Jon Baiocchi Reports on 6.20.20

Well…It took nearly 4 weeks to finally see prime conditions for the damsel game and this year it’s going to be short lived. In the last week water temperatures have spiked upwards from 60 in the morning to 65, and in the afternoon I have recorded 70 degrees at 2pm – Just like that. Damsels will keep on hatching, and some fish will come into the skinny water to feed in the next few weeks but with the warmer water temps your catch and release will most likely not live. So you’ll be looking at a catch and keep scenario. Lake Davis is a “put and take“ fishery – you make the call on what is the right thing to do.

The lake levels are just about perfect with the slow drop of minimal releases from the Grizzly creek dam, where the shoreline has more character including flats, peninsulas, and natural fish traps. Currently Lake Davis is at 75% of capacity. Though the fluctuating weather and high and low pressure systems were challenging in the last month for consistent fishing, it sure has been fun being on the water in the last week. When you’re on a body of water nearly every day you can really clue in on the slight variances in fish behavior, including holding patterns, and food selection. Observations and understanding what each unique day brings is the key to your success.

Last Monday was the best day for tracking targets and presenting damsels to selective and wary feeders in 2 to 5 feet of water. It’s more than just trolling around in a float tube, or fishing from a boat while casting. From the bank, time slows down and you’re honed in on the hunting aspect of the damsel hatch. I’m stoked for my guests who have never experienced this and get to live it, it is indeed one of the greatest things you can do with a fly rod in your hand. 

Now that the region of the Northern Sierra is in a typical pattern of high pressure, and hot weather, Lake Davis will see a lot of glass in the morning hours. When it’s flat calm those trout are on edge and super wary. As Jay Fair use to say “they’re scared…They really are!” You’ll get a slight East wind in the morning too and most often it’s perfect with just a ripple to give the trout some cover to feel more secure, and hours later the wind will shift to the South West or a Westerly flow.

Just a few reminders for the damsel game – Your patterns should be brown, dark olive, olive, and light olive in color. They should also be sparse and about an inch long. Commercial ties are way too long and bulky. 4X tippet at a minimum, and always check your knots for strength, and your leader for casting knots frequently. When you finally get the chance to make a hook up you’ll want your operating system the best it can be. The takes can be subtle (your line just stops), or on the aggressive side. You just never know if it is the bottom, a weed, or what not - so always strip set on anything you feel different.

The Aquatic hatching cycle is such at these times – in the early pre sunrise look for scum lines in deep open water where trout will resort to being dumpster divers eating the garbage from the previous night. Then the blood midge and other chironomids will begin hatching soon after. By 9am the damsel nymphs begin swimming to the shoreline or anywhere they can crawl out and hatch into an adult. The hatch may last to 1pm, but every day is different with the amount of nymphs hatching, and even the amount of active feeding fish to a particular flat or shoal. Callibaetis spinners will appear mid-day, look up into the sky and you’ll see dozens upon dozens aloft in the breeze. As the water temperatures peak out in the afternoon, the fish go down to 10 to 18 feet of water, or the first good ledge that has weeds and food where they can dine in their air conditioned restaurant. 

The last hour of light and the Hexagenia mayfly appears. The population is all over the lake now, but I see more near the east side of the lake where there is more clay – This is nymph’s preferred habitat due to the simple fact that the tubes they create to live in will not collapse like soft mud will. With lower light levels you can use much heavier tippet, and in my opinion the best pattern while fishing the surface is using a cripple or a stillborn pattern. It’s been so cool just observing all the critters feasting on the Hex. The bass and the trout are really putting on the feed bags with this substantial food supply, and come fall we are going to see those fish with huge shoulders and girth.

