Current Fishing Report

Ed from the Bay Area brought his son Will from Boston to Northern California for a long weekend of fishing. They fished the Upper Sac and McCloud with Confluence guide Brian Kohlman on Thursday and Friday and today I took them for a float on the Big River. We started early but the fish were apparently sleeping in as the morning grab was very slow. The grab heated up as the day went on however and some nice fish were hooked, landed, and lost. The day wouldn’t be complete without “the ones that got away”.

Happy Day Before Father’s Day

One of the ones that didn’t get away!

Beautiful native rainbows on the Lower Sac

The only thing better than celebrating Father’s Day on the river is celebrating it with family. Took my cousin Scott and his son Grant on a great trip down the Lower Sac. The morning was slow as well as crowded with a kayak event, but after lunch we had great fishing. Both guys had multiple grabs and brought in a number of fish. Scott topped off the day with a 22” hot fish. Such a great day.

Scott with a dandy!

Grants first fish on a fly rod!

Spent a beautiful day with the Spey rods searching for trout on the Yuba River with James from Idaho. Water still high at around 6,000 cfs, but there are plenty of good spots to swing flies for hard fighting rainbows. We fished hard and got a few grabs bringing two fish to the net. The real fun of the day was the fish caught on hoppers in between swing runs. Caught and landed a super nice fish on the hopper but the pic didn’t happen. Whenever the Yuba flows drop, things should be really good.

Bent!

Bill and his grandson Will came up from Chico today to brave the 108 degree temps. Will had never fished from a drift boat before and took to it like a fish to water (pun intended). Literally within minutes he was casting, mending and feeding line like a pro. He got to wrestle with a bunch of big wild Lower Sac trout and went home happy with a sore arm and a bit of a sunburn. Way to go Will!

Big fish in a big net!

Lots of bent rod for Will today.

Grip and Grin!

I had the pleasure of showing James from Idaho how the Lower Sac trout grab flies on the swing. It is not for everyone and it is not a numbers game, but for those who enjoy casting two handed rods, the fish who do come out to play, play hard and put up a good fight. James brought several fish to hand and had numerous grabs throughout the day. The higher flows opened up some side channels we don’t always get to fish, giving the river a different feel. As the flows drop in the coming days, fishing on the swing should improve as more runs become accessible. 

Lassen looms over James.

Fishing the braids.

The Klamath Lake is heating up! Both literally and figuratively. Water temps in the main lake was at a staggering 74 degrees on Wednesday. This is great news for Fly fishing in the basin. Fish are pouring into Rocky point and the Williamson River to escape the warm temperatures. We had a good bite Wednesday night stripping leeches at Rocky Point. The Williamson River is dropping into shape at the perfect time for the first good push of lake fish to move up. Yellow Sallies, Golden stones, Caddis and PMD Mayflies are all popping on the Williamson. Most fish have been taken on nymphs and Olive leeches swung on intermediate lines on the Williamson River. Fishing in the Basin will progressively get better as the Lake continues to warm.

Rocky Point Sunset

Fish on!

Sometimes a guide day is more about learning places as much as it is about the fishing. Spent a great day with Eddie and Potter from the Bay Area exploring the Hat Creek area learning all kinds of places to fish and how to fish them. We spent time on upper, middle, and lower Hat Creek, Baum Lake, and Burney Creek. In each place the guys fished and caught a nice array of trout. A great day of learning an amazing area.

Potter on beautiful Burney Creek!

Eddie high sticking some good pockets!

I just finished up two really fun days guiding Tyler and Ryan in the 3rd annual Gabe Duran Memorial Cast Hope tournament.  With 24 teams the competition was fierce but the atmosphere was very friendly and fun.  Tyler and Ryan made a great showing by placing 5th in the team competition and both making the top 10 in the individual competition.  Fishing was a little more challenging this year with higher flows, some blown out tributaries below Anderson, and a recent flow change.  Fishing was good overall, but we went through some long stretches with very little activity on both days.

