The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

The Lower Sac egg bite is about a week from blowing up. There is a nice push of salmon rolling around on the lower sections of the river. So all of these fish will be cutting redds in the next couple of weeks. It looks like there will be about a two week period where the Sac will go off and you are going to want and make sure you're in the game. This is one of the coolest times of year on the Sac.

The last five days on the river have been a little unusual on the river. It seems as though you get two goods days of fishing and then there is a big drop off on the third day. The majority of last week I fished the lower river from Balls Ferry down to Bend Bridge. The cool thing is that I have hooked a steelhead each day that I have been on the river. The bad thing is that we are 0 for 5 on our land ratio for these big fish. Oh...the joys of steelhead fishing! Most of the steelies we have hooked have been between 23-26''. Its addicting watching a big fish fly three feet out of the air when it is hooked.

The trout fishing has been decent on rubber legs, birds nest, and amber wing princes. It seems as though one day all they want is the birds nest and then the next the amber wing. At this point on the lower drifts the rubberleg should never come off. Its catching lots of fish and its a great steelie fly.

Starting next week I will be bouncing back and forth between the Posse Grounds trying to get in on the egg bite and the lower drifts looking for steelhead.

Tight Lines!

Thanks, RJS. Always enjoy your detailed reports. Maybe someday I'll actually fish the Sac. I just can't pry myself away from steelhead fishing! Another month. I can't wait!!

Hey Bruce -
"RJ" just posts his 'spam' reports here once in a while to drum up some business, as he's a newer guide who doesn't live near here but guides in this area during busy times. He is not a board participant (having conversations with others about different aspects of fly fishing). You'll find other reports from him with the exact same verbage on other BB sites. He's a "cut/copy/paste" poster.

If you have any questions re: bugs, access, timing, accomodations, etc... re: the Lower Sac in the fall, email me. This will be my 13th year guiding the Lower Sac .... so I may be able to actually answer your questions.

The river almost always fishes good. I've been on it for the past 5 days, and most days have seen at least 30 fish hooked with a solid average of 17". One day we got about 26 hook-ups, but all others were over 30. Yesterday, we had two at 19" and one at 20" and 5 double hook-ups. It got a bit crazy a few times. That's just how it fishes in the fall. (however I don't feel the need to post a spam report after every couple days). We fished upper river, as my clients had no interest in trying for a steelhead and they didn't care for the suckers and squawfish that are so common downriver.

Hope all is well with you and you're busy tying SPEY flies for some real coastal chromers !!
(I am!!)

sd

Sac Drifter –
I do not post here often (next to never) but I do peruse the board on occasion, judge that as you will, and when I read a personal attack on a close friend, fellow guide, and good person I feel the need to respond. Before you make personal attacks against some one do the research. According to your bio you have guided for 10-13 years. Ryan has guided for 6-8 all over northern Ca and WY for well respected lodges and outfitters. Now you are welcome to consider 6-8 years in the business “New”, but many guides around Nor Cal today have not even fished for 6-8 years, let alone guided, and some of these very guides work for respected shops and outfitters. Furthermore, Ryan lives 15miles from the river and 35-45 miles from the floats with which he talks about. I know many guides who live in Redding that live equal distance from these given floats so I am not sure how you get the “doesn't live near here but guides in this area during busy times”. Ryan guides the L. Yuba, Feather, and L. Sac from Sept thru August and then at one of the most respected lodges on the South Fork of the Snake river mid may through August. While you can make the judgement that Rayn is a "cut/copy/paste" poster the information he provides is accurate good information for the average angler and he makes no qualms about being a guide. He does not boast about his qualifications and I think if you ask any guide who has guided with Ryan or knows him he is a very humble person. Matter of fact The last paragraph of your post is more boastful than anything I have ever seen Ryan post and I am sure that if anyone ever had any questions about fishing Ryan would be more than happy to answer them.

Hogan brown
530-514-2453
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.hgbflyfishing.com

Well said Hogan, It is amazing how "special" some folks want to make themselves out to be...

Has "RJ" ever participated in actual discussions on this BB regarding anything but how his day was ??

It gets old and lots of people agree.

I was under the impression that this was a discussion board.

The bb used to be a community where people would hold discussions on topics of ff'ing.



http://www.spam.com is all I see.

The only thing you ever post is when you bash RJ. WTF does that contribute. He posts some good info for those of us that may not get out all the time....

I think you win the chapped ass of the week award.

I really like spam when it has pictures in it!
I wish every guide would post their "report of the week" here, especially if it has fish porn in it!
That way at least there would be some honest to goodness fishing reports on this board.
That would be a nice change of pace from the usual drivel posted here.

I think there are many of us who appreciate ANY detailed report, since we can live vicariously through others good or bad fortune.

I'm not saying I'm guiltless in that which I am about to address, and I'm NOT taking sides or pointing any fingers, but the board needs more discussion and less character assassination. The personal attacks DO keep folks from participating on the NCFFB. I know this for a fact because I almost always mention the NCFFB to fishermen I meet. This board was instrumental in helping me to become a better and more informed fly fisher; it means a lot to me despite the ups and downs I've had here with folks.

Too many of the fishermen I've spoken to about the board have said they've read it but have been totally turned off by the bickering. I'd really like to see the board get better and better, and for that to happen a little tact would go a long way. I don't think I'm alone in these feelings.

BTW, RJ and SD, thanks to BOTH of you for the reports you post. A little spam doesn't bother me if there's some real information attached to it.

AB

I think the key is discussion...all I've ever seen are his bi-monthly fishing
reports from the Lower Sac, Idaho, et al...never any type of thread that ends with
some type of exchange between 'ol RJ and others from the board.

Matter of fact, query his various dishes of spam and you'll see almost ZERO
replies. Nada, nichts, nyet, nuttin. He doesn't even chime in on other
posts and join in the 'supposed' campfire.

Now if he actually participated on the board I'd think differently. In this
case, it's plain 'ol spam no matta' how you slice it, especially since it's
verbatim from other FF boards.

But hey, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Anglernut

I took another look at RJ's report to see what I really enjoyed about it.

Sure, there's a bit of promotion there, which doesn't bother me IF there's some meat on the bone.

He mentions time, place and flies. I haven't fished this area of the Sac before (as I mentioned, it's really tough for me to pull myself away from the possibility of steelies) and I don't drag a pontoon with me from AZ, but wouldn't someone with a pontoon or a wading FF'er be able to use the info for a do-it-yourselfer?

Sometimes, just a little reminder can spur-on a fishing trip.

Reading RJ's and SD's posts have really gotten me thinking about trying my hand on the Sac on the way up to steelheading.

These informative posts remind me a lot of some of the info Bill Kiene puts out every now and then, reminding us about the current possibilities.

SD, after rereading your post, which I really enjoyed (sans the criticisms), I'm hoping you'll throw us a bone a little more often and then and let us know about your successes...and failures...and I guess it's time I posted a report about my AK trip.

Hell, hardly anybody is posting on this board anymore. Maybe the other board has peeled everyone away, but it's so flippin' quiet here it's ridiculous. I have no problems with these posts, and has often been said if you haven't liked what someone's posted in the past, just don't read their new ones.