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Fishing Report

Lower Yuba River & Striper Fly Fishing Report

Lower Yuba River & Striper Fly Fishing Report

Captain Ben Thompson Reports on June 27th, 2025

Lower Yuba River trout:

Flows are pretty steady around 2500 cfs. We are getting some hopper eats every trip, but the summer hopper fishing is not quite in full swing yet. Hopper dropper has been very effective, and of course nymphing. For nymphs stoneflies, caddis pupae and Birds Nests have been the primary source of success. Most days have been very productive with a few tougher ones thrown in here and there as the Lower Yuba is known to do. 

River striper report:

Shad are leaving the system very fast and river stripers are settling into their summer homes. The last few days have we have done alright, having to cover some ground to stay on fish. The rivers are starting to stabilize for my favorite striper months July and August. Moving water around snags has been the most productive for us lately. Classic fly pattern colors like chartreuse and white and olive and white are in play along with variations. I still have some availability for summer benthompsonoutdoors.com

_____________________________
Capt. Ben Thompson
Coast Guard MMC #8565216
CA DFW Guide ID #1001102 
Northern CA Fly Fishing Guide
(916)743-8290
benthompsonoutdoors.com



 
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Sacramento River Striper Fly Fishing Report

Sacramento River Striper Fly Fishing Report

Captain Hogan Brown Reports on June25th, 2025

Lower Sac Striper Fishing
Fishing was fair to good on the backside of the June full moon, as bigger fish began moving back into feeding zones and actively feeding. Fishing will only improve. Water clarity has been an issue due to thunderstorms in the mountains muddying up tributary creeks—many of which have been affected by fires. At this point, nearly every tributary and watershed feeding into the Sac is contributing off-color water at various times.
Water coming out of Keswick is far from "clear"—more of a deep green with just a few feet of visibility. When this is combined with runoff from muddied tributaries, certain sections of the river can become significantly more turbid.
Most fish are still being caught on larger, darker flies—often with rattles—fished on heavy sinking lines. The fish remain deep in the water column, so getting flies down to them--no matter the depth of the area one is fishing--has been critical. June’s weather has been unusually mild, with evening temperatures cooler than normal, resulting in water temps well below average. Because of this, most fish are feeding during the warmest part of the day—roughly between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
With the next full moon approaching, on July 10th, fishing should only improve over the coming weeks.
Open Dates Leading Up to the Full Moon:
July 3, 5, 9


Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


530-514-2453


 

 
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Local Surf Fly Fishing Report

Local Surf Fly Fishing Report

Evan Praskin Reports on May 31st, 2025

Warm warming warmer! Howdy fellow line side chasers. Here is your local Monterey/Southern country fish report. 

The bass are in the surf, but you will need to cover some water to find them. What are your best chances of hooking up? Getting boots on the ground and going fishing. Zero percent of fish are caught if you don’t go, so get out there and give yourself the most opportunity for success. The best and most successful beach fisherman are the ones who put in the time on the sand. Remember to cover some water, fish the changing tide and/or low light conditions, and keep casting.

Perch are still in the mix too so don’t forget to finish your retrieve all the way in. 3-5” Clousers in chartreuse over white and the Praskin Trench Bomb are great producers this time of year. Monterey side is producing a bit better than Santa Cruz, but just remember to wade with caution as the sand is looser and the beach is steeper. Look for the holes and deep troughs, fish them hard then move on to the next one until you intersect the fish. Last week I took a break from the surf and hit the inner lakes looking for salt free stripers on Stokeventures new boat. The fish were plentiful so stay tuned for more guiding opportunities coming up! Be safe, spread good vibes, and we will see you on the beach! 

 

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Central Valley Striper Fly Fishing Report

Central Valley Striper Fly Fishing Report

Hogan Brown Reports on May 25th, 2025



Lake season has wrapped up on Lake Oroville, as we saw our first jet ski and floating couch being towed around to the sounds of top 40 country--making it the official start of river striper season, that runs June-October. We have had a great run of migratory fish on all our valley rivers this spring, we have plenty of water in the reservoirs for the summer, and while pulse flows this spring can make fishing tough we should see some stabilization in flows soon. Fishing has been fair to good this last week and should be getting better over the next few weeks as flows stabilize and clarity improves. June-August, with stable weather and consistent flows on most valley rivers, should be great fishing for resident and hold migratory fish like usual. 


Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


530-514-2453



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California Delta Fly Fishing Report

Capt. Bryce Tedford Reports on May 26th, 2025

California Delta Fly Fishing Report:


Spring striper season in the Delta has been going strong, but is winding down as the stripers have spawned. Hoping to get another week or two out of the stripers, but they have scattered throughout the Delta. Water temperatures are climbing up towards 68-70 degrees. Currently catching around 10-15 fish a trip with, most in the 3-5lb class, & a few up to 10lbs. As water temperatures increase to 70 degrees it will get tougher & the fish will continue to scatter. It’s becoming a grind to find stripers as they are moving out towards the SF Bay or staying up in the rivers for summer. Clarity is currently 2-4’ depending on the areas you fish in. Fly wise, “Steve Adachi style” rattle Clousers are a way to a stripers mouth, so don’t leave home without them!

 

My spring is all booked up but fall is always an option as well. In addition, from June 15-September 15, I turn my focus to topwater largemouth & lmallmouth bass excursions. These 5hr 1/2 day bass trips are a great way to get newer anglers into the sport as well

as a blast for seasoned veterans who just want to have fun watching largemouth & Ssmallmouth blow up a fly! After summer bass season, I finish out the year with fall striper trips September 15 until Christmas. Looking forward to a great season ahead, hope to see you out there! 


