Lost Coast Outfitters Fishing Report April 2023
Lost Coast Outfitters Fishing Report 4/15/23
Spring Fishing has begun! We are stoked to have the report back up and running. We are now working with additional independent guides throughout Northern California as well. Ready to provide a consistent source of up-to-date information for all of of our local waterways and beyond.
The Bay/Beach: The beaches are on the edge of turning on. The bulk of our beach adventures have had to occur further away from home.. areas such as Monterey and Santa Cruz have found schools of striped willing to take a fly. As the bay clears up and water temps begin to rise slightly, more fish will become readily available off of Ocean, Baker and Crissy!
Take a look at our Local Surf Clinics or Call the shop for more info!
Lower Feather River-
The Lower Feather River flows just dropped to around 1100 in the low flow but it still around 9k in the high flow. We have been catching fish in both. There are a lot of fresh spring steelhead in the system and April and May are some of my favorite months to be out there. I was out there three days ago and fishing was great, lots of suckerfish are stacked up and getting their black stripes on the sides in their normal haunts, putting the steelhead on the chow. Go to flies have been sucker spawn and alevins as well as red headed step childs and caddis. Similar to the Yuba's current big water state, soft seams and slower runs will often be the best producers. The spring is the best time of year out there to swing a fly out there and they eat it aggressively.
Call Ben Thompson to get out on the Lower Sacramento Or Feather River: 916-743-8290
Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta
Delta is still challenging to fish, been managing around 10 fish or so over the past week. Finding cleaner water can be difficult as silt is floating around with the tides. Water temperatures are around 60 degrees but clarity is only around 2’ or so. The Steve Adachi Black with grizzly hackle Clouser has been doing the trick in dirty water! On a positive note, each day this past week we’ve had shots at a 10+ lb fish, a few solid 3-5# fish & some shakers in the mix. Hopefully the waters continue to clear up & more fish show up for the Spring Spawn!
Call Bryce Tedford for trips on the Delta year-round: 206-696-2437
Call Patrick MacKenzie year-round for guided trips on the Napa River: 707-721-6700
The lake is nearly full, water falls are flowing, and timber is flooding. Fish are on the feed during the morning and afternoon with a bit of a slowdown from 11am-1pm. Fishing the float n' fly is catching the most fish but fish are shallow enough that a popper dropper or streamer rig is also getting fish. Fishing should remain good through April into June
Ryan Williams Reports Lake Oroville-
The prime spring season is slowly shaping up. Water temps are still cold at 52-56. Once the temps hit 60 the action will really turn on. When this happens the 50-100+ fish days will start on the main lake. Still waiting on the topwater & streamer bite to begin. Should begin around the 60 degree mark or even a bit less. For the time being it's all float n fly. Going anywhere from 6'-9' leaders. Currently we're getting about 20-40 fish per day between two anglers. Lots of really nice bass being caught lately, hard to find small ones. Big full bellies getting ready to spawn in the next month or so. The bite is going all day. Mornings and evenings have been best, but we are catching fish throughout the afternoons. Some afternoons have really shaped up to fish really well, producing bigger fish. As far as structures go, we have been fishing lately on points, tributaries, and shade in various canyons.
If you are itching to try Float and Fly Fishing with a fly rod The Cal Bass Union can get you Dialed in!
Matt Heron Reports on the Truckee River-
Although the Truckee River looked like it was going to blow out last week with the warmer temperatures, in the end, it didn’t. The water definitely came up on the CA side but has been receding by the day.
With all the snowpack this year, I’d still call current conditions pre runoff. The river is up, a bit off color (2-5ft of visibility) depending on day and location but is nowhere near what it’s going to be when we start to see consistent air temps in the 50-65 degree range…it’s coming.
Flows are hovering just under, and just over 1,000 cfs. in town and through the canyon.
As far as fishing goes, it’s exactly as we’d expect…size, not numbers (with exceptions!). Most fish our guides are running into are in the 13-20 inch rage with opportunities each day for a true Truckee River giant. These conditions are why we love the spring! Typically, the Truckee kicks out way more rainbows then browns but the tides are turning. Browns love the spring and big water and it’s starting to show with more browns in the net by the week.
Flies- Our crew is getting fish on a variety of nymphs: rubberlegs, skwalas, eggs, worms, march browns, and of course baetis and midges. If the water starts to get muddy, you can typically take baetis and midges off the menu and go bigger with more flash. 3-4x tippet will do the trick this week.
If you get lucky you may run into a few noses even with the water being up. Look for baetis, march browns, midges and skwalas. You never know when that 24in brown will let is guard down on a well presented dry. And yes, it does happen this time of year.
Not surprisingly most fish are being landed on bobber rigs, Euro set ups and streamers. If you’re a streamer angler, now’s the time.
This season’s bookings are in full swing, here’s a taste of what we have going on: full and half day guides trips, NV side float trips, our daily classes on the ponds will start around mid May, and our wildly popular 2 Day Truckee Trout School dates were just announced for this summer (101, 201 and Youth/Family).
Putah Creek
Slow start to our Putah Creek Fishing Season. The rains kept us at bay due to limited visibility. Current conditions are challenging as Hwy 128 is currently CLOSED. This is a note pulled off of The Cal Trans Website:
[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM THE SOLANO/YOLO CO LINE TO 4.6 MI EAST OF THE SOLANO/YOLO CO LINE /AT PLEASANT VALLEY RD/ - DUE TO A SLIDE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE
Join us Wednesday April 26th from 5:30pm and on at the Shop for our
Continue reading
