Nor Cal Trout Fishing - July 2023

Truckee River:

The Truckee has been fishing consistently throughout the summer! Both water color and temperature have been stellar. Flows were a little high earlier in the month due to run-off from the big winter snowpack, but now the river is in perfect shape for a trip!

Classic summer dry-fly opportunities can be had, however the Truckee fishes best with a variety of nymphs. Fish are also gorging themselves on crayfish this time of year, so streamer fishing can be a blast! It's pretty hot up there, so don't work too hard and beat the heat while wet-wading! Come through the shop to get those indicator or Euro nymphing rigs dialed in!

Flies: Golden Stones/Sallies- sz 10/16,  Caddis Larvae/Pupa (green/tan)- sz 16/18, Baetis- sz 18/20, PMDs- sz 16, March Browns- sz 14. Plenty of fish can also be had on a variety of streamers, as well as crawfish, worm, and egg patterns! It’s be a shame to skip out on the Truckee this summer, watch those flow gauges and get out there!

Matt Heron

Matt Koles

Yuba River:

In the last few weeks flows have dropped significantly to around 3,300 cfs meaning the Yuba is running cold and clean at a very fishable level!

The Rundown: Summer Hopper fishing is upon us! Dry droppers with big bugs and simple Grasshopper rigs should work great up through August. Fish are consistently holding tight to the bank, be observant and fish smart, risers are around! Drive up for some epic morning and evening fishing and try to beat the heat!

Tons of very healthy rainbows are feeding all throughout the system. There remains a potential to run into a Spring-run steelhead! A few fish from the spring have remained in the river due to the staunch excess of cold water! Try your luck at running into some valley chrome!

Flies: Chubby Chernobyl (yellow, tan, purple)- sz 8,10,12; Morris’s Hopper-sz 8,10,12,14, Plenty of other Hopper patters will also do the trick, Caddis are also hatching, try some Elk Hair Caddis or Mercer’s Missing Link-sz 14-18; Nymphs for dry dropper rigs: Caddis Pupa, PMDs-sz 14-18; Golden Stones 8-16, Duracell-sz 14-20

Captain Ben Thompson

Website: https://www.benthompsonoutdoors.com/

Phone: (916) 743-8290

Email: bthompson30@gmail.com

Feather River:

Summer isn’t necessarily prime time for the Feather, however, with the state having such a huge water year, things are a little funky! A number of Adult Spring-Run Steelhead remain present throughout the system, this winter’s surplus has provided comfortable holding water for these fish. Go try to test your luck! These fish are probably in a mostly trout-like state of mind after remaining in the river for so long, you can’t catch them from the couch, go see what the river has to offer!

Captain Ben Thompson

Website: https://www.benthompsonoutdoors.com/

Phone: (916) 743-8290

Email: bthompson30@gmail.com

Lower Sacramento:

The Lower Sacramento is sticking to its long-held reputation of an extremely consistent fishery all year round! Even with almost unbearably scorching temperatures throughout the Central Valley and North State, the Lower Sac is flowing cold and strong! It’s a perfect time to ditch the waders and cool off for the day!

All tributaries to the Lower Sac are pumping out cold, clean water, allowing 100% of the trout water in the main river to clean itself up! Great fishing can be had from Redding in-town all the way down to Red Bluff, get out there!

Currently the fish are shifting toward an almost completely Caddis-centered diet. Hydropsyche Caddis in all stages and sizes are showing up everywhere, and the fish are eager to take them. PMD and Stoneflies have also been productive. Like always, nymphing is going to be the most consistent method for picking up fish, but plenty of dry-fly opportunities can be had in riffles and tail outs during caddis hatches!

The Lower River is fishing exceptionally well for Striped Bass. Throw around a big Adachi Clouser and turn a hungry Striper, you’ll be into backing in a flash! Some very large fish have been caught down low this summer.

Fishing on the Lower Sacramento can definitely be done through the DIY Walk-and-Wade method, but for the full experience we highly recommend booking a guided trip through Capt. Ben Thompson or our friends at AC Fly Fishing!

Flies:

Nymphs: Caddis Larvae/Pupa (tan)- sz 12-16; Peaches ‘n Cream/TNT PMD- sz 14/16; Sweet Pea/Hogan’s S&M 14-18

Dries: EC Caddis, Mercer’s Missing Link, Elk Hair Caddis, PMDs- sz.12-16

Captain Ben Thompson

Website: https://www.benthompsonoutdoors.com/

Phone: (916) 743-8290

Email: bthompson30@gmail.com

AC Fly Fishing-

Website:https://acflyfishing.com/ 

Phone: (800) 201-5047 or

Email: info@acflyfishing.com

Upper Sacramento:

The Upper Sacramento is fishing great right now. While daytime temperatures are consistently exceeding 90 degrees, getting down to the canyon bottom with wet-wading equipment can be a perfect way to beat the heat!

