New Year Special and Lower Sac/Yuba Report

Well our winter fishing is finally here. Rain, low water conditions, and big fish make for an interesting equation. Over the last three weeks I have been bouncing back and forth between the Lower Sac and Yuba Rivers. The fishing overall has been good. I wouldn't classify the fishing as great but plenty of action to keep one interested. Typically this time of year we get less shots at fish but the ones that are willing to play are usually big.

The Lower Sac has been fishing good on the upper drift from Posse Grounds down to Bonnyview. Typically this time of year I fish the upper drifts on the Lower Sac as the crowds are light and those big rainbows like winter conditions. So I don't have any recent reports on the lower river. Over the last three weeks we have been averaging about 20 rainbows to the boat. But what has been cool about the fishing is that almost every fish is 17"+. The last trip I did on the Lower Sac we boated 23 rainbows and only 4 of them were under 17". I often times forget how fat those fish get on the upper drift. The hot flies have been eggs, Hogan's S&M (16), Hogan's Red Headed Step Child (16), King Prince (16), and Micro May (18). The best fishing on the Lower Sac has been between 10AM and 3PM. With a consistent baetis hatch coming off in the middle of the day between noon and 2PM.

The Lower Yuba is back to its typical winter self. Most days right now I am averaging about 15+ hookups on the river. There have been lots of people wading above the bridge and as well by Hammond Grove. If you get lucky enough there have been some big hatches in the middle of the day. Yesterday there was a big hatch of baetis and a creamy yellow PMD. There were fish all over the flats and tail outs feeding on both duns and emergers. Be wary though fishing small dries on the flats is not an easy game. It can become very frustrating so take your time and make every presentation count. The hot bugs on the Yuba have been eggs, Flashback PT (16), Hogan's S&M (16), and Hogan's Military May (16). It seems like the majority of the feeding fish are in the faster more riffle looking water. Cover lots of water to find those handful of feeding fish. Expect to start seeing the first Skwalas on the Yuba by the 2nd or 3rd week of January.

This winter I am offering my normal special. If you book 2 trips by March 15th you get a third trip free. The only catch is that all three trips must be completed by March 15th. So you can fish the Lower Sac in January for those big rainbows, the Yuba in February during the Skwala hatch, and then the caddis hatch in March on the Lower Sac. Or you can spend three days in a row on any of the rivers I guide. Its completely up to you. Hook up with a friend and split the special. Or take all three days for yourself!!!

Contact me ASAP to get prime dates.

Fish Hard.

Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather Report

Well..... it has been awhile since my last fishing report. So I thought that I would get you guys some good info on what is going on in some of our valley rivers. Needless to say the fishing the last couple of weeks has been extremely inconsistent. You get one good day of fishing mixed in with a couple of hard days. Which is really typical of the fishing during the post egg bite in the middle to the end of November. I have to admit though that after six weeks of really good fishing it felt like I was getting beat up out there. Guess that is part of the game. So what is going on exactly?

Lower Sac: The Lower Sac has been up and down over the last couple of weeks. It seems like good days right now on the Lower Sac you are catching 25+ trout and the bad ones you are barely scratching double digits. There have been several days in the last week where we have only landed 10-15 rainbows. Pretty darn tough for the Lower Sac. It doesn't seem like one drift is doing any better than another. I have floated from Posse to Bonny, Anderson to Balls, Barge to Bend, and Red Bluff to Los Molinos in the last couple of weeks and all of the drifts are fishing about the same. Of course the upper drifts have bigger trout on average but the lower drifts are giving shots at steelhead. The hot bugs of late have been Hogan's S&M (16), Black Micro May (18), King Prince (16), and the Rubberlegs on lower drifts. Expect the fishing to improve about the middle of December when the winter salmon show up and the baetis start to hatch. This time of year the more clouds and even a little sprinkle is the best. Stay away Sunshine!!!

Yuba: I have not been on the Yuba over the last three weeks because of trips on the Lower Sac and Feather. So I dont have tons of current info for you guys. Talking to other guides it sounds like the fishing on the Yuba has gotten tough as well. Sounds like small bugs (Hogan's Military May, Hogan's S&M, PT's, Gidgets, etc.) in the flats have been the ticket. Still a handful of fish eating eggs behind any late salmon. Expect lots of people there in the next week as the river opens up above highway 20 bridge. Fishing should start to improve on the Yuba in the next couple of weeks. If you get lucky to have a rainy day watch for huge hatches of baetis getting those fish working on the surface. Gotta love trying to find small dries admist the falling rain.

