Last South Fork Update

The South Fork has finally hit the dull-drums of summer. This typically hits about the first week of August but like everything else this summer we are about 3 weeks behind schedule on our hatches and weather patterns. The PMD hatch is pooping out and the hoppers have not started yet so the fish don't have a lot to be excited about. Needless to say we are really having to work for the grabs and those fish are becoming little picky snobs.

Currently there are no hot drifts in the river. All of the sections are fishing about the same. The upper and canyon stretches have small windows of PMD fishing in the afternoon. While the lower still has a few golden stones and the random hopper to entice the fish. I saw my first hopper two days ago. So that should reignite the river for a couple of weeks once we see enough of them. The last week I have been bouncing back and forth between the upper canyon, lower canyon, and lower sections of the river. Lots of fish between 12-18" being caught but no real big dogs of late. The hot bugs have been para-hoppers, Lawsons Pink PMD cripple, rusty spinner, and the lightning bug.

Last Sunday I got the chance to go fish with a couple of guide buddies of mine from the Lodge. We took my friends jet boat down to Tilden on the main snake. This is the land of big fish. Not lots of grabs but the ones you get are good. Between three of us we hooked 10 trout and landed 6 of them. We had 4 rainbows between 20-21". No monsters that day but the video on my blog says it all.

The good news is that I am coming home in 7 days. I am excited to take a couple of weeks off before the grind of the fall starts. For those of you interested in fishing the Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather this fall contact me ASAP for prime dates. I still have October 25-28, 31 (Sunday) and November 6-7 (Saturday & Sunday) available. These are prime dates for either the Lower Sac or Feather.

I hope you are all doing well.

Tight Lines!

South Fork Snake (ID) Report & August Hoppers

Well......Once again it has been a slow start to our fishing on the South Fork of the Snake here in Irwin, Idaho. Currently the river is still high at 16,000 CFS and a frigid 52 degrees. With the high and cold water our hatches have been delayed by a couple of weeks. That means no dry flies yet. The name of the game has been nymphing. The fishing has been fairly average the first couple of weeks with most days landing 25-30 trout per boat. The hot flies have been rubberlegs, San Juans (pink & red), and any small baetis nymph. The last week there have been lots of rainbows and browns caught. Not to many cuttys yet as they are starting to finish their spawning season. Right now the best fishing has been on the Lower Stretches of the river (ie: Cottonwood to Byington & Byington to Lorenzo).

The good news is that yesterday I saw my first Salmon Fly of the season. So get ready because the S. Fork is days away from blowing up. Big Dry Flies are on the horizon. In addition to the big bugs we are starting to see more Green Drakes each day on the river. So I have to assume by the middle of next week it will be time to put the indicators away and string up those dry fly rods.

I also wanted to mention that the word out here in the Rockies is that there is going to be a huge infestation of hoppers this summer. Fish & Game are calling for one of the largest hopper hatches that they have seen in years. If that forecast holds up we could have some ridiculous fishing this August. So get excited any of you that are making your way to Idaho, Montana, or Wyoming this summer. Gotta love throwing hoppers against undercut banks.

Lastly I wanted to finish my post with an awesome fishing story. Last week I guided Daniele and her husband Bart for 6 days on the S. Fork. All week Daniele was catching the largest fish of the trip. So naturally Bart was excited and frustrated all at the same time. Well the last day of the trip Daniele laid it on thick with some great big fish mojo. Her last day of fishing on the upper resulted in her catching a 19" rainbow, 20" brown, 21" brown, and 22.5" brown. It was awesome watching her pull in big fish after big fish. What a way to end the trip! Check out the two photos!





For those of you that want to come out here check out the Lodge at Palisades Creek. Also people are starting to call about CA dates in the fall so you will want to start figuring out those calendars to get in on prime dates!

Tight Lines!

I'm Still Alive

Well.......It has been a while since my last post. Life has been really busy with Cast Hope, Guiding, and Planning for my 4th Season on the South Fork. The good news is that life is back to normal. Cast Hope had an awesome 1st Annual Benefit and Auction on May 22, 2010. There was a great turnout with over 100 people showing up at Lelands for a great cause. Plus we made some money as well. All of the money raised is going to help get youth on the water fly fishing. If you were unable to make it to the 1st annual hopefully we will see you out there next year.

Now I am looking forward to taking off to guide my fourth season on the South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho. In one week I will be leaving those deared indicators of the Sac, Yuba, and Feather and trading them in for big Salmonfly dries. But before I do that there is more guiding to be done here in CA.