Golden Stones have come and gone but there should be steady PMD and Caddis hatches in the evenings. Nymphing should be productive all day long, while fishing dries early and late in the day for eager risers can be a blast.

All the water from Simms campground and up has been excellent!

Flies:

Nymphs: Pats Rubberlegs/Poxyback Stones- sz 8-18; Peaches ‘n Cream/TNT PMD- sz 14/16; Sweet Pea/ Hogan’s S&M/Micro May- sz 14-18

Dries: Parachute Adams/Purple Haze- sz 14-18; EC Caddis, Mercer’s Missing Link, Elk Hair Caddis- sz.12-16

Chuck Volkhausen

Phone: (530) 859-3474

John Rickard

Phone: (877) 934-7466

McCloud River:

The McCloud has been somewhat unpredictable this season; dense snowpack from this year’s winter has brought about sporadic run-off events which have pushed sediment and large volumes of water into the lower river. These conditions can remain for a week or two before things start to clear up which makes pulling the trigger on a trip difficult. The road into Ah-Di-Nah Campground and the Nature Conservancy had a blowout earlier in the summer but has since been repaired and deemed safe to travel.

While the conditions haven’t been consistently optimal, the fish haven’t left the river! Fishing remains on the scale of Fair-Great depending on the day and water clarity! When the water has some decent color, the fish move into the shallower areas (riffles, shallow tailouts) to feed! Dry fly fishing can be a blast when fish are shallow!

Another underlying plus of the McCloud’s unpredictability this season has been a lacking of the usual summer crowds. With people wondering about a possibly washed-out road and high/dirty river, many folks have decided to stay away from the McCloud. This has allowed for a practically wide-open river to anyone who chooses to go! Walk-in tags at the Nature Conservancy should be easier to get than in past years, but you never know! If you want to get in there, it’s better to be early!

The Upper McCloud (above McCloud Reservoir) has also been fishing very well! The McCloud’s own species, the Native Redband trout, are found thriving in plentiful numbers in this isolated section of the upper watershed. The upper river is a spectacular place to bring the family for a summer camping trip and take a little adventure for some really cool fish!

Flies:

Nymphs: Pats Rubberlegs (Black/Brown)- sz 8-12; Poxyback Stone- sz 12; Sweet Pea, Hogan’s S&M, Micro May, Copper John, sz 14-16; Prince Nymph, Gordon’s Prince, sz 14-16

Dries: Parachute Adams/Purple Haze- sz 12-18; Mercer’s Missing Link, EC Caddis, PMDs-sz 14-18; Potentially Salmonfly/Golden Stone action- sz 10-14

Streamers: Dolly Lamma 06-02, Sculpin Patterns

Chuck Volkhausen

Phone: (530) 859-3474

John Rickard

Phone: (877) 934-7466

Pit River:

Good-Great

The Pit (Pit 3&4) has been fishing very consistently this season. As many know, a trip to the Pit is not for the faint of heart. Wading among the slick boulders and swift current that the Pit possesses can be difficult and, in some cases, outright dangerous. So, make sure your boots are in tip-top shape (both rubber condition and cleat installation), bring along a wading staff for some extra stability in the water, and most importantly, know your body’s limits.

Down to the nitty gritty- the Pit has had a good year. You can expect productive days using mostly nymphing techniques. Per usual, pocket water fishing is everywhere on the Pit, sift through a section with a Euro, Indicator, or Dry-Dropper Rig and see what you pick up!

Flies: Small Stoneflies- sz 12-16; Mayfly patterns (Sweet Pea, S&M, Perdigon)- sz 16-20; Caddis Pupa/Larvae sz 14-18

Chuck Volkhausen

Phone: (530) 859-3474

John Rickard

Phone: (877) 934-7466

Putah Creek

Our local creek is fishing well given the high flows. Flows have been bouncing between 500 and 600 cfs the last few weeks. As a reminder, Putah is used as an irrigational canal used to feed water down into the farmland near Winters, Davis Woodland. 

The standard flies are doing the trick. Flies such as S&M Nymphs, Caddis Poopah and Zebra Midges are doing well! If you'd like to spice things up try tossing Rainbow Warriors, Two Bit Hookers, and Jujubees!

