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View Full Version : Nor Cal Valley Report (Feather, Sac, Yuba) & Discounted Trips



RJSFLYTRIP
11-16-2011, 06:08 PM
Well it has been a great month of fishing. For those of you that were lucky enough to hit the Feather in the last 6 weeks have experienced some of the best steelhead fishing that I have ever seen. It has been a blast to watch you guys light up when that chrome eats your bead and jumps out of the water. In this email you will find a detailed report on the local fishing on the Lower Sac, Yuba, and Feather Rivers. In addition to that you will find DISCOUNTED TRIPS on selected dates in the end of November and start of December.

It is that time of year again where I am offering a handful of discounted trips on the Lower Sac and Yuba Rivers. Here is the deal.........You get a full day trip at the half day cost. That means you save more than 25% off your trip at a price of $275. Check out the dates that I have below.

Discounted Trips: Nov. 27-30, Dec. 1-3, 6-8

Feather - Epic Steelheading

The month of October on the Feather was impressive. I have never seen so many steelhead in the Feather ever since I have been guiding the river. The salmon counts were way up this year and this meant there were lots of eggs for the steelhead to feast upon. For over a month we were averaging 15-20 hookups per day on the river. It was great fun on 6 weights as these chromers ripped line off the reel. Many guys had their first ever steelhead experience and from that have now turned their attention to this famous game fish. Steelhead Junkies in the making.

What is currently going on........the Feather has about a week left before the major run of fish is going to be gone. The salmon are slowly starting to disappear and so are the steelhead that are sitting behind them. There are still fresh fish in the High Flow so they will continue to keep things interesting for another couple of weeks. If you are looking to wade I would expect to hook a handful of fish in all of the standard spots. The hot flies have been eggs, eggs, eggs, and some more eggs. I have tried lots of nymphs the last couple of weeks with minimal success. The next good fishing on the river will be when the upper river by the hatchery opens on January 1st.

Lower Sac - Excellent Trout Fishing

The Lower Sac has been really good the last month. I know that everyone has been complaining about the egg bite not going off up bye Posse Grounds but it you are willing to go down river then there is still lots of great trout fishing to be had. The lower drifts below Balls Ferry have been fishing well. I have been spending the majority of my time either on Balls to Jellys or Barge to Bend. The best part of fishing the lower river is there has been no one else down there. It literally has felt like a private fishery. Most days on the lower river we have been landing 30-40 trout and hooking 1-2 steelhead. Now it doesn't get much better than that. Lots of fish, no crowds, and a handful of steelhead makes for a lot of happy customers. The hot flies on the lower drifts have been rubberlegs, eggs, tan birds nest, and micro mays. The trout have definitely been smaller than the fish on the upper river but there are still lots of high quality trout to keep those smiles going. The only downfall on the lower river is that you are catching the majority of your fish between 9AM and 3PM. After 3PM you might as well go home as the fishing gets extremely tough.

Expect good fishing to remain for a couple of more weeks on the lower river. Once the winter salmon start showing up then it will be time to head back up to the Posse Grounds. For those of you looking to get out around the Holidays then make sure to take advantage of my discounted trips.


Yuba - Great Month But Slowing Up


The Yuba has been solid fishing but not great. Early/Mid October had some really good fishing on the river. I actually had 2 of my largest days ever on the Yuba during October but things have since changed. The Yuba should get better once we get some rain and consistent cloudy weather. The darker conditions will make the egg and baetis fishing much more consistent. The last time I fished the river was last week and the hot flies were rubberlegs, eggs, and small pheasant tails. We were able to land 3 fish on baetis dries as well. The majority of the fish were on the smaller side and the nice ones that we ran into were on the lower river below Hammond Grove. It seems like the bigger fish were still eating eggs behind the handful of salmon that are still spawning. Most days the last couple of weeks sounds like guys are hooking 20-30 rainbows per day. Dont be surprised if you run into a steelhead as this is the time of year that they start showing up.

I hope all of you are doing well and I would like to be the first person to say Happy Thanksgiving. I know this year I am grateful for my family, the ability to make a living as a fishing guide, and for those of you that have become friends over my last 9 years of guiding. Hope your Thanksgiving is a good one.

