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!
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