The challenge with these high flows has been keeping the grass and weeds off the hooks, consider bringing the Euro rod out to maintain a much tighter connection and drifting the bugs below the grasses!

Great opportunity to toss Streamers as well. Sculpzillas, Small Peanut Envys and sparsely tied leaches are crushing at the moment! Fish these flies on an  intermediate line swung. Or on a fast sink line above the buckets and pools on the creek.

Reach out to Robert George 707-812-4671 or Clayton Ono 707-365-9012 for trips and availability.

Matt "Gilligan" Koles Reports on 5.27.20

Heating up on the Truckee River.

It will get hot this week. When it’s 90 in the Hirsch, it’s hot. Upper 90’s in Reno. There’s about 10 miles between us and the desert, it gets hot. Water’s still cold. Fishing all day is good. About low 50’s, water temps, during the day. That’s perfect water temps. Trouts are waking up and moving around.

Flows are still up. I’m guessing they’ll drop in a few weeks. It’ll make the wading a lot easier.

So, nymph up on them. That’s your best bet, at least here on the lower river. Lots of bugs out, but those big fish don’t budge. They stay on the bottom and look for the easiest available food source. Good news; the smaller fish are very active as well with the warming water temps. This is a good time for higher numbers of fish, if you get in the right sections of river. They’re sill tight though. When the flows drop, they will move out into the mid-river slots. All of that water is still too fast.

Yes, the Truckee River is open. No, you will not get pulled over by the police if you’re out of town.

I’ve been very busy. All of my full days are filled up in June. I do have half days open, especially the last few weeks of June. Once summer rolls in, the best fishing is, morning-mid-morning, and again very late in the evening.

Matt "Gilligan" Koles Reports on 2.20.20

Good solid fishing on the Truckee River.

Feels almost like spring in Tahoe/ Reno. Super balmy for mid-Feb.

When I say good fishing, I’m talking the Nevada side of the Truckee River, not in Ca. That’s where I’ve been spending my time. The water is low and clear and cold still in Ca.

So no more dry fly fishing down on the lower river. Lots of bugs, but not that many fish looking up. Not sure what happened. Still hoping for it to pick back up again. I did put on some nymphs and we did catch fish though. We caught fish in every water type. Not just the winter type frog water. Climate change.

Of course if you want to go hunting for big fish, you got to streamer fish, and stay committed. Luckily, we got a few on Saturday, thanks to some cloud cover and a falling barometer. That was after 2 days of nothing. It just takes the right pressure/ weather, to get trouts to turn on and chase. Sometimes you can nail those days down, but you just don’t know when, or what day that will happen. You just got to throw those things around until it does. I wish I had an app for that.

So enjoy the spring weather in February. 4 years ago we had the driest Feb. to that point on record, and a pretty good wet March. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Matt "Gilligan" Koles Reports on 2.10.2020

Mild weather on the Truckee River.

Looks like this month may stay dry and mild. Hopefully, we can get some storms in March. Reno hit 70 last week. Most ski resorts are at about 80 percent of average on the upper mountains. We will need a good end of this month, or March to get back somewhat closer to average. There is water stored in the lakes and reservoirs, but it would be nice to top them off.

Why do I talk so much about the weather? Well, this time of year the fishing is greatly influenced by how warm, or cold it is. Last week I saw skwallas out on the lower river. That’s pretty early. I didn’t see them until April last year, but it did snow almost every day last February.

So the good news is you will see fish looking up. Flows are down and there are bugs out. Much different than our last 3 springs. Not only was last winter/ spring cold, flows were way up from release out of Lake Tahoe. They were the in ’17, and 18′ too. That won’t be the case this year. We will have dependable good spring fishing.

Jon Baiocchi reports on 5.1.19

Gorgeous spring weather and blue skies have dominated the skies in the Northern Sierra for the last few weeks, and the flows keep pumping at a high level on the Truckee River. At the Granite campground station on Hwy 89 the flows are at 1,530 cubes, add in Donner Creek at 443 cfs and you will find the flows through the town of Truckee at 1,973. Along the Glenshire...

Jon Baiocchi Reports on 10.10.17

The Little Truckee River is fishing well despite the large numbers of anglers. Last week I counted 33 vehicles from the top lot to the outlet. Lots of pressure, but unique in the realm, you can find your own space - Do not despair. TBS; Tiny Black Shit with a worm for indicator rigs is the top producer. Think small ball whether nymphing, or making dry fly...