The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

I know the river is a well kept secret but......
I was wondering if anyone targets the browns in the river in the winter, I took a pit stop down there a couple weeks ago and saw what looked like fish rising. someone pulling out a drift boat said they where probably half pounders, that or the browns. personally I dont care if they were smolts I just like catching fish on dries and was wondering if this was a common occurance and better yet if anyone ever fished for these risers. or if there were any areas that held more of the local browns, I have read that the fly only section has alot of them year round.
thanks!

Likely what you saw rising were trout or half-pounders. People do target the Browns, or they are hooked while while fishing for steelhead. Some pretty nice fish can be caught. Try the slower water with streamers!

You can target the browns in the slower water on small blue wings or PED's. It's been several years, but I fished up there with a guide one year and we caught a few really nice browns on those smaller patterns (20sh).

thanks alot guys, I just want an excuse to carry a 4wt for when I cant hook any steelies, so pretty much all the time

I took a couple during the baetis hatch last week (starts around 1PM). I landed a 22" brown on a PT nymph earlier in the day. Earlier in the week people were hooking up with steelhead on dries in the slower water past tailouts.

Picking your water is most important.

Thinks should be picking up and more active with the rains now. Bring your 4wt regardless. Steelies on dries is like nothing else.

This time of year depending on the weather there may be lots of opportunities for dry fly fishing. In addition to the BWOs, callibaetis, March Browns and some stoneflies may also be hatching. These hatches can be quite prolific but most often the number of rising fish is sparse. As noted in a previous post, finding the water holding rising fish is of utmost importance. The water upstream from the Rush Creek launch area to the bridge in Lewiston can hold rising fish.
This time of year the fish could be steelhead smolts, quarter pounders (12-15", half pounders (15-20", some hatchery fish, and a couple of populations of late run wild fish (2 to 3 pounders and 5 to 7 pounders). These fish at times can be caught on dries.
There may be a few browns as well. The browns are more likely to eat streamers than dry flies. There are big browns in the river (over ten lbs) but these move around and are harder to find. DFG studies have found that the largest concentration of browns are around the islands at Poker Bar and in the area around Indian Creek. There is a lot of water to explore so just hit the public access points and keep moving untill you find fish. This time of year the middle of the day is the best time to fish with dries.