Feather: The Feather has had a dismal year. I did about 5 trips over there during the middle of November and the fish we just not there. It seems like this year the fishing in the spring time (March & April) was better than the fall fishing. I the 5 trips I did there we only caught a handful of adults. Most days we ended up catching between 4-6 half pounders and a stray adult here and there. But none of the adults that we got were really big fish. There should be some fish continuing to trickle in for those of you who really are searching out some steelhead. The best bugs are going to be eggs, pts, Hogan's S&M, Olive Dirty Bird/Birds Nest, Hogan's Red Headed Step Child, etc. I am pretty much done with the Feather until the upper stretches open on January 1.

For those of you interested I am once again offering my $100 off guide special on Dec. 4th, 7-10th, and 13th. You get a full day trip at the half day cost of $275.Email me ASAP to get in on one of these winter specials.

I think that is about all of the info that I have. Hope this helps some of you find some fish that are willing to eat. The goal is to work together to find those grabby fish.

Fish Hard!

$100 off Guide Special

I am looking to book Monday, November 16th and Wednesday, November 18th. For anyone who is up for a last minute discounted trip on the Lower Sac or Yuba I will do a full day trip for $275. This is $100 off the regular price for the trip. You pay the half day rate and get an extra 4-5 hours of fishing for free!!! Email me ASAP at ryan@rjsflytrips.com if you are interested. Hope you guys are getting some fishing in.

The fishing on the Lower Sac has been pretty good. Most days on the lower drifts we are landing 20-25 trout and hooking one steelhead. The last week the fishing has been best on rubberlegs and egg patterns. It is an exciting time of year because when that indicator goes under you dont know if it is a 16" trout or a 7-8lb steelhead. Gotta love the mystery behind it.

I hope everyone is well!

Tight Lines!

Special $100 off Guide Deal

I am looking to book Thursday, November 5th. For anyone who is up for a last minute discounted trip on the Lower Sac or Yuba I will do a full day trip for $275. This is $100 off the regular price for the trip. You pay the half day rate and get an extra 4-5 hours of fishing for free!!! Email me ASAP at ryan@rjsflytrips.com if you are interested. Hope you guys are getting some fishing in.

Tight Lines!

October Lower Sac, Yuba, & Feather Report

Well......it has been a while since my last post. Lots of days on the water has been keeping me extremely busy. So I thought that I would give you a quick update on what is going on in the rivers that I guide here in Northern California. Hopefully you can find this information helpful on your next adventure. All that I can say is this has been a very interesting October.

Lower Sac: This week I was finally able to get back on the Lower Sac after a week and half of blown out conditions. This is the first time that I have seen the Lower Sac blow out for more than a day during the month of October since I have been guiding the Sac. I have been spending my time on the lower river between the Balls Ferry and Bend Bridges. The trout fishing has been good on egg patterns, rubberlegs, and red copper johns. Not lots of steelhead to speak of yet but there are some swimming around. I had a client catch a beautiful 26" buck on the river yesterday on a egg pattern. But you I am not consistently hooking into one every day yet. Expect the steelhead fishing on the Lower Sac to continue to improve into November as long as the water clarity stays fishable.

Yuba: With the Lower Sac being blown out for more than a week I have been on the Yuba a lot. I fished the Yuba 8 out of the last 11 days. There are quite a few salmon on the Yuba right now. I would actually say that there are more salmon on the Yuba than the Lower Sac. Haven't been able to say that for a few years. It has been a lot of fun to fish out there lately. Most days I have been throwing two different egg patterns below an indicator. The fishing has been really good with every day resulting in 25+ hookups. The majority of the fish that I have been catching have been in water between 1-3 feet of water. Those rainbows are in those shallow riffles looking for eggs. I kept trying all different kinds of nymphs without much success. Seems like they would always go for the egg first.

Feather: There have been rumors of fish in the Feather. Seems like most of the fish being caught are in the Low Flow section. I guided out there last weekend to find an extremely busy river. Needless to say we got our butts kicked. Only landed 4 half pounders. We did lose a couple smaller fish but there didn't seem to be that many fish in the river. The ones that we did catch came on a small green caddis nymphs. Currently there are not lots of salmon in the river. Expect this fishery to start peaking in a couple weeks. Typically more fish will start to move into the system during the first couple weeks of November. I am excited for what this season is going to hold on the Feather.

Anyways.......that is what I have seen and heard. Hopefully this helps some of you figure out where your next fishing should be. For anyone interested I have a couple prime time availabilities during the next month (Nov. 16-18 & Dec. 4th & 6th). Call me ASAP if you want to get in on these dates.

Tight Lines!!

Back on the Lower Sac

I have been on the Lower Sac three times this week. I have forgotten how different the guiding aspect is out here in California as compared to Idaho. A lot different when you are fishing with indicators as compared to little dry flies floating down the bank. The other thing that I had forgotten was how hot these Lower Sac rainbows are. We are so lucky to have such a huge resource and such a phenomenal fishery as the Lower Sac. I am positive if you tied a line between a Lower Sac rainbow and a South Fork of the Snake fish then the Lower Sac fish would drag the Snake trout up and down the river.

