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
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
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.*
