North/Central Valley Fly Fishing Report

Brian Celmens Reports on 6/2/2016

Wow, where has this year gone, April was EPIC, May was here and gone with some more great fishing, now we are in June and the fishing is really good too. I know I say this a lot, but you should really be out on the water and enjoying some great fishing.

Here is your Local June Fishing Report:

Feather River

Man when things started to look dim, the Feather comes back and shines like it always does, and it continues to give us some really nice days fishing. If you want to get into some late spring and early summer run steelhead, well look no further than the Feather. We are seeing good numbers of half pounders up to 18" as well as a good handful of adults up to 26". Hooking 10 to 12 fish a day is the daily scene, and not hard to do, and if you are not careful you can hook many many more. Just recently we had a day where we hooked 20+ fish. Can you say sign me up. Dont know how much longer this will last, but with the low flow at 1700cfs and running cold, salmon showing up daily, and every steelhead we hook chrome bright, it should be good to great for the month of June. As always, hottest steelhead pound per pound around, and these fish will hurt you on a 6wt.

• Nymphs: Princes, Caddis, Mays, Copper Johns
  
• Dries: Mays, Caddis
  
• Swinging: anything soft hackle caddis immitation
  

Guides tip: get out now, while the getting is good

Lower Sac

Another hot spot right now, and if you can stand the heat, you will hook as many fish as you can handle. Most days hooking 20-25 fish is not uncommon, and hooking 30 is not a far feat to accomplish. As far as the heat goes, a nice dip in the Lower Sac will take care of that, and keep you cool for quite some time, typically done soon after lunch, gotta wait 30 mins you know. The Lower Sac will continue to produce some awesome fishing and great catches, fish from 16-22", with some bigger fish in the mix as well. If you want to hook quantity and quality, this is the place for you. As far as how long this will last, only the fish truly know, but it will definitely be great for the month of June.

• Nymphs: Rubber Legs, PMDs, Caddis, Mays, Eggs
  
• Dries: Caddis and PMDs
  
• Swinging: it can be done, tailouts are best, soft hackle caddis patterns are a must

Guides tip: same as the Feather, get out now while the getting is great

American

The shad are in and so are the striper. Man o Man, great numbers of shad and striper are being hooked as I type. Evening is best for the shad and in the upper stretch of the river, only problem is most anglers/guides are up there too. Most of my trips are going after striper, getting on early and getting off by 3pm, but what is really awesome, is the the striper fishing is so good, that if you dont want to get on super early you dont have to, I just like to beat the heat. We are not seeing the huge stripers as they are eating up the shad, but fish 5lbs and under are being hooked in great numbers. A day last week, I had a single angler that boated 50+ stripers in a full day guided trip, can you say epic. We are using 8wt rods with 350gr striper lines, just in case we hook the big one, but you could get away with a strong 6wt or slower 7wt. But I personally think the heavier line helps get that fly down and will produce a lot more fish. Even though a lot of the fish we are landing are shakers 16-20" fish, they put up a great fight on the 8wt, and you will be glad with the 8wt when you hook that 6-8lber. As far as shad, the majority of them as well as the anglers are up top, especially in the evening, with many smaller pods of fish and anglers spread throughout the lower river. With the numbers we are seeing of striper, I havent had the time to chase to many shad, but if you are looking to get out, now is the time.

Striper: Grey/white, Chatruse/white clousers. Toby’s Clousers and the Sexy shad,
Shad: Bloody Maria, Pink Bleeder
Guides Tip: Nows the time

Yuba River

Above the Weir

This is a tough fishery right now for trout. You get a fish here and a fish there, give it some time she will be ready to go, but right now, there are better trout fisheries to be fishing.

Below the Weir
Shad, shad and more shad. Great for a half day walk and way, but can be done as a full day walk and wade as well. You want to shad fish with very few people, this is the place to be. I am able to access the water at the rod and gun club, so if you are looking to get out, lets go hook some shad.
Trout: Rubber legs, caddis, mays
Shad: Bloody Maria and anything pink

Truckee River

Flows are still on the high side, and water still cold, but we are seeing to really good quality fish. The numbers are not there yet like the Truckee is know for, but what it lacks in quantity, you really do make up for quality. A few more weeks of this warm weather, and the snow run off should be done, and the fishing should turn on like a light switch, I would say by July 1, it will be in perfect shape. If you are looking to get out, whether booking a trip or just fishing, look to late June early July and on through the summer months. There is a ton of water up there, and this will be one great trout fishery throughout  the summer.

• Nymphs: Stones, Caddis, Mays, Worms
  
• Dries: same as nymphs, but not worms of course
  
• Streamers: anything big and bad, I love sculpins up there

Guides tip: when the water comes down, the green drakes, caddis and pmds will be in full force, this will be the spot in a few short weeks, and Ill be spending a lot of time up there guiding this year

There you have it folks, and as you can see, the fishing is really good right now. Its time to get out and enjoy what the talk is all about.