Captain Bryce Tedford
206.696.2437
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Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report

Lower Sac & Lake Oroville Fly Fishing Report
Lower Sac Striper Report
The river is stable and settled after a fair amount of rain in late December. Fishing has been fair and very typical for the winter. Clarity is about 1’ in most areas requiring BIG and LOUD flies - black and purple, all black and all with rattles. Fish will feed usually in low light conditions or during the warmest part of the day. When we have no cloud cover, I find midday during the heat of the day is best and when there is cloud cover and the low air temp for the day is not as bad, low light conditions during the early morning and evening are best. Winter is not a numbers game, but can provide some true trophy fish for the angler that wants to put in the time.

Lake Oroville
With the recent rains the lake has been coming up, but seems to have stabilized a bit, over the last week. There is less moving water coming into the lake than there was a few weeks ago with the big rains right after Christmas. That said, most creeks are running strong and there is plenty of moving water coming into the lake in the deeper coves. Water clarity is good and fish are concentrating on Japanese pond smelt that are schooling up and can be seen on most fish finders. Fish will also eat dark leech patterns early and late in the day and in the shade. Fishing should continue to improve over the spring and topwater options as well as stripped fly options will increase. 

Capt. Hogan Brown 

Fly Fishing Guide

Co-Founder of the Cal Bass Union

Owner Alluvial Marketing Collective


 
 
 
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Fishing the CA Delta with Steve Adachi and Bryce Tedford

Owen's November 25th Trip with Steve Adachi and Bryce Tedford
 
Sometime last week, I received a phone call from Steve Adachi. He wanted to know whether I could join him and his guide buddy Bryce Tedford for a day of fall striper fishing on the California Delta. I was scheduled to work in the shop on the day he mentioned, but I knew the invitation was one I could not pass up. Thanks to an understanding shop owner and coworkers I am now indebted to, I had the opportunity to get out and chase stripers with a legendary California angler.
 
Conditions were incredibly unfavorable. Just a few days before our trip, Northern California had been slammed by a "bomb cyclone" that blew out most rivers and caused serious flooding. Despite the adversity, Steve still wanted to get out.
We launched at a quiet boat ramp just as more rain began falling. The river looked like chocolate milk, so we knew the day was going to be tough. Luckily, Bryce pulled some rabbits out of hats to find relatively clean water. Bryce and Steve's program was stripping Adachi Rattle Clousers in Joker and Black on aggressive sinking lines. I fished Bryce's 8wt Sage Igniter with a I/5/7 Rio Outbound Short that got the fly down fast.
 
 
Fishing clousers always seemed straightforward to me. Growing up in Marin, I fished the bay a lot and seemed to have success on various retrieval speeds. So long as I moved the fly relatively fast, I ended up running into schoolie-sized fish. 
 
Watching the legend Steve target large fish on the delta completely changed my perspective. His stripping was intentional — with each strip, he violently popped the fly and engaged the rattle. He took long pauses and changed his retrieve to try new movements that could force a fish to bite. An hour or so in to the trip, Steve hooked up shortly after I felt a grab. He landed a fish just shy of 10 lbs that was already a daymaker.
 
Shortly thereafter, we ran into a small school of fish we could see on Bryce's graph. We fished to them for about an hour and a half, which consisted of a few five minute windows in which the fish would bite. Steve produced eats. These fish were not aggressively blitzing bait or hammering any fly in sight like they sometimes do in the bay. Instead, they were grabbing the fly when it moved just well enough to produce a reaction bite. Steve's magic claimed another great fish that came in around 10.5 lbs. I studied his tactics and produced a decent fish for myself too. 
 
 
 
Seeing Steve overcome tough conditions to produce two large fish proved to be the highlight of the day. I've been friends with Steve for a while, but picking his brain on the water, where I could see him apply his knowledge, helped me grow as an angler. Listening to him and Bryce discuss striper at large also provided insight as to how West Coast striper fishing has changed dramatically in the last 50 years. My main takeaways from fishing with Bryce and Steve are as follows: 
  
Takeaways from Fishing with Bryce and Steve
  • Don't be a fair weather angler — tough conditions like rain and brown water still produced some great fish for us. Steve's grit reminded me that you can't catch them from the couch.
  • Depth matters more than distance in the delta. Casting far is great, but Bryce emphasized the importance of depth. Cast only the amount of line you need to, and then "flake" excess line out of your guides to sink the fly down to the fish quickly. 
  • Change your retrieve if you aren't getting bit. We slowed the fly down with long pauses for much of the day. We followed the pauses with violent and abrupt strips that seemed to force fish to react on the fly.
  • Big fish act like a wolf pack together. Bryce explained that they maraud around looking for a meal. Big stripers in rivers are not wasting their energy chasing fast and limited baitfish around. Instead, they are looking to capitalize on a crawfish or sunfish. 
  • Fish different depths, pieces of structure, and areas during different times of the year. Stripers in the spring tend to stage in shallower water, whereas the fall fish we found were sitting on depth changes and humps in 10-16ft of water.
  • Try new things that others haven't considered. Steve explained that his legendary Surf Brown Adachi Clouser was more or less an experiment initially, and that he didn't realize its efficacy until one specific trip. He casted it at group of large fish trailing a tired striper that his friend was bringing in and watched the fly get engulfed immediately. He continued to fish it with results.
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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. 

 

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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. 
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