Anyhow.....back to the fishing. The upper part of the Lower Sac from Posse down to Anderson was really good. Each of the days we were hooking 40+ rainbows. The first day they were all over rubberlegs and caddis. While the other couple of days the hot bugs were pheasant tails, caddis pupahs, and micro mays. These fish on the upper drift have gotten fat and strong this summer. All of those Lower Sac bows look like little fat footballs. Pretty darn impressive.

The word on the Lower Drifts is that the fishing has been pretty tough. Most days as of this week guys were catching between 15-20 trout. A few steelhead are starting to show up but not in any great numbers yet.

Expect the fishing on the Lower Sac to just keeping improving over the next six weeks. For those of you looking to get some dates in for prime steelhead/trout fishing on the Lower Sac then the days are getting limited. I have November 4-5, 9-10, 12, & 21 (Saturday) still available.

I hope you are all getting some fishing in.

Tight Lines!

Back in California

Well........I am finally back home from Idaho. I had another great season with the Lodge at Palisades Creek. After three years of guiding on the South Fork I have really started to fall in love with that river. I often find my mind wandering to fish rising to pmd's in the foam holes on the banks. I am thankful that I have the opportunity to guide out there and plan on going back for my fourth season in 2010.

Now that I am back home life is somewhat getting back to normal. Lots of work to be done on Cast Hope. We had a successful fundraiser that was hosted by my parents down in San Diego this last weekend. The Cast Hope organization continues to put one foot forward at a time as we strive to meet our budgets and goals to get Northern California's youth out fly fishing on the river.

I had the opportunity to guide Putah Creek last week for a half day in the morning. We were able to find plenty of fish but nothing of great size. My client landed 10 rainbows in about four hours but all of them were about 8 inches long. Nothing to exciting. The hot bugs were a small tan caddis pupah and a size 18 black zebra midge.

I will be back to rowing the boat again this next week on the Lower Sac. As we get prepared for the famous egg bite coming up in a matter of weeks I can feel the anticipation already starting inside of me. Really look for things to start picking up near the end of the month.

For anyone interested I have some prime dates that I still have available are September 30 and October 6-8.

I hope you all are getting some fishing in.

Tight Lines!

Late Summer South Fork Fishing

The South Fork is starting to get a little tough. The hopper fishing has not been that good as of late and the fish have wised up to the big bugs. Just not enough big bugs flying around to get those fish to look up. Pretty crazy for the South Fork where the big bug is dominant. Lately the ticket has been throwing small PMD patterns on the riffles, banks, and foam holes throughout the entire day. If you get lucky enough to have some decent rods in your boat then you can have some stellar days throwing these small flies. But this is much easier said than done. Trying to cast two size 18 PMD's on the bank and find them, get a decent mend in, and not sink them is tough on any angler. However if you can get a decent drift these fish will eat them every time. Forty fish days are not that uncommon if the PMD hatch comes off.

The other option is to use the infamous lightning bug under an indicator. There have been some really nice 20-22" fish caught this week while nymphing with the lightning bug. But then who really wants to nymph when they come to the South Fork. I personally have been leaning to throwing the smaller flies. That is probably because I stare at indicators so much back home.

Just to keep all of you informed I will not be out here on the South Fork that much longer. The first of September I will be coming home to California and resuming guiding back on the Lower Sac, Yuba, Feather, and Putah Creek. For those of you that want dates for the fall then you need to contact me ASAP as they are almost gone.

I hope that you guys are getting some good late summer dry fly fishing in.

Fish Hard!

South Fork Update

The South Fork of the Snake is in its mid-summer trend. Big bugs in the morning and lots of PMDs in the afternoon. The big bug fishing of late has been marginal. If you get a sunny day expect the big bug fishing to be about average. However if you find yourself out on the river with cloudy conditions then the fishing can be awesome. The exciting part is that the hopper fishing is just getting started. So the big bug fishing over the next week should improve.

The PMD fishing from about 1PM until 5PM has been awesome. Every riffle and dump is loaded with fish. This is the time of year where sight fishing can be deadly. Most of the PMD fishing we are doing is using sparkle dun emergers and small nymphs trailing behind. The fish are really starting to wise up to lots of the small bugs. If you get the right drift they will eat your bug every time, but as soon as you miss a fish then they won't come back for seconds. One shot and you are done. So make sure to bring your "A" game on your first several casts.

Most days the fishing in the mornings has been average to slow. But the fishing in the afternoon is making up for the whole thing. Usually at lunch we have boated somewhere between 7-10 trout but by the end of the day we are around 30 to the boat. I have been telling most guys that the morning is just a waiting period for the PMD hatch.

