Prime Time Spring Dates - Book Now

Prime Time Spring Dates - Book Now

Well it seems like it has been raining for a month now and most of our Northern California Rivers are blown out. Finally it looks like we have some dry weather coming this next week to let things calm down and get back into fishable shape. So expect things to get going again here in the next ten days or so. I know that I have had a lot of time off recently to catch up on Cast Hope and daddy duties around the house. The great news is that we don't have drought conditions anymore in California. Of course that is till next year. LOL. We definitely live in an interesting state when it comes to water. I have just opened up my spring calendar and a few of you have been asking about prime time dates for spring time fishing. So my openings and descriptions of what is to come this spring are below. Plus there is some other fun news down below if you keep reading. Check out my open dates below: March 1-4, 11, 13-18, 20, 22-25, 27-29 March Saturdays - 4, 11, 18, 25 April 3-8, 11-13, 15, 17, 20-22, 24-29 April Saturdays - 8, 15, 22, 29

Feather River - Spring steelhead are just around the corner on the Feather. By the middle parts of March there is a good number of fish in the system. This is my absolute favorite time of year on the Feather. The crowds are significantly less and the fish are bright, hot, and amazing. These are one of my favorite fish in the Northern California Valley. I expect a good return of fish this year with the amount of water we will be having coming out of Lake Oroville. The water should bring them up in good numbers. Prime time is mid March through April.

Lower Sac -  Everyone talks about the fall egg bite on the Lower Sac but my favorite Month of the year is March. There are bugs everywhere and the fish start chowing down on the first significant hatches of the year. Generally speaking the crowds in March are small and the fishing is incredible. If you haven't tried the spring time fishing on the Sac then this is an absolute must. Lots of bugs makes for happy fish and smiling clients. Prime time on the Sac is March and April with my preference to March when there are less people on the water.

 

Yuba - The Yuba is going to be interesting this spring. With all of the high water that we have had the last month I don't know where the bug life is going to be. I assume that the Skwala hatch is going to be smaller with some of the bugs getting washed away. The March Brown hatch in March will be the bugs to look for. I'm hoping that we get another significant March Brown Hatch but only time will tell. All the extra water helps the Feather but hurts the bugs on the Yuba. Keeping my fingers crossed for some good dry fly fishing this spring.

 

Hot New Article - For those of you that are into reading fly fishing magazines pick up the latest issue of California Fly Fisher. I have written a piece for them about 'Being Analytical' in your fishing technique. Many of you have heard these tips from me for years but now you get to read it. There is some fun stuff in there if you are so inclined to read. Plus my good friend Hogan Brown has an article about swinging our Nor Cal Valley Rivers. This is a great local California Magazine that has some great information for all anglers.

Lots of Water

36,000 cfs is a lot of WATER!!!!

Northern California has been dumped on with water as of recently. Hooray, no more drought! If you have been paying attention almost every river in NorCal is currently blown out. However if you really watch there are still some fishing to be had amongst all the high conditions. The Lower Sac is at 36,000 cfs and one river that you can fish when the water gets really high. As long as the water clarity is fishable then you can go out there and find some willing rainbows to eat eggs, legs, and worms. Sounds like a Denny's breakfast option if you are asking me. The Lower Sac is big and green. I fished it yesterday for a half day and had decent success fishing the soft edges of the river. Expect things to get really good once the river gets down to about 25,000 cfs. Until then there are fish to be had if you want a fun adventure.

Open Dates: January 18, 20-21, 23-24, 26-27, 30-31

Phil with a  beautiful 24" Lower Sac Rainbow the week after Christmas.

Hey all. It has been a long time since I have had the time to update my blog. My goal in 2017 is that I will get in the habit of doing this more often so that you guys have current updates of what is going on out there. Send me an email if you want to get out on the river soon.

For anyone looking to get out I have the following days open over the next couple of weeks:

January 9-14, 16, 19-21, 23-24, 26-27

Lower Sac - The Sac continues to fish average for winter conditions. Most days we are hooking 20ish rainbows from Redding down to Anderson. As typical we have been catching some true slugs out of the river this winter. Winter time we might not catch as many fish as the spring or the fall but if you are into hunting for big rainbows then it doesn't really get any better. With the majority of other rivers being blown out right now the Lower Sac is a good safe place to fall back onto. Hot flies recently have been beads and small mayflies. Flies like Hogan's SM, Lance's X-May, PTs, and Flatulators have all been catching fish. The best fishing is from Noon-3PM. So make sure that when you are out there that you fish smarter by being there during the prime hours.

Luk Lake has been putting out some fun trout fishing in the mornings!

Luk Lake - Luk Lake continues to fish well in the mornings. The trout fishing on Luk Lake this fall and winter has been the best that I have seen there in a long time. The key is to finding the school of fish in the Lake. Once you find them then you can stay connected to fish most of the morning. The bass fishing has been nonexistent since the cold weather has set in but the trout remain happy to eat most small streamers that go by them.

Feather - The Feather River opener happened on January 1st. So there is going to be some decent fishing to be had on the upper river near the hatchery over the next week. There isn't a ton of water to fish up there but if you spend a half day one can expect to hook 5-7 steelhead per morning. Eggs, Alevins, and small Mayflies will all do the ticket in fooling a few fish.