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While we are waiting out Shelter in Place order there is plenty to do. This is a great time to do gear maitainence and get organized for fishing to come. Check and clean or replace flylines, organize fly boxes, clean and organize packs, vests, boat bags. Take inventory of flies, leaders, tippers, fly tying materials. Tie flies and restock your boxes. Do your best to support your local fly shops by ordering needed flies, tippett, fly lines gear and supplies. This is a good time to contact your favorite guides for tips on fishing , rigging, rod or gear recommendations or just to say hi and see how they are doing in this tough time. As we look forward to getting back to work doing what we love. The fish will be ready. Also good time to purchase gift certificates or book future dates. I miss being out on the water with clients and look forward to seeing you in near future.Thanks and good fishing,Peter |
Due to the coronavirus crisis, we suspended all guide trips as of last Friday. For more information, please read today's email newsletter to our guests. We will keep you posted. We will get in touch to help you book a trip or reschedule your trip as soon as we have a firm date for getting back to work. |
Good Fishing conditions have improved considerably over the past week with the first decent rainfall to find it's way to the North Coast since early February. While most rivers still remain low, the rains that fell have put a healthy stain into most. The Eel basin has benefited the most from the recent precipitation giving the few of us who are still out fishing our last glimpse of steelhead green water before the closure on March 31. My past few outings have met with big rewards with clients shaking hands with some very nice fish. With more rain on the horizon for the North Coast, fishing should remain strong until the end of March. (Just a reminder that on April 1 most North Coast rivers will close to fishing, two notable exceptions are the Smith River and the Main Stem Eel below the SF confluence.)I still have available dates on my calendar, but with everything going on it seems very plausible that this might be one of my last fishing reports for the winter season. Thanks to everyone who made the journey to fish the rivers of California's Redwood Coast with me this season. There were some tough days with some that were the stuff of legend. I hope everyone stays safe and healthy through the weeks and months that lay ahead. I'll see you on the water!  A dreamy buck pulled from some dreamy water  The letting go |
Great I had a great time with my guest Bob today. The morning was pretty chilly, but the grab
started right away. Bob hooked into
several really nice fish and ended up with one of his best days on the Sac! The flows are low, and the fishing is great, so
this is a great time to self-isolate in the great outdoors! Fresh air, elbow-bumps only, and social
distancing boundaries - we have it all! |
On April 1st the Fly Fishing Only section opens on the upper Trinity. If conditions are right this can be a lot of fun. Primarily walk and wade fishing in a bit smaller water than down river. With good hatches of BWOs , March browns, calibaetis, on the right day the steelhead will eat dries. You can also swing or nymph the area. Last year I spent part of two days there sight fishing with March brows and had a blast. I was fishing a 5wt with 4x leader and size 14 parachute Adam's and other March brown patterns. Over two days I hooked 6 adults and landed 4 all on dries. This section has a short window before the spring flush in later April.I have openings and would love to guide the first half of April there if interested I have available dates. The Trinity is currently fishing well with very little pressure.Get outside away from crowds and do some fishing with us. Book your trip soon.Peter Santley |
We just had a cancellation for Tuesday March 17th. This is currently the ONLY DAY left in our 2019-20 season. First come first serve! |
Great Spring steelhead is in full swing on the Feather River. We have been having some awesome days lately and some really good times. I have included a few pictures from recent trips. The sucker spawn is on and the fish are eating eggs, caddis, and a variety of other nymphs. This can also be a good time of year to swing and we have gotten some vicious grabs, though we will not have the same numbers as nymphing. Many of the runs on the Feather are spread out and a boat is by far the most efficient way to fish it. |
Red Hot This photo was sent by our guest John who fished Eagle Canyon two days this week. He said the fishing was outstanding both days.  John with one of many big fish |
Good At long last we have some actual rain in our forecast for the parched North Coast. While it's nothing amounting to a gully washer it's a welcome change from the prolonged dry spell we've been going through since early February. Despite exceptionally low and clear conditions there are still fish coming into the rivers and over the past few weeks every outing has offered a handful of opportunities to find one of these fish before the season closes (mostly) for 2020. Scaling way down on fly profile and being selective to certain water types has proven to be successful, but conditions are tough on the days that are bright and sunny, and there have been more than a few of those over the past few weeks! Fishing pressure has seen a major drop during March as most rivers have gotten too low to drift. Hopefully this shot of rain will put some fish on the move that are kegged up in the lower stretches and give us a fitting end to our 2020 season. If you've been holding out on making the journey North you still have a shot at finding a fresh from the salt chromer. Tight lines out there! |
Good I had a fun day on the Lower Sac today with buddies Mark and Kirby. They wanted a spey casting lesson so they got a full morning of spey instruction. The double spey was looking pretty good and we just got into the snap-T when the fish started rising. The risers didn't much care for nymphs fished on the swing so we switched over to dry fly rods and had a blast. The fish were eager risers and ate every fly we tied on. We hooked dozens of fish in the 10 inch range and then several larger fish. The best was about 17" and put up a great battle. The hatch lasted from 1pm to 4pm and was a mix of PMDs, caddisflies, and smaller mayflies. This is a great time of year for a trout-spey/dry-fly combo trip. Flows are very wading-friendly and the shallow water is where the best dry fly fishing happens!  butterflies  Mark playing his big fish  Big wild fish on a dry fly |
Great My guests Ted and Zach had two amazing days on the Sac! We received some much-needed rain on Saturday,
and it seemed to turn the bite on. After