Tight Lines,
Ryan Johnston

RJSFLYTRIP
11-17-2011, 08:27 PM
Just to keep you guys in the loop I have booked Nov. 28 and Dec. 2 for my discounted trips. So I currently have the days below still available:

Nov. 27, 29-30 & Dec. 1, 3, 6-8

Thanks for the support guys. I always appreciate it and enjoy spending time on the water with you guys.

Ryan Johnston
ryan@rjsflytrips.com

RJSFLYTRIP
11-22-2011, 01:32 PM
My discounted trips are getting taken day by day. I still have Nov. 30 and December 1, 3, 6-7 open for a full day float at my discounted price of $275. Let me know if you are interested. Thanks.

Ryan Johnston

RJSFLYTRIP
11-27-2011, 06:54 PM
Fishing the last couple of days has been up and down on the Sac. For those of you heading up to the upper drifts from Posse to Bonny expect REALLY slow fishing in the morning and middle parts of the day. Most days at lunch we have boated 6-8 fish. But the key has been to stay until almost dark as from 3:30 on the fishing gets really good. The way it has been is that you are hooking half of your fish in the last 1.5 hours at the end of the day. Even though the fish are bigger up in town dont expect good fishing until really late in the day and even with that you are realistically looking to hook 20 fish per boat/day. Its definitely not the Lower Sac that we are all accostomed too. Hot flies are Hogans SM, Pupahs, and Tan Birds Nest.

The lower drifts continue to outfish the stuff up in town. Today I fished Balls to Jellys on a half day trip and had great succes with lots of action on trout in the 10-16" class plus a couple half pound steelhead. In 4 hrs of fishing we boated 15 rainbows and 2 halfies on rubberlegs, birds nest, and eggs.

The weather has been beatiful on the river! Hope to see you guys out there soon.

RJSFLYTRIP
11-30-2011, 11:26 AM
The only Discounted Days that I still have available are Dec.7(Wednesday) and Dec.10 (Saturday). Let me know if you are interested in any of those days. Looks like the weather is going to stay nice for a while. The deal is you get a full day trip at the half day cost of $275. I provide everything that you need from rods/reels, flies, leaders, etc. Let me know if you are interested by sending me an email at ryan@rjsflytrips.com.

RJSFLYTRIP
12-05-2011, 10:40 AM
Fishing this fall has been plain ridiculous!!!!! The Feather was on Fire. The Lower Sac continues to put out great numbers of healthy trout in December. For those of you looking to get away from the Holiday Stress then what is better than treating yourself to a great day of trout fishing on the Lower Sac or Yuba Rivers. Expect the next 3-4 weeks to have some solid trout fishing on our local valley rivers. The weather has been gorgeous and most days have been in the low-mid 60s on the river. Good fishing and sunshine in December makes for some very happy fisherman.

There is all kinds of good stuff in this post!

* Fishing Reports on Sac, Yuba, and Feather

* Discounted Fishing Trips in the next 2 weeks

* Great Gift Ideas for Christmas

I hope all of you have a great Christmas. Thanks for another great year on the river. If it wasn't for you then I would not be able to pursue my passion of chasing these beautiful creatures we call fish. I look forward to all of our adventures in 2012!

It is that time of year again where I am offering a handful of discounted trips on the Lower Sac and Yuba Rivers. Here is the deal.........You get a full day trip at the half day cost. That means you save more than 25% off your trip. Check out the dates that I have below.
Discounted Trips: Dec. 7, 10, 15-19, 22-23

Lower Sac - Good December Trout Fishing

The trout fishing over the last week has been really good for this time of year. The last week I have had several days where we have boated between 25-30 rainbows on the Sac. The key has been to find the drift with the most consistent action. The last 2 days on the river I have floated from Anderson River Park down to Balls Ferry. The action has been really good with trout in the 12-16" class. The hot flies have been eggs, small tan birds nest, Hogan's S&M, and an olive micro may. There really has been no reason to change your flies as the fish just bounce up and down your rig the entire day.

What too expect in the upcoming weeks.......as long as we have consistent weather then the fishing should stay solid on those middle drifts. For those of you looking to hook a few steelhead then there are still a handful of chromers down below barge hole. Lots of options for those of you looking to get out around the holidays.

