AC Fly Fishing Reports on 7.1.20

We are smack dab in the middle of a great Summer of fly fishing here in Northern California. Conditions on all of our favorite rivers are as good as they get and fishing has been good to great for our guests. Our main Summer haunts include the Lower Sac, Fall River, Pit River, McCloud River and Upper Sac. From the smaller streams to the bigger rivers there are some excellent opportunities to get out this Summer. Continue reading below for a more in depth report and forecast on these rivers. 

The Lower Sac - Those of you who have experienced it know just how awesome an evening spent on the Lower Sac can be. July and August can offer some phenomenal trout fishing on the big tailwater. The warmer the day, the stronger the Caddis hatches can be.. a strong hatch of Caddis can equate to a very aggressive trout bite. Checkout the short video above and get psyched for some Summer fishing! 

The Pit River - This is our favorite time of year to fish the Pit. July and August can be AWESOME and can offer a great cool down from the Valley heat. Wet wading here in the summer is a nice reprieve from the heat while staying busy with those scrappy Pit River trout. For those who want to test their wading skills and get into a mess of healthy, wild rainbows - this might be a venue you'll want to explore with us. 

The McCloud River - One of our favorite walk and wade streams in the area.. by mid-summer we can start to see pushes of migratory Brown trout move up the river from Lake Shasta. It's not a guarantee you'll run into them every day, but when you do - it can be quite rewarding. The McCloud will remain a great walk and wade option from now through October. There are very few rivers in the country that provide the beauty that the McCloud does. 

The Fall River - The largest Spring creek in the country has been fishing EXCELLENT since the trout opener back in April and is showing no signs of slowing down. The evening Hex hatch is starting and adding another very cool element to the fishing here. If you have any desire to checkout Fall River - this is the year you want to jump on it. We are always thrilled to get good feedback from our guests. Below is kudos to Jay and testament to how good the Fall River has been this year. Put it on your list!! 

The Upper Sac - We had a great Spring on the Upper Sac. Flows are excellent right now on the Upper and wade fishing has been good. During these hot summer days, our best fishing usually happens early and late in the day. The evenings usually give up some pretty good dry fly opportunities as well.. 
 

AC Fly Fishing Reports on 6.20.20

We are smack dab in the middle of a great Summer of fly fishing here in Northern California. Conditions on all of our favorite rivers are as good as they get and fishing has been good to great for our guests. Our main Summer haunts include the Lower Sac, Fall River, Pit River, McCloud River and Upper Sac. From the smaller streams to the bigger rivers there are some excellent opportunities to get out this Summer. Continue reading below for a more in depth report and forecast on these rivers. 

The Lower Sac -

Those of you who have experienced it know just how awesome an evening spent on the Lower Sac can be. July and August can offer some phenomenal trout fishing on the big tailwater. The warmer the day, the stronger the Caddis hatches can be.. a strong hatch of Caddis can equate to a very aggressive trout bite. Checkout the short video above and get psyched for some Summer fishing! 

The Pit River -

This is our favorite time of year to fish the Pit. July and August can be AWESOME and can offer a great cool down from the Valley heat. Wet wading here in the summer is a nice reprieve from the heat while staying busy with those scrappy Pit River trout. For those who want to test their wading skills and get into a mess of healthy, wild rainbows - this might be a venue you'll want to explore with us. 

The McCloud River -

One of our favorite walk and wade streams in the area.. by mid-summer we can start to see pushes of migratory Brown trout move up the river from Lake Shasta. It's not a guarantee you'll run into them every day, but when you do - it can be quite rewarding. The McCloud will remain a great walk and wade option from now through October. There are very few rivers in the country that provide the beauty that the McCloud does. 

The Fall River -

The largest Spring creek in the country has been fishing EXCELLENT since the trout opener back in April and is showing no signs of slowing down. The evening Hex hatch is starting and adding another very cool element to the fishing here. If you have any desire to checkout Fall River - this is the year you want to jump on it. We are always thrilled to get good feedback from our guests. Below is kudos to Jay and testament to how good the Fall River has been this year. Put it on your list!! 

