Northern California Fishing Guide Trip Reports
All of our local rivers, the McCloud, Pit, Upper and Lower Sacramento, Trinity, Klamath, Fall and Hat Creek are in superb condition and are fishing well.
Flows on local freestones in the shadow of Shasta, the McCloud, Upper Sac and Pit are very accessible and bugs have been popping, particularly later in the day. The Upper Sac flows are slightly above the norm for the season with exceptionally clear water. With the high Shasta Lake levels we have enjoyed a larger than usual influx of sizable lake run fish. Clarity on the McCloud has dropped to three or four feet from Mud Creek inflow which is ideal and is making fishing much less technical. We've enjoyed seeing more large Brown Trout in our net this year than anytime in recent memory, it's a great time to target these fish with streamers. There are still some reaches on the McCloud to enjoy some solitude but it can turn into the McCrowded in October, when the caddis pop, saw the first one today. We've been consistently finding fish nymphing small caddis and maflies during the day while enjoying some exceptional evening dry fly fishing on both rivers.
Access on the Pit River continues to be an issue with Pit 3 open on occasion and closed most others. Road closures in between reaches also makes it difficult to move from one stretch to another, call 406-586-2206 ext. 703 for the latest closures. Flows are also higher this year so some familiar river crossings are not possible though with recent reports of some exceptional days we are not hearing much in the way of complaints. We've just received notice from PG&E that they plan to run some test flows on the Pit 4 & 5 reaches from October 4th through the 14th. Might be best to avoid it as flows on Pit 5 are expected to vary between 220 cfs and 450 cfs with flows on Pit 4 being more of an issue with flows as low as 220 cfs moving all the way up to a high of 1370 cfs on October 7th.
The Lower Sac has been exceptional with flows dropping gradually though it has been crowded on the upper end with the opening of access at the Cypress Bridge construction site as flows have dropped below 7,000. Fish seem to be stacking in some runs and not in others. The egg bite has kicked off as some salmon have arrived in the upper river but overall salmon counts continue to be well down from historical levels as a result of a general collapse in the system. Nymphing with small mayfly nymphs early in the day and caddis in the afternoon has been outstanding though it takes a little experimentation to find the fly flavor they most desire. Fall River has been nymphing well and fall Baetis hatches are building with some good dry fly days mixed in. Traffic on the river has been quite light so our guests have been enjoying the solitude and scenery as well as the good fishing.
The Klamath and the Trinity are starting to see some action though it is still quite early. The main runs of steelhead have not yet arrived in the upper rivers but anglers have found some nice fish. Temps on the Klamath are unusually low, we often don't see temps this low until late October. Fall Chinook Salmon are all the way up to Iron Gate Dam which can crowd the upper river with boats often stacked in the deep runs. Reports of waves of large numbers of fish moving up the lower Klamath are encouraging.
For a complete report check out the ShastaTrout website. As usual, if you are heading this way please drop us a line. We are pleased to share all we can whether you are seeking guide service or not.
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