I’m done guiding on Lake Davis for trout, but open for poking around in the early mornings and late evenings for bass while I’m in the area doing creek trips of the Lost Sierra. It’s been really awesome to see the largemouth bass eat the same patterns we use for the trout – they have adapted to the natural food source well from tiny midges to damsels. As of right now, these are my only available fall dates for the lake: 9/19, 20, 24-28. 10/4-6, 28-31. All other dates are booked up. If you want a spot, let me know ASAP! Thanks to Lake Davis for an incredible fly fishing experience over the past 3 decades, and also a big thank you to J&J’s Grizzly Store and Campground for supporting me. I leave you with this, and it happens all the time, and why I have been writing and sharing my experiences and knowledge on this blog for so long. I’m walking back from the Honker Cove boat ramp after a day on the water to fetch the truck and yank the LillyBob. I met an elderly man whom I’ve never met before and he stares at me and says “you’re the guy the blog right?” I say yes, that’s me, I’m Jon (LOL). He then says “Thanks for sharing, I really look forward to your reports!” We smile, wish each other well and go about our business. Here’s the cool thing…The man doesn’t’ even fly fish, he’s a troller.  

Middle Fork Feather River 

The water levels have come way down, and it is imperative to fish downstream of the Jamison creek confluence. I’m only allowed to guide in the Recreational zone per my 1997 issued Special Use Permit from the US Forest Service, which is between  the A-23 bridge 4 miles east of Portola downstream to Nelson creek. During this time I like the confluence down to Sloat, colder water and some really cool runs, riffles, and pools. Water temperatures last Friday were 63 rising to 67 in the afternoon. It’s a morning to mid-day game, and of course the last couple hours of light for the evening hatch.

Most of the big fish are have left, but you’ll find a few if you can decipher the type of habitat they hold in – deeper slots, shady lies, undercut banks, the bottom of a big hole, and under the streamside native grasses of a high bank. We are still using two rods. The tight line rig, and a dry fly set up. With the tight line rig, many fish have come on the swing at the end of the drift. Those Middle Fork Feather rainbows do not have to be rising in order to take a dry fly. Many times just blind casting a dry will surprise you more than once, like a dozen of times! 

Caddis are the most profuse aquatic insect out, and a heavy spinner fall of BWO’s in the morning when air temperatures are between 57 and 67 degrees. The cool find last week were a few Green Drake spinners. There is not a big population of them on the Middle Fork Feather, but enough to get a bigger fish looking up for them. As the water temps rise  during the day there is less oxygen and the trout will move into faster water looking for the white water and bubbles, don’t be shy about casting a bushy elk hair caddis in that type of water – they’ll find it too. 

I’m done guiding the Middle Fork Feather too with increasing water temps and rock snot. Unlike Lake Davis, the MFFR is not a put and take fishery and the resident wild trout are extremely special. These trout are some of the most pristine specimens I’ve ever laid eyes on, and too valuable to accidently kill while fishing for them. The available dates I listed above for Lake Davis are the same for the MFFR in the fall. Again, get a hold of me now to secure your date. It was such a rad spring season for the river, chunkier fish, good numbers, and profuse hatches. The Middle Fork Feather River is truly the “Jewell of the Lost Sierra.”

See you on the water…

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.

Capt. Hogan Brown Reports on 6.21.20

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.

Capt. Bryce Tedford Reports On 6.21.2020

Smallmouth season is heating up on the California Delta! I will be focused on Smallmouth/Largemouth through August & the return to Stripers come fall. This past week I have been targeting Smallmouth, had some Fly Fishing Women join me on the boat & we had a blast!!! I gave this day 2 thumbs up as they had great attitudes, had great fun & caught some quality Topwater fish!!!

Smallmouth 1/2 day trips offer Topwater fishing with light rods such as 4 or 5wts. We cast small poppers towards rock banks & eagerly awaiting Smallmouth. This fishery is a great way to introduce beginners to the sport & fun for seasoned anglers who like Topwater poppers on light rods.

Largemouth 1/2 day trips offer Topwater fishing with heavy rods such as 8 or 9wt. We cast large poppers such as frog patterns to ideal holes in the weeds until a largemouth explodes on the fly!