Recently the canyon fishing has been the best. Fishing from Conant down to Byington has been the most consistent. The upper is fishing well in the afternoon but really bad in the morning. While the lower from Byington to Lorenzo has been fishing great for small fish between 8-14". On the lower it is really difficult to find a fish over 18".

For those of you that are interested in fishing this fall in California need to contact me asap to get dates. I hope everyone is getting some great summer fishing in.

Tight Lines!

South Fork Looking Up

Well the flows on the South Fork are slowly decreasing. There is still lots of water coming out of Palisades Reservoir with the current flow at 21,000 cfs. The upper part of the river has a nice emerald color to it with about 4-5 feet of visibility. While the lower river has about 2 feet of visibility. The visibility at this point in time is not a problem. What is exciting is that the bug life is starting to pop. We are seeing more Salmon Flies each day. There are PMDS and Sallies everywhere and the Green Drakes are just starting. Things are getting really exciting out here.

I was able to get in 6 days of guiding this last week and the entire river is fishing fairly well. Things are not on fire yet but we are days away from things blowing up. Most days we are boating around 25+ trout. Big fish this week was a great 22.5 Inch Brown caught by Craig Brummell from South Bend, Indiana. I guess you could say that he has the luck of the Irish. We are doing lots of nymphing on the banks and in the riffles. But Yesterday we hooked around 15 fish on dries. Caught a few fish on pmd emergers, salmon fly adults, and some golden patterns. The hot bugs have been pink pmds, lightning bugs, chernobyl ant, and the salmonfly club sandwich. Probably by next week we will be throwing dries all day. Well at least I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

South Fork of the Snake

Things have been put on hold out here on the South Fork. As of Sunday we had 19 straight days of rain and there is no more room for the water in Palisades Reservoir. Yesterday the Reservoir hit 100% of its capacity. So the water resource guys were forced to match the inflow and outflow. Currently the South Fork is flowing at 23,500 cfs. Needless to say that this is a lot of water. Making the fishing a little difficult. All of the trips for the Lodge have been cancelled or rescheduled this week. Things should start to look better next week with clear weather in the forecast. I think summer has finally made its way to southweast Idaho.

Prior to the large dose of water things were progressing nicely. Lots of fish eating rubberlegs and cobberbobs. Most days we were boating around 20 trout with a mixed bag of rainbows, cuttys, and browns depending on what stretch of river you were fishing.

For those of you looking to do some fishing out here in Idaho I would wait about another week. By that time things should start settling down in southeast idaho and western wyoming. Keep your fingers crossed as dry flies are just around the corner.

I do have several availabilities through the month of August for those of you that want to come out and give the South Fork a try. Big Dry Flies are the name of the game out here.

Tight Lines!

Back in Idaho for the Summer

Last week the wife and I took a nice 15 hour drive to our home for the summer in Idaho. I will once again be guiding on the South Fork of the Snake in Swan Valley through the month of August. I am excited for all of the dry fly fishing that awaits in the next couple of weeks. But at this point in time the dry fly fishing is going to be a while. It is really wet and cold out here. It has been raining for the last week and we have been stuck doing some nymphing. Haven't done any of that before in California:) We have been able to pull a couple decent days of throwing streamers but as a guide I get nervous of big hooks flying over my head. Wednesday I took a size 2 out of my neck. Gotta love the dangers of being a guide. That hard hat is starting to sound better each day I am on the water.

Right now the word on the street is that the Salmon Fly Hatch is about a week and a half away. That means by the first week of July things are going to be on fire. So for those of you coming out to Southeast Idaho get excited for what is to come. For those of you heading to the freestones expect some muddy water. Most of the rivers around here are high and brown. The tailwaters are fine but everything is probably not going to be fishable until the first part of July.

I will be back in the middle of September to start guiding our home waters for the famous egg bites for trout and steelhead on the Sac, Yuba, and Feather.

Lower Sac Back on Fire

The Lower Sac this last week has been really good. The flows have stabilized around 8000 cfs and the fish are on the grab. This is a beautiful time on the river. Good weather, lots of fish, and consistent hatches. Lately the river has been fishing the best from the morning until about 4PM. It seems like the whole river really starts to shut down in the afternoon. The later you fish in the day the harder it is to get those fish to eat. Most days I have been focusing on the water between Bonnyview and the Barge Hole. The upper parts of the river continue to fish well so there have not been a whole lot of reasons to go down river. Probably by next week we will start checking out the lower stretches down by Bend.

This last week there have been good PMD hatches from about Noon until 2PM. I had two days this week where we boated 35+ fish. Pretty darn good for the middle of May. These are more numbers that you would expect in March and April. The hot bugs of late have been the rubberlegs, yellow microspawn, Mercer's PMD, and the tan Fox's Pupah. In the middle of the day they want that PMD and they switch to the caddis later in the day.

