The Dog Days Of Summer

August is upon us and the dog days of summer are starting to appear.Normally this would make for challenging fishing conditions but because of the tremendous winter this year water conditions are near perfect.

This past week my office was Nelson Creek and the Middle Fork of the Feather River.Nelson Creek is a rough and tumble spring fed creek that flows into the Middle Fork Feather. Wild rainbows abound averaging 10-12" with a few larger 14"+ thrown in for good measure. The fishing isn't easy but there was enough top water action to keep my clients busy all day.



Most attractor patterns work here, with a red humpy being the most productive.There were a number of very small golden stoneflies hatching and a few mayflies as well.Caddis hatches in the evening are getting the fish to be a little less selective.

The Middle Fork Feather has been the biggest surprise this August as water temps are still in the low to mid 60's and the fish are crushing Little Yellow Sallies with great fervor.Tom from Newark Ca had a great morning recently moving over 30 fish and hooking about 15 in a short 4 hour half day. We didn't change the fly once as we were getting crushed on almost every cast in some of the riffles!

I have also been spending time guiding on the Truckee and Little Truckee Rivers in the past month. Brian Slusser of Four Seasons Fly Fishing(www.flyfishingtruckee-tahoe.com) has had me helping him teach his 2 day fly fishing schools.These schools are a great introduction to the sport of fly fishing and give us time to delve into the nuances a little deeper.Brian is a great guide and all around great dude!If you are interested in fishing the Truckee area I highly recommend Brian!

With only 2 weeks before classes start I am enjoying this fine summer that we are having.Soon my focus will shift to my continuing education and guiding will be restricted to weekends.As fall returns and water temps fall we should experience some great fly fishing!

Craig's Trout Battle II

Craig's Trout Battle I

The heat is on...

Summer is in full swing here in the Northern Sierra's with warm daytime temperatures and beautiful evenings. The Middle Fork Feather has gotten a bit warm and some algae is starting to grow.Best fishing is early and late with plenty of wild rainbows aggressively attacking dries.

The damsels have finally shown up at Davis but the water temps are too high and I have stopped fishing there until temps come back down in the fall.Reports have been encouraging with fish feeding in the shallows.If you do fish here right now,please use 4x tippets and land the fish as quickly as possible as they may not survive an extended battle in 70+degree water.



I've had a few trips on the Truckee River lately and have had mixed results.Craig from Orange County caught this awesome brown on a Fox's Pupa while fishing some amazing pocket water.He also landed also smaller brown a few minutes earlier.

Lenny from New York didn't have as much luck on the Truckee,but he did land a couple of small rainbows on a hotwire caddis.




Unfortunately we had to contend with a bunch of rafters that were floating the river and made for some challenging interactions.Everyone was polite but fishing became tougher after one rafter decided to disembark and walk her raft right through the pocket we were fishing.Fun times on the Truckee!



Milton Lake is fishing well as of this writing. Small para adams are getting consistent action as well as callibaetis emergers early in the day.The callibaetis hatch has been minimal at this point but should become the more consitent as the summer deepens. A size 14 mahogany dun is the ticket during the hatch.Midges are everpresent and size 18 snocones under an indicator also has been producing.Remember this tailwater impoundment is VERY cold so dress appropriately under your waders.

The small creeks are still a little high but are fishing very well.Tons of hungry wild trout providing almost nonstop dry fly action.Nothing like wet wading a small high country stream in the heat of the summertime!

Get out there and fish!

MF Feather Report 7-3-10

Picked up a last minute trip for the MF Feather and the river didn't disappoint.Fish were looking up all day and we had action on dries from start to finish. Elk Hair Caddis and Little Yellow Sallies were the hot ticket,but fish also smashed small stimulators. Wire body caddis nymphs caught fish in the deeper pockets when the action on top slowed down.



Water levels are perfect right now and the fish,while small, are very agressive and a ton of fun to catch.

We fished from Graeagle down to the Two Rivers area and found active fish in the riffles. From 2-4pm a very solid Little Golden Stonefly hatch took place with fish hammering Little Yellow Sallie dries.To fun!!

Fishing my brains out...

It has been a while since my last post.I have been very busy with life,guiding and fishing.Now for the good ,the bad and the ugly!

Lake Davis has finally started to fish well,although the damsel hatch has been pretty slow to get going at this point.We have been having good success fishing Sano's Rootbeer midges and blood midges under a bobber in about 10' of water.Fish have also been caught on Rickard's stillwater nymphs,sheeps creek specials and wiggle tails fished on an intermediate line.


Client Doug Haut caught this monster on a blood midge yesterday! Guideline rep Tim Loomis also caught a nice fish but for the most part the fish were cookie cutter 14" specimens.



Water temps are hovering in the low 70's and I will be guiding the river and the Lakes Basin until the water temps come back down in the fall.

Last week I had the pleasure of guiding Al Delco and Charlie S from the Merced Fly Fishers. After picking up a fish here and there we finally got into fish around 5:30 pm and for the next hour we just hammered them.Rootbeer midges were the hot ticket.



The Middle Fork Feather River has dropped into shape around the Graeagle area.I had the pleasure of guiding the Reber's from the Bay area last week.We had plenty of opportunities throughout the day both nymphing and with dries.There was a nice Little Yellow Sallie hatch in the early afternoon that had fish looking up and chowing on small elk hair stonefly patterns.



The Reber's were a great,fun family to fish with and I look forward to future trips with them.




With the wet cool spring we experienced the river should fish well this July for small wild trout.The Lakes Basin lakes will be fishing nicely as well.I will fish Lake Davis for another week or so until temps get into the mid 70's then I will not be back until the fall.

Come on up the fishing is FINE!

Lake Davis and other waters June report

With the weather finally turning into summer the season is starting to heat up.I have been busy fishing and guiding on various waters lately.On Saturday I donated a half day trip on Lake Davis for the Sierra Nevada Partnership (http://www.northernsierrapartnership.org/) and Trout Unlimited.After a bit of planning shenanigans I met up with my clients,John and Shanna from Albany, at the Honker Cove Boat ramp and we were off.While the fishing was slow the company was fantastic and I was able to learn a great deal about the NSP and what they are trying to accomplish.Please visit their website to learn more.It was a fun day on the water and John and Shanna were wonderful clients!

I got back out on Davis for a bit of personal fishing yesterday with the awesome women from the Sierra Nevada Women Fly Fishers from Reno.These girls are super fun to fish with and are all very talented fly fishers.I had my best day on Davis this season going 6 for 8 hooked.The fish came on Sheep Creek Specials and cinnamon wiggle tails stripped on an intermediate sinking line.Not only was the company great the lunch provided by the girls was unbelievable!!I truly enjoy fishing with this group of fishers!

Last week I had a chance to fish Prosser Creek near Truckee.I was swinging seal buggers and had two solid takes connecting with one of them.The fish was well over 20" but came unbuttoned after a brief battle.The flows were a bit high but fishable.That has all changed due to the runoff finally taking place.As of this writing most rivers in the area are blown out with the exception of the upper Middle Fork Feather and the Lower Little Truckee which was low and clear and CROWDED.Pyramid was still fishing well as of last week but my attentions are elsewhere at this point.

The damsel migration at Davis is slow starting this year,but should pick up with the nicer weather. The rivers will take a while to drop back to fishable levels but all the water this spring was badly needed.

Time to fish!!