Cory Godell Reports on 6.20.20

There is some good news on the horizon. Summer is finally here and with the return of warmer weather, Caddis season is really starting to crank up. Even better news is due to the current world situation, there are considerably fewer people fishing the Deschutes than in years past. If you’ve got a day or two or three open for vacation, give us a shout.

Jon Baiocchi Reports on 6.16.20

Conditions for the Lake of the Lost Sierra have been as widespread as the weather in the last week. With so many high and low pressure systems moving through combined with big wind events, and fluctuating air temperatures from hot to very cold has really effected the behavior of the resident trout. Simply put, we are not seeing the typical June rhythms of the lake where every day is nearly like clockwork. For example last Saturday I hosted a small group from Santa Lucia Fly Fishers and it was very cold combined with winds from 20 to 35 mph, needless to say we did not do that much fishing but concentrated more on learning about the specifics on Lake Davis. It was brutal. We were all shivering, and longing for a place to escape the wind after we were done with the workshop. Fishing is on the tough side for Lake Davis though some nice quality fish are being caught and released. 2020 just keeps making rogue waves including the new Juneuary in the Northern Sierra with wind advisories and small craft warnings. We’ve seen it before, and we’ll see it again. 

In regards to the fish behavior, it’s so weird to see these trout are not in a dependable schedule as it normally is in June. You’ll find them in large pods feeding and an hour later they scatter to the wind and are gone. The other thing I’m not seeing a whole lot of is my favorite game of stalking trout in 1 to 3 feet of water eating damsels. There needs to be more damsels in the skinny water to lure those big rainbows in. I have seen a few days that is close to be being normal, and that’s comforting as is the warmer weather that is on the way. This is what you can expect once we get back into a long term high pressure pattern:

Day Break – Rising fish over deeper water eating left over aquatics and terrestrials from the night before (hex spinners, white winged sulphurs, and spent caddis) and emerging blood midges mixed in with smaller various chironomids. This will last until 9am or so.

Late Morning – Damsels on the move, with heavy long horn caddis in the air. Forget about the caddis and concentrate on the Damsels and putting yourself near a good weed line and structure for the damsels to hatch out on.

Mid Day – Damsels mixed in with sporadic Callibaetis from sparse to profuse depending on the day.

Afternoon to Late Afternoon – Fish will be in deeper water surrounded by weed beds grazing lightly, deep water indo rigs with chironomids is the best approach.

Late Evening – Hex hatch mixed with profuse caddis and blood midge hatches. Dry fly opportunities abound.

Despite the weather my guests and I are still having fun out there and I’ve finally made friends with the largemouth bass. They aren’t going anywhere so we might as well enjoy them. It’s really cool to see how these particular bass have adapted to Lake Davis in regards to habitat, and food items. Heavy weed beds mixed in with submerged willows seems to be their preferred areas to ambush prey, or suck down a red San Juan worm under an indicator. Leech patterns and even Jay Fair wiggle tails and stripping flies are receiving some love from them. They fight really well and most give one good jump or a tail walk on the surface before going down and dirty to the bottom. 

Stripping flies like the ones I just mentioned along with damsels, pheasant tail flashbacks, sheep creek specials, and hare’s ear nymphs are all good choices. Productive colors have been fiery brown, olive, black, red (bass are really on this color right now), and burnt orange. For indo rigs, albino winos, zebra midges, and large black beauties with red wire have done well. I’m still seeing most fish in 5 to 8 feet of water, or in deeper water but still in the upper water column. Water temps are at 63 degrees in the morning. If you’re lucky enough to find a pod of active feeding fish, stay put – do not leave. You’ll want to fish the west shore from Camp 5 all the way up to Fairview point in the North end of the lake. Some days the fish are on the points, and some days they are tucked way back in the gut of certain coves. Keep searching until you find them.

