Feather River & American River Fly Fishing Report

Brian Clemens Reports on 12.3.2015

Hello Everyone,
First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Hopefully not to much turkey, but a lot of pie, I know I had way to much of everything.

Now lets talk about some great fishing we are having right now in Nor Cal. With rain coming down right now, as well as in the past month, and what is coming in the near future, December and January are going to be the time to be on the water. Less crowds for December, and the big fish arriving, what are you waiting for, time to get out and do some winter fishing.

Feather

This is where, as always, that I do the majority of my guided trips, and it never lets me down. With the egg bite “supposedly” winding down, so is the pressure, but that doesn’t mean the fishing is slowly down, in all actuality its picking up. We are hooking 6-8 fish on average, daily, even though that’s not the norm for this river, what we lack in quantity, we make up for in quality, and I love quality fish. The average fish is huge, hooking many fish over 24" on a daily basis, but not many of them making it to the net. Average fish is 22-24", but hooking fish from 24-30" is a definite possibility. Personally I think these are late spring run steelhead as they are all wild fish, finally showing their beautiful faces and size. The Feather will continue to fish well throughout December as well as January and February, after that its spring time and you know what happens then. This is the place to be right now if you are looking to fish local.  Still a few dates remain in December and January if you are looking to book a trip.Flies:Nymphs- Eggs, Caddis, Copper Johns, Princes and MaysSwinging- Flesh Flies, Flesh eggs, soft hackles, alevins

Trinity

This is of course were I have been spending the rest of my time, and boy is this place fishing good right now. More quality than quantity, however big rains coming through the Klamath drainage, both on the Klamath and the Trinity, is going to set the Trinity up for the next month maybe even two. If you are not up here fishing it right now, you are truly missing out. Most anglers/boats are going to Junction City, due to the low water, well that’s perfect as I have been floating in the upper stretches and doing really well. Hooking 6-8 fish a day, fish averaging 24-28" on a regular basis. There are no boats or waders in this stretch that I am doing, and that’s just fine with me. Working a bit harder for the same amount of fish, but with no boats and waders its always a treat on the Trinity. Like I said, these rains are doing great things for the Trinity River and for the next two months, if you are not on the Feather you should be on the Trinity, its that good. Nymphing is the numbers game, however, if you hit it right, you can get some fish swinging too. Not a lot, but a few grabs mid day is always a blessing from the fish gods. I still have a few dates available between December and January if you are looking to hook into some of Trinity’s winter steelhead. Book now before they are gone.Flies:Nymphs- Stones, PTs, Legs, Princes, Copper JohnsSwinging- Ho bo Speys, silver hiltons, anything black, purple, blue unweighted flies

Unfortunately, thats it folks. Those are the only two rivers that I can personally report on right now, as these are the only two rivers I am guiding on right now. I will include one river, but not as a fishing report, just as a precaution.
Putah CreekAs stated in my last email, I will be staying away from this creek until February, or until the spawn is over. This place is very dear to me, and with the low winter flows, and the fish spawning this time of year, they don’t need anymore stress than what they are going through all ready. Lets leave this place alone and go chase down some chrome domes.

Things to look out for:

With the new year just around the corner, there are a few rivers to start thinking about that open up January 1st.

1) American, as most of you know, the American has some big fish. Now I don’t know what the flows will be come January 1st, but I can tell you that there will be some big steelhead swimming around in those waters. Also, with the late run of salmon on the American, there should be a good late egg bite on the American as well.

2) Feather, the upper stretch opens up on Jan 1st as well, and there is some good water up there, both for nymphing as well as swinging. With the late egg bite we are seeing, as well as salmon still showing up, I think there will be a week or two that eggs will be a good choice up top. After that, time to bust out the winter steelhead flies for these bruisers.

My Available Dates:December 30,31January 2,3,4,6,7,8,18,25,26,29,30,31February 1,2,3,4,5,6,15-26March 16-31