Yuba - Good Trout Fishing Coming Soon

Things are getting close again on the Yuba. For those of you looking for some good winter trout fishing then the Yuba is a viable option in December/January. This time of year we often have shots of throwing blue wing olive dries, nymphing with egg patterns, and even hooking the random steelhead. This time of year expect to hook about 20 rainbows per day on a variety of patterns and methods. Hot flies are going to be rubberlegs, eggs, Hogans S&M, small flashback PTs, and zebra midges. Often times in the winter we run into random Feather Steelhead or the big Winter Steelhead. Only the lucky ones land the big dogs but the truly put all of us to the test.

Feather - Thank You For an Incredible Season!

I am totally bummed that the Feather does not get a bigger run of fish that continues through the winter. It was a fantastic year over there. Seriously the best I have seen in my 9 years of guiding. For those of you that are really looking to find some fish then there are still a handful of steelhead on the river. I have heard some random reports over the last couple of weeks of guys catching a few. The next real good fishing window is going to be after the opener on January 1st. After the opener there should be a couple decent weeks of catching these chromers before the go into the hatchery. Hot flies are going to be eggs, Hogans S&M, Flashback PTs, Alevins, and olive birds nests.

For those of you that are looking into the near future my calendar is open to start booking steelhead trips in March/April. April is a prime month on the river and these dates are going to fill up quickly. Email me if you want dates that far in advance.

Christmas Shopping List!

Christmas is here and often times we are left wondering what we should buy for our family and friends. Well this year give the gift of fly fishing. Below are some options:

Gift Certificates:

For any $ amount. Buy a full day trip or give a $50 gift certificate to be used on their next trip. Tell the family and put this on your list!

Alternative Gift:

Someone already have everything.....then make a donation to Cast Hope in their honor and we will send them a Christmas Card notifying them of the donation. Send a kid fly fishing this Christmas. Check out the website at www.casthope.org for more information.

Tight Lines!

RJSFLYTRIP
12-07-2011, 12:27 PM
For those of you looking to squeeze on of my discounted trips in before Christmas I have booked a handful of my original dates. Below are my current openings.

Dec. 10, 17-20, 23

Thanks for the support guys. I appreciate it. Hope all of you have a Merry Christmas!

Joe Mateas
12-08-2011, 12:09 AM
I have to say Ryan is a great guide, easy going and he knows his water for sure. I got in on one of the discounted days and had one of the best days on the water in along time. We were on fish as soon as we started our first drift and it kept going pretty much all day. We boated beautifully colored rainbows from 10-16" all day, 27 total landed and it would have been more had my partner and I been on our game. We were lucky enough to hook a few small Steelhead and I managed to land one that measured 21"(only my second steelhead and the first in 16yrs), I was happy to say the least! Ryan, I have to say you did a excelent job getting us our fish and making it a great day all around, good conversation and better fishing, I couldn't have asked for more, Thanks!

http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/mm378/ih8calaws/joes004-7.jpg

pvsprme
12-08-2011, 07:18 PM
I have to say Ryan is a great guide, easy going and he knows his water for sure. I got in on one of the discounted days and had one of the best days on the water in along time. We were on fish as soon as we started our first drift and it kept going pretty much all day. We boated beautifully colored rainbows from 10-16" all day, 27 total landed and it would have been more had my partner and I been on our game. We were lucky enough to hook a few small Steelhead and I managed to land one that measured 21"(only my second steelhead and the first in 16yrs), I was happy to say the least! Ryan, I have to say you did a excelent job getting us our fish and making it a great day all around, good conversation and better fishing, I couldn't have asked for more, Thanks!

http://i317.photobucket.com/albums/mm378/ih8calaws/joes004-7.jpg

X2 for the guide.

RJSFLYTRIP
12-16-2011, 11:08 AM
I fished the Yuba with a couple Sac Club members Dave and Andy yesterday. Fishing was really solid for winter fishing in December. We managed to hook 26 fish and landed about 15. We even managed to find a couple smaller stray Feather River Steelhead. Given the time of year I was thrilled with the results. Not many bugs out yesterday. Hot flies were eggs, pheasant tails, and Hogan's Red Headed Step Child. There we are a handful of fish rising in the afternoon on baetis but not anything that I would call consistent. It seemed like to me that you had to cover lots of water to find willing fish but all of the normal spots gave fish.

I only have a couple discounted trips still left: Dec. 17-19 and 23

There are lots of options between the Lower Yuba and Sac.