Alright enough about me you say..........What is going on with our local rivers? Well here is what I saw this week:

Lower Sac: The Sac continues to fish well even with the high water. Currently the river is at 15,000 CFS. It took the fish a couple of days to adjust to the high water but now they are back on the feed again. This last week it seems like the majority of the guides out have been focusing on the river from Bonnyview down to Balls Ferry. It is really easy to do these longer drifts now because there is current everywhere and you get pushed down river much faster. The key to finding fish has been fishing the softer water on the edge of the riffles. I have been getting very few fish in the flats. Most of the fish seemed to be grouped up in the slower tailouts and runs. The hot bugs have been rubberlegs (8), king princes (16), tan birds nest (16), flashback pheasant tail (14), and mercers epoxyback pmd (16).

Yuba: Well currently the Yuba has BIG water with the flows at 6,000 CFS. I was lucky enough to guide it this week when the water was still at 3,200 CFS. The fishing was really good with the spring like conditions that are continuing to hold on. Like the Lower Sac most of the fish we caught came in the softer edges of the riffles. It seems like the fish were trying to hold up in the softer water just outside of the major current. I found fish in all of my regular spots. The hot bugs were the Foxy Stone (12), Red Copper John (16), and Olive Fox Pupah (16). The dry fly fishing was almost non-existent. But then again I missed the prime caddis time as we were off the water by 4PM.

Feather: I have not been on the Feather for over a month now. But I am hearing rumors that there are still some spring steelhead to be caught. Talking to another guide who fished it last week he said that they hooked 11 fish and three of them were over 20 inches. Now this is second hand information so take it in stride. So the Feather sounds like an option as well. It might be a roll of the dice this late in the season but it sounds like fish are still moving into the system with this late rain we are getting. Plus if you get a big boy then it was well worth your time.


That is all of the info I got. Still some good fishing to be had in the valley as long as temperatures stay in the 80's and 90's. Once we start hitting those 100 degree days then time to start hitting your favorite mountain streams (assuming they are not blown out from the snow).

Hope this helps.

Tight Lines!

Hot Spring Fishing Continues

Well we are getting to the end of April and there is more rain coming this week. Can you believe that it is going to be in the high 50s? At least we are getting some water for the years to come. Since we have been having a cooler year this means that our spring fishing is going to persist through the middle of May. Those more typical summer fishing will not start showing up for another month. This is great news because right now the fish are still really grabby. The last couple of weeks I have been primarily on the Lower Sac with a handful of day on the Yuba. Below you can find what I have been seeing on these rivers.

The Lower Sac has been fishing really good if you don't get stuck on the river during a major flow change of 1,000+ cfs. Currently the river is at 6,500 cfs. I have been living on the Anderson sections of the river from Sac RV/Anderson River Park to Balls Ferry. Most days right now we are boating 30+ rainbows. A lot of the fish we are getting are between 14-16" with a handful of shots at bows 18" or larger. Actually today we hooked and lost about a 5-6lb steelhead. Another big fish gets away. I'M PRETTY SURE THAT IS THE STORY OF MY GUIDING CAREER! LOL! The hot bugs have been rubberlegs, yellow microspawn, king prince, and prince nymphs. Over the next 2-3 weeks expect the fishing to remain consistent. As the flows increase the fish are going to start moving. I'm getting excited because this means soon we can start fishing more of the clay down on the lower drifts.

The Yuba is starting to get back to its normal self. Most days we are hooking 15-20 rainbows. The dry fly fishing has tightened up this last week. Not as many fish rising in the flats. Currently the bug life has been some sporadic hatches of pmds, march browns, baetis, and yellow sallies. But it seems to me that the transition to caddis as the main food source has begun. I saw a lot more caddis this week than I have all spring. So as the weather gets warmer the later part of next week the caddis fishing should start to get really good. For those of you wanting to stay late in the day you should be rewarded with some decent dry fly fishing. The hot bugs this last week has been San Juan Worms, Copper Johns, Hogan's S&M, and Olive Pupah.

Well for those of you that want to get out the first couple weeks of May I have some prime openings. May 3, 4, 5, 11, 13, 17, & 18. All of these dates should be great for some fishing on the Lower Sac or Yuba. Let me know if you want to get out.

Tight Lines!

Lower Sac, Feather, and Yuba Reports.

The last two weeks I have been bouncing around to all three rivers. All of the rivers are fishing really well right now. This is the time of the year where the fish are hungry and the weather is forecasted to be really nice for the next couple of weeks. Check out the reports for each fishery below.

Lower Sac: The Sac is continuing to fish well. Those rainbows are continuing to gorge themselves on olive caddis. The pmd hatch is steadily increasing and will soon become the food of choice. Three days on the river last week all resulted in trips with 30+ rainbows to hand. I have been concentrating on the river between Anderson and Balls Ferry. For those of you who are looking to pull on a bunch of fish this is the time to go. Bring out the kids, friends, or loved one to catch a bunch of feisty rainbows. The Lower Sac should continue to fish really well for the next month. Hot bugs have been rubberlegs, king prince (16), olive dirty bird (16), prince nymph (16), and yellow sucker spawn.

