$100 Off Next 2 Weekends

The summer fishing has been REALLY GOOD. The weather is cooling off and I have some prime openings for guys looking to fish the next couple weekends. Thats right you can come hang out in the boat in the next couple of weeks and save a few bucks! These will be the last discounted trips for a long time. So those of you looking to save a couple dollars here is your last chance. Check out the details below. Email ryan.johnston@hotmail.com to reserve your spot. Lower Sac & Yuba The Lower Sac has been really solid this summer. We have been having some great days with these higher flows. The lower drifts from Balls Ferry to Bend have been good to excellent with most days hooking close to 50 fish. While the upper drifts have been good fishing for those big fiesty rainbows. So if you want lots of action then now is the time to get out. Perfect time to bring out those family members that have never done it before. The warm water fishing around Chico has been solid. There are still a handful of big stripers around if you are looking for a big fish. Last week I hooked 2 fish in the 15lb. class. Throw in a mix of smaller stripers, a handful of small mouth, and then finish the day throwing top water for largemouth and it can be a really fun day. This is your last time to hit the Yuba Hopper Game before it is over! There are a couple more weeks left for you dry fly guys. Then come the end of the month the egg bite is going to start. So reserve your spot now if you want to hit the Yuba during the most ridiculous time of the year. From September 20th through October 15th the Yuba is amazing! $100 OFF - Next 2 Weekends Aug. 24-25 (Fri. - Sat.) & Aug 31 (Fri.) Sept. 2-3 (Labor Day Weekend) EGG BITE IS COMING! RESERVE YOUR SPOT NOW! PRIME OPENINGS BELOW. Yuba - Sept 24, 26, 30, Oct. 2-4 Lower Sac - Oct. 7-8, 12-13, 16, 19, 25-28 Feather - Nov. 1, 3-18 Tight Lines!

Discounted Trips - Yuba and Lower Sac Report

Hey guys. It has been a while since my last report. Things have definitely been different this summer with me staying in Chico for the fist time in 6 years. I have to admit that I am missing the cooler weather of Idaho and Wyoming. But needless to say the fishing remains really strong despite the hot weather. In this report you can find current reports on the Yuba and the Lower Sac plus save some money this summer with a discounted trip. Yuba: The Yuba has had good dry fly fishing the last 3 weeks. The hopper fishing has been really consistent from 1-4PM. It definitely seems like the fishing before and after that time window is really hit and miss. The best hopper fishing has been on the lower parts of the river near hammond grove. Right now this is the perfect time to go do a pure half day dry fly trip. The nymphing has been pretty average. On full day trips we have started fishing around 10AM and break for lunch around 1PM. In that time frame my clients have been hooking between 8-10 fish a morning. Then after lunch we go dry or die and stick with the hopper game for the rest of the afternoon. Most afternoons we have been getting about 15+ eats on the hopper. One thing to keep in mind is that it seems like the bigger fish are on the banks looking for hoppers as there aren't many bugs hatching right now. With the food source on the bank its natural for the larger fish to congegrate that way. Lower Sac: The Lower Sac has been really good with the warm weather of late. I have been spending the majority of my time between Jellys Ferry and Bend. Most days we are hooking 40+ fish. What is really cool right now is the variety of the fishing opportunities. We are catching fish in the rocks, clay, and swirls. A couple of the swirls are fishing really good right now. It is so cool hooking a fish in a swirl and watching it swim straight to the bottom bending those 6 weights in half. Openings: For those of you looking to get some fishing in my openings are below: Discounted Trips: A full day trip for the half day cost of $300. This is a savings of $130. Aug 2-3, 7-15 Regular Price Openings: Aug 19-29, 31 & Sept 1-5 I hope all of you are well and are getting some fishing in. Good luck out there and stay cool! Tight Lines!

Last Nights Shad Trip

Had a fun evening shad fishing last night with John and Linda from Lafayette. We had 25+ fish to hand and probably missed another dozen grabs. We started fishing around 5PM and got off the river right at dark. Most of the normal Chico River spots had plenty of fish in them. It was Lindas first time throwing a shooting head so it took some practice for her to get used to the line but she ended up doing great and landing about half of the fish. Still have some openings this week if anyone is interested. Tight Lines!