As I mentioned earlier, Last Saturday morning was like an early November storm, there were Hex shucks and duns everywhere on the east shore frozen in time from the frigid wind chill effect. The Hex hatch is seeing a lot of duns emerge in evening (some in the morning too) and it’s a good year for them. Not seeing a whole lot of trout or bass keyed in on them yet, but the birds are way ahead of the game. I’m up at day break preparing for a day on the lake, rigging the boat, the rods, and all the other essentials. I then guide for all day for 8 to 10 hours, clean and organize the boat for the next day, and attend to fish business (email and phone inquiries, marketing, planning, etc) until I go to bed at around 9pm – Rinse, repeat. I really have no desire to fish the Hex hatch after a long day, I’ve done that plenty, especially when I guided Almanor in the late 90’s. So now I get off just watching how the ecosystem revolves around each other during the hatch, and that is watching the birds and the bats feast upon North America’s largest mayfly. Of all the critters that take advantage of the Hex Hatch my favorite is the common Night Hawk. It’s like watching an air show at Beale Air Force Base. I’m not talking about watching just a few of them, but like dozens upon dozens! Their flight patterns are so bad ass and the G forces they pull through their maneuvers would make a human black out and unconscious if they were trying to pilot this craft. What an amazing bird!

Today was just a pit stop at home here in Nevada City to blog and catch up on normal life things. I’ll be back up tonight at Lake Davis, the Middle Fork Feather, and the creeks for the next week. I’ve had SO many inquiries in the last month like “we’d like to book a trip next weekend”. That’s not going to work. It’s best to book two months with me at the latest, and if you’re serious 6 months before the intended date for the prime times of June, July, September, and October. You could say I’m in demand I guess…
When you visit Lake Davis be sure to stop by the J&J Grizzly Store and Campground and share your fishing experience good or bad, sharing your fishing reports really helps everybody out. They are open for business and their campground is usually full. I’m so thankful for their friendship and letting me store the LillyBob at their place – Thank you!

See you out there in the great outdoors of the Lost Sierra and good luck on the water!

Evan Praskin Reports on 6.20.20

Hey everyone, here is a fresh update for the Monterey Bay surf. Stripers are still being caught throughout the bay from Santa Cruz to Monterey. The fish have spread out a bit more now giving many beach chargers a shot at connecting with one of these salty beauties. SC side has some MAJOR bait balls in the area, some half the size of a football field!

Lots of bird diving action along with bass “Blitz’s”( what is this the east coast?!) though we have had some slow days, the action overall is very good. Halibut are also being caught close to shore on the calmer beaches in town, along with some amazing perch action to fill in the slow periods. Some really nice size models are being caught towards the high tide as everything fills in.

The usual small clouser and crab patterns are the ticket. For the halibut let your fly sink and strip it with a slow, repetitive pop retrieve. Hope everyone is enjoying summer as best you can, we’ll see you on the beach! 

Capt. Hogan Brown Reports on 6.20.20

Capt. Bryce Tedford Reports on 6.18.20

Smallmouth season is heating up on the California Delta! I will be focused on Smallmouth/Largemouth through August & the return my focus to Stripers come fall. Just had some recent High school graduates that came out with me & caught their first fish on a fly rod! This was a super rewarding trip, these boys graduated on a tough year with Covid19 but their futures are bright & it was fun to celebrate with them! 

Smallmouth 1/2 day trips offer Topwater fishing with light rods such as 4 or 5wts. We cast small poppers towards rock banks & eagerly awaiting Smallmouth. This fishery is a great way to introduce beginners to the sport & fun for seasoned anglers who like Topwater poppers on light rods.

Largemouth 1/2 day trips offer Topwater fishing with heavy rods such as 8 or 9wt. We cast large poppers such as frog patterns to ideal holes in the weeds until a largemouth explodes on the fly!

If you are into Largemouth/Smallmouth Topwater or just trying to get someone into the sport give me a call for a summer date. Also, if you want to get a jump on a Fall Striper dates just let me know as well.