Ryan with one of many fish yesterday

I spend a fun day on the water scouting the Yuba River with fellow guide Mike Wright.  Although the river channel has changed a lot due to some big winters, I was reminded of when I guided the Yuba years ago.  I think the last time I guided the Yuba we were still using yarn indicators!  That's been a while... The river is running high and clear with flows around 6,000cfs.  Normal flows are under 3,000cfs.  It was a bizarre weather day that ended with a punishing deluge.  Fishing was pretty good considering the conditions, though.  We caught fish on nymphs and on trout-spey techniques and even got  grab on a dry fly.  We saw a variety of bugs, including march browns, PMDs, little yellow sallies, caddis and hoppers.  Fishing will get easier and more productive when flows drop.  Expect really good fishing when flows drop below 4,000cfs.  Mike has private access now above the Highway 20 bridge and down at DaGuerre Dam.  Get in touch if you would like to book a Yuba River float trip with Mike!

Launching above the Highway 20 Bridge on the Yuba

Memorial Weekends marks the beginning of summer fishing in the basin. It was a cold, wet weekend that put down most hatches on the Williamson River. BWO were out and a few Golden stones were taking shelter on the banks of the river. The cold and wet did not, however, put down the fishing. Fish were stacked in the riffles. Most fish were taken on Golden stone nymphs trailed by size 14 copper johns. A few fish were swung -up on olive leeches and softhackles. The water is high and slightly off color which gives us a fighting chance against these notoriously picky Redbands. Expect the water to remain high and colored for several more weeks (which is not a bad thing). This weekend I expect to see the first good hatch of Yellow Sally’s, Ameletus and Golden Stones coming off.We have had good fishing Upper Klamath Lake and Agency Lake the past week. Water tempetures are holding pretty steady in the mid to upper 50’s. The first good batch of Redband moved into Pelican Bay area, producing good catches. Fish are starting to pod up at mouths of springs. Fishing will only improve as the warmer weather takes hold. 

Tyler Lee, Kevin Kay, Luke Geraty, and I had the privledge of guiding a Project Healing Waters group hosted by the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. Working with these veterans is extremely rewarding and I feel honored they have chosen Confluence Outfitters for their outings! My guests Leland and Leo had a very good day. They both missed lots of grabs, but also hooked several really nice fish. All the other anglers also hooked into fish as we all enjoyed a beautiful spring day on the lower Sac!

Leland with a nice fish

Leo with another very nice fish

Leo caught lots of fish like this

I had a great time the past two days with my guests Ron and Art on Saturday, and Ron and Steve today. The river is fishing really well and the weather has been ideal. The bite was pretty consistent in the morning and solid throughout the afternoon!  We had a nice mixture of fish in the 14 – 18 inch range both days and lost a couple of really big fish. This is a great time to fish the Sac!

Ron with a nice one

Art with his first trout on a fly

Steve was grinning all day long

I just spent two days on the Lower Sac with a full complement of guests.  I had to bust out the bench seat in front for cousins Kathleen and Chris and Rich was batting clean-up from the back of the boat.  Chris caught her first trout on a fly on this trip!  That's a big milestone.  We had a lot of fun and the ladies took turns helping each other watch for strikes.  For once I wasn't the one yelling "Set Set Set!"  We fished around Anderson the first day and did well on rainbows up to about 17".  The fishing was tougher yesterday but the highlight was a big fin-clipped steelhead.  We had the river to ourselves yesterday and only saw a couple of other boats the day before.  Spring weather is fantastic and there is a ton of wildlife around right now.  It's a great time to be fishing!

Rich's Steelhead

Cousins Kathleen and Chris

sucker time!

Today was a great day with my guest Aaron. He is new to the Redding area and this was his very first time fly fishing. We did a lower float and it was as if we had the river to ourselves.  The bite was on right away and stayed consistent throughout the morning, but the afternoon was off the hook! This was a great introduction and he is completed hooked! 

