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!

Yuba River on 12/30/08 & Holiday Special

I got the chance to go fish the Yuba with one of my good buddies on Tuesday. It was great to get back out on the water after all of the Christmas madness. The weather and the river were both nice and clear. We floated from the Highway 20 bridge down to the rod and gun club access a couple of mile past the Sycamore campground. The fishing was about average on the Yuba for a single rod fishing out of the boat. We managed to hook thirteen fish and land 8 of them. We probably would have gotten a handful more if we had some more flies in the water with a second rod. The bugs that were the most productive were a Red Copper John (16), Hogans S&M (16), and Flashback PT (16). I tried eggs throughout the day but I think that the clear day and high sun really killed the egg bite. If you get out there under some dark rainy conditions then make sure to try throwing your favorite egg patterns.

In the warmest part of the day there were some bugs coming off. There was a decent baetis hatch and a handful of PMD's coming off. The baetis were about a size 18 and the PMD's a 16. I was surprised by the PMD's since it is in the middle of winter. Needeless to say there were a handful of fish feeding on them. We were able to rise one rainbow on a dry. However we just pricked him.

For those of you interested in a holiday special. If you book two trips between January 1 & March 15 then I will give you a third trip free during the same time period. This is a cool deal because it will give you the opportunity to fish the second egg bite on the Lower Sac in January, the Skwala Hatch on the Yuba in February, and then finally the caddis hatch on the Lower Sac in March. Three trips for the price of two. Get together with a buddy each pay for a trip then the two of you get a thid trip to hang out.

Hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year.

Tight Lines!

Putah Creek and Lower Sac

I had the opportunity to guide both Putah Creek and the Lower Sac twice this week. All I can say is that Putah Creek is starting to fish really tough. Putah is flowing between 40-50 cfs and it is hard to find water that has enough depth and current to hold lots of fish. It seems as though you can find a random fish here and there but not multiple fish in single spots. Most days it seems as though a guys can hook between 4-6 rainbows in about 5 hours of fishing. You really have to put your time in and focus on the deeper slots. It has been cool to hook some larger fish on the creek. This week clients of mine hooked two different fish that were between 20-24''. The hot bugs have been black/red zebra midges (18), biot baetis (18), Hogans S&M (18), flashback pheasant tails (20).

The Lower Sac continues to fish well below Red Bluff. The trout fishing has been consistent with about 20 rainbows being boated on a daily basis. We are seeing some big steelhead continuing to move through the system. The Lower Sac steelhead are some of the most pissed off big fish in all of Northern California. I wish all steelhead acted like those on the Sac. The hot bugs on the Lower Sac have been Rubberlegs, Red Copper Johns, Tan Birds Nest, and Hogans S&M.

If you are interested I will take $100 off anyone who is interested in booking Sunday, November 30 for a day on the Lower Sac or Feather River.

Tight Lines!

The Last Two Weeks of Valley River Steelhead Fishing

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!

Three Rivers in a Week

It has been a whirlwind of a week. I have been guiding all over the state from Putah Creek, Lower Sac, and Feather Rivers. It has been a challenge to get in the groove for each of the rivers. Here is a little piece on all of the rivers.

The Lower Sac is near the end of its egg bite. I fished in the upper part of the river twice this week from the Posse Grounds down to Anderson. Eggs are still catching the majority of the fish with a handful of nymphs starting to work. Nymphs that have proved effective are red copper johns, gidgets, and micromays. Most days are seeing between 20-30 fish being boated. For those of you planning on a trip up there you should try to go in the next week because the egg bite is going to stall out here for about a month. Those fish have seen and eaten a lot of egg patterns in the last month so they are starting to get a little picky on egg patterns. For those of you that cant make it up in the next week dont worry because the second egg bite will start back up between the middle of December through the end of January.

Putah Creek has seem some major flow fluctuations in the last week. The creek has been as high as 200cfs and as low as 40 cfs this week. You gotta love it when the state messes with flows that much. So before you go out there make sure to check the flows out. The fishing was a little difficult this week. My client hooked 6 fish in a full day of fishing. The hardest part about fishing the creek at low flows is finding water that has depth and current. So find some depth and current and from there you should find a handful of fish. Make sure to throw small midge and mayfly patterns between sizes 18-20 in the fall and winter. Most of the fish we got this week fell to a zebra midge.

I was excited to finally get on the Feather because I love to steelhead fish. I was out there this last Friday and all that I can tell you is that there is not many fish in the system. There are some fresh salmon that are starting to bed up. So when the fish move in there should be just enough salmon to keep them interested in eggs. I think that the Feather is going to fish better this year during the later part of November. The clients that I had out there the other day only hooked 2 halfpounders and 1 adult. We got lucky to land the adult and in went a HUGE 27.5'' BUCK. For those of you that dont fish the Feather that is a monster fish for the river. This buck that my client landed was bigger than any fish that I landed on this river all of last year. Get excited because the Feather is going to blow up in the next two weeks.

Steelhead Fishing is just around the Corner!

Fish Hard!

Lower Sac Egg Bite in Full Swing

The Lower Sac has hit its October peak. In my opinion this is hands down one of the best times of year to be on the Lower Sac. The rainbows are ready for their steady dose of egg nutrition and we are there waiting for them with egg patterns. Fishing is pretty amazing because when you find some salmon you find the rainbows right behind them. The whole key to fishing the river this time of year are to find those salmon redds. When you are out on the river just watch the other guides and they will get you keyed in to the spawning beds. This is not to say that you wont catch fish in your typical riffle and run kind of water, but you have a much higher probability of catching multiple fish in the redds. When I drift the river this time of year there is a lot of flat water that I row over trying to get to the next redd. Water that holds fish in the spring and the summer doesn't necessarily hold fish now.

The majority of the last week 95% of the fish that I have caught have come using egg patterns. The colors that seem to be more productive are peach and orange. These are generally the two go to colors during the October egg bite. To be honest the fishing has been pretty awesome. You know when a guide gets excited about the fishing then it must be good. Most days during this last week we were hooking 40+ rainbows between the Posse Grounds and Anderson.

The outlook for the river is good for the next couple of weeks and the egg bite should remain through the end of the month. If the river gets another push of salmon then it could remain longer than that but don't get your hopes up. For sure you have a two week window to get in some great egg fishing on the Lower Sac.

Love Those Salmon!