One really cool thing that happened to me yesterday is that I had a client named Linda hook and land a 23" wild steelhead on the Sac. This is the latest that I have ever seen a steelhead on the Sac. Prior to this fish I had caught one on May 3 of last year. Even though the fish was a little snaky looking it really fired me up. It is good to see that the Lower Sac steelhead population is holding strong.

For those of you looking for another discount I have a couple of days in the next three weeks that I am trying to fill. So I will take a $100 off anyone wanting to fish May 19, 26-27, and June 4. These are my last days open before I leave to guide on the South Fork of the Snake for the summertime.

I hope everyone is getting some fishing in. Get ready for some dry fly stories.

Tight Lines!

Big Dose of the Lower Sac

I have been on the Lower Sac a whole lot the last couple of weeks. Prior to this recent storm things were getting back to normal. The water clarity was looking good, the hatches of pmds were thick, and the fish were feeding. Most days during the last ten days we were boating 25+ rainbows. Lately I have really been bouncing around on different drifts from Bonny to Anderson, Anderson to Barge, and Jellys to Bend. It doesn't seem like there is one drift that is fishing better than the others. It definitely seems like the fish are bigger on average on the upper drifts. The hot flies lately have been mercers pmd, rubberlegs, yellow micro spawn, black micromay, and mercers gidget.

The recent storm on the Lower Sac has added a lot of color to the river. The river yesterday afternoon only had a couple of feet of visibility. Both Clear, Cow, and Cottonwood were all pumping mud as of last night. This should improve quickly as soon as this recent rain lets up.

The cool thing about last week is that 6 out of my last 7 days I only had one client in the boat. Gotta love how the boat weighs a couple hundred pounds lighter on those days. Actually my back is feeling pretty good after 7 days of rowing. I can't say that to often. Wish I could do that more.

To keep everyone posted I will once again be leaving to guide on the South Fork of the Snake river in Idaho for the summer. I am excited for another summer of throwing big dries on the banks of the Snake. I do have some availabilities still open for the Lower Sac and Yuba for those of you looking to do some fishing in May.

Fish Hard!

The Tale of Two Rivers: One Nice & The Other Can Kick Your Butt

I have spent the last seven days on the river. Equally spent between the Lower Sac and the Yuba. This last week I have been on the Lower Sac four days and the Yuba three. Needless to say that we are having some wacky weather for this time of year. Start of the week I was layering in fleece but by the end the sun was frying the the legs as the shorts came out. Looks like this next week things are going back to normal. I guess global warming isn't here to stay just yet. To be honest I'm not ready for those 100+ degree days.

So whats the word on the fishing?

The Lower Sac continues to fish well even with the off color water. Most days we are boating 25+ rainbows. Every time they increase the flow there has been some major fluctuation in the clarity of the water. The first 2-3 days after a flow bump the clarity has been going down to 2-3 feet of visibility. Currently there is about 3.5 feet of visibility on the river. With the off color water those fish are really wanting the rubberlegs and the yellow eggs. It has been really hard to get those fish dialed into one specific small bug. Some small bugs to try are amberwing princes, pheasant tails, and tan pupahs. It seems like to me that you just have to get the flies in the trouts face to get a grab. If you bump them in the nose they want to eat it!

The Yuba has been hit and miss this week. I had two solid days in a row on Wednesday and Thursday with about 20 fish hooked each day. Then the Yuba did its great humbling trick on my clients Monday with only 9 fish hooked. Just like everyone else sometimes I have a love hate relationship with this place. I guess everyone once in a while gets their butt kicked on the river. The cool thing is that on Monday we were able to raise a couple of rainbows on caddis dries. Throwing dries gets me pumped up for my summer in Idaho.

The fishing should remain good for the next month before the real hot weather of June shows up. Expect the lower stretches of the Lower Sac from Barge down to Bend to start fishing really well with the warm weather and the higher flows. This is the time of year when the lower river really starts to turn on. Also expect some great caddis action on the Lower Yuba in the evenings. This is the time of year where you can have epic days with the dry fly rod.

For those of you looking for some open dates I have May 7, 12-14, 18-21 still open before I leave for another summer of throwing dries on the South Fork of the Snake.

I hope everyone is getting some good fishing in!

Tight Lines.

Bouncing Between Rivers

This last week I have been bouncing back and forth between the Yuba and Lower Sac Rivers.