Last Minute Openings

For those looking to do some fishing short notice this week. I have Tuesday, Thursday, Sat/Sun (June 5, 7, 9-10) open to guide the Lower Sac or Yuba for some rainbows. Or maybe you are feeling up to pulling on some shad. Evening Shad trips run at a cool $225/night. Give me a call if you are interested. Tight Lines!

No Longer Just a Trout / Steelhead Guide!!!

BIG NEWS! I am now guiding for SHAD, STRIPERS, SMALLMOUTH, LARGEMOUTH, and CARP. I have recently purchased a 18 foot jon boat with a 90 Honda to push us up and down the Sacramento River just outside of Chico. Thats right no more oars. Now we can run a drift as many times as we want to as there will be no back rowing with this boat. The SHAD are just showing up so those of you that are looking to do a SHAD TRIP the end of May through early June will be the time to get out there. I will be guiding all the warm water species through the summer in addition to my normal trout options of the Lower Sac and Yuba. If you haven't caught a striper or a shad on a fly rod then this summer is the time to do that. I will gladly help assist you in chasing the next local game fish. Below you can find my openings and reports of what to expect in the next month. Shad Openings & Summer Fishing Prime shad fishing is just a week away. Don't miss your opportunity to come shad fishing on the Sacramento River for a night. SHAD Trips are only $225/evening!!! Also to keep on your radar - once the shad leave then the striper fishing is going to be getting good. So once the shad leave come late June then the Stripers are going to be hungry and ready to eat those clousers. And as always the trout fishing will be strong in June on the Lower Sac and Yuba. Shad Trips: May 30, June 3-5, 7, 9-15 Striper/Bass/Carp Fishing: June 22-25, 27-28, July 3-12 Trout Fishing: May 30, June 3-5, 7, 9-13, 22-25, July 3-12 So Many SUMMER Options - Where to GO? The Warm Water fishing on the Lower Sac is just getting started. The best part of the warm water fishing on the Sacramemto is the ability to fish for a multitude of species in a short period of time. Literally in 1 day a person can catch a shad, striper, bass, and carp. Now I will admit that all the stars will have to align to get the Sac slam but if you like lots of variety and some really cool situations then this is the fishing for you. Shad: The Shad fishing is just getting started and within the next week things should really be going strong. There is nothing better than hanging out for a few hours and pulling on a bunch of fish. Shad are also known as the poor mans tarpon as they really pull hard. The beauty of shad fishing is the ability of getting into a good number of fish in the 2-5lb range during a short time period. Stripers: The Striper fishing has also started but will get much better once the shad are gone. With lots of shad in the river there is so much food for the stripers that they fill themselves up on live bait. Once our shad friends leave the middle part of June then its time to get out the 9 weights and throw clousers for these big bruisers. When a striper eats your fly its like a train running into your line and the battle begins. Fish in the 3-8lb range are common with fish in the mid teens a true possibility. Every time striper fishing we have a real shot at trophy fish in the 20lb class. Bass: The smallmouth fishing is going off right now. Just yesterday we had lots of grabs from smallies in the 1-2lb range. A great way to spend a couple hours sight fishing for our hard pulling warm water friends. This is a great option for a couple of hours to add to a shad trip. Yesterday the hot fly was a brown/yellow streamer. As soon as that thing hit the water those fish were all over it. Carp: There are a good number of carp right now in the shallows. Now these are fishable as of right now but will get much more consistent once the weather turns warmer. If you like to sight fish to big picky fish then this is the next frontier. Carp are big mean fish and the Sac has plenty of them in the 10-20lb class. Lower Sac Trout: The Sac continues to fish decent. Right now most days we are landing about 20ish rainbows in the 15-18" class. Right now with the flows around 10K we are spending most of our time between Bonnyview and Balls Ferry. Currently the morning time and early afternoon has been best. There is not much reason to be on the river past 4PM. The Sac will continue to fish well through June. Expect the PMDS and Caddis to continue to hatch strong throughout the summer. The hot flies have been pmds and baetis. It seems like the baetis is fishing best early in the morning and then the pmd starts happening during the middle parts of the day. This is a great time of year to get the kids out. Celebrate the end of another school year with a trip with your son or daughter. Yuba Trout: The flows on the Yuba have stabilized the last 3-4 weeks and the fishing has remained consistent. Right now we are hooking about 20ish fish per day. This is the time of year when the caddis dry fly fishing is going to start picking up in the evening times. So if you are looking to hook some fish on dry flies then now is the time to get out there. The best dry fly window is going to be the last 2 hours of the day. Hot dries are going to be tan x-caddis and ec-caddis.

