Current Fishing Report

Kevin Kay and I spent the last two days with our guests Bob, Sharon, Bruce, and Pam. They’re from Oregon and this was their first time fishing in California. Our focus was nymphing, but they did want to swing some of the prime runs. The fish seem to be spread out, so you really need to work every little pocket. With Kevin, Pam hooked into a couple of small adults, but quickly learned how hard these fish fight.  We managed to hook some half-pounders and lots salmon smolts. Our luck turned around today as Bob hooked three nice adults – but also learned they’re not a fan of the landing net. Bruce swung-up a solid half-pounder and also hooked a couple small adults.  Everyone enjoyed the scenery and although the mornings are in the mid-20’s, the daytime temps are quite warm.  

Bob and Sharon working hard

Bruce was rewarded with this nice fish

It's hard to complain about a sunny day of trout fishing in northern California, especially when the temperatures reach the low 80's in October! My guest Bill started the day off by hooking an an absolute HOG of a fish that had to be near 24 inches, but after that fish jumped once, it took us to Heartbreak Ridge and spit the hook and the image was burned into our memory throughout the day. However, while the morning was slower, things started to warm up before lunch and Bill ended up landing a bunch of thick healthy 'bows, catching fish on a variety of nymphs and even some egg patterns. It's definitely getting a lot busier on the river, but the nice thing about the Sac is it's large enough to spread out and find fish! 

We need to get some shades for that fish!

A typical Sac River 'bow!

A fun weekend was had on my two favorite local rivers. Lura and I went out on the Lower Sac for a couple of hours Saturday evening and had a wonderful time. Fish were munching on eggs and BWO nymphs. Sunday, I floated and swung flies for the steelies on the Trinity with Andrew Harris. He brought up a gymnast that tossed the hook on the dismount. Although that was the only adult we touched, we saw fish behind every rock with a name to it. The weather, mild temps, and big fish make this my favorite time of the year to be on the water.

Sunset and bent rods

Lura and the egg muncher

Andrew swinging the Trinity

Balancing act

I had a great time with my guests Jim and Trevor. They had spent the last two days fishing the Fall River with Art Teter and had a very good time. The bite was very consistent all day and they landed a lot of really nice fish. The cooler fall weather makes it a great time to float the lower Sac.

Jim with a nice one

Trevor with a chunky one

Jim and Kim came up from San Diego to fish the Lower Sac. We did a lower float to avoid the combat fishing taking place up in town and it did not disappoint. The fish may be a bit smaller downriver but there is certainly value in the solitude and scenery to be found there. We only saw two other boats all day. Fishing was good and steady with plenty of hard-fighting wild rainbows finding their way into the net.

El Bendo.

That’s Kim in the stern with her improvised sun shade.

Another wild native ‘bow.

Today was all about the big fish that got away.  Andreas Fuhrmann and I spent the day fishing the Trinity River with our spey rods.  Grabs were hard to come by, but I did manage to briefly hook two half-pounders and one big adult steelhead.  That fish slammed my fly as it swung over a drop-off, then cartwheeled downstream and threw the hook!  Even though our success was limited, I was encouraged to see plenty of steelhead as we floated the river.  We saw steelhead in almost every hole we floated over.  The river is crystal clear.

Andreas fishing a run on the Trinity River

Today was a ½-day float with my guests Bruce and John. They had spent the past two days ESN nymphing the upper Sac and wanted to end their trip on the lower Sac. John was new to indicator nymphing, so he struggled in the beginning, but got the hang of it by mid-morning.  Both had lots of grabs before they finally hooked into some nice fish. Not many landed today, but the quality was incredible. October on the Sac is boat hatch time – so expect to see lots of boats and a bit of a wait at the boat ramp. 

Bruce with his nicest of the day

I had a great time on the Lower Sac with my guests Gene and John. Today was all about swinging flies in search of rainbows and steelhead. They had some bumps in our first few runs, but finally Gene hooked into a really nice fish that managed to spit the hook after two big jumps. John landed a cookie-cutter trout in the same run. While swinging the next run, Gene got payback and landed a beautiful hatchery adult. Both were very impressed with the water, scenery, and we had no other boat traffic all day.

Gene with a beautiful fin-clipped adult

A good time was had by all at our past weekend Spey Camp. Our camp is one of the best venues in the world of Pacific Northwest steelhead fishing. We offer excellent food prepared by a professional chef, amazing camping infrastructure, Spey instruction, modern jet boats, and the best home water on the Klamath. Floating lines with meddlers was a top producing rig this weekend, which is epic. This is an experience every steelheader should have on their List. You’ll want to book early to secure your spot for next year.