The Yuba has been fishing really well. I have been on the river a couple of times in the last week and both days we did really well nymphing. The dry fly fishing has been really spotty with limited hatches on the lower river. One of those days that I was out there with my clients was magical. It was one of those days that you live for on the Yuba. We hooked 35+ fish and two of those fish were fresh spring steelhead. We landed one clipped steelhead that was 18" and then lost a HUGE hen that was estimated at 8-9 lbs. I was so bummed when we lost that fish. Up to this date this is hands down the biggest fish I have had a client hook on this river. I guess that is what keeps you coming back. The other day we had was really solid with 20 rainbows hooked. The hot bugs have been stones, march browns, pmds, and small baetis patterns. Like most Yuba days if you are patient and methodical it seems like you can force feed them.

The Lower Sac has had some major changes in the last couple of weeks. There have been two major flow changes on the Lower Sac. Each flow change has dramatically changed the color of the water. The clarity on the Lower Sac before the flow changes was about 4-5 feet in the upper river. Now the clarity of the water is back to 2 feet. The water looks like it did back in the late part of February. Needless to say the off color water has been affecting the fishing. Most days right now we are landing around 20 rainbows. So the fishing is still solid but it should be better than that in April. You know we have a special river when a tough day out there we are working hard to land 20 fish. You gotta love the Lower Sac. If the flow of the river stabilizes this week expect the clarity to improve and the fishing to pick up again. Right now the hot bugs are the rubberleg and yellow micro spawn. The last three days on the Lower Sac there has not been a hot small bug.

For those of you looking for a discounted guide trip I will take a $100 off a trip on April 27, 28, & 29.

Fish Hard!

Lower Sac Continues to fish Well

I have had quite a few half day trips this week. Four days this week I started at 8AM and was off the water before 2PM. I have come to the decision that I love doing half day trips. Get some great fishing in but still get home in time to have a nice dinner with the wife. There is something nice about getting home at a decent hour. For those of you interested on the latest news of the Lower Sac is that the river is still fishing good. Again this week I have been focusing on the river below Anderson. Most days I have been floating from Anderson to Balls Ferry. On Saturday I was able to get down on the Jellys to Bend drift. Right now it seems like the best fishing is between 8AM to about 1PM. The fishing in the morning has been really good. You can still catch fish in the afternoon but it takes a little more work. The best flies have been the rubberlegs (8), cdc princes (16), and tan birds nest (16). In the mornings they have been all over the rubberleg and the middle of the day the fish start turning on the caddis imitations.

I have a couple of really special stories from this week on the river. The first one is a great memory with my family. My parents flew up for the weekend and I was able to take my dad, mom, and wife fishing for the day. What really made this special is that this was the first time ever that my mom had been in my boat. I couldn't convince her to fish but she had a great time going for the boat ride. It was really special for me to have all of my close loved ones in the boat at the same time. In about 4 hours of fishing my dad and wife were able to land a dozen trout. My wife once again outfished my dad. Bonnie is starting to get some fly fishing game out there on the water.

The second story is that I donated a day to take out a pastor and his two sons (ages 9 & 11). Ben, one of the sons, for his birthday wanted to catch a fish. So I thought that this would be a great way to give back and for these two kids to have some fun. Well needless to say Ben and Dan both had a great first time fly fishing experience. We put the birthday boy in the front of the boat and he landed 5 rainbows and his brother Dan was able to land 2. They only got in one or two tangles all day long. I was so impressed with both of them. Hopefully this leads them to get hooked on fly fishing so that one day this sport can really bless their lives like it has mine.

For those of you looking to do some guided fishing I have several availabilities in the later part of April and middle of May. Expect the fishing on the Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather to remain consistently good through the middle of May.

Tight Lines!

The Lower Sac in Full Swing

The Lower Sac is blowing up. The caddis hatch is in full swing and the fish are chowing down on various prince nymphs and rubberlegs. The last week I have really been focusing on the Anderson to Balls Ferry section of the river. This is one of my favorite sections during the early spring. I am excited for this week coming up with all of the warm sunshine in the forecast. This week there should be great caddis and pmd hatches on the river. Get excited because I think the nice weather of April is finally here.

On Monday I had two newbies on the water on a half day trip. Both of these guys caught on to the techniques of indicator nymphing very quickly. These two newbies blew me away when in 5 hours of fishing they had landed 20 rainbows and only lost 1. I don't think I have every experienced this landing ratio even with the most veteran of anglers. Needless to say I was very impressed. I guess the hook setting techniques that I teach actually do work.

Another memorbale time I had on the boat this week is when I was able to take out Ted and his grandfather Stacey. I think it is so cool how generations can bond together through the sport of fly fishing. There was some major joy between these two guys when Ted landed a 23" rainbow. This is his biggest rainbow ever on a fly rod. Needless to say after this fish was landed there was a celebratory drink of whiskey between grandfather and grandson. One thing I love as a guide is the ability to bring people together in a memborable experience in the boat.

