Summer Fishing Report

Hello Fellow Anglers,

Hope everyone is doing well, and out enjoying some of the good to great fishing we are seeing these summer days. With shad season at its end we now time to turn our efforts towards summer steelhead, stripers and trout for the next few months till the fall season hits us with a bang. The water flows and temps are really good right now, the fishing is good to great, so what are you waiting for, time to get out, make those presentation right and get those lines tight.

Speaking of shad, what a season we had this year, the busiest for me yet. For some that got to experience the Yuba for shad it was absolutely epic, for others unfortunately I was fully booked up and we couldnt get out on the water together this year, hopefully we will in 2020. My first shad trip this season was May 5th and my last June 27th, prime days were May 15th to June 15th. The best day on the water we landed 148 shad between 2 anglers while the average day was between 60-70 shad to hand for 2 anglers. The pressure from boats and anglers was very low and the fishing was super hot. We fished several different ways for them this year and we fished some newish spots as the water was extremely high. Really looking forward to the 2020 shad season. Seeing how busy I was for the 2019 Shad Season, if you want to book for Shad 2020, I highly recommend booking it now as I have already booked several dates for next year. Remember May 15th to June 15th is prime, but getting fish before and after are also possible.

NOW TIME FOR THE CURRENT FISHING REPORT

Trinity:

Flows: 600cfs by 7/30

Clarity: Clear

Fishing: Good

The trinity is rocking on all fronts, the salmon are in and taking plugs, roe and even spinners and swung spoons. If you are looking to do a salmon trip despite being a drive its one of the coolest, prettiest places to chase salmon within 3ish hours of Sacramento. Did I mention no pressure, yup very few ppl chasing these fish on the Trinity. Come on up, book a trip and take some great tasting salmon meat home. So while we wait for the American and Feather to start fishing for salmon, this is the place you want to go. Now lets talk steelhead, the fishing is pretty darn good right now, fishing has been all done on the swing or fishing dries, no bobbers needed this time of year. The size of fish is nothing to shake your had at, your typical half pounders to full on adults up to 10lbs, most fish are 18-24" and full of all the spunk you would expect from summer run steelhead. Water temps are still good, and if you are looking to experience some summer steelhead fun, now's the time to book your next Trinity trip. Whether you are looking to book now, fall or winter, dates are extremely limited, so book asap. If booking a single day, singles are available only during my Trinity dates listed below, if you are looking to book 2 or more days in a row, this is available at anytime. If you are looking to get into swinging, this is one of my favorite times of year to get up there and swing away. 

JULY/AUGUST/SEPT DATES AVAILABLE NOW!!!!!!!

Swinging: Muddlers, Skaters, Hobo Speys, GT40's, Birdseye Caddis, Heisenburg, Breadcrusts, Pimps, Traditional Winged Spey Flys

Dries: Caddis, Stones, Muddlers

Nymphing: Stones, Caddis, Psycho Princes, Trinity Johns

American:

Flows: 3500cfs

Clarity: Clear

Fishing: Good to Great

Now that the shad fishing is about over, we are focusing our efforts on summer run steelhead as well as stripers and neither species are disappointing us right now. The steelhead fishing has been pretty darn good with all recent trips done on the swing using single or 2handed rods. This is a great time to get out and learn a new technique like swinging, and the options of rods and lines are endless. The average fish has been 16-22", we have hooked fish much bigger, but we have not been lucky enough to get them to hand. The steelhead fishing will continue to be good to great as long as the flows stay up and water temps stay down, I would say at least till the end of August. The striper fishing has also been pretty darn good, lots of good numbers of keeper+ size fish, and some fish in the upper single digits as well. We have been using all techniques to get these fish, fly rods and conventional rods, fishing on top, slightly subsurface and getting down deep, the fish are eager to eat the right presentation. Timing is everything, getting on early before the sun comes up and fishing till late afternoon or until it gets to hot to fish is your best bet for stripers. I have recently purchased a trolling motor for my power drifter which makes life really nice for everyone, including the guide who no longer has to row that big sled. For those really looking for a treat, targeting multi-species is very doable, hitting stripers hard early in the morning and finishing it up by swinging for some chrome late morning early afternoon, talk about a good time. Book your summer trip now while the fishing is........well, GOOD!!!! 

