Well it has been a great month of fishing. For those of you that were lucky enough to hit the Feather in the last 6 weeks have experienced some of the best steelhead fishing that I have ever seen. It has been a blast to watch you guys light up when that chrome eats your bead and jumps out of the water. In this email you will find a detailed report on the local fishing on the Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather Rivers. In addition to that you will find DISCOUNTED TRIPS on selected dates in the end of November and start of December.
It is that time of year again where I am offering a handful of discounted trips on the Lower Sac and Yuba Rivers. Here is the deal.........You get a full day trip at the half day cost. That means you save more than 25% off your trip at a price of $275. Check out the dates that I have below.
Discounted Trips: Nov. 27-30, Dec. 1-3, 6-8
Feather - Epic Steelheading
The month of October on the Feather was impressive. I have never seen so many steelhead in the Feather ever since I have been guiding the river. The salmon counts were way up this year and this meant there were lots of eggs for the steelhead to feast upon. For over a month we were averaging 15-20 hookups per day on the river. It was great fun on 6 weights as these chromers ripped line off the reel. Many guys had their first ever steelhead experience and from that have now turned their attention to this famous game fish. Steelhead Junkies in the making.
What is currently going on........the Feather has about a week left before the major run of fish is going to be gone. The salmon are slowly starting to disappear and so are the steelhead that are sitting behind them. There are still fresh fish in the High Flow so they will continue to keep things interesting for another couple of weeks. If you are looking to wade I would expect to hook a handful of fish in all of the standard spots. The hot flies have been eggs, eggs, eggs, and some more eggs. I have tried lots of nymphs the last couple of weeks with minimal success. The next good fishing on the river will be when the upper river by the hatchery opens on January 1st.
Lower Sac - Excellent Trout Fishing
The Lower Sac has been really good the last month. I know that everyone has been complaining about the egg bite not going off up bye Posse Grounds but it you are willing to go down river then there is still lots of great trout fishing to be had. The lower drifts below Balls Ferry have been fishing well. I have been spending the majority of my time either on Balls to Jellys or Barge to Bend. The best part of fishing the lower river is there has been no one else down there. It literally has felt like a private fishery. Most days on the lower river we have been landing 30-40 trout and hooking 1-2 steelhead. Now it doesn't get much better than that. Lots of fish, no crowds, and a handful of steelhead makes for a lot of happy customers. The hot flies on the lower drifts have been rubberlegs, eggs, tan birds nest, and micro mays. The trout have definitely been smaller than the fish on the upper river but there are still lots of high quality trout to keep those smiles going. The only downfall on the lower river is that you are catching the majority of your fish between 9AM and 3PM. After 3PM you might as well go home as the fishing gets extremely tough.
Expect good fishing to remain for a couple of more weeks on the lower river. Once the winter salmon start showing up then it will be time to head back up to the Posse Grounds. For those of you looking to get out around the Holidays then make sure to take advantage of my discounted trips.
Yuba - Great Month But Slowing Up
The Yuba has been solid fishing but not great. Early/Mid October had some really good fishing on the river. I actually had 2 of my largest days ever on the Yuba during October but things have since changed. The Yuba should get better once we get some rain and consistent cloudy weather. The darker conditions will make the egg and baetis fishing much more consistent. The last time I fished the river was last week and the hot flies were rubberlegs, eggs, and small pheasant tails. We were able to land 3 fish on baetis dries as well. The majority of the fish were on the smaller side and the nice ones that we ran into were on the lower river below Hammond Grove. It seems like the bigger fish were still eating eggs behind the handful of salmon that are still spawning. Most days the last couple of weeks sounds like guys are hooking 20-30 rainbows per day. Dont be surprised if you run into a steelhead as this is the time of year that they start showing up.
I hope all of you are doing well and I would like to be the first person to say Happy Thanksgiving. I know this year I am grateful for my family, the ability to make a living as a fishing guide, and for those of you that have become friends over my last 9 years of guiding. Hope your Thanksgiving is a good one.
Tight Lines,
Ryan Johnston
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