NorCal Fly Fishing

Guided Fly Fishing Trips by Keith Kaneko

2011-11-20T18:17:00.001-08:00

The Sacramento area's premier fly fishing guide service for Trout, Steelhead, Striped Bass, and Shad on the Lower Yuba, Lower Feather, and Lower American Rivers. Your guide, Keith Kaneko, will apply and share with you his years of expertise for a complete angling experience. More than just putting you on fish, he can help you hone your angling skills and knowledge with instruction in casting, presentation, and other valuable tips and techniques. And most importantly, a day on the river with Keith will be had with good times and memories. Fish On!

Summertime is (almost) HERE!

2011-05-06T18:22:00.000-07:00

Tanner displays a chunky Bow that was enticed by a hopper pattern...

Well, I am excited that the summer is upon us here in the Valley. After a long Spring season of high flows throughout the Valley, the fish have surely been rested and are ready to feed! I will be guiding the Lower Yuba and Lower American these upcoming warm (rather, HOT!) months. There is a variety of species to pursue,... from Trout, Shad, Striped Bass, to even early arriving HPs (ie. small Steelies).

The Lower Yuba will have a variety of activity throughout the summer season,... from Golden Stones hatching in June, Hopper emergence in July, Caddis popping in August, to the arrival of HPs and possible Steelhead in September. Yes, it will be HOT on the Yuba, but so can the fishing.

The Lower American is home to a polar opposite species... one predator, the other preyed upon. One is averagely small, while the other can be monstrous. One can be quite numerous, while the other is a trophy hunt for size. Meet the American Shad and Striped Bass. Shad are nothing but pure fun for all anglers alike, novice to advanced. They can be quite numerous if you get the swing or dangle "just right". As for Stripers, they are the apex predator fish of the American... most are schoolie-sized (1 - 3 pounds), but there is always the possibility of hooking fish of massive proportions too.

So, if you need reprieve from cabin fever and high water all spring, join me for a day in the sun fishing for some of our Valley's favorite gamefish. Fish On!

The "Professor" with a gorgeous American River Stripe...

Epic Egg-Bite Season on the Yuba...

2010-11-19T19:32:00.000-08:00

Don landed this gorgeous Steelhead while nymphing shallow...

Well, this is a belated recap of an incredible fall season on the Yuba. It was a busy October with some stellar days marked by solid numbers of fish landed and the occasional adult Steelhead landed. Overall, this past fall produced some of the best fishing I have seen in years - almost like the "good'ol days". Thanks to an upswing in the numbers of returning Salmon, the Yuba's picture-perfect Trout and Steelhead were on the egg-bite grab.

Earlier in the season, the bite was wide open... literally, anything that was round and orange or pink would get grabbed,... including our indicator (Thing-A-Ma-Bobber, Sindicator, etc.) Yes, it was quite comical to observe the occasional fish that would dart up from 6 feet below and slash at the orange or pink round floating thing on the surface. This was total egg craziness.

As the weeks progressed, the fish would get more selective on eggs and other offerings. Size and egg color made a difference depending on sunny or overcast days. The nymph bite returned as well, with the top bugs being the RL Stone, amber Prince, and Psycho May. It is this time of the season when it is incredible to see many of the Yuba's mystical trophy Trout. We landed some nice Trout over 20 inches this season, along with some heavy HPs.

A week to note was the days following the major rain event we had in October. The Yuba blew open for a couple of days, and as the water dropped and cleared to a stain the fishing was supercharged. The higher flows brought in a push of adult Steelhead and we were fortunate to hook a number of these awesome fish. This year, the big fish title goes to Don Lemley of Fresno... I did not get a measure on his fish, but it was one of the most gorgeous Yuba Steelhead I have seen in awhile.

Looking ahead, the Yuba continues to fish well through the winter season with BWO hatches, another egg-bite (smaller eggs) and Skwala Stones. Also, now that the egg-bite peak has passed, it is also time to get out there and swing some flies. Steelhead will continue to trickle into the Yuba through Spring, so there is always a possibility to hook up on a surprise. Thanks to everyone for a stellar fall season,... lot of good times and memories were shared this past season.

Kent lands a robust Trout showing egg-eating colors...

Father-son combo, Terry and Marcus, are all smiles about Yuba fishing...

Kent displays a chunky HP...

Eric landed this beautiful Steelhead that put up an incredible fight!

Terry and one of his many Trout for the day...

Picture-perfect Yuba Trout

Glen and a jumbo HP

Good times and fishing on the Y this fall...

Yuba Strong...

2010-10-08T23:02:00.000-07:00

Lower Yuba Rainbow Trout release...

Kevin landed this hot chromer while nymphing a shallow riffle...

This past week on the Yuba continues to fish strong... the Salmon spawn is in full swing and more seem to be arriving each day. Egg patterns and olive caddis pupa are the focus while nymphing. In the last hour of light, there are some flats that have some surface activity with caddis.

This past week we hooked fewer fish overall (compared to last month's amazing numbers), but on the upside we hooked a fair number of nicer sized fish,... some big Trout or HPs (up to 21 inches) and some "mystery fish" that resulted in breakoffs or straightened hooks. Yes, there are a few adult Steelies around, but the big push of fish has not occurred yet. With the cooler fall temps approaching, this should entice more adults to migrate up.

Jed is smiling about this nice Trout that ripped it up!

Jed and another chucky Yuba Bow...

Stephen and his best fish of the day...

Stephen showing his first catch of the morning...

Yuba... Wow!

2010-09-19T15:35:00.000-07:00

First-time fly angler Dustin is all smiles about this nice HP...

The past couple of weeks on the Yuba have been quite good... OK, let me upgrade that to awesome! The egg-bite has been game-on for the past few weeks, as the Salmon started staging in the pools and some riffles in early September. Now, many of these earlier arriving Salmon have already dug redds and are in the full spawn mode. Even more exciting is the fact that I am seeing more and more Salmon arriving each time I am out on the water... this density of returning Salmon is a blessing. The past few years of Salmon returns have been dismal, and this year looks to be a come-back year (fingers crossed for a successful spawn). I sure hope the flows stay put (about 900 CFS now)... if the controller of flow on the Yuba drops it (even a bit), many redds will be high-and-dry.

The past few weeks have yielded some of the best fishing I have seen in years on the Yuba. Most fish are Trout, but there has been a good mix of HPs along with an odd adult hooked (but not landed,... UGH!) every now and then. The fish are definitely looking for eggs right now. The key to success lately has been to fish darker/fresh egg colors (red, Iliamna pink, or orange) in the low light hours and switching to more