Well............it has been an interesting month. If you haven't noticed Northern California has been getting pounded with rain and snow. Needless to say it has been a tough month. Because of all the weather and Bonnie being on the edge of going into labor I didn't guide one day in March. I had to reschedule 21 days for the month. I started to think of my break as a sabbatical from the oars. It came as good timing though with the birth of our first child Maggie on March 21. So I have had a couple of weeks to help Bonnie out and bond with the baby. To be honest I think the baby has taken more out of me then working. LOL. But even with the restless nights of feedings and trying to sleep I am over joyed with the new addition to our family.

Okay............I know get on to the Fishing! The good news is that the Lower Sac is back in shape and fishing well. So there are going to be some lips ripped in the next couple of weeks.

In this post you will find reports from the Lower Sac, Forecasts on conditions for the Yuba/Feather, Openings, and a couple discounted trips! For all discounted trips I will offer a full day at the half day cost of $275.

Dates Available:

April: 12 ($275), 17, 25-26 ($275), May 3, 6, 17-20, June 7-10

Lower Sac:

As of yesterday we have a couple rivers (Lower Sac/Feather) in the valley that is fishable. The Lower Sac is currently at 15,000 cfs and the clarity is about 6-7 feet. The fishing has been really good all week as those fish plow down on anything that lands in front of them. They finally get some rest and time to eat after the high flows. Both trips I have done this week have resulted in 30+ fish days with many others lost. With the high water the key is to find those soft edges where the fish can settle in and get out of the heavy current. It wasn't hard to find some hungry fish as they tried up to eat the yellow brain fly, the famous bead, and a rubberleg. Around 1PM there was a solid hatch of pmds and as soon as the bugs came out a flashback pt and mercers pmd caught a handful of fish. The quality of fish on the river yesterday was awesome with lots of 17-19" rainbows crushing our bugs.


Yuba River:

Well there haven't been any reports from the Yuba as it has been unfishable for several weeks now. The flows on the Yuba have been bouncing around between 5,000-6,000 cfs. Currently the flows on the Yuba are 5,200+ cfs. So this is still to high to fish the river effectively. In my opinion the river needs to be below 4,000 cfs but is even better when it drops to 3,000 cfs. Now with all of that said that doesn't mean one cant catch fish over there at this flow. With this much flow you have to focus on the slower deeper runs and plan on doing 2 floats as you will be flying down the river.

The forecast for the Yuba is still a couple of weeks out but the last couple of days they have been flirting with that 4,000 cfs mark. We are probably looking to the middle or later parts of April to get out on the river. When things finally get fishable watch out because it is going to be lights out on this river for several weeks. Lots of fish looking to eat after all of the high water conditions. Expect the Yuba to fish really well through June this year. Stay tuned for reports on my blog.

Feather River:

The Feather dropped into shape on Wednesday. I guided the Low Flow section today and found decent success. With two rookies who had never fly fished before we hooked 7 spring steelhead that were all of good size. These were not your typical 16" fish that you see over there during March/April. All of the fish were between 19-22" fat footballs. There was a little pressure on the river with 2 other drift boats and about 3 guys wading the upper parts of the drift. We had to cover a lot of water to find the fish but they were pretty evenly spread out throughout the entire low flow. The hot flies were a prince nymph and lightning bug. But try san juans, microspawn, birds nest, king princes, pts, Hogan's S&M, etc. if you plan on going over there. Expect things to get really good on the Feather in a couple of weeks once some more fish move into the system.

Well that is it. We are finally back to fishing in the valley. Expect the next three weeks to be really good.

Tight Lines!

Hey guys I hope all of you are getting some fishing. I just frustratingly had a cancellation for Wednesday, May 25 and Thursday, May 26 this week. Anyone that wants to get out on the river I will do a full day trip at my half day cost of $275. This is going to be my last discounted days from now until probably December. Let me know asap by email at ryan@rjsflytrips.com if you want to fish in the next couple of days. Below is a quick report of what the fishing has been like the last week.

Lower Sac: The fishing has been solid with most days resulting in 20+ fish being boated. The fishing around Anderson has been really good for trout in the 12-17" range. While the fishing up in Redding has been hit and miss. I had a great day from Posse to Bonny on Sunday with 28 rainbows to the net and a 22'', 2 21", and 1 20" fish in the mix. But then I had a good friend do the same drift yesterday and I guess it didn't fish as well. So it seems like the fishing around Anderson right now is more consistent but the bigger fish are up river. Hot flies have been rubberlegs, sucker spawn, mercers pmd, and small pheasant tails.

