Your cart
Close Alternative Icon
Store Open Mon-Sat 10-6pm, Free shipping on orders over $100, Same Day Shipping Store Open 6 days a week M-Sat 10-6pm. Free shipping on orders over $100, Same Day Shipping
Close Icon

Fishing Report

August 18th Fly Fishing Report

August 18th Fly Fishing Report

In the last 2 months I have managed to catch my 2 best striper on Ocean Beach! 

The LCO team has been fishing like maniacs. Infact, on Sunday the entire team was fishing. I was on the Trinity, Jose and Brett were on the bay, Owen was in Idaho trout fishing, and Jake was on Stinson. It's pretty rad how much our team gets out to fish!

Striper fishing has been good! Jose and Brett went out with Captain Gregg Holand on the bay and caught some nice fish in the usual spots Red Rock and Angel Island. The delta fished well for me last week, but it's been really windy out west, Sherm and I casted in 25 MPH winds with 3/0 adachi rattle clousers and found a few quality fish up to maybe 10lbs.

The birds have been all over Ocean Beach and I found a couple of fish early in the week and then a few skunk days to remind me its Ocean Beach. Rising morning tides this week so thats cool!

A great time to be thinking about chrisy feild. 

Saturday/Sunday Trinity River to skate some dries with Tom Mahan at Swingwater guide service. Fish were starting to show up! I boiled a few in the evening. The recent rains should do well to get the fish moving around! Tom was fired up and great guide if you are looking to swing flies on the Trinity River. 

I managed to head back for a few days of work then spent a day with Capt. Ben Thompson on the Sac fishing for striper. A similar story to the delta we fished hard looking for the grande's. We caught some quality fish up to maybe 8 or 9lbs. Ben is an excellent capatian and I highly reccomend booking in on the Sac, Yuba, or Feather for striper or trout. 

Owen hopped on the airplane and touched down in ID for a trout trip with some of his college buddies fishing the Teton and South Fork Snake. 

 

Continue reading

Captain Patrick MacKenzie 6/14 Fishing Report: Bay Area, Napa, and Sonoma

MacKenzie on the Fly

San Francisco Bay & San Pablo
San Pablo Bay has been fishing great — when the wind has been down, there have been plenty of stripers to be caught. There are lots of jacksmelt around and the stripers and halibut are on the chew. The salinity line is down low in the central bay this summer so there will be excellent fishing in July & August.
 
The same goes for the central bay. On the right tides, the fishing has been excellent. Water clarity varies greatly on wind conditions and tidal conditions. 
Napa River
The Napa River hasn’t turned on yet. There is some bait around and a few fish to be caught, but the water clarity makes fly fishing difficult. It’s a matter of weeks before the summer bite starts, so stay tuned. All we need is the water to clear up. 

 

Lake Sonoma 
The top water smallmouth bite is still happening, but the windows for good fishing are dusk and dawn. Water temps are nearing 80 degrees on the surface, so most of the bass have gone deep during the day when the sun is high. 
Continue reading

Evan Praskin Reports 05/29/24: Central California Surf

Evan Praskin Reports 05/29/24: Central California Surf

 

Central California Coast:

The surf is HOT! ... I repeat the surf is HOT!

Hello all you fellow surf chargers and suds club members. If you haven’t caught on yet, the stripers are out and hungry all along our central California coastline. Good numbers of fish are being caught all along the beaches south of the gate and down to the corner on Monterey bay. Not only are we catching the spunky stripers, but good sized perch are taking the same size clousers as the bass.

May/June are my absolute favorite months for hitting the surf. We usually have good tides/swells and low AM winds. Top of the incoming tides are producing as well as the drop off falling tide. One thing we always say is fish a changing tide either incoming or outgoing, this gets the fish active and moving. Go to flies would be a 3-4 inch clouser in chartreuse/white, black/cinnamon, or red/red. These will all catch bass and perch.

Keep hunting that different looking water, holes and shelf’s that are reachable and closer to shore. The fishing should continue to be good through the summer months into September. As the summer winds down we tend to see less numbers, but much larger fish. The good news is some very nice sized fish are already showing up in the 27+ inch range!

