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.

Fly Fishing Update & Openings

 

 

Great Fishing Continues & Shad Season Soon!

I hope this note finds all of you doing well and enjoying this beautiful weather we are having this weekend. With this being Earth Week I thought that it was time I send you guys an update on what is happening to the fishing in the valley. Needless to say it has been a busy month with lots of fishing on the Lower Sac and Feather Rivers. Both rivers continue to fish well. The Lower Sac is still have good days with 40-50 fish hookups being common. The Feather has lots of half pounders throughout the entire system with a few adults mixed in throughout the day.   I am offering a $100 discount on half day trips for the Lower Sac on May 6 and May 27. So that is a half day trip for $275! I have shad trips planned that evening and I'm trying to fill in the mornings. Email me ASAP to score one of these dates!   The Sac will continue to fish well through June. As we get into May we will start fishing the lower parts of the river near cottonwood. May and June is an awesome time of year to go fish the "Rocks" and the "Swirls". So come out and see the part of the Sac that many have never experienced.   The Feather season will be wrapping up in the middle part of May. With the amount of fish in High Flow right now then we should have good fishing on the Feather for the next several weeks. As those fish move up the river then there will be lots of fish stacking up in the Low Flow section. There are still a few openings if you want to get in on a last minute Feather trip. See dates below.     Richard with a great 25" Feather Springer. Beautiful Hen!   With May around the corner it is also time to start thinking about getting some shad dates on the calendar. I have heard a few rumors that the very first couple fish have been seen in the river. Expect the first wave of fish to show up the first part of May. Shad fishing should be good through June 10ish. For those of you that are planners then its not to far out to start thinking about PRIME TIME striper fishing in July as well. The striper fishing keeps getting better and better and something that I will have limited openings for during prime time season in July. If you are into striper fishing or just want to give it a try then now is the time to book those trips.   I look forward to seeing many of you in the next couple months. I'm excited about the thought of starting to throw some lines for bass, shad, and stripers. Hope you are well and have the chance to get some fishing in. Send me an email if you are interested in dates.   Open Dates:   May: 6 (Half Day Only), 12, 24-25, 27 (Half Day Only), 30 (Memorial Day), 31   June: 1, 6-7, 15-16, 22, 24, 30   July: 1, 3-4, 11-12, 14, 18-21, 23-24, 29

Egg Bite Report & Dates

Egg Bite is Here!!!

 

Egg Bite has had a decent start on the Lower Sac. The fish over there have been happy to have some salmon in the river. Most days right now on the upper river we are hooking 50+ fish. The salmon run this year has been slower to start as compared to historic averages. It seems like every couple of days we get a handful of new salmon in the runs. So this sets up well for November assuming we have the same thing keep happening. This trickle effect we are getting for the Salmon Run hopefully means it could be a great November and even early December Egg Bite. Only time will tell but I am definitely keeping my fingers crossed that we keep getting little groups of salmon for the next 6 weeks. For those of you looking for dates I still have a handful of openings in November. Also start looking at your December calendars to get in on the winter egg and alevan bite on the Lower Sac. The biggest fish of the year are caught in December and January on the Lower Sac.   Also starting Thanksgiving Weekend I will once again be guiding weekends for those of you that cant get off during the week.   Hope all of you are well and enjoying some much needed family time this weekend. Open Dates:   November 13, 19-20, 23-24, 28 (Saturday)   December 1, 3-23, 27-31

Incredible Spring Fishing Coming Soon!

- Spring Fishing -

Literally best fishing of the year

 

 

 

I hope this note finds all of you well. It is that time of year where the fishing is about to go off in Northern California. From March to mid May some of the best fishing of the year is going to be found in the North Valley. I hope you will find some time to come hang out on the water and catch some great fish and a few memories. My openings are below:

 

Open Dates:

 

March 1, 3, 7-15, 17, 19-20, 22-23, 27-28, 30

 

April 1, 3-4, 9, 14, 18-23, 25-28, 30

 

May 2-15

 

 

 

Feather River - As most of you know the Feather is really special in the spring time. This is hands down my favorite time to fish the Feather. Hot pissed off valley steelhead make this an awesome time to be on the water. If you haven't done this type of fishing then this is the year to get out there and give it a try. Mid March to early May is pretty impressive out there.

Lower Sac - The spring on the Lower Sac the last 3 years has been absolutely insane. March and April has been some of the best fishing that we have seen on the river all year long. If you are looking for big rainbows then these two months are the best of the year. Fish like the one at the top of the email are becoming normal on the Lower Sac.

Yuba - If you are into throwing dry flies then this is the time of year for you. The largest hatches of the year come off in March and April. With that comes really great opportunities to throw dry flies during the March brown and PMD hatches. The March Brown hatch is really impressive and a blast to fish as we try to fool those smart Yuba Rainbows.

 

Bass Fishing - Spring is also prime time for the bass fishing on the Sacramento River and Luk Lake. I have been guiding Luk Lake now for 3 years and it is still some of the best bass fishing that I have ever seen. Totally worth and evening of popper fishing to get you all excited about these bucket mouths.

 

 

Great Start to Fall Fishing

It seems like these days I'm having a hard time trying to find the space to update my blog. Between the kids, wife, guiding, and Cast Hope I don't find much time for writing anymore. Here I sit at the computer with all 3 of my girls sleeping at the same time so I thought I would give you guys an update of what I am seeing out on the water. I hope all of you are doing well and I will be seeing you around the river. Cheers and Go Chargers!

Lower Sac: The Sac has been good for egg fishing lately. I wouldn't say it is great but there are lots of big fish to be caught right now. Currently most days we are hooking 40-50 fish throughout the entire river. There are a decent amount of salmon throughout the river. However fish are still eating nymphs as they look for those eggs. Currently about 25% of my fish are coming on bugs. Hot flies are eggs, tan fox poopah, and Hogans S&M.

Lower Feather: The Feather is having a slower start to the season this year as compared to the last couple. There are good numbers of salmon in low flow but none in high flow. So right now there are not many steelhead to be had past the outlet. With the larger number of salmon in the Low Flow section I have been fishing 1 single egg as not to snag salmon on every cast. Currently the majority of the fish that we are catching are wild fish. So expect the major push of hatchery fish to show up at their normal time near the first part of November.

Lower Yuba: I haven't been over there yet this October to do any egg fishing. But it sounds like fishing has been fair to good. I will be over there on Tuesday and should have some better reports at the end of the week.

Fish Story: I had a really crazy experience happen to me in late September. I had a client land a 40lb striper on a rubber leg while fishing for trout below Red Bluff. Cant believe that we landed this fish on 2X with a size 8 stone fly nymph. Must have just hit the fish on the nose. The fish was 44.5" long with a 29" girth. It was an amazing experience holding this fish and reviving it to let it swim back into the depths.