first day in weeks that I would say it is sunny and hot. I have a feeling the skies will remain smokey for quite some time given all the fires we are experiencing across the state. Redding (and Shasta County) is still reeling from the devastation brought on by the Carr Fire. As a result, the much anticipated re-opener of the upper river didn’t happen for a lot of us. I rescheduled all my trips due to the dangerous air quality. I am happy to say, I will be back on the Sac starting this Sunday and Monday! I will post fishing reports to let you all know have the river is fishing. Tight lines!

The hex hatch was outstanding the last few nights. My clients Jim and Corey landed several fish over 20 inches and had a bunch of other eats. Daytime fishing has been really good. There are some very large fish eating drys in the morning, very technical game but extremely fun head hunting. Sinking lines are also working very well late morning to early afternoons. Then it gets agonizingly hot and the fishing shuts down.

I had a great time with dusty and Darrell today. Both are brand new to fly fishing and today was their first time indicator nymphing. The morning started off slow, but they were getting some inconsistent grabs. The action picked up after lunch as their skills improved. Darrell was not able to land any fish, but Dusty landed two, including a very fat 17 incher! They will be venturing to the upper Sac tomorrow, so I provided them with lots of information on flies and rigging so they are able to have a successful day on their own.

Dusty got a workout landing this fatty

Fall River fished awesome last weekend. Friday morning there was overcast, so the dry fly fishing was absolutely superb with big fish looking up. No dry fly action on Saturday, but my rock star clients Dennis and Tony from the Bay Area absolutely pillaged on sinking lines between 10-1pm, hooking around 30 fish between 13-20 inches. The hex hatch is still going strong. I’ll be back down to the beautiful Fall River Valley next weekend and have a few open days left before I start swinging for steelhead on the upper Rogue soon.

How can you come fishing the north state without floating the Lower Sac? The morning was slow, which seems to be the new norm. After lunch Vik hooked into three fish in less than five minutes. The afternoon was a little spotty; we would get several hook-ups in one spot, then nothing. By the end of the day, the total number of hook-ups made for a solid day.

The Klamath Basin is reaching it’s peak of summer fly fishing. Large Redband have made there way into the Williamson River. Most fish are being picked up on small leeches and soft hackles swung on intermediate lines. Long leader and 5x are needed at this time of year. Pelican Bay/Rocky Point is fishing really well. Chase the wind and fish early and late in the springs. Small leaches, damsels and balanced leeches have been fishing well in the Bay. We still have a few prime dates in August for the Williamson River, Wood River and Pelican Bay.

Williamson River Redband

I had the pleasure of guiding Vik on the McCloud today. He traveled from southern California hoping to discover some of the fisheries in the north state. The temps were extremely hot, so it was a relief to get in the water. Our morning was pretty slow, but things really picked up after lunch. We were hoping to have a chance to fish dries, but see didn’t see any fish rising. It’s always a great experience fishing the Mac! 

The hex hatch was outstanding the last few evenings. It’s been starting around 9:15-9:20 and lasting for about 25 minutes. Epic mosquito hatch during the same time period. It was overcast today, so we finally had some good morning hatches with big fish looking up. Head hunting for large fish with drys is my favorite game on Fall River if you can cast. Sinking line techniques also worked well the past couple days. I have some open days on the calendar for Fall River these next few weeks before summer steelhead time on the Rogue...

Head hunting with dry flies today