The Upper Sac -

We had a great Spring on the Upper Sac. Flows are excellent right now on the Upper and wade fishing has been good. During these hot summer days, our best fishing usually happens early and late in the day. The evenings usually give up some pretty good dry fly opportunities as well.. 

John Rickard Reports on 6.21.20

The McCloud River has seen a lot of anglers since the State started opening up. The entire stretch has fished great for weeks and continues to be good as we enter our first really hot weather. We are at the tail end of the Golden Stonefly hatch but are starting to see lots of Yellow Sallies and PMD’s. Some big browns have showed themselves and You’ll be seeing some show off pictures soon. We hope everyone comes up and enjoys this magnificent river, just not all at once.

Chuck Volckhausen Reports on 6.21.20

The days are heating up here in Mt. Shasta.  Hot temps have made the fishing a bit inconsistent during the middle of the day.  Bugs are still about and using your warm weather strategies will pay off.  Wet wading the McCloud or Upper Sacramento is a really nice way to spend the day.  Both rivers are in great shape and fishing well.

Dave Neal Reports On 6.8.20

The time is right, right now… you outta be fishing or planning a fishing trip
in the immediate future!

Everything is firing in Northern California. Flows on all the rivers and smaller
streams are either in or near prime-time range. The weather is classic CA
right now - it has the potential to be warm/hot (wet wade) or it may also
rain (thundershowers). We can experience temps from 95 in the valley to
70’s in the Shasta region or Intermountain region. Be prepared for anything
and adjust your clothing as needed.

I’ve been fishing all over these past two weeks from the Lower Sac to Fall
River to the Pit River and Upper Sac. Variety is the spice, baby.
You might experience the summer pattern developing where best fishing is
early and late in the day. The days are LONG right now with first light
before 6am and dark after 9pm… we cannot expect the fish to chow all day
long and they don’t. Fish when the bugs are active and when the bugs
ain’t… just chill out, read a book, explore or take a nap when the river is
quiet. Evenings are always a good bet and there is no fly better than the dry
fly.

When it comes to fly patterns this time of year stick with the usual
suspects: PMD’s, golden stones, salmonflies, and especially the little yellow
stones which are everywhere, tan caddis and basic midges. Typically, we
will see these hatches begin first during springtime on the Lower Sac and
then work their way upriver into the Upper Sac, McCloud, Pit, etc, as we
move into early summer.

Everyone has their favorite fly patterns but my go-to box right now consists
of: nine different variations of the Pheasant Tail nymph #12-16 from soft
hackle versions to BH and non-BH and flash to no flash, etc. Yvon Chounaird
is right…LOL. You can fish this fly exclusively forever. Other than that it’s
Hogan’s S&M or Lance’s XMay, copper CJ’s, RL in brown, yellow and blk,

Fox’s Poopah!, Bird’s nests, Mercer’s Poxyback PMD… I like all these
patterns in Tungsten bead versions, and some flashy too.
For dry flies it’s a Parachute Adams #12 all day long!! Mercer’s Missing Link
in every color and size, some parachute yellow Sally stones (with the red
butt) and yellow and orange Kauffman’s Stimulator, big foam Salmonfly
patterns just in case and some big drake patterns on the rainy days.
Don’t forget your Dry Shake powder, wading staff, cleats in your boots,
stash away Gore-Tex, water filter, and Buff.

I have a few days open to book during end of June and early July. In the
sage advice of the late, Bill Lowe… “Stop messin’ get a lesson” If you want
get a tune-up and a clinic on effective techniques and strategies in order to
confidently hook trout in our Nor Cal waters and beyond.
View my availability calendar online at
www.ReelAdventuresGuideService.com

Anthony Carruesco Reports on 5.28.2020

We've had some outstanding fishing happening in the North State over the past few weeks. The variety in the venues and the fishing has been excellent. Early Summer conditions are great right now and the table is set for a great Summer on all of our favorite Northern CA rivers. More images on the river here!