Please remember to Catch and release the big mammas when you can, watch your back casts, and wade cautiously! Hope to see y’all on the beach, live the stoke! 

https://www.stokeventuresflyfishing.com/about

Continue reading

Bryce Tedford Reports 05/29/24: California Delta

California Delta:
Been a great Spring Striper season on CA Delta with mild weather & plenty of solid fish over the last past few months. Some days we have to really work for them & grind it out but it’s been good Spring overall. Spring Striper season is winding down & I’ll turn my focus to Summer fishing for Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass.
1/2 day Summer fishing for Largemouth & Smallmouth is just around the corner(June-Sept.). For Largemouth we use 7-8wt rods, floating lines & large poppers or Gurglers. For Smallmouth we use 4-5wt rods, small poppers & jig flies if they don’t eat Topwater. These trips are a great way to get novice anglers into the sport of Fly Fishing or seasoned anglers into the fun of Topwater Bass!
Finally, come Fall(Sept-Dec), I return my attention to Stripers to close out the season. I still have plenty of openings this Summer for 1/2 day Bass trips as well as Full day Fall trips for Stripers on the CA Delta. 
Continue reading

Hogan Brown Reports 05/29/24: Lower Sacramento River Striper

Lower Sacramento River Striper Fishing – Fishing has been fair to good. Flows dropped this Sunday with the latest “pulse flow” and there was a bit of a weird cold front that moved through Saturday. Even with those issues fishing has been fair to good. There is a mix of fresh migratory fish, spawned-out migratory fish, and resident fish in the mix so lots of fish in the system.
 
Fish have been podded up a bit still, so it is not a steady bite as the fish move around, and finding fish is the key to stringing a day together. Most fish are in 2-8’ of water and type 7 or 5 shooting heads as clarity has improved drastically over the last 2 days are the ticket.
 
The long-term forecast shows weather in the low to high 90s and this should really stabilize fishing and conditions. That said the pulse flows can mess with the fish a bit as with this last one the river dropped between 1.5 -2’ in about 24 hours – pushing fish out of the water they were in and changing things overnight literally. The flow change does not mess with the stripers as much as it does the trout higher in the watershed but it does move them and that means finding them again.
 
June through July though should be great fishing with a phenomenal migratory run of fish and plenty of water to keep both the holdover migratory fish and resident fish happy.
June Open Dates 13, 14

Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective

530-514-2453
Continue reading

Central Coast Surf Madness!

Central Coast Surf Madness!

Central Coast Surf Fishing

This season has been a record one for the number of fish we have been seeing/ hearing about on the Central California Coast Line. Striper are being caught throughout Seaside and up into Half Moon bay. 

Many more fish in the "Shaker" category have been found but many other "keeper" sized fish are in the mix as well. No monsters reported as of late, but that is to be expected post Striper Spawn.

Evan Praskin Reports:

The striper run this year is off to a crazy good start with nice fish already mixed in with the Diaper stripers.

 

I have the feeling this year will be one of those magical Surf Stripers years like we have been waiting for. Bass are being caught from Santa Cruz county all the way to the corner in Seaside with many fish in the 20-24” class and chunky.

 

These fish will remain in our system throughout the summer and get nice and fat on the baitfish that hold in Monterey bay. We should be seeing some mega Bass throughout the summer months.

 

Perch fishing has also been great for many anglers with some nice sized Barred beauties in the 15” range. If you head out, I’d be fishing 3-5” clouser patterns like the Adachi which should produce both species. Of course my go to Trench Bomb will be landing fish all season.

 

Can’t forget to mention that halibut are also in the mix right now with some legal length fish being landed on flatter sections of the coastline. You just never know what you will hook out here this time of year!

 

Be safe, watch your back casts, and I’ll see you on the beach!

 

 LCO Surf Clinics are in full swing! Join in this Spring/ Summer for a great event that welcomes you into the surf. We aim to help you develop a foundation that is based in understanding the surf, the equipment and the fish that we may run into out on the water.

Continue reading

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 Sacramento River:
The Lower sac is currently on fire and fishing great. The section above Highway 44 closed on April 1st and will remain closed until August 1st when it reopens. It does not matter though because the rest of the river is putting up some big fish. The flows are sitting at 3,120 below Keswick and the higher up tributaries have already cleared up. Most of our trout waters are already back in play. In the last week we have seen big hatches of PMDs, march browns, BWOs and black caddis, varying day to day based on sunlight and clouds. We have been catching fish on size 14 march brown pheasant tails, size 16 black fox's pupas, size 16 olive S&Ms, peaches and cream, tech junkie, black birds nests, sweet peas and sucker spawn variations. As temps continue to rise the hatches will get bigger and little sallies will be in play, as well as hopper dropper being a good option in the feeding lanes of the skinnier riffles. 