Steelhead swinging: Andersons Brown or Chartreuse Euphoria, Hobo Speys, GT40's, Heisenberg, Birdseye Caddis

Stripers: Tobys Teasers, Stay Hungry Streamers, Clousers

Yuba:

Upper Lower

Flows: 2500cfs

Clearity: Gin Clear

Fishing: Ok to good

The Yuba is slowing coming into shape, flows are still a bit high but very fishable. I did a half day trip last week with a single angler that is new to the sport and was surprised on how well it fished. Despite the newness of my client, we ended up landing a few nice healthy bows, and hooked 6-8 fish in just a few hours on the water. Nymphing was the name of the game that day, we did see a few caddis flying around, heard a couple of hoppers, but we didnt see any rises. As the flows come down the fishing will only get better, but if you are looking to get into some hot healthy rainbows with not a sole in sight, Id look into booking a trip on the Yuba right now. The river is super healthy and Im extremely excited to see how it fishes throughout the summer and into the fall. I have purchased access to the old Rod and Gun club, so for full days we will float from the bridge to the weir which is an additional 2 miles of water. 

Nymphs: Stones, Caddis, Mays, San Juans, the usual Yuba bugs

Swinging: anything olive, tan soft hackles

Yuba

Lower Lower

Flows: 1500cfs

Clarity: Gin Clear

Fishing: goodThe shad are long gone, but the fishing doesnt stop there. The striper fishing is as fun as it gets, spotting fish, casting to fish, watching the fish follow your fiy then eating it right at the boat, hard to beat that. This fishery will continue to put out some nice stripers until the flows get to low for me to motor up and fish, which with my boat, 800cfs is as low as I can successfully motor up without hitting. With flows at 1500cfs, there is no sight of it coming down anytime soon. Time to check out striper fishing on the Yuba for yourself. Lets not forget about the trout fishing down there too. With higher flows and colder temps, wade fishing for these trout is extremely fun. Whether swinging, throwing dries or nymphing in some deep buckets, the trout in the lower section are just as hot as the fish up top, and sometimes even bigger. Another river were targeting multi-species in a day is very doable and a blast if done right. 

Stripers: Tobys Teasers, Stay Hungry streamers, Clousers

Trout

Nymphs: Stones, Caddis, Mays, San Juans

Swinging: anything olive, tan soft hackles

Feather:

Flows: Low Flow 2600cfs, High Flow 6500cfs

Clarity: Clear in both LF and HF

Fishing: Steelhead good, Salmon slow

DWR has recently ramped up the flow through the Low Flow which has dramatically drop the water temps to suitable levels for both the salmon and steelhead. It did however bump the salmon sitting in the high flow into the low flow (spring run), so the salmon fishing is on the slow side right now, but give it a few weeks and it will pick right back up. Salmon trips available for catch and keep with conventional tackle and booked just like my fly fishing trips, no charters here. The steelhead fishing has slowed down just a bit since the erratic flow changes in the Low Flow, but there are fish in the system and they are hot. Was on the river the other day and found a few willing summer run steelhead to take a swung fly despite the flows dropping while on the river. Once again if you are looking to pick up a new technique like swinging there is no better time than now, not that nymphing wont work, but swinging can be just as good. The Feather will continue to fish good the rest of summer, and then of course fall fishing is off the charts. If fall fishing is your thing, limited dates remain in Oct.

Swinging: Andersons Euphoria Brown or Chartreuse, anything olive, tan soft hackles

Nymphing: Caddis, Mays, San Juan Worms, Princes, Birds Nest

Lower Sac

Flows: 11000cfs

Clarity: 10+ft 

Fishing: Great

The Lower Sac is firing on all cylinders, and with flows right around 11,000cfs the fish couldnt be happier. Beating the heat is highly recommend as the better fishing has been early to mid afternoon, or the last few hours of the day if you are looking for some great dry fly fishing. The normal summer hatches are out and about, the caddis have been ridiculous in the evenings and the goldens stones are starting to show themselves as well. What this means is the Lower Sac Bows are well fed and chunky. The opener, August 1st, is just around the corner, and I do have the first few days of August open for anyone looking to experience the opener on the Lower Sac. You could fish the opener one day for trout and head over the mountain and swing for some steelhead the next on the Trinity, thats my idea of a good time. 

