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Great I had a great day with my guests Joe and Greg. The action started off good and just kept getting better into the afternoon. Both hooked into a lot of really nice fish but then Joe hooked an absolute horse. After a tough fight, it jumped and was able to spit the fly. We were still mourning Joe’s loss when Greg hooked into another really big fish. The good news is, Greg landed his fish – the bad news is, he has to buy the drinks for their group! It was an amazing two days with a group of really great guys!  Greg with a really nice hatchery buck! |
Good Today's float started off with a good grab right off the bat and boy did it get me excited! But after we lost that fish it was slow going in the morning with a fish here and there (including a large pikeminnow). But by the afternoon, the grab was on! We caught fish on a variety of flies as well as on eggs. Ed and Chris, members of the Russian River Fly Fishers, were excellent casters and had no trouble handling these fat Sacramento 'bows! We were also happy to land a nice hatchery steelhead on a rubber legs. It was a good day, especially since the sun was shinning the whole time!  Football season for Chris!  Ed with a great fish! |
Great What a great day! My
guests Curtis and Steve were very fortunate and got to experience some super hungry
fish today. The grab was consistent until
mid-afternoon before things slowed down a bit. They had several double hookups and were gifted with more than just
rainbows!  Steve with a nice one  Curtis with a nice hatchery steelhead |
Great Joe and Greg put the wood to a bunch of native rainbows today on the Lower Sac. We hooked fish right out of the gate and the grab remained good almost all day. Eggs were the main course today followed by a wide variety of bugs. Get it while it’s hot!  This one lost his spots  Joe with a good one  Greg had a great day  Fishing buddies  I guess I shouldn’t have eaten that one......  One of many |
Great Bla,bla ,bla... it's fishing, more importantly it's Steelhead fishing...it shouldn't be a numbers game nor have it should have ever been about numbers , years 2007-2014, the Steelhead have arived on the Trinity, like they always do and hopefully always will. My clients today Hooked and Landed three Beautiful Wild Steelhead, 5-6 lbs, on the SWING, that put up epic Steelhead battles... memories where made...Get out and get after it when you can, one things for certain , you can't catch them through your computer screen ! |
Good The upper Rogue has been hit and miss. Like everywhere else, the Rogue needs some rain to get fish moving. Bright and sunny days combined with low and clear water is not exactly ideal Fall steelhead conditions, but we are still swinging up some nice wild fish on days that fall upon odd numbers on the calendar..  Hooked up under Table Rock  Beautiful Fall days swinging flies  It’s not nice to low hole... |
Slow Fishing continues to be challenging on the Trinity due to low clear water and a shortage of fish. Jerry and Kat decided to give it a try nonetheless as they had never floated the Trinity. The weather and scenery did not disappoint but the fishing was about as expected. Jerry did hook a really nice adult steelhead that jumped a few times and then came off but that was it except for a small half (or quarter) pounder.  Kat gets out to fish a likely-looking run. |
Slow This past weekend was spent swinging flies on the Trinity with
the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. Fortunately, the
members were looking for instruction on fishing as they had a good grasp on
casting from time spent on the ponds. We were able to fish a variety of water
and techniques but even though the fishing was slow, we did get to play a nice
adult each day.  Tom on  Tail out bliss  Bigfoot |
Slow I had a great time with my two sets of guests over the past
four days. Our focus was on swinging flies
with two-handed rods with the hope of being rewarded with some chrome love. Unfortunately, the fishing remains tough due
to the low and clear conditions. Fellow
guide Mike Wright was working with the same group and they hooked two adults
nymphing on Saturday. There are fish in
the system, but very spread out. Word on
the water is the weir in Willow Creek was removed a few days ago, so hopefully
that will bring a new push of fish into the upper sections. Once we get some rain, that should improve conditions
as well. |
Slow Just spent a few days on the lower Trinity river looking to connect with some fall run steelhead but came up empty handed. On Wednesday I did a guide day with Craig with high hopes of intercepting some moving fish as I had been told that the weir down in Willow Creek had been open for the past two days prior to our float. We got the kinks worked out of his casting by mid morning and were on the hunt for the rest of the day. We ran into some dark King salmon milling around in the likely spots with the hope that there might be some eager steelhead mixed in with them or holding close by but we never did find them. We fished to near dark when Craig finally got a good grab that turned out to be a little trout. Despite the hard fishing we both had an awesome day on the water. The weather was fall at it's finest and the changing leaves amongst the backdrop of the canyon did not disappoint. The next day I floated the rest of the way to the takeout with a few good friends and we had similiar results. I always hope to see fish from the boat to reaffirm that these critters are around but after covering nearly 14 miles of river I never saw one spook from a shadowed bank or squirt out of a tailout. Conditions seem to have become stagnant for now on the lower river with the need for rain becoming more and more. Hopefully the wait will not be long.  tools of the trade basking in some morning light |
