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Good We rolled the dice on the wind today with guests Bill and Mike. Mike hooked a nice fat rainbow in the first run. I pulled over to net and release fish then Bill hooked a fat one in anchor then off to the races to land it. The wind pushed us a bit here and there in am and slowed down in afternoon..We had a pretty consistent day with plenty of fish to the boat. And some big battles list.All in all a good day on the river.Book a trip and come out and play Peter Santley |
Good It’s the time of year for baseball metaphors, so here we go. Steve and Lisa came up to play on the Lower Sac. After warming up we started to get into some fish. We had a few strikeouts, and a few errors, but Lisa finally connected and played some big fish beautifully. There were lots of hit and run plays by the fish today but we caught some of them stealing. The flows continue to fluctuate wildly, evidently to help clear the rice fields downriver, but fishing remains solid!  Lisa with one of the ones that didn’t get away.  All smiles!  Another perfect specimen. |
Great Today was a nice change of pace as I got to go fishing with one of my daughters and a friend! We did a half day float on the Lower Sac and it gave up some #TroutPigs, including 14 year old Mikenna's first trout on a fly rod! We caught some great fish, including the 20+ inch 'bow for Mikenna and a couple other fish around the same size. The wind was rough for about an hour but we found fish in some locations hidden from the gusts-that-make-rowing-less-than-fun and also enjoyed the river all to ourselves! It was nice to see the fish taking both eggs and bugs and we saw a LOT of salmon! The Mighty Sac is an amazing fishery. One minute it's breaking your heart and the next it's telling you it loves you.  Steve and I caught a few of these!  She came and she conquered! |
Slow Today was very windy for my guests Mitch and Peter for their lower Sac trout spey trip. I’m not sure if it was the crazy flows bumps and rapid drops, or the relentless wind, but fishing was very tough today. These guys are great anglers, but the conditions were not providing them many opportunities today. I only saw a few random rising fish all day, so fishing dries was off the table. Mitch did hook into a really large fish, but it managed to spit the hook after its second aerial show. |
Great I had a great day with my guest John on the lower Sac today. He landed a fish right out of the gate, but then they got pretty tight-lipped until mid-late morning – but then it was on! John did a great job as the action picked up and we had some good laughs when things did and didn’t go quite as planned. Perfect weather and great fishing makes for a great time on the Sac! |
Good Spent a Sunday Spey on the Trinity with my friend Mark. It was a great steelhead day with overcast skies and cooler temps. We floated a bit lower on the river and only saw one other boat. Mark hooked and lost a nice fish on an intermediate tip and later landed a nice adult on a skated muddler. We saw many fish throughout the float which is always a welcome sign. Next week’s temps are still on the warm side so water temp should stay in skater territory.  Scandi bliss  Fish on  My muddler |
We have an angler who would like to split a spey-only trip on the Upper Rogue on October 26th. The guide would be Leslie Ajari. If you want to join this angler please let us know ASAP and we will put you in touch with him. Our buddy finder is a great way to find fishing partners and split the cost of a guided trip! |
Good Kevin Kay and I worked with a fun group of guys on the
Trinity today. The early season has the adult
fish spread out, so you really need to work to find them. My guests John and Brad fished hard and were
rewarded with some great hook-ups. Brad
is new to fly fishing and today was his first time steelheading, but he was
blessed with a nice wild adult and several half-pounders. John hooked into two very nice adults but came
out on the losing end after some good fights. There seem to be lots of half-pounders throughout and they are eager to
eat our flies. We need some rain to bring
more fish into the river and raise the water levels.  Brad with his first ever steelhead! |
Red Hot Fishing on the Lower Sac doesn't get much better than it was today and yesterday. We caught a couple dozen fish in the last two days that would easily have been the big fish of the day at other times of year. You know you're getting spoiled when you let 20 inch fish go without taking pictures! The egg grab is excellent but there are also dry fly opportunities. My guest Steve landed one of his biggest fish on a dry fly yesterday! There is still plenty of time to get in on this great fishing. Salmon are spawning in good numbers down to about Knighton Rd (above Anderson). As the next few weeks unfold, salmon will spawn lower and lower on the river. That opens up the egg grab to a much larger part of the river.  Rick with one of his best fish  Steve landed this fish on a dry fly!  Steve with the first fish of the day - not a bad start!  Steve Playing a big fish  Steve's big fish of the day |
Great Today was a great day swinging flies and casting dries with my guest George. Even with the flow bump this morning, the fish were super grabby right off the bat! George hooked into four fish in our first run before landing a small hatchery adult. He got grabs in every run he swung throughout the day, but the dry fly action was incredible. After some pretty epic battles, George was left empty handed after getting broken-off a couple times and getting the “middle fin” during some amazing aerial displays. Such a fun time of year fishing such a beautiful section of the Sac!  George with a nice hatchery fish |
Great Long-time Confluence client Bill from Chico brought his brother Doug up to sample the Lower Sac. Due to creative timing and a little luck we had the upper river all to ourselves. After a few warmup fish we tied into some real toads, some where they were normally are and some where they normally aren’t! It pays to think outside the box and experiment a bit at this time of year. A good time was had by all except the fish!  Egg eater.  Swimmin’ In the net.  Bill in the back.  Bill with a real slab. |
Great The Sac continues to pump out fat wild rainbows. Bill and Dale did a great job of putting the wood to a bunch of nice fish today. The menu was varied, with egg imitations and various bugs all doing the job. This is a fun time of year to visit this great river.  Fish on!  Dale with a fattie.  Check out that dorsal fin!  Another beautiful wild fish.  Nothing but net!  Bill with another good one. |
Andrew Harris will be presenting to the Chico Area Fly Fishers tonight. His topic will be the Feather River drainage, including the trout fishing on the North and Middle Forks and the steelhead fishing on the Lower Feather. The meeting begins at 7:30pm at 2565 California Park Dr. Chico, CA 95928.