Karen booked up in a epic tailout

Amazing views, sunsets, and star gazing from camp

Steelhead weather

A chunky Klamath half pounder

Pete and Karen got steelhead every day

According to Peter Santley, fishing has been OK on the Trinity this past week.  He's been connecting with a couple of adult steelhead a day.  There are still good numbers of salmon around, too.

Peter Santley and guest playing a fish

I had a fun day on the Lower Sacramento with Ryan and Gazebo Dan. The boys had a goal of catching some Cali Trout before Daniel heads back east, leaving the City by the Bay for Nashvegas. The morning got off to a slow start and the upper river’s congestion confirmed the salmon are here. The beauty of the big river is people get spread out rather quickly. In no time we had her all to ourselves and found fish on redds all the way down to Anderson. In addition to eggs, fish were also eating caddis patterns. Daniel and Ryan quickly got the hang of the game and found some nice fish. 

Gazebo Dan and a beauty

Ryan not afraid of the weather

Guide making an appearance

I returned home last night after spending a week at our Klamath River Spey Camp…and what a week! We had two really fun groups and some exceptional weather. The fishing started out a little scratchy, but the grab started to pick up the last few days. Our guests were rewarded with a nice mix of half-pounders and adults. It seems a new push of fish came through as my guests hooked six adults on the last day of camp. By far, the most effective method was fishing a floating line as these summer fish are willing to move for a swung fly. Camp was amazing and the food is so good! I’m already looking forward to next year’s camps! 

Kim with a bright wild fish

Chicken Marsala with roasted broccoli

Mike with some wild chrome

Had a great 2 days with Tom on the lower sac. We had excellent dry fly action most of the day Thursday with fish up to 18”. Friday was inconsistent but we found a few spots that were very productive on the nymphs.

Tom fishing dries

The rubberlegs is working

Fun day fishing with good Confluence client, Steve Dalcin.     The egg bite is definitely on!     Steve also managed to land some nice trout on size 18 hooks.   Mid day, Steve learned to throw the two hander.  Great weather, great fishing and the river almost to ourselves!    What's not to love?  

Just got back last week from another hosted trip to Steelhead Mecca, the Skeena River. Despite the return being a bit off, some epic fish were hooked, and some even landed. I have two weeks booked again in 2020 at my favorite lodge on the Skeena River during what I consider absolute prime time to encounter the steelhead of a lifetime. At this point all spots are full, but inquire if you wish to added to the waiting list and you may luck out.

Brian Kohlman just sent these photos over from spey camp.  He says fishing has been good with a mix of halfpounders, adults, and jacks in the mix.  Gino has been having good luck on floating lines and leaders, getting some epic grabs just below the surface!

Camp lit up at night

The evening campfire at Spey Camp

Swinging the Lower Klamath

I got to spend a fun half-day fishing with my good friend Bjorn and his buddy John.  Today was the shake-down cruise for Bjorn's new raft, an AIRE super-puma with an NRS frame.  The raft was great - it made me want to own a raft again!  Fishing was also good.  There are some salmon around and we had a little bit of luck on glo bugs, but most of our other fish came on red copper johns, poopahs, and other caddis patterns.

I had good luck today with red copper johns

Bjorn with John's fish - the first fish landed in Bjorn's new raft

After returning from another amazing hosted trip to British Columbia, it was great to get back home for some guide trips on the Rogue. It’s fly only season on the upper Rogue, which has some of the best swing water in the Pacific Northwest. If you are curious about Spey casting and want to learn how to swing flies, the Rogue is a fabulous venue.Yesterday my client Ken Frank wanted to work on his casting and swung up his first steelhead on a Spey rod, about a 9 pound buck who aggressively crushed the fly 2 seconds after it his the water. He put on quite the aerial display for us for a big buck steelhead. The day before I fished with Bryan and Jeff from Oregon, and Bryan encountered one super aggressive fish who ran straight at us and came off. We fished every awesome swing spot that we wanted, with relatively light angling pressure for the most part.

 Happy Autumn! It was a fun weekend on the water with some nice steelhead caught on swung flies. Fall colors are just starting to turn and days swinging flies on the river can be quite scenic. 

We are now down to two discounted openings left.  These are both very short-notice cancellations and we can re-book these spots at a discounted rate.  Contact Andrew Harris at 530-632-3465 for pricing info.  September 23-26 midweek camp: 1 spot.  September 27-29 weekend camp: 1 spot. Current Fishing Report: We just finished up our 2nd spey camp which is already somewhat legendary for the intense rainstorms and great fishing.  The river came up a little and the steelhead seemed to be in their happy place.  Gino had one of his best single days of guiding ever on the Lower Klamath a few days ago.  There are good numbers of adult steelhead in the system!