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!