Good Today I had the pleasure of helping out with a group from the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club and had Gavan and Tony in my raft. Two really nice guys. We swung flies on the lower river and Tony brought two nice steelhead to hand. Gavan, after not touching a Spey rod in a decade, fished really well and had a couple of grabs. Additionally, we saw fish moving up the system and had the river to ourselves.  Tony and the big fish.  Fish on  Morning Dew  Does it get any better? |
Okay Today was the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club’s annual Trinity River “Rondy.” I had a great time with my guests Jeff and Fred. We swung a few runs but given the conditions we focused on nymphing and it paid off. Jeff landed a beautiful wild fish after a great fight and hooked a “tweener” that didn’t want to play nice. Fishing continues to be challenging due to a combination of low and clear water coupled with what seems to be a low return of steelhead for this time of year. There are fish in the system, but you have to remain patient and work to find them.  Jeff with a beautiful wild steelhead |
Okay Today we hosted a group from the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club. Conditions remain tough on the Trinity; low, crystal clear water, sunny days, and apparently not a lot of fish! But in the bottom of the ninth Tom connected with his first ever steelhead! Persistence pays off. Your mileage may vary......  Tom is all smiles with his first ever steelhead! |
Great I had such a great day with my guests Jesse and Julian on the Sac today! As expected, the boat hatch was pretty think, but everyone spread out and soon enough it seemed we had the river to ourselves. The grab was on and they both hooked into some really nice fish. Jesse came out on the winning end after hooking some really big fish but lost an even bigger fish after it jumped and gave him the “middle fin.” Julian landed some nice fish but came out on the losing end after hooking into a couple of really nice fish that didn’t play nice. The weather and the action made for a perfect fall day on the Sac!  They both hooked-up at the same time  Jesse with his first for the day  This fish put up an epic battle  Julian with a nice fish |
Red Hot Fishing for big wild rainbow trout continues to be outstanding on the Lower Sac. I had a great day today with Frank and Doug from the Sacramento area. They estimate that we've fished the river together at least 40 times and I don't think we've ever had a better day than we had today. There were a lot of fish and there were a log of BIG fish that made the net today. Salmon are actively spawning and big rainbow trout are on the "egg grab".  Frank with a big bow  Nice hat Doug!  Frank with another big rainbow  Doug finished the day with this fish |
Good Tom and Judy made their annual pilgrimage from Reno to fish the Lower Sac. They braved strong winds and a 2000 cfs flow bump the night before but had a successful day nonetheless. Things will only get better when they quit jumping the flows around and these crazy winds subside!  Tom with a good one  These are beautiful wild fish!  Great fish are caught this time of year!  Judy and a fish that looked a little steelhead-ish |
Slow I had the pleasure of taking Bill and Mike on the Lower Sac yesterday and while the sun was shining the whole time, it was much more windy than we anticipated (weather forecasts aren't always as accurate as we'd like). The fishing was tougher than ususal, though we still managed to land a few fish. After Mike told me he couldn't learn a new trick, he did exactly what he said he couldn't do and threw a nice stack mend and hooked and landed a beautiful fish. He also hooked a really nice golden 'bow in some fast water but the fish used it's experience and current to spit the hook, leaving us stranded on Heartbreak Ridge (shout out to Clint Eastwood!). Eggs and bugs both worked and there are still lots of salmon in the water!  After a beautiful mend, Mike hooked this fish!  Bill, wet wading in October, hooked up on something big... a salmon? a steelhead? We don't know! |
Okay Spent another gorgeous day on the Trinity River. Today I got
to show Jay from the Bay Area the lower stretches of the river. For the most
part we were spared from the high winds wreaking havoc in the North State. The
temps were moderate and the sun was out. He saw one small half pounder and had
a few tugs. I did see some fish moving up the system. Sunny warm days are on
tap for the next week.  LImelight  Jay putting down the double |
Red Hot We had an excellent day on the Lower Sac today. I guided Alex and Mike who have been planning this trip for a while. We had a really nice float on a stretch of river that did not have a lot of other boat traffic. Mike started out red hot with multiple hookeups, but when Alex got started there was no slowing her down. We had a few double hook-ups and some lengthy battles. A lot of nice fish in the 20 inch range made it into the net today. Today was a day when the fish were just on the grab - it didn't matter which fly we tied on.  Mike with a great fish |
Great Steve has literally fished all over the world but was very impressed with the size of the fish he caught today on the Lower Sac. October is known as “big fish month” on this river and that proved true today. The big boys come out of hiding when salmon eggs are on the menu!  Mr Toad  Token Sundial shot  Steve with another big one  Egg eater  Another wild rainbow |
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