an incredible morning, we had a lull late-morning - but things really picked
back up after lunch. Sunday was very consistent all day and both
hooked into a lot of really nice fish. The weather is very mild and the fishing just seems to get better every
day. Spring is a great time to book your
float on the Sac!  Ted with a beauty!  Ted with another really nice one  Zach was roping these all day  They doubled, but Zach couldn't quite hand onto his |
It's almost spring and it's time for the Lower Sac. Springtime on the Lower Sac is prime time. Hungry rainbows eating a variety of hatches. Good weather and great fishing. Fishing on the Lower Sac is less technical fishing than some of our venues. If you have a wife or girlfriend or kids that would like to try this out booking a float trip on the Lower Sac is a good learning experience. A great place to learn with hungry trout to build your skills. This is also the place to bring your group trips. Clubs', corporate groups, groups of friends to fish the miles of productive waters of the Lower Sac. The Lower Sac can be fished in many methods, nymphing,swinging, dry fly and dry droppers rigs, streamers can all produce fish. At certain flows you can get out of the boat and do some wade fishing.There is something for everyone on this river. For the next three months I cant think of a better place to fish. With the outlook of a lower flow spring fishing should be great. We are already having good days now. It's time to get a friend or fishing buddies to book a trip on The Trout Factory for spring With that said it's time to get out and play. Book now and let's get after it. I would like to have you in my boat for some springtime fun on the Lower Sac.Thanks and good fishing,Peter  Sundial Bridge Lower Sac |
Great I'm back from roaming with the Great White Buffalo or working my #SS off elsewhere, however you prefer ! I've opened my calendar up for select dates on select venues, my schedule for 2020 is limited but I have made dates available at prime times on prime waters. If you're interested in fishing with me but don't see dates that work with your schedule feel free to reach out to me, I'll see what we can work out. All days will be spent swinging flies for Steelhead and Trout, other then time spent on Lewiston lake or hunting rising trout on the Lower Sac while wading. If you missed it I will be available on the Lower Klamath in Late July, can be a good time to find an early Summer Steelhead and get away from the Valley Heat !  Trinity Beauty  Lower Klamath Chrome  Battle Creek Steelhead  Chrome Wild Hen |
Great Here is a photo forwarded by the Oakland Casting Club. They fished Eagle Canyon on February 29th. They said they had a great time as usual!  Nice fish! |
Great The lower Sac was incredible today for my guest Chuck. The grab was on right away and remained pretty consistent throughout the day. Lots of fish in the 14”–18” range and several really large suckers and pike minnows! The flows are ideal and so is the weather – spring is a great time to fish the Sac! |
Good I spent a really nice day on the Trinity River today with my guest Chuck from Davis. The weather was so warm I guided Lower Sac-style, without wearing waders. I only regretted it for the last hour of the day! Fishing was good and there are very few other anglers on the river. Chuck hooked and landed multiple adult steelhead, all wild. Most of them ate the fly the first time they saw it, right as we began fishing a new spot. The fish seem to be concentrated in choppy riffles that have a depth transition. Our fish ranged from 3 to 5 pounds and we also hooked some smaller trout-sized fish. We saw good numbers of March Brown mayflies mid-day but we didn't see any rises.  Chuck with one of several steelhead today |
Good There is still time to get some steelhead on the Trinity River. I had some good fishing on last weeks Trinity trips. Cool mornings and nice afternoons made for some good steelhead fishing. I had four good days and one slow day. I had some fairly inexperienced anglers. This meant first steelhead for most people that fished with me. We got fish in a variety of sizes from half pounders to 28in adults. We were getting plenty of chances each day. Overall river was quiet and fishing was good. I head back up this week for a couple days of guiding. I have plenty of open dates.Come out and play on the river.Petet Santley |
Good We fought the north wind most of the day today but still hooked good numbers of fish on the Lower Sac. Fishing pressure is light, hatches are good, and the weather has been great when the wind isn't blowing. We saw size 14 caddisflies and size 16 PMDs hatching today. We briefly got out the dry fly rod but spent the rest of the day nymphing. Fishing was good when we were out of the wind and slow in the wide-open windy areas. Both Dan and Justin landed a nice 18-20 inch fish today and we hooked plenty of other fish of all sizes. The nymph grab isn't quite wide-open yet like it can get in March and April, but it's still pretty good.  Justin with an impressive California extension |
Good With the warmer weather happening here in northern California, fish are starting to look up, up, up! At least that's what Dominic and his son Dom discovered on the Sacramento River on Saturday. These two guests were experienced anglers and could cast a fly rod really well, so they had no problem hooking fish on the top and below the surface. The bite has been pretty consistent between the 11:30am to 3pm time slot, and the Sac didn't disappoint. The weather was so nice that these two actually wet waded and caught fish in a number of nice riffles. Dominic actually hooked a really, really nice fish on a dry fly but ended up losing the fish when it wrapped itself around a submerged log. We were definitely disappointed but the great thing about dry fly fishing is geting to watch the eat and let me tell you... that fish crushed that fly! The sunny weather left me with a nice tan too, so all around an excellent day.  Dom's beautiful 'bow caught on a UV sally!  Dominic casting dries for rising trout! |
Great I had a really fun day with my guests Eli and Chase! A milk shake was on the line for the first fish, and wouldn’t you know it – they both hooked up at the same time! Eli was declared the winner because her fish was larger than Chase’s. They had multiple doubles throughout the day, with the grab really turning on mid-day. In the end, they both hooked into a lot of great fish. They brought their beautiful lab Kai along. She was quite confused as to why we were leaving the ducks and geese alone, but quickly became interested in all the fish we were catching.  Eli with her first  Kai was the perfect First Mate  What a good fight!  Bam!  Chase was doing this all day  Our first time together, Eli landed one of the biggest suckers I've seen |
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