Jon Baiocchi Reports on 3.4.20

Wow, what a busy couple of months it has been. Business has been out of control, and I’m still not caught up in the office! First off, let’s talk about our weather and the dry spell of the extremely warm temperatures we’ve been experiencing. It has been Spring in February on the Yuba River, and there are lupine and poppies blooming, and the Pipevine swallowtail butterfly has been out. All signs that Spring is truly here. Now that we are into the month of March it seems things may be changing. We have a chance of good precipitation through the weekend, and the models suggest a pattern change starting early in the month of March where a trough will set up off the California coast. That could change as well. You just never know with our weather these days, it’s kind of like a watch and wait scenario.

The Lower Yuba River flows have been stable running right around 970 cubes, stable is a key word as the homes of the trout do not change much. Fishing pressure has been high, especially on the weekends. Overall, fishing remains to be good but you got to be smart about your presentations and put in the work. Last week, Cat Toy and I floated the river with Brian Clemens on a guided trip and did really well. As always, if you want bigger numbers of fish, floating with a good knowledgeable guide will do just that as you are covering miles of the river. We got most of our fish on indo rigs with multiple rubber leg stones, Hogan’s Red Headed Step Child, and PMD nymphs (Military Mays in rusty brown). Drag free drifts are everything when it comes to being successful on the Yuba River, wet or dry. The rainbows right now are so chunky and fat from gorging themselves on the Skwala stones. These fish are so pristine, hard fighting, and absolutely beautiful. The Yuba River is a very special place.

So the Skwalas are still going, but I’m starting to see more spent adults in the side water. Because of the nice weather we’ve been experiencing, I’ve been seeing fish eating the Skwalas off the surface as early as 11am. Last week I finally saw a couple dozen true March Brown mayflies (not the larger Brown Dun, Amelitus, that everybody is getting confused with) coming off around 1pm. They are a size 14 and are hatching downstream of fast riffles. Being that they are from the clinger family of mayflies, there habitat as a nymph is in the very fast riffles, seek those areas of the river out. The mayfly hatches overall have been pretty slim in the past few weeks. I see more of them upstream of the bridge, especially around the UC Davis property and upstream, then down below the bridge towards Sycamore Ranch. A bigger PMD in a size 14 is out, BWOs in a size 18, and still a few of the larger brown duns in a size 10. I did see some rusty PMD spinners on the float last week near the Aquarium section with a few fish eating the spent females after ovipositing. The fish have been pretty wise when it comes to artificial imitations, and some of them are uncatchable. Just a few important tips when it comes to fishing the skwala adult or other aquatic adults (dry flies):

• A downstream fly first presentation is super important using a reach cast, or a bump feed.
• Don’t beat the water over and over, cast less, observe more, and make your casts count. Rest the water if the trout are being selective.
• Change patterns often.

Matt Heron Reports on 3.4.20

We actually got some weather this past week. Saturday and Sunday a storm rolled in and gave us 3-6 inches of the white stuff in Truckee. It isn’t much but we’ll take it!

The water is still low and clear, temps are in the low 40s or so. Like past reports, very normal for this time of year.

The bug thing also hasn’t changed. We’re nymphing with baetis, midges, winter stones, eggs and skwalas.

Although we’re mostly fishing the bottom this time of year, don’t be afraid to fish midge pupa suspended mid day. We’re running into pods of fish suspended off the bottom when the mid day midge hatch pops.

Not much as far as dries go unfortunately.

Don’t forget to check out our new podcast too!

Give us a call, we have guides available everyday and good luck out there!

Jim Stimson Reports on 3.4.2020

The driest February on record! Ugh… and January wasn’t too much better. The 1st of March did bring a little snow to the high country but we’ve got a long ways to go before we get back to “normal." We can only hope that we get a Miracle March. That said, the Upper Owens is still kicking out some nice fish but the “bite” does not happen until close to lunch time. So relax, enjoy that extra cup of coffee, doughnut, NY Times, and wait until the water warms up a little. You can get some nice rainbows or browns throwing streamers or nymphing with PT’s or balanced leeches. If the cold temps are something you don’t care for, drive down the hill and fish the Lower Owens. It is a “banana belt” down there and the fishing for brown trout is fabulous.

Enjoy!

East Walker

The flows on the East Walker have been raised to about 70 cfs! Game On! The river at this level is still low but now the trout can move around and spread out throughout the system. They are not just sitting ducks in the deeper pools.

Hot Creek

The creek is flowing through the canyon at roughly 42 cfs. Target your casts to the feeding lanes between the weeds and rocks, plus the overhanging grasses along the margins. You may not see fish, but they are there. Try a dry-dropper setup with a caddis above and a midge or small mayfly below. Hot Creek is always a fun place to fish especially now that the crowds have gone home. 

Upper Owens River

The flows are dropping and sit at about 94 cfs high in the river system. Once Hot Creek dumps into the mid-section the flows are closer to 130 cfs. More and more trout are pushing up into the river system from the reservoir. There are some really nice fish to be had with SJ worms, small baetis, and balanced leeches. Work the deeper buckets relentlessly…. they are in there. Currently, the driving approaches to the river are no problem but beware of any new snow or precipitation.