Insane Fishing

The fishing the last 3 weeks has been ridiculous!!!! Literally every river in the valley is fishing lights out. For those lucky enough to have been fishing in April we have had some huge days. The Lower Sac is fishing phenomenal for rainbows, the Yuba was plain stupid yesterday, and the Feather has been putting out solid numbers of chromers. Beautiful weather and lots of fish is making for some really big smiles! Check out the rest of the post for my limited openings in May and for up-to-date info on the Lower Sac, Feather, and Yuba. This good fishing should remain for through May with these late spring conditions we are experiencing. Great flows and lots of bugs means its time to get out there. I hope all of you are doing well and getting some fishing in. Stay tuned for my next post as there is going to be a change of direction in the near future. For a hint it involves buying a motor boat 2 weeks ago - starting to guide the Sacramento River for STRIPERS, SHAD, LARGEMOUTH, SMALLMOUTH, & CARP!!!!!! - and not going to Idaho anymore. But there is more info to come. Late Spring Openings - Limited Availability If you have been waiting to hit the really good fishing then now is the time to book. The outlook for the next 4-6 weeks is looking strong for both the Lower Sac and Yuba. Big hatches of bugs with really fishy flows are going to make for some awesome fishing through May. Check out my openings below: May: 10, 15-16, 21-22, 24-25, 26 (Sat.), 28 (Memorial Day), 30 The Rivers!!! The Lower Sac has been really good the last couple of weeks. The upper drifts from Bonnyview down to Anderson has been impressive with numbers of fish. Most days we are boating 30ish fish and hooking close to 50!!!!. If you are looking for a bunch of grabs then this is the time and place to be. Lots of hookups on great fish in the 15-18" class. The fishing on this drift has been so good I have not fished anywhere else the last 2 weeks. There have been runs where I am like holy crap I have never caught that many fish in that run ever. It is a really special time of year right now on the Lower Sac. What I'm really excited about is the Yuba is finally fishable again. For 6-7 weeks the flows on the Yuba have been all over the place from 30K-7K so I have been staying away from this river. But finally this warm weather has made the flows drop into the 2,500 cfs range. This is the perfect drift boat flow and the fish were super hungry yesterday. A nice mix of March Brown nymphs and eggs hooked a ton of fish. The dry fly fishing is going to be good once the water clears. With the amount of March Browns out there right now there is going to be some great dry fly fishing once the fish can see the bugs better. The Feather River has had a solid spring with most days resulting in 12ish hookups on bright pissed off fish in the 16-20" range. The name of the game this spring has been to fish the high flow. You tie on a sucker spawn and a red san juan and watch out. Crazy aggressive strikes have been the norm and some of the hottest fish in the valley have been showing off with strong moves and impressive jumps. The window on the Feather is going to be extended this year into mid - late May because of the number of fish that are still in the high flow. So expect the Low Flow Section to be putting out solid numbers of fish throughout the month of May. Nothing cooler than wet wading the Feather for spring steelhead. I love California. Tight Lines. Ryan Johnston

Feather Report Monday, March 12

I guided the Lower Feather for the first time this spring on Monday with good success. I had one angler in the boat and we hooked 10 springers in the low flow area. Here is what I took away from the trip. It didn't feel like there were a ton of fish in the system yet. We caught some really bright fresh fish but they were really spread out. Most of the fish were your typical springers in the 16-20" class. No true monsters hooked Monday. If we had nicer conditions then possibly there would have been a few more grabs but I think things should improve in the next couple of weeks. Hot flies were all over the place from small prince nymphs, Hogans SM, and sucker spawn.

Anyone looking to get in on a trip last minute I still have March 21, 24 (Sat.), 26 still open.

Hope you are all well.

Tight Lines!