Me and my pop are gonna head up to the river this weekend. We've never fished it so we were woundering what kinds of flies to use and if there are any good spots, or if it is even fishable now? thanks. Daara
The Russian is blown out and likely will stay that way for another week and half to two weeks. The flows need to come down to around 1200 cfs (even better if lower) to be fishable with fly equipment. The current flows appear to be moving between 11,000 and 17,000 cfs. Check this link for the flow at Hacienda Bridge:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/russianStages.html
Anything happening at the Marin Water District lakes?
To answer your question when you do go, my son and I have used stones (size 4 to 8) and egg patterns. Most of our fish, takes have been on egg patterns.
Hey East Bay Ed does the Russian have stoneflies or are you just throwing them as attractors? Size 4? That is like salmonfly size. The Kern River where I grew up has stoneflies that size, but most people don't even know. Most people are using night crawlers.
Unfortunately, there isn't any river within an hour of the North Bay that is going to be in good condition to fish this weekend. You could get adventurous and try surf perch fishing. This is something I have been thinking about trying, but would probably go with someone who is experienced my first time out. Here is a link to a forum thread on surf perch fishing:
I have done some scavenging around for bugs in the rocks down there. I haven't come up with too much. It is quite possible the stones are up north as you said, I don't know the average temp of cold creek( East Russian) near Potter valley. I have seen a small spinner type fly alot that looks to be a Trico? The water is so warm half the time that I can't see the normal trout bigs doing well in the summer.