Lower Owens River

The river is cruising steady at roughly 127 cfs and is fishing well with all of the traditional patterns; PT’s, Hare’s Ears, midges, Frenchies…. Thank God for Bishop. It is a nice break from winter when you need to see some dirt again and feel some warmth. If you enjoy hucking dry flies, this is the place. Around lunchtime, watch for BWO’s to start coming off the water and be ready. The first thing you will notice is the bird activity along the river. They know! The hatch doesn’t last long. Look for rises along the foam lines as snouts start poking up through the surface film. 

Get out there! You cannot catch fish if your line isn’t in the water.

Captain Steve Santucci Reports on 3.4.20

Fishing has improved as we have many new fish entering our area. Fishing should even get better as we approach April.

Sarah Landstrom Reports on 3.3.2020

After weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures, the weather we’ve been looking for finally showed up late Saturday night 2/29! Fish were hitting both midges, and streamers in the cold snowy weather. Skinny red and wine colored midges are ideal, as well as balanced leeches and popcorn beetles. We were primarily fishing two handed rods, roll-casting out indicator rigs.-- Don’t be afraid to fish close to shore! With the wind blowing towards us on Sunday, the fish were coming in close and eating. When you see fish rolling, make sure to give your flies a little action, or even strip them in slowly. The Lahontans are very active right now. 

In the years I have fished Pyramid Lake, I have never seen so many sizable fish come in at once. Many of the fish the Ladies of LCO brought in were over 10lbs, thanks to Pyramid Fly Co. Make sure to check out beaches north of Pelican, such as Windless. These areas were producing well and aren’t as crowded. Keep those flies in the water!

Matt Gilligan Koles Reports on 2.27.20

Mild weather for the Truckee River. 

Having a long, mild, dry streak here in Tahoe/ Reno. This is very typical to get prolonged dry spells in the Sierra’s, but this is an exceptional one. The snow we have is melting. Will we get more snow? Looks like the long range models are coming into agreement on a pattern change. How much rain/ snow is the question. Anything will be better than nothing.

Not much change since last week on the fishing front. Weather and flows have remained the same for the last month. If you like fishing in a t-shirt in February, this is your chance. It’s still cold at night, and the water is cold, so don’t go busting through the pocket water yet.

Captain Hogan Brown Reports on 2.27.20

Lower Sacramento River - Striper fishing has been tough as the flows are as low as they get - 5000cfs coming out of Keswick and 5891cfs at Chico - With low and clear water stripers get pretty darn spooky but those with the game can still get bit. Like most places we need some rain and water to mix things up and make fishing a bit easier. We should start to see the migratory push of fish show up soon over the next month which will also mix things up. 

Lake Oroville and Lake Shasta - are turning on with this early spring! Good numbers of pre spawn spotted bass are being caught on both lakes and with consistent weather fishing should be good on most days. Rain would help these fisheries as well to - getting some of the creeks and inflows moving would help congregate fish and move the bait around. 

Lower Yuba River is fishing well with stable flows around 1000 - 900cfs. Flows are gin clear and while nymphing has been good dry fly fishing requires purposeful good presentations. Spring hatches are getting going with the warm weather and should continue to  be good throughout the spring. We most likely will see little flow fluctuation due to run off and actually have a good fishable spring on the Lower Yuba. 

Feather River Spring Steelhead Season is right around the corner as prime time is March through early May and with the light winter and early spring we are having we should actually have a good spring season out on the Feather. My prefered method for fishing the spring on the feather is swinging flies but nymphing catches plenty of fish as well. 

Jim Stimson Reports on 2.27.20

The Upper Owens is still kicking out some nice fish but the “bite” does not happen until close to lunch time. So relax, enjoy that extra cup of coffee and doughnut and wait until the water warms up a little. You can get some nice rainbows or browns throwing streamers or nymphing with PT’s or balanced leeches. If the cold temps are something you don’t care for, drive down the hill and fish the Lower Owens. It is a “banana belt” down there and the fishing for brown trout is fabulous.

East Walker

The East Walker is still flat lining with low flows of about 22 cfs. Until the river flows pick up, I recommend giving this fishery a rest….. 

Hot Creek

The creek is flowing through the canyon at roughly 45 cfs. Target your casts to the feeding lanes between the weeds and rocks, plus the overhanging grasses along the margins. You may not see fish, but they are there. Try a dry-dropper setup with a caddis above and a midge or small mayfly below. Hot Creek is always a fun place to fish especially now that the crowds have gone home. 

Upper Owens River

The flows are dropping and sit at about 94 cfs high in the river system. Once Hot Creek dumps into the mid-section the flows are closer to 140 cfs. More and more trout are pushing up into the river system from the reservoir. There are some really nice fish to be had with SJ worms, small baetis, and balanced leeches. Work the deeper buckets relentlessly…. they are in there. Currently, the driving approaches to the river are no problem but beware of any new snow or precipitation.

Lower Owens River

The river is cruising steady at roughly 150 cfs and is fishing well with all of the traditional patterns; PT’s, Hare’s Ears, midges, Frenchies…. Thank God for Bishop. It is a nice break from winter when you need to see some dirt again and feel some warmth.

Get out there! You cannot catch fish if your line isn’t in the water.