Aaron with his very first trout

Katie and I just returned home from a great trip to Belize.  We stayed at El Pescador on Ambergris Key.  Our group included four couples that were brand new to saltwater fly fishing.  El Pescador was a great fit for our group and provided an excellent intro to saltwater fly fishing.  The house staff was superb, the guides were very professional, the food was great and the fishery is very intriguing.  We had one day of excellent conditions, one pretty rough and windy day, and one day somewhere in between.  In 3 days of fishing everyone in the group caught bonefish, one angler caught a permit and one couple landed a couple really nice tarpon.  I just wish we could have stayed longer!  Katie and I had some excellent shots at permit and I feel like I'll be ready for my next chance, whenever that comes along.

Frank with his permit

View from El Pescador

Main pool at El Pescador

Loading up in the morning

The dock at El Pescador

Andrew & Katie driving the golf cart into San Pedro

Relaxing by the pool after a day on the water

Heading out in the morning to the back side of the island

This crab ate Katie's crab fly!

Catherine's tarpon

Catherine with her tarpon

Bernard's big tarpon

Catherine's shark

One of the larger bonefish landed by our group

Today we did a re-run of a trip back in February for a Veteran's First Fly Fishing group from Martinez.  They suffered through one of the worst rainy and windy days of the season back in February.  I think we made up for it today, though.  The weather was a little sprinkly at times but the great overall.  The fish were on the bite, too.  It was a great way to end our 2018-19 season!

Lynn

Bob

Craig

With the flows getting ramped back up to 40,000 cfs, it left all of us scrambling to reschedule our Lower Sac trips. This typically isn’t a problem, but this weekend’s 2-day float that was booked back in November and with six busy lives - rescheduling was not an option. Okay, we can fish the Trinity instead. That was the plan until they decided to bump the flows up to 11,000 cfs on Sunday. We fished the Trinity on Saturday and were fortunately given access to Eagle Canyon Trophy Trout Lake on Sunday! Due to scheduling issues, I worked with Peter Santley and Kevin Kay on Saturday and all three boats did very well! My guests Ted and Peter each landed a native adult and several half-pounders. Peter and Kevin had similar results, so not only was the weather ideal, the fishing was great. We shifted gears and fished Eagle Canyon on Sunday. Today, I was working with Scott Saiki and Mike Wright and it was a very good day. Everyone hooked into fish and quickly learned these monsters are a challenge to land on 4x tippet! We were given lemons, but with the hard work and help of my colleagues, we made lemonade! 

Jeff with a chunky one

Jim with a very nice one

Peter with his very first steelhead

Ted hooked this within 15 minutes

Ted with a nice steelhead

Tommy with a small adult

This was so fat, Zack had a hard time holding it up

Zack getting some Trinity love

Guest Joel sent these photos from April 11th. He said fishing was pretty slow overall, but he and his dad managed to land some nice fish.  

Joel with a big one

This fish did not like posing for the photo

I stopped by Eagle Canyon briefly today and got to snap a quick photo of our guest Wenda with a great fish.  She landed it on a size 16 flashback Pheasant Tail on 4X tippet under an indicator.  It was a beautiful day up there!

Wenda with a nice Eagle Canyon fish

It was a wet one today! Kevin Kay and I worked together with a group of long time friends from the San Jose area. The guys were a lot of fun and they were all troopers given the conditions. For whatever reason, the fish were pretty tight-lipped today. We managed to get several grabs throughout the morning, but only hooked one fish by lunch. The afternoon was better and my guests Rick and Mark both landed some nice fish, but they also lost a few as well. Today was a tough day for everyone. The extended forecast is looking dry for at least a week, and then only a slight chance of rain. If the forecast remains dry, then I would expect the flows to remain at 30,000 for at least another 4-5 days and then they will hopefully start to drop.

Mark with a nice one. Unfortunately Rick's big one escaped the net while preparing to take a photo.