The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

The last seven days on the water have been divided between the Lower Sac and the Feather. It was really great to get out on the Feather and chase some early spring steelhead. It seems like the first major push of fish is in the Feather. As we get closer to April more fish should start coming in. Those spring fish on the Feather are some of the coolest specimens in the Central Valley. One of my clients landed a 20" fish that took ten yards of backing off his reel. The great surprise this week on the Feather was when one of my clients hooked and landed a wild 27" hen. This is a huge fish during the spring on the Feather. In three days of fishing we were averaging between 10-12 hookups per day.

The Lower Sac was fishing great with the warm weather. The fish were really grabby and we boasted some huge numbers on Thursday and Friday. The story was a little different when the cold weather front moved in. It seemed like the fish really tightened up when the temperature dropped down into the 50s. This weekend was much more difficult to get the fish to eat. Expect great things this week with the 70 degree weather in the near forecast.

One cool story from the weekend on the Lower Sac was that I guided Marjory on her first ever fly fishing trip. We took a few minutes and taught her the ins and outs of fly fishing. She caught on quickly and had a great day. The first rainbow she landed was a nice 20". Second rainbow landed by Marjory was a great 21". Third rainbow goes 20" again. Fourth one she hooks and loses was close to 23". It is absolutely crazy that this lady on her first day of fly fishing ended up landing four rainbows all over 20". I can't even remember the last time that one person in my boat landed that many big fish. I guess there is something to that beginner luck thing.

Fish Hard!

We took a few minutes and taught her the ins and outs of fly fishing.

Does that mean you taught her to throw out a bobber and watch it float along side the boat as you drifted down the river?????

Hey guys and gals,

Anyone been on the Sac last couple of days? I'm wondering what the water clarity is like, and if hatches have started again. Any mayflies been seen coming off the last few days?

The last couple of years, I've actually caught good fish on mayfly dries here, good challenging fishing when wading. I'm oing this w/e and would appreciate the skinny!

thanks,

I have no idea, Steve, but you and I need to go fishing one of these days. Maybe in the next couple of weeks, or May.

Ryan,

Well, SHE is ruined for fly fishing. Sorta like Sawmill Tom whose first adult steelhead was on a Feb trip on the T, where he caught a nice hen on a size 16 dry fly. He's ruined too.

Thanks for the update. I appreciate them!

I can't comment on the hatches but I drive over the lower Sac at the Bend Bridge every day and as of yesterday afternoon it was dropping and clear enough to definitely fish.

The Clarity on the Lower Sac is about 4 feet. It is not perfect clarity but has a great green tint to it. The river is fishable all the way to Red Bluff. The fish are feeding good. In response to the mayfly hatches there have been some PMDs and March Browns in the flats (but not lots of them yet. The caddis hatch in the middle of the day from 1-3 has been really good on the warm days.

Tight Lines Out There!

Thanks for the update Ryan. Someday I am going to get out and fish again, I swear!

my eyes are still watering!