Yuba: I fished the Yuba yesterday with the flows fluctuating from 5,500 cfs to 7,000 cfs throughout the day. The fishing was extremely technical as the water is up in the bushes. Even with the high water we managed to scratch out a few fish. We ended up floating from 20 bridge down to Sycamore twice. The first pass we hooked 10 rainbows and then the second 5. Not a bad day when you hook 15 on the Yuba. But it was demanding fishing as most of the fish were on the bank next to or behind the bushes. It felt like I was fishing in Idaho to be honest. My word of caution is not to float the Yuba unless you are an extremely experienced rower. There are a handful of spots that can do a lot of damage to a boat if not handeled correctly!!!!

Tight Lines!

Well..........it has been a while since I have sent out a fishing report. It seems like time is getting more precious as we try to figure out our new life with baby Maggie. She is growing like crazy, starting to giggle, and becoming much more calm. No doubt there are still lots of sleepless nights but hopefully that will improve with time. These first three months have been an amazing process. I want to thank all of you for your words of encouragement as Bonnie and I try to walk our way through becoming parents.

We left for our annual summer to Idaho the third week of June. We were scared of the drive with the 3 month old but we pulled it off in one long day. About 16 hours of driving got us back to our summer home. It was such a blessing that we made it out in one piece. We will be out here through the first week of September and then will be ready to kick off another fall guide season by September 20th.

In this report you will find a detailed report of Western Wyoming/Eastern Idaho Water Outlook, the South Fork of the Snake, Lower Henrys Fork, and openings for fall fishing.


WESTERN WY / EASTERN ID WATER CONDITIONS:

Well there is tons of water out here. According to the locals this is the most snow that they have had in over 100 years. I have heard snow totals from 175-225% of the normal annual precipitation amounts. All of the rivers from Jackson Hole to Idaho Falls are all blown out. The freestone rivers are completely flooded and water is up to the tops of the banks. A local favorite river of mine is called the Salt River. Currently the Salt is so high it has overflowed its banks and is running through hay fields. The tailwaters are still at fishable flows but water clarity is still a big issue. Most tailwaters in our local area are looking at about 10-18" of visibility. The water is not complete chocolate but definitely on the brown side.

If you are planning on coming out this way this summer then I would postpone your trip to at least the third week of July. There is still tons of snow in the mountains. Currently it looks like it normally does in the first of June. So I figure that we are about a month behind from normal water conditions. One great thing is that the late season stuff should be awesome. For those of you that love to come out to the Rockies after the Labor Day crowds should find excellent water conditions and fishing. I don't know what Montana, Western Idaho, or Eastern Wyoming look like but I have to assume things are similar in those parts of the states.

I hope this helps you plan your annual trip.

SOUTH FORK SNAKE REPORT:

The South Fork has been really tough this week. The biggest issue here has been both the volume of water and the clarity. Currently the river is running at 24,000 cfs. On the upper stretches near the dam the clarity is 12". Once you get down into the lower part of the canyon the clarity is down to about 8". So needless to say there are not lots of boats on the water. The good news is that the Yellow Sallies, Salmonflies, and PMDS have begun hatching in large numbers. Now the issue is getting the clarity of the water to a state where the fish can see them. Both days on the river we landed 10+ trout and lost several others. But as most of you know for S. Fork standards that is super tough. The hot flies were eggs, san juans, and rubberlegs. Pretty much anything big and buggy will catch fish.

Right now the outlook is by the latter part of July things should get really good. That is when I expect that the Golden Stones and PMDS should be in full swing. The Salmon Fly Hatch this year might be hit and miss due to the water clarity. But truthfully isn't that the way the Salmon Fly Hatch always is. It seems like you are always one week to early or late. That mystical hatch is one of those things where you should have been here last week.

Expect some great late season fishing on the South Fork. As I expect is the same for the rest of the Rockies.

