Feather, Yuba, Trinity, and Putah Fly Fishing Report

NOR CAL FLY GUIDES
530-354-3740

Feather River:

Despite what you may hear the Feather is fishing pretty good right now. Over the past 2 weeks the number of steelhead in the system has increased dramatically and we are seeing a good number of steelhead from 12"-26", most are 16-22". Not only are there more steelhead, we are seeing a large number of salmon starting to spawn. Most are staging and digging, but in just a few days, they will will be paired up and dropping eggs. This means “EGG BITE” time. Right now there are very few people fishing the Feather, but that will change in a week or two when the egg bite really turns on. Looking to experience steelhead fishing at its finest, look no further than now as well as October to November during the egg bite. I still have a few prime dates left in both months.

Trinity River: 

Not to many people know about the summer run on the Trinity, and not to many people fish it, and when they do it stays hush hush, cuz its that good. Hooking a large number of steelhead is not uncommon, most are 12’-18’“ half pounders, but also a good number of nice 18-26” adults as well. Swinging is epic this time of year, being able to swing up multiple fish on a daily basis is the way to go in my book. When swinging this time of you, you typically hook bigger fish, those big boys really love swung flies, both on top or subsurface. Nymphing is always king up there, but being able to swing with success is always an added bonus. The crowds are at a minimum, but come mid to late October (egg bite), it will get busier, but there will be a lot more fish in the system. Get up there and fish is all I can say. My October dates on the Trinity are fully booked up, however I still have a few in November, as well as other months too. If you are looking to experience one of my favorite steelhead rivers in Nor Cal, the Trinity is where its at.

Yuba River: 

The Yuba took a little hit to its fishing with the last drop in flows, dropping from 650cfs to 500cfs. With the lower flows, the fish are a bit more skittish, however they are still there and eating away. Also with the lower flows there has been less boat traffic, pretty skinny water now, but we have been seeing a few more waders. Nice thing is my new NRS Freestone Drifter makes short work of the low skinny water. The morning is a bit slow, but the fishing definitely picks up throughout the day. The salmon are slowly trickling in, and in due time the egg bite will be in full swing, Im guessing a few more weeks. Once that happens its lights out on the Yuba, big fish love the eggs, be ready, they pull super hard. Again, still a few prime dates available to experience the egg bite on the Yuba River between October and November.

Putah Creek: 

The creek is being a bit of a sleeper right now, meaning its fishing really well, and no one knows it, until now. Flows are slowly dropping, the bigger fish are on the move and gorging themselves to get ready for the up and coming spawning season. Most know about the fire that burned through there, yes it burned a lot of the area around the creek, but nothing happened to the creek itself, it actually helped with getting around on the creek, no more berry bushes. So despite the fire, the creek is on fire. It will only get better from now till the beginning of the spawn. And with that, I will only be guiding the creek up until November 1st, I will then be off the creek until February 1st, the reason for this is to let the Putah Creek trout spawn in peace, and to be honest, Id rather be chasing chrome domes during that time frame anyways.Guides Tip: Get out and enjoy the great fishing on Putah Creek right now. But please, do not fish the creek from Nov 1 to Feb 1. These fish are extremely stressed during this time of year, and combine that with low flows, poor spawning habitat, and anglers fishing to them, these fish get over stressed and either don't spawn or could potentiallly die. I know we all want these fish to spawning successfully, so instead go chase those elusive steelhead.

My Current Available Dates:

October 1,4,8,9,15

November 6,10,12,13,16,17,29,30

December 1-7,9-15,26-31

Please inquire on available dates for 2016. Also due to the addition of a second guide, additional dates may be available. Please inquire if none of the dates above work for you.

My Trinity River Available Dates:

November 18,19,23,24,25

December 16,18,19,20,21,22,23

January 10,11,12,13,16,17

February 6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13

March 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,11,12,13,14

Additional Trinity River dates may be available upon specific requests. Also, due to the addition of a second guide, these dates can be available for local waters. Please inquire if you are interested in booking any of these dates on local waters.