For those of you guys interested in doing some short notice fishing I will take $100 off March 31, April 1, and April 12-14. Hope you guys are getting some fishing in!

Tight Lines!

Early Spring Time Fishing

The last seven days on the water have been divided between the Lower Sac and the Feather. It was really great to get out on the Feather and chase some early spring steelhead. It seems like the first major push of fish is in the Feather. As we get closer to April more fish should start coming in. Those spring fish on the Feather are some of the coolest specimens in the Central Valley. One of my clients landed a 20" fish that took ten yards of backing off his reel. The great surprise this week on the Feather was when one of my clients hooked and landed a wild 27" hen. This is a huge fish during the spring on the Feather. In three days of fishing we were averaging between 10-12 hookups per day.

The Lower Sac was fishing great with the warm weather. The fish were really grabby and we boasted some huge numbers on Thursday and Friday. The story was a little different when the cold weather front moved in. It seemed like the fish really tightened up when the temperature dropped down into the 50s. This weekend was much more difficult to get the fish to eat. Expect great things this week with the 70 degree weather in the near forecast.

One cool story from the weekend on the Lower Sac was that I guided Marjory on her first ever fly fishing trip. We took a few minutes and taught her the ins and outs of fly fishing. She caught on quickly and had a great day. The first rainbow she landed was a nice 20". Second rainbow landed by Marjory was a great 21". Third rainbow goes 20" again. Fourth one she hooks and loses was close to 23". It is absolutely crazy that this lady on her first day of fly fishing ended up landing four rainbows all over 20". I can't even remember the last time that one person in my boat landed that many big fish. I guess there is something to that beginner luck thing.

For anyone interested I will take a $100 off any trip done on the Feather or Lower Sac on March 22, 24, 31 or April 1. Contact me asap if you want to reserve one of those or any other days.

Fish Hard!

Yuba Clarity

Here is a quick report on the clarity of the Yuba. I fished the Yuba on Saturday and there was about one foot of clarity. The water was definitely brown. It was not even close to green. The odd thing was the edges of the river were clearer than the middle. On the edges there was about a foot and a half of visibility. There were definitely some bugs coming off though with a handful of PMDs, March Browns, and even a few Skwalas. Needless to say with the tough water clarity the fishing wasn't good. In total we got three rainbows. I guess three is better than none. At least there was no skunk left in the boat. As deer creek gets lower the clarity on the Yuba should start improving. I would expect the Yuba to be in prime shape by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Hopefully someone can add some input on the clarity today. I will be back out there tomorrow.

For anyone interested in booking March 16 or 22 for the Yuba, Lower Sac, or Feather I will take $100 off.

Tight Lines!

Water Clarity Report

Amidst all of the rain we have had in the last couple of weeks I am sure you all are wondering about clarity on the local rivers. I guided the Yuba on Friday and was only expecting about 3-4 feet of visibility with deer creek flowing around 100cfs. When I showed up at the river it was like last weeks storm never even happened. The Yuba was extremely clear and there was about 6 feet of visibility. With all of the rain I am sure that deer creek has to be pumping quite a bit of color into the water but it probably is fishable. Friday the fishing was good but not excellent. We hooked 17 rainbows and landed 10 of them. The hot flies were rubberlegs, copper johns, and small olive caddis patterns. The morning was pretty slow with hardly any bugs on the water. We hooked the majority of our fish after 1PM. The cool thing is that we landed two big yuba rainbows with one going 23" and the other 21". Those big fish really pull on that river.

The clarity on the Lower Sac on Saturday was about 4 feet up in Posse Grounds. The fishing was good and we boated 30+ rainbows on a variety of nymphs from rubberlegs, red copper johns, red headed step child, and flashback pt's. Sunday the story was a whole lot different on the upper drift between Posse and Bonnyview. The water clarity this morning was about 3 feet above Sundial Bridge but only about 1 foot at the 44 bridge. Needless to say the fishing above sundial was awesome. We landed 8 fish from the boat launch to the bridge but after that only 3 more fish were hooked. I ended up rowing off because the water was brown brown! It could have been an epic day if we would have kept the 3 feet of clarity. Oh well. We all know that the rain is much needed. The clarity on the Lower Sac should be back to fishable by the middle of the week.

For anyone interested in fishing I will take $100 off anyone wanting to get guided on the Lower Sac or Yuba on March 1, 2, 4, or 6. A great price for some late winter fishing.

Fish Hard even in the Rain!