LOWER HENRYS FORK REPORT:

Well right now the only game in the area is the Henrys Fork. The water is a little high on Henrys but the clarity is perfect. It is literally the only clear water for hundreds of miles. The Lodge at Palisades Creek was able to get an emergency permit for the Lower Henrys Fork from St. Anthony down to the confluence. So two days ago I guided my first ever trip down a piece of that stretch completely blind. I got the call the night before that they were able to get the permit and the next day I was guiding on the Henrys Fork. So I went over there having no idea what to expect and it turned out to be a decent day. When I got to the river I was introduced to the largest grey drake spinner fall that I have ever seen. The fishing was good with lots of rainbows/browns in the 18-19" range. The rowing was fairly technical on this stretch and it really made me pay attention to every rock. I have to admit that I got puckered a few times but we were able to make it down safely. It was a lot of driving from my place with roundtrip taking 220+ miles. But at least I was able to get some work in and throw dry flies. Looks like the next 10 days or so the Lodge is going to be pushing that as the guests best option. It should be an interesting learning curve.

For those of you that are looking to do some fishing this fall the sooner you book your dates the better. Weekends have already begun to fill up. You don't want to miss those prime dates for the egg bite in Septmber/October on the Yuba, October on the Sac, and November on the Feather. Below you can find my current openings with suggested river recommendations.

FALL EGG BITE BOOKINGS IN CA:

Yuba Egg Bite: September 20, 22-26, 28-30 & October 1-5

Yuba/Sac Egg Bite: October 6-14, 16-20, 25-28, 30-31

Feather Egg Bite: October 25-28, 30-31 & November 1-25

Summer 2011: Call the Lodge at Palisades Creek to Book your trip (208-483-2222)

I hope all of you have a great summer and are able to get some much needed dry fly fishing in at your favorite creek or river. Come check out the South Fork of the Snake if you have never been out here before. It is one of those special places that all people need to experience.

Tight Lines!

Well things on the South Fork continue to be challenging. It has definitely not been the easiest of summers out here in Idaho. I have been on the water the last 9 days and it seems like with average clients one can expect about a 20 trout day. All of the sections seem to be fishing about the same. Section 4 from Byington to Lorenzo has finally started to fish well. It is crazy how different the river is down there it looks like a bomb went off and dramatically changed the entire river. Complete islands are gone from last year. Pretty impressive what the power of water can do. The name of the game down there has been to keep nymphing. The hot duo has been to throw a rubber legs as your top bug and then trail it by a red san juan worm. Those browns love the worm. The nice thing about the lower river right now is the quality of the fish. Seeing lots of fish in the 16-19" range. Fat and healthy browns. There are some golden stones flying around down there that will get the random fish to come up but your dry fly grabs are few and far between.

Just this week lots of other guides have started to throw dry-dropper rigs for the entire day. It is working for smaller sized fish in the 6-12 inch range. Fishing the canyon with this rig on the faster rocky and foamy banks has been producing good numbers on the lightning bug. Most of the guys who are doing this are pretty much nymphing with a dry as they are only getting 6-8 dry eats a day. This has also been a great plan in the afternoon from dam-lodge. The fishing up there has been so good in the afternoon some of our guides have been doing triple drifts. Fishing from Irwin-Bridge in the morning and then doing Dam to Lodge twice in the afternoon.

The big disappointment this year has been the PMD fishing. There are zero fish in a riffles eating small bugs. Randomly you will find one in the shallows but not anything like it is supposed to be. This has been a big bummer for me as this is my favorite hatch and it produces the most opportunities at sight fishing. I think the majority of our pmds came off in the high muddy water when the fish couldn't see them.

Well what to expect on the South Fork of the Snake? To be honest I have no idea and no other guide out here does either. This is totally uncharted waters for all of us. The water is dropping and the river is down to 9,000 cfs. So that is a good start. Hopefully once things dry out here the hoppers will show up and give us a real boost. I still haven't seen or heard one yet because of the wet conditions but I know they have to come out at some point. If the hopper thing doesn't happen then we are going to be in for a long next month. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

For those of you that are more interested in California fishing then I will be returning home on September 13 and will be ready to guide again by the 20th. This is going to be just in time for the famous egg bites on the Yuba, Lower Sac, and Feather. If you are looking for prime dates for some of the best fishing of the year then start looking at your calendars now. THE EGG BITE IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER!

If you want to book a date this fall then my openings are below:

September (Yuba): 20, 22-23, 28-30

October (Yuba/Sac): 1-7, 11-14, 16-19, 25-26, 30-31

November (Feather): 1-5, 7-18

I hope you guys are having a great summer. I look forward to getting back to CA to see and fish with all of you again.

Tight Lines!