LCO Reports on 6.26.2019

We have been up fishing in Northern California and having great fishing. The Upper Sacramento River (check out our Upper Sacramento River Profile)  continue to drop into perfect shape. Reports from the McCloud have been moments of brilliance bookended by hard work. The weather has been unseasonably cool for this time of year throwing the bugs off a bit. The Pit River has been the shining star up north with excellent nymphing and fish holding in nearly every little pocket. 

If you are looking for a killer day on a boat check out the fall river. The 5 rivers just completed and the Fall River boasted some incredible #'s and the largest fish of 22". The hex hatch is in full swing on the Lower Fall too!

from Cal Trout: 

All teams crushed it on the third day of the 5 Rivers Challenge, netting a collective 2,449 fish inches across the five rivers. It was a tight race with only 124.5 total fish inches separating the top three teams

🥉 Third place went to Brent Ryhlick and David Merisko with 1,231.5 total fish inches and 109 fish caught.

🥈 Second place went to David Moser and Steve Johnson, who had an epic day on the Upper Sac and McCloud. They netted 117 fish over the three days for a total of 1,246.5 fish inches

Matt Koles Reports on 6.26.2019

Flows have dropped on the Truckee River.

Down to about 1,400 cfs here in the Hirsch. Not bad. That will open up a lot more water for us to fish. 1,400 k is still high, but not that far off from normal summertime flows compared to what it’s been. I’m guessing about 10 days. 4th of July, they should turn the hose off out of the lake for the tubers along the TC stretch.

So think pmd, golden stones, green drakes-nymphing wise, and of course the old trusty crayfish. Lots of bugs out, just not much fish looking up. We should have the caddis pop any evening here. Should be this week. That gets some fish looking up right before dark. It also gets a lot these fish keyed in on the pupa all day. Get your G-6’s. You’ll need them.

Kinda of a fun time to throw some dry droppers. Some fish will come up on that dry. Especially this time of year, early in the summer. If you’re not a nymphing person, throw the dry dropper. At time, it can be just as effective as any nymph rig.

We should have a great couple months here, summertime fishing on the Truckee River. Plenty of water and big fat trout.

I have just a couple days open this next 2 weeks. I do have a few guides I highly recommend and can book for you.

Capt Bryce Tedford Reports on 6.26.2019

The good news is weather has settled down & we are seeing many sunny days as we approach 98 degrees. This means Topwater Largemouth Bass & Smallmouth Bass are starting to go off! As water temperatures stabilize above 70 degrees the Largemouth & Smallmouth action will keep getting better! For Largemouth I focus on higher tides in the am or pm hrs with larger 1/0-4/0 Frog patterns. For Smallmouth I like outgoing tides using size 6-8 poppers in various colors such as orange, white or black. These trips are super fun for seasoned anglers & a great way to get newer people into the sport of fly fishing! 

Steve Santucci Reports on 6.26.2019

Jon Baiocchi Reports on 6.28.19

I finally got up to Lake Davis to host the Gold Country Fly Fishers for their 3 day fish out last week, and just as I suspected the usual culprits of a high and cold water year were not favorable for good fishing. The lake is 97% of capacity. The fuller Lake Davis is, the less coves, peninsulas, and fertile shallows there are. Weed beds are also extremely deep as the water levels rose during late winter into spring. Surface water temps are already at 67 degrees rising to 70 during the heat of the day. Not very many hatches with good numbers at all. Just a few blood midges and Callibaetis, but there were many smaller midges in the morning and evening. On our second day I started to notice freshly hatched damsel adults on the top branches of submerged willows that are lining the shoreline. I did not see any damsels swimming, and I’m thinking they were emerging undetected in the willows crawling up the branches underwater. A few Hexes emerged in the evening near Honker Cove on the east side of lake but the rainbows, birds, and bats were nowhere to be seen. I have seen this type of scenario before both at Lake Davis and Lake Almanor in the last 3 decades. Late hatches of Damsels or the Hex, yet the surface temps are so warm that the trout prefer to stay in their deeper air conditioned restaurants down below off the first major ledge and feed on the nymphs. All of the fish that were being caught were down 20 to 25 feet. Full sinking express lines and slip bobbers were the tools to get the grabs. Sheep Creek Specials, Zebra Midges, and Albino Winos were the effective flies.