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

Lake Berryessa - 59-63 f
7-9ft via
Float and fly bite is solid and will continue to be for the next two weeks. Right now the best bet for lakes in the Bay Area. Lake is 9ft below spillway. 
Lake Sonoma - 48-55f
2-5tt via
Float and fly bite is also happening, but only on dry creek arm, warms spring side is still very dirty. Bait is abundant and the lake is full! 
Napa River / Bay 58-61f 
Water still dirty in the SP bay/Central Bay. There is clean water and stripers to be caught, but we won’t see a big push of fish until second or third week of May. Stay tuned. 

Call Patrick MacKenzie year-round for guided trips on the Napa River: 707-721-6700

Hogan Brown Reports Lake Oroville Bass- 

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

Putah Creek *Shop Talk* 

 

 

Continue reading

Lost Coast Outfitters Fishing Report 12/14/22

Lost Coast Outfitters Fishing Report 12/14/22

Upper Sacramento: It’s winter, who knew?! Access is tough on upper river just due to snow. If you’re sniffing around the Upper Sac, stay below Conant for less snow and easier parking/walking. Anglers fishing the McCartle area have reported decent catching. Stick to small mayfly nymphs #16-18, Rubber Legs #8-10 and small yellow egg patterns to boot. Nothing unusual to report, fair fishing if you are willing to put in some time. The water is a little lower than normal, but that’s largely due to the cold temps and no snowmelt/rain.

Pop in or Call Ted Fay Fly Shop for up to the minute reports. 

Lower Sacramento: Fishing well, as it often does in winter. Strong BWO hatches and good nymphing, S&M, Psycho May. Small Pheasant Tails #16-18 mayflies, anything olive baetis looking. Attach a bobber, and just add water. While strong hatches don’t always translate to good dry fly fishing on the Lower Sac, it’s certainly possible and it pays to keep an eye out for heads sipping adult mayflies. Releases out of the dam are on the low side for this time of year hover around 3000cfs.

Call Dustin Revel for a day on the Lower Sac: 530-921-1563

Putah Creek: We are under a voluntary spawning closure right now. It runs December 1 st through March 1 st every year. Yes, the creek is technically open to fish, but please give these wild trout a break and venture elsewhere. If you want to watch some spawning activity, take a walk along the trails next to the creek and look for big fish in pairs or pods over clean gravel in moving water. Super cool and educational.

The Delta: Beautiful conditions post storm. Clean water through much of the Delta, but a fairly tough bite. It’s between season out there, and the fishing is marginal as expected. Water temperatures are below 50 degrees and fish are in their winter pattern. Look for flats where the water will warm a bit through the day. Sometimes it only takes a couple degrees to turn on the bite. 10-20 fish/day for the boat is a good day right now and you need work for them. This isn’t big fish time, but still some decent fish reported, in the 5 pound range. Nothing to get super excited about currently, but well worth fishing on decent weather days. Not much pressure out there either, so if you want to have a pleasant day without any competition winter is where it’s at!

Call Bryce Tedford for trips on the Delta year-round: 206-696-2437

The Bay/Beach: It’s perch time on the Bay Area beaches. In between storms, look for calm days without a big swell. Sinking lines with an array of small brown/tan/orange crab patterns will net you a few of our palm sized native beach dwellers. Stop by the shop and pick up a couple of our custom perch patterns and we’ll line you out on a good stretch of beach to check out.

Eastern Sierra:

The East Walker is closed for the season. Opens again on the last Saturday in April.

Upper Owens: Snow and more snow on the upper river. This is good, but makes access tough. The river is accessible by snowmobile, skis or walking in on snow machine tracks. The water and conditions are COLD. However, it’s worth the effort, because trophy trout swim up from Crowley Lake in winter and hang in the river. The drought has affected the river as it enters the lake and made it tough for fish to get up into the river, but the fish want to get out of the lake as it freezes over and they will make it up eventually. The big fish are parked in the deeper pools and cut banks. To find them you need to be systematic and fish each spot thoroughly. They won’t move far to eat a fly. They are lethargic due to cold temps, but just keep casting and you’ll find them. San Juan worm in pink and red is the number one pattern. Eggs, tiny Pheasant Tails and other small mayfly nymphs under a small indicator are the way to go. Be patient, fish hard.

Lower Owens: The lower river, near Bishop, is much warmer and fishing well. Bonus: no snow on the ground. Air temps are in the 50’s and water temps only a little lower. BWO’s are showing in the late morning and the window is short, but if you want to get fish on dry flies in December, this is one of your best opportunities. Fish a #18 parachute BWO, Quigley Cripple or Sparkle Flag on a long leader. Drift the foam lines, the fish are there. On the nymphing side, fish the deeper buckets with #16-20 Pheasant Tails, midges, Hares Ears and other standard nymphs under a bobber or tightline.