Lower Sac - The Big tailwater is pumping out quality fishing experiences right now (SHOCKER). This is always a great venue for both beginners and experienced anglers. We've had some great opportunities to fish shallow water with the recent cloudy weather with dry flies and short dry/dropper setups. The depth charge nymph fishing has been good as well.. We are now getting into Caddis season.. afternoon/evening fishing can be superb during these hatches. The hotter the temperatures are, the stronger the hatches can be. Summer fishing on the Sac is one of the more underrated times of year for us here.

Fall River - The big Spring Creek has been fishing great for the past couple of weeks as well. We had a guest recently say after 20 years of fishing it that he had "THE DAY" with Jay Cockrum out there last week. We will expect this river to continue to fish well through the Summer months. The Hex hatch gets going here in a few weeks and can be provide a very fun and fast paced dry fly experience at last light. This is an event that every angler should experience.

McCloud River - Great start to the season on the McCloud. The dry fly fishing here has been a lot of fun over the past few weeks. This is the time of year when the bigger bugs start flying. Golden Stones and Salmonflies can create some really fun surface and dry/dropper fishing. Tight lining is another great way to fish subsurface here. Expect June to be a great month on the McCloud.

Upper Sac - The Upper Sac has been awesome this Spring as well. As we get into the warmer summer months expect your best fishing to be early and late in the day. Chase shade. Flows are currently on the high side but still very fishable. Goldens are starting to move around here as well and can make for some cool dry dropper approaches to all of that fast, pockety, oxygenated water.

Pit River - The Pit has been FUEGO over the past couple of months. The river is primarily going to be a nymph fishery but it is jam packed with plump, wild rainbows and we've been having awesome days with our guests here this Spring. Expect this freestone gem to keep pumping out the good times.

Dave Neal Reports on 3.11.2020

There are a lot of solid fly fishing options in Northern CA right now and through the months of March and April. My short list includes: the Lower Sacramento River, Trinity River, Upper Sac, Pit 3, Shasta Lake for bass.

Steelhead season is winding down. There are fish in the upper Trinity River and believe it when I say that February & March have been some of the best fishing we have seen all season long. The reason? The wild fish arrived and with the tribs too low they’ve been hanging out in the river with no place to go. That all may change this weekend when/if we see a return of rain. If the tribs bump… those fish will too! I wish them the best…it’s been a tough few months to be a steelhead in northern CA and they have places they should be.

Lower Sac is a solid option right now. Fishing has been what you’d expect in March with great weather… it’s ON. Water conditions are good, flows are good and many of the springtime bugs are active. PMD’s, BWO’s, spring caddis, along with stoneflies, large drake nymphs, midges and egg patterns rounding out the menu.

The Lower Sac should remain a top choice for anglers over the next few months…

For those walk n wade fly fishers who just wanna… the Upper Sac and Pit 3 can offer up some amazing potential right now. Flows are prime time perfect… just keep an eye on the precip headed this way this weekend. Heavy rain might affect the Upper Sac more than the tailwater of the Pit River below Lake Britton. Similar bugs to the Lower Sac with maybe more of a focus on general attractor patterns like Pheasant Tails, Price Nymphs (hard to beat the Gordon’s Prince), black midges, rubber legs, etc… along with any of your favorite tung. Czech nymphs you’ve been tying up all winter. 

Finally, Shasta bass fishing is really heating up. Yesterday, on the eastside of the lake I saw some of the warmest surface temps yet 55-58 degrees. I got into a mess of spots and some nice hard pulling smallies, too. A lot of fish still clinging deep in 30-40’ of water but plenty are willing on the float n fly as temps warm up in the shallow areas later afternoon. When I’m not trout fishing on the Lower Sac or running late season trips to the Trinity… I am out on Shasta Lake in the bass boat every chance I get right now.