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.