Putah Creek and Lower Sac

I had the opportunity to guide both Putah Creek and the Lower Sac twice this week. All I can say is that Putah Creek is starting to fish really tough. Putah is flowing between 40-50 cfs and it is hard to find water that has enough depth and current to hold lots of fish. It seems as though you can find a random fish here and there but not multiple fish in single spots. Most days it seems as though a guys can hook between 4-6 rainbows in about 5 hours of fishing. You really have to put your time in and focus on the deeper slots. It has been cool to hook some larger fish on the creek. This week clients of mine hooked two different fish that were between 20-24''. The hot bugs have been black/red zebra midges (18), biot baetis (18), Hogans S&M (18), flashback pheasant tails (20).

The Lower Sac continues to fish well below Red Bluff. The trout fishing has been consistent with about 20 rainbows being boated on a daily basis. We are seeing some big steelhead continuing to move through the system. The Lower Sac steelhead are some of the most pissed off big fish in all of Northern California. I wish all steelhead acted like those on the Sac. The hot bugs on the Lower Sac have been Rubberlegs, Red Copper Johns, Tan Birds Nest, and Hogans S&M.

If you are interested I will take $100 off anyone who is interested in booking Sunday, November 30 for a day on the Lower Sac or Feather River.

Tight Lines!

The Last Two Weeks of Valley River Steelhead Fishing

The last two weeks I have had some tough steelhead fishing on the Feather River. There are not lots of fish in the system. Most days with clients in the last two weeks has resulted in hooking 1-2 adult fish with another 4-5 half pounders on top of that. I did have one really good day during the first week of November where my clients hooked 14 steelies. However only two of those fish hooked were considered adult sized fish (22''+). The most productive flies have been eggs, san juan worms, and any small baetis nymphs. Usually caddis patterns are effective on the Feather but I have not been seeing many of them on the water. I would try some caddis stuff only after you have fished a slot effectively with all of the other bugs mentioned.

What I started doing my last three days on the water was switch my clients over to the Lower Sac to do some trout and steelhead fishing. My thinking is we can get 1-2 adult steelhead on the Lower Sac but at the same time catch an additional 15-20 rainbows. It is a no brainer because you are hooking the same number of adults as the Feather with more action on the trout. This last week one of my clients hooked an absolute monster steelhead below Red Bluff. This fish was easily 30''+. We fought the big hen for a solid 5 minutes before she found a stray log on the bottom of the river. When we lost this fish I was seriously depressed for a solid two hours. Not to often do you get shots at fish this size on the Lower Sac. Another missed opportunity.

So what is the outlook for the Feather and Lower Sac Steelhead fishing? I think the Feather needs a serious dosage of water to get those fish to move in large groups. It seems as though the fish that the Feather is getting are trickling in as solos or pairs of fish. I think that the fishing will start improving whenever the first big storms come in. So there is quite a possibility that the Feather might start fishing really well in December. Or the river might be having a small run of fish? Who knows!

I think that the Lower Sac steelhead fishing is going to improve over the next couple of weeks. The majority of the fish we are getting are big wild fish. With the river having relatively lower flows (5,000 cfs) it is going to be easier to get to these fish. It seems as though the steelhead are on the move and are staging up in the deeper runs. With all of the other steelhead fisheries struggling the Lower Sac is a viable option right now. As long as the lower sections of the river don't blow out they should get better and better later in the year.

For those of you interested I will take off $100 to anyone who wants to book this Saturday, November 22 for a day of guided steelhead/trout fishing on the Lower Sac.

Hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Fish Hard!

Three Rivers in a Week

It has been a whirlwind of a week. I have been guiding all over the state from Putah Creek, Lower Sac, and Feather Rivers. It has been a challenge to get in the groove for each of the rivers. Here is a little piece on all of the rivers.

The Lower Sac is near the end of its egg bite. I fished in the upper part of the river twice this week from the Posse Grounds down to Anderson. Eggs are still catching the majority of the fish with a handful of nymphs starting to work. Nymphs that have proved effective are red copper johns, gidgets, and micromays. Most days are seeing between 20-30 fish being boated. For those of you planning on a trip up there you should try to go in the next week because the egg bite is going to stall out here for about a month. Those fish have seen and eaten a lot of egg patterns in the last month so they are starting to get a little picky on egg patterns. For those of you that cant make it up in the next week dont worry because the second egg bite will start back up between the middle of December through the end of January.

Putah Creek has seem some major flow fluctuations in the last week. The creek has been as high as 200cfs and as low as 40 cfs this week. You gotta love it when the state messes with flows that much. So before you go out there make sure to check the flows out. The fishing was a little difficult this week. My client hooked 6 fish in a full day of fishing. The hardest part about fishing the creek at low flows is finding water that has depth and current. So find some depth and current and from there you should find a handful of fish. Make sure to throw small midge and mayfly patterns between sizes 18-20 in the fall and winter. Most of the fish we got this week fell to a zebra midge.

I was excited to finally get on the Feather because I love to steelhead fish. I was out there this last Friday and all that I can tell you is that there is not many fish in the system. There are some fresh salmon that are starting to bed up. So when the fish move in there should be just enough salmon to keep them interested in eggs. I think that the Feather is going to fish better this year during the later part of November. The clients that I had out there the other day only hooked 2 halfpounders and 1 adult. We got lucky to land the adult and in went a HUGE 27.5'' BUCK. For those of you that dont fish the Feather that is a monster fish for the river. This buck that my client landed was bigger than any fish that I landed on this river all of last year. Get excited because the Feather is going to blow up in the next two weeks.

Steelhead Fishing is just around the Corner!

Fish Hard!