Lower Sac Spring Caddis Hatch Around the Corner

With all of the warm weather the north state is getting those fish on the Lower Sac are starting to look for caddis. I was on the river three times last week and each trip the hot fly of the day was some caddis variation. So this means that the caddis hatch is getting close. Each time on the river I would see a handful of caddis fluttering about but not anything a fly fisherman would call a hatch. All I can say is that you want to be on the Lower Sac when that hatch comes off. Last year it was arguably some of the best fishing during the entire year. When the fish start gorging themselves on caddis the fishing can get pretty silly on the river. Currently things are just getting going. Currently we are boating 25+ rainbows on the middle drifts of the river. But when that caddis hatch starts those numbers are going to go way up. The spring caddis hatch should last for about 3-4 weeks. So make sure you plan accordingly to get some time on the water.

The last couple of weeks on the middle part of the river, between Anderson and Jellys Ferry, we have been hooking a stray steelhead about every other day. Actually one of my clients had a treat last week when he hooked two adult steelies in the same day. This doesn't happen very often on the Sac. Especially in the middle of winter. But it looks like it is going to set up like last spring where we hook steelhead all the way through May. It is exciting when you have a chance of hooking a random steelie in the midst of a massive caddis hatch.

Contact me ASAP if you want prime dates for the Sac or the Yuba.

Fish Hard!

Lower Sac Report 1/24 & 1/25

I had a couple of great days on the Lower Sac this weekend. On Saturday I was lucky enough to get out there with my dad and Bonnie (wife) for a half day. We floated from Posse Grounds down to Bonnyview. We did this float in about 4 hours time and the fishing was consistent all the way down the float. I didn't work to hard trying to backrow stuff. We managed to land a dozen fish on eggs and small mayfly nymphs. The quality of the fish was awesome. Almost all of the fish we landed were between 16-19''. It is a special thing when you can row for your wife and dad. I still love watching how excited Bonnie gets when she hooks a fish. It is awesome fishing with her because she knows what she is doing and most of the time out fishes the other person in the boat. As she did again with my dad. It must be that womans touch. I guess I taght her enough of the right fly fishing technique.

Sunday I guided the Lower Sac and we floated from Posse Grounds down to Sac RV. The fishing was really good. We hooked 40+ rainbows on this drift. This has been one of my better winter days out on the Sac so far this year. We landed four fish that went 19'' and we got several others that were all 18''. I think that we might have hooked a steelhead above Sac RV because whatever we hooked took about 25 yards of backing off my clients reel in about 10 seconds. We never saw the fish because he ended up wrapping us around something on the bottom of the river. Bummer. Steelhead on that drift are pretty rare! Another Lower Sac steelhead that gets the better of us!

For anyone interested I will take $100 off if you want to book a trip for the Lower Sac or the Yuba on January 27, 28, 29, or February 1. Both of these fisheries are doing well so take advantage of this last minute discount.

Tight Lines!

Another Day on the Yuba

The Skwalas have started coming off. I saw a little more than a dozen of them yesterday. Didn't see tons of fish eating them on the surface but there were a couple toilet flush grabs in a couple of the riffles. There is no doubt when a fish takes a stone fly on the surface.

I had one client with me yesterday and it was a pretty average day on the Yuba. We hooked a dozen fish and landed seven of them. Almost every fish ate a stone pattern. No surprise with the amount of skwalas around. Those rainbows yesterday were slamming our bugs. There was nothing subtle about the takes. The indicator was slamming under the water when a fish took. I tried all kinds of small bugs and got a couple fish on small mayfly patterns but it seems to me like they were focused on the stones. Yesterday you could call those Yuba rainbows stoners!

Lots of fish in the 15-17" range. With one nice rainbow right at the 20" mark. Those rainbows still blow me away on how well they fight. Its like a miniature steelie at the end of your line.

I have a few days open through Jan 21. So if anyone wants to do a trip in that time frame I will take off $100. Contact me asap if you want to go.

Fish Hard!

One of those Special Yuba days

I guided the Yuba last Wednesday and the fishing was great. It was one of those days were it seems like everything was going right. To be honest I think we got a little lucky with the weather. With a little patience and quite a bit of bug changing we were able to pull a fish in about every dependable spot. In total my clients hooked 24 rainbows and landed 19 of them. We were lucky enough to get two fish on baetis dries. Most of the fish we caught came on stones, eggs, and small mayfly nymphs. The hot bugs were Hogans S&M, small FB Pheasant tails, Rubberlegs, and orange egg patterns.

What was crazy is that we hooked and landed a 25'' rainbow about a mile or so above Sycamore. When I netted the fish I thought that it was around 21'' because of the size of the rainbow. I put it up to the tape to get an accurate measurement and it stretched all the way to the 25'' mark. The rainbow probably only weighed three pounds when it should have gone 5 or 6 lbs. The fish was really snaky looking. It was an awesome fish but to be honest a little disappointing.

For anyone who wants to fish the Yuba or the Lower Sac this week I will take $100 off any trip booked

Fish Hard!