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Great Brian Kohlman and I had a really nice day with four members of the Golden Gate Angling & Casting Club today. We did a trout-spey trip on the Lower Sac. My boat had fair to good fishing on the trout-spey, but the dry fly fishing stole the show. Our biggest to the net was a fat 18 inch rainbow. It was an interesting day to be wading since the flows went up about 2000cfs toward the end of the day. We saw sticks and other debris floating by us, but the fish kept rising!  Rebecca with a big dry fly fish |
Great Andrew Harris and I worked together on a trout-spey trip with
the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. My boat had a good day swinging flies with light-weight two-handed rods,
but the dry fly action was crazy! My
guest Jeff swung up a really big fish early on, but it came unpinned after a
lengthy battle. Then several fish began actively
feeding on the surface and Jeff switched gears - landing some really nice fish
on small dries. Frank continued on with
his 3wt trout spey and was rewarded nicely with a 20-inch wild fish that put up
a truely epic fight!  Frank with nice 20 wild fish! |
Okay Bill and I were at it again today in search of chunky 'bows looking to chomp bugs and eggs! After Bill made a "pro-status" cast and threw a quick mend in his line, a beautiful Lower Sac trout crushed his egg and we were in business! Netting the fish took a bit of work as we were in fast water and these fish know how to use the current to their advantage... but Bill played it beautifully and it was released after a quick photo. While we fished hard and used a lot of different patterns, the fish seemed only interested in eggs today and there was only a handful of fish willing to come out and play. The nice thing is we weren't playing "bumper-boats" and had most of the river to ourselves. Egg bite is right around the corner!  A chunky 16 inch Sac River 'Bow |
Great Today was really fun with my guests Ramon and his son Diego. The morning grab was a little spotty, but things really picked up by mid-morning and remained consistent all day long. They both hooked into some really nice fish and quickly learned how hard our Lower Sac rainbows fight! With perfect weather and super grabby fish, I can’t think of a better way to spend the day!  Ramon with a chunky one  Diego with his first of the day  Ramon with another nice fish |
Okay One of the things I appreciate about guiding is meeting inspirational
people. I got to spend two days with Dick, who at 80, is living right and
charging rivers. The Trinity only gave up a half pounder on the swing, and a few
grabs, but the weather, scenery and company made for a great weekend. Warm weather
keeps skating flies an option. The fish have been sporadic, but putting in time
is part of the game. The rain forecasted for later this week is a welcoming
sign.  Dick skating the Trinity.  Tight loops.  Time well spent. |
Okay Peter Santley and I spent the last two days guiding our
guest Ted and his family. Ted and his
crew are long time clients of ours and have become very good friends over the
years! The fishing has been on the tough
side, but if you work for them you will be rewarded. There seem to be plenty of half-pounders
throughout the river, but the adults are spread pretty thin at this time. With Peter, Tommy landed one small adult on
Friday and everyone else settled for half-pounders. The fish gods were on our side today as Garth
hooked three adults and landed two - the fish he lost was by far the largest. Ted landed one nice hatchery adult and was
briefly hooked into another. Frank
landed a nice adult with Peter and both boats landed quite a few
half-pounders. It was a great trip as
always and the weather was amazing!  Garth with a small adult  Garth with another nice fish  Ted with a nice hatchery fish |
Great Steve and Gary made a return trip to fish the Lower Sac in October after fishing with me the in the spring. The famed egg-bite is still not in full swing but the fish are eating lots of bugs in the usual places. If and when more salmon show up we should see more action on the spherical plastic “fly”. The weather and the fishing have been great so come get some!  Gary playing a good fish.  Nothing like a wild trout on the Lower Sac.  Steve with a big bend in his rod!  Lunch time in the shade.  Here piggy piggy....... |
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