Report From Jim Stimson

Truckee:

As expected, the water is low and cold. Anywhere on the California side is hard to access right now just due to snow. Much-needed recent storms have dumped feet of powder on the Tahoe region and most of the locals are skiing. However, if you cruise on down to the NV side, east past Sparks, you’ll find no snow and some decent fishing (remember to buy a Nevada fishing license). The Nature Conservancy section is a good option, with more flow and access. Not much in the dry fly category right now, but streamers and nymphs will put you in the money. If you’re chucking streamers, concentrate on the slower water and pools and throw standard patterns, like black leeches and various Bugger patterns. Nymphing with Zebra Midges and egg patterns under a bobber is the ticket if you want to go that route. Or, do both, and fish all the water. Find yourself a two-footer for Christmas.

Call Matt “Gilligan” Koles to fish the Truckee, year-round: 775-351-6665

Lower Yuba: The last storm blew out Deer Creek, and therefore most of the lower river. Good news is it’s already clearing up and fishable. It will keep dropping and clearing as conditions dry out. Anytime you see a high water event, strap on a Rubberlegs and a worm and throw it under a bobber. That’s a foolproof recipe. You may still see a few salmon spawning and various egg patterns are still in the mix. Mostly the trout are keyed on small baetis and midges, as is standard for winter. Small Pheasant Tails, Zebra Midges, S&M BWO or anything small and olive/brown will take fish. Anglers are catching a few steelhead here and there so stay cool if you set the hook on something substantial that rips some line off your reel. Dry fly action is possible 365 days a year on the Lower Yuba. It’s a little inconsistent right now but if you’re patient and keep your eyes open you’ll find fish sipping BWO’s here and there. Tie on a #18 Parachute Adams on a long leader and make an accurate cast. Streamer fishing produces throughout the winter too. Buggers, Zonkers, soft hackles will all produce, stripped or swung.

Call Ben Thompson to get out on the Lower Yuba: 916-743-8290

Trinity River: Good days and tough days mixed in. When a good rain storm hits and freshens up the water, anglers are getting good numbers of fish, but when it’s cold and dry most folks are only getting a handful of hook-ups a day. Still, 2-4 fish a day doesn’t suck and if you play your calendar right with the water conditions, you can hook triple that number. Still a few spawning salmon around so a glo bug or bead will take fish. Most folks have been fishing smaller nymphs like Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns, Dark Lord and of course stoneflies like black/brown Rubber Legs. Flows out of the dam are spot on normal for this time of year at 297cfs.

Call Dustin Revel for year-round trips on the Trinity: 530-921-1563

Klamath River: Fishing is fair to good depending on the day and time of day. The upper 30 miles are sporting excellent water conditions, albeit a bit low compared to the long-term median flow. All the recent precipitation has come in the form of snow, so the water clarity is good and stable. Water temps are solid, in the high 40s to low 50s. The bite is kind of tough mid-day just because of cold weather. Both swinging and nymphing are producing fish. If you’re swinging think sink tip and smaller wet flies. If you’re nymphing stick to stoneflies and egg patterns. Fish the water appropriately, meaning, swing the riffles and runs and nymph the seams and pockets. Cover all the holding water you can find and you’ll find fish.

Call Chuck at Wild Waters Fly Fishing for Klamath River trips: 530-859-3474

Napa River: Clean water mid 50s temps with good fishing before the before the rain blew it out and muddied up the water. The Napa is often off-color, but if it’s too brown it can be unfishable. As soon as we get a few dry days in a row it will be game on. Watch the tides and don’t get stuck in the mud.

Call Patrick Mackinzie year-round for guided trips on the Napa River: 707-721-6700

Continue reading

Monterey and Bay Area Surf Fly Fishing Report

Monterey and Bay Area Surf Fly Fishing Report

Evan Praskin Reports on 10.6.20

Hey my salty surf charging fanatics! Fresh report from the Monterey Bay Area. The mass of salty bass have definitely made their way north from MB to SF Bay, though we always have some lingering around because let’s face it, our water is beautiful!

We have been getting out all over this past week catching halibut and Stripers toward SF and handfuls of perch down in MB. Plenty of action to be had this time of year and now is the time to connect with some of our awesome local surf species. As we climb further into winter, the perch should become more frequent and larger fish will start showing up(MB area). If your closer to SF bay you have great fishing all the way until thanksgiving, so dust off those rods, tie on your favorite Adachi clouser, and go get em. We’ll see you on the beach!

Continue reading