Feather: The SPRINGERS ARE HERE! I guided the Lower Feather three times the last week and those half pound steelhead are in the system. This is a great option for those of you looking for fish that really pull hard. If you think the Yuba fish pull hard then you will be even more impressed with the Feather half pounders. Lately it has been more like trout fishing with each day resulting in 15+ hook-ups with fish between 15-20". However yesterday some of the larger fish started to show up. Two guys yesterday landed three 20" bucks, one 22" hen, and one 23" hen. The next three weeks on the Feather are going to be prime as the weather gets warmer and more fish move into the system. Hot bugs have been prince nymphs, Hogan's S&M, Hogan's Red Headed Step Child, and San Juan Worms.


Yuba: Over the last month I have been on the Yuba more than any of the other rivers. All I can say is that the river is back to its normal self. Right now most days are resulting in approximately 20 hook-ups. However the dry fly fishing has been really good. Most days right now we are getting 4-5 dry fly eats on each trip. The dry fly fishing is really technical but if you can get the fly to come down first to the fish they eat it almost every time. Currently there are lots of March Browns and the PMD's are just starting to hatch. So the fishing will remain solid for the next month. For you dry fly guys now is the time to go! Hot bugs have been copper johns, flashback pheasant tails, olive dirty bird, and Hogan's Clinger Nymph.

For those of you interested in doing some fishing during the next month I have listed my availabilities below. All of these April dates are prime for the valley fishing.I still have a couple weekend dates open.

April 12, 15, 18 (Sunday), 19, 26-29

May 2 (Sunday)

Good Luck & Tight Lines!

Lower Sac, Yuba, Feather Trifecta in 3 Days

I just got done guiding the Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather in three days with the same guys. It was a great trip as all of the rivers were on FIRE. This is truly a special time right now in the North Valley. Bruce and his son Kevin had never fished any of the rivers and by the end of the weekend I think they had a new appreciation for their home fisheries. Below you can find a report from what I saw out there.

Lower Sac (Day 1): Fished the Lower Sac from Anderson down to Balls Ferry. River was incredible. Boated over 40 rainbows. But lots of little fish that day. The majority of the fish were between 10"-14". However we were lucky enough to find a big guy that went 22". The hot bugs were the normal spring flies with rubber legs, yellow eggs, prince nymphs, pheasant tail, etc. Expect the Lower Sac to fish well through the end of April. For those of you waiting for good reports: NOW IS THE TIME!

Lower Yuba (Day 2): Well the Yuba doesn't get much better than it has been the last week. I have been floating from Highway 20 down to the Rod/Gun Club. Lots of numbers and quality fish. The nymphing has been crazy good. Every standard spot has been holding fish. Currently most days we are hooking 20-25 rainbows. Plus each day we are getting shots at 20" fish. The hot flies have been SJWs, flashback pt, copper john, Hogan's S&M, and Hogan's Clinger. I have not been getting that much love on caddis yet. The dry fly fishing has been hit and miss depending on the pmd hatch in the middle of the day. Check out the nice double Bruce and Kevin pulled off.

Lower Feather (Day 3): Went and checked out the Feather with my clients to see if those springers were in there yet. Had a good day catching trout sized quarter pounders. Hooked 18 little guys between 10"-15". The biggest fish we found was only 18". No adults hooked. The hot flies were SJWs, olive birds nest, prince nymph, and Hogan's S&M. The Feather should get better and better over the next two weeks. Expect those big fish to start showing up real soon.

All in all we had a great three days of fishing. The trifecta was good to us.

For those of you interested in doing some fishing I just had a cancellation for March 17 and 18. These are the only two days I have left in March. Email ASAP if you want to get in on the great fishing.

Tight Lines!

Lower Yuba Fishing Good

I guided the Lower Yuba today. It was supposed to be a full day trip but it ended up more like 2/3 of a day. The water looked awesome this morning. Great green color. Fish were super grabby from the start on egg patterns. Then as the day progressed our 4 feet of visibility turned into about 1 foot of visibility by three o'clock. It didn't help that they increased the flow to 2,300 cfs right in the middle of the day. But that is part of the game.

All in all it was a good day. Hooked 16 hot rainbows between 16"-19" in about 5.5 hours of fishing. It could have been a banner day if the water clarity would have stayed good.

Should be fishable again by Friday. Assuming the weather man is correct and everything is going to be dry tomorrow.

Tight Lines!