Ca DFW has made 3 plants of 18,000 pounds of Eagle Lake Rainbows since May, both catchable and sub catchable. This fall should fish well once the water cools down, and by that time the shallows will be full of aquatic insect life and much more fertile. If DFW keeps up on the planting schedule we could see Lake Davis near her former glory like in years past. I’m looking forward to seeing the most beautiful lake in Northern California rebound and provide my fellow fly anglers some positive stillwater experiences. See you out there in the future and the autumn sunshine.  

Jon Baiocchi Reports on 6.28.19

The flows are still a tad high on the Middle Fork Feather River, yet near perfect in the Graeagle area. Downstream of Jamison creek the volume of water is nearly double and very high, but still some areas of fishable water, especially the tail outs of major pools. Water temps will vary depending if you are downstream of a snow melt feeder creek like Gray Eagle, Jamison, or Frazier, or after long sections of frog water the solar radiation of the sun will heat up the water by a few degrees. I recorded the water temps to be at 57 to 60 degrees. Water is clear and looks great. The riparian habitat along the banks of the MFFR have grown so much over the last 5 years, and this spring is probably the most growth I have seen on the river in all my years. Like they say, just add water and sunshine, and it will grow.

Hatches are light, very few golden stone shucks on the rocks, a few caddis, little Yellow Sallies, Little Green stones, and the most prolific bug was the tiny Blue Wing Olives (Pseudocloeon). A few rising trout, but most of the small rainbows ate Carpenter ants with Hogan’s S&M nymph #18 as a dropper, 24 inches below. Fishing pressure was extremely light and not very many footprints in the more secluded areas. First or second week of July will be prime time for the upper Middle Fork Feather River, especially the evenings (think caddis), and downstream near the middle of July.

Some of the creeks in Eastern Plumas County are starting to draw down into shape and are fishable. Jamison and Little Jamison are ready to go right now, while Frazier and Gray Eagle creeks are still pumping with heavy flows. Typical small water tactics apply and are so good for beginner fly anglers to learn from and gain confidence. Speaking of which I still have some spots open for the August 7^th Greagle Creekin Tour, inquire within if you are interested – 530.228.0487 / baiocchistroutfitters.com

See you on the water!

6.21.2019

Putah Creek flows have been steadily rising for the past two weeks. This hopefully cut down on the number of people fishing this small creek. Fishing will be tough as fish find their high water lies. You will need to use a little more weight to get your flies in the zone and focus on the pools as fish start to get adjusted. For flies use your favorite midge pattern and think outside the zebra midge. For a fun day on the water try swinging leaches on the upper stretch of the creek. 

Open Ocean striper fishing has been on fire this past week. Especially, Thursday - Sunday many fly anglers were landing adult size fish all over San Francisco's Beaches. The tide is essential, last Saturday morning just north of the golden gate bridge a minus tide to a 4ft incoming was the perfect recipe for success. From Ocean Beach to Stinson Beach Anglers were catching fish very close to shore as the incoming tide starting filling in close rips and holes.

George Revel was able to get five fish Friday morning before work and two on Sunday morning.

This weekend looks excellent!

DAY	TIDES FOR SAN FRANCISCO (GOLDEN GATE)
	1st TIDE	2nd TIDE	3rd TIDE	4th TIDE
21 Fri	02:03 h  5.35 ft	08:55 h  -0.3 ft	16:40 h  4.69 ft	21:21 h  3.22 ft	05:48 h	20:35 h
22 Sat	02:45 h  4.95 ft	09:37 h  0 ft	17:20 h  4.72 ft	22:24 h  3.12 ft	05:49 h	20:35 h
23 Sun	03:33 h  4.56 ft	10:21 h  0.36 ft	17:59 h  4.79 ft	23:32 h  2.85 ft	05:49 h	20:36 h

Bradford Bulter with a nice 30' fish.