Nymphs: Stones, Mays, X-mays, Rubberlegs, Caddis Poopah, Bubbleback Caddis, Golden Stones

Dries: Caddis, Mays

My Available Dates:

July 29, 30 (Half Day AM), 31

August 1-5,6 (HD AM),9-12,13 (HD AM),14-24

Sept 1219,21,22,23,28,29,30

Oct 1,2,3,4,23,24

More Available dates upon request

My Avail Trintiy Lower Sac Dates

August 27,28,29,30

Sept 7,8,9,10

Oct 30,31

Nov 1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10

More available dates upon request

There you have it folks, I know its been a few months since my last report, things have been a bit crazy this year with high flows, blown rivers and being fully booked up when fishing was available. Over the past few seasons, my available dates during peak season is becoming harder to reserve due to the high demand of my services. If you enjoy your time on the water with me and know when you like to book your trip/s, I would highly recommend booking your trip/s well in advance. At this point I would recommend at least 6 months to even a year in advance for peak seasons for steelhead and shad. I want to be able to guide everyone, however, there are only so many days that I have available, and during peak season those dates are very limited. Since I started writing this email today I have booked 4 dates between August and Oct, time to book. With that said, if you are looking to get out in the next month or so, whether a half day or a full day, you wont be disappointed on your experience. If you are looking to book a fall trip or even a winter trip as previously stated, I highly recommend booking it now while dates remain. 

I hope you enjoyed the current fishing report, and I really look forward to fishing with you soon.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER

KEEP THOSE LINES TIGHT

Brian Clemens

NOR CAL FLY GUIDES
530-354-3740
WWW.NORCALFLYGUIDES.COM
Check us out on Facebook

*Due to the high volume of bookings, Nor Cal Fly Guides is unable to hold a date(s) for more than 24hrs unless a specific agreement is made. All bookings are done on a first come first serve basis. Your date is reserved once my contact email is sent to you, No Exceptions.*

2019 New Years Report and ISE SHOW SPECIAL

Happy New Years Everybody

I hope that everyone had a fun and safe New Years as well as a very Merry Christmas.

With the recent Xmas and New Years rains, they have brought new life to our Nor Cal rivers and the winter fishing is something to write home about, and its only gonna get better on each and everyone of them.

Before we get into the fishing report, Id like to let everyone know that I will be at the ISE Show on Thursday and Saturday, and will be hanging out at the Fly Fishing Specialties booth in Building C. If you are deciding to go, come in and say hi. Ill also be offering a show special for anyone looking to book a trip, or several at the show with me. Book at the show and receive $50 off on any full day guided trip. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Trinity River

Flows: 300cfs Lewiston, 400cfs Steelhead Bridge, 475 DC, 700 JC

River Clarity: 8ft very slight green

Fishing: Good to great

I have been spending a good amount of time here over the past 2 months and for good reason, the fishing is good on all fronts. The rains have hit the river perfectly and with each "natural" AF (atmospheric flow), its pumping in new fresh fish. Despite the low river temps 38-42 degs, depending on the day, recent trips have yielded good numbers of swung fish and of course nymphing is producing as always. Who says you cant swing fish up with river temps under 40degs, you just gotta get out there and try. Not only are we getting nice chrome on the swing as of late, we have have also been hooking browns on a regular basis too, which is always a treat. With more rains in the forecast, it will only set this river up for more winter steelhead success for the remaining month of Jan as well as Feb and March. Nows the time to enjoy some big winter fish on Trinity, or if you are looking for a bit warmer temps you can look forward to the dry fly fishing and swing sessions in Feb and March.

Booking these dates in advance is highly recommended.

Nymphs: Rubberlegs, Copper Johns, Golden Stone, Drakes, Psycho Princes, 

Swinging: Hobo Speys, Obsidian Johnsons, Thalkens Dancers, Andersons Euphoria

Book your next Trinity River Steelhead Adventure and receive 15% off your reservatoin at Indian Creek Lodge. Ask me for further details

Feather River

Flows: 940cfs Low Flow, 1800cfs High Flow

Clarity: 4ft milky green

Fishing: Fair to good

The upper stretch has opened up and for those that ventured out on the 1st above the 70 bridge you were in for a crowded experience with a good number of fish to hand. If you arent into crowds dont worry, theres still some good water out there. The recent rains have pulled in a new batch of fish here as well, and the fishing is pretty good and of course will only get better. Swinging again as been producing a good number of fish and of course nymphing has been good as well. The alevins are out and about, and the fish are really keying in on them. Been seeing good numbers of beatis, and on those warmer days we had we did see a few of caddis. The typical winter bugs have been producing as usual. Fishing is good now and only gonna get better, nows the time to be out there. My busiest time of year is just around the corner, if you enjoy fishing the Feather  March, April and May, please book your dates well in advance. 

Nymphs: Princes, Worms, Caddis, BWOs, PTs, Tobys Alevin, Eggs

Swinging: Andersons Euphoria, Tobys Alevin, Hobo Speys, Silver Hilton

Yuba River

Flow: 1000cfs, out of Englebright

Clarity: 8ft steelhead green PERFECT

Fishing: Great

WOW, you need to be out here asap, the fishing couldnt be better, even though it will get better, but we are seeing some extremely large trout and steelhead some pushing mid to upper 20" on the Yuba that we havent seen in years. With a few Skwalas shucks already on the banks, these guys will be showing up any day now, and when they do its going to be lights out on top throwing drys all day. Right now these fish are eating just about anything you throw at them, on top, under and bobber and even swinging. Personally, if you want to fish a place thats close to home and experience one of the last wild rivers in the state, come experience the Yuba River with me, its the place to be. The river is no longer blown out and its time to get out there and have some fun. With prime dates available for the skwala hatch in late Jan and Feb, booking now is highly recommended. The fishing doesnt stop in Feb as the March browns start showing up late Feb, and spring time caddis in late March. The Yuba is going to be the place to be for months to come. Book your dates now while prime dates remain.

Nymphs:Stones, Eggs, Worms, BWOs, PMDs, PTs

Swinging: Stones, Andersons Euphoria, Alevins, Soft hackles, olive streamers

Drys: PMDs, BWOs, Pinkys, Stones

Book now for some of the best fishing we have seen in years with some of the biggest fish we havent seen in over a decade.

American River

Flow: 1760cfs

Clarity: 8ft clearish green

Fishing: Fair to good

The opener has now past us and while the water is lower than we have seen in the past few years, the fishing is decent. Good numbers of 2-4lb fish are in the system and those elusive Eel River strain are in and around as well. Pressure isnt as bad as I have seen in recent years which is interesting, but still the best time to be on the water is mid week. Swinging can produce this time of year if you can find a run to swing effectively, however nymphing is always the tried and true this time of year. If you are looking to get into some nice steelhead and not travel very far, look no further than the American. With recent rains, fresh fish are showing up in the lower river, where swinging can be really good, in a few weeks these same fish will be in the upper stretch of the AR, so fishing will continue to be good for the next few months. 

Nymphs: Eggs, Copper Johns, Hares Ear, Caddis, Worms

Swinging: Hobo Speys, Andersons Euphoria, Pick yer pocket, Thalkens Crusier

Lower Sac

I havent been on the Lower Sac for sometime now, so a up to date report I can not and will not give as I am unsure on how its fishing. I have heard from reliable sources that its been a bit tougher than usual, and I have to think its due to the unruly weather. With a steady forecast in the near future look for the Lower Sac to get better. Dont forget the best fishing to be had is just around the corner in late Feb early March to mid May. If your looking to get up there, book now while prime dates remain.

My Available Local Water Dates

Jan 17,18,19,21,22,23,24,27,28,30,31 (winter steelhead time)

Feb 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13 (prime time Skwala time)

March 2,3,4,18,19,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31

April 1-9,11-15,20-30

More dates available upon request

My Available Trinity/Lower Sac Dates

Feb 20,21,24

March 6-13

More dates available upon request. Outside of these dates, 2 day booking minimum

There you have it folks, your 2019 New Years fishing report. Hope you enjoyed it and as you can see, its time to get out and enjoy some great winter fishing. If your looking to book a trip in the very near future, a few months down the road or even this fall, I highly recommend booking in advance as soon as you know the dates you are interested in.

I would like to remind everyone to watch where they walk and wade in the river as not only salmon eggs are still in incubation in the river cobble but also steelhead and trout eggs as well. Please wade cautiously, one more fish isnt worth crushing hundreds of eggs, dont be that angler. If you are unaware of what to look for please feel free to ask or even google search "what does a redd look like".

I would like to thank every single one of you that made my 2018 guiding season a success. It is you that allows me to do what I love and share that passion with you on some of the finest rivers and streams in Nor Cal. Thank you, cheers and heres to wishing you a fishy and successful 2019 season.

SOLID GRABS

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER
KEEP THOSE LINES TIGHT

Brian Clemens

NOR CAL FLY GUIDES
530-354-3740
WWW.NORCALFLYGUIDES.COM
Check us out on Facebook

*Due to the high volume of bookings, Nor Cal Fly Guides is unable to hold a date(s) for more than 24hrs unless a specific agreement is made. All bookings are done on a first come first serve basis. Your date is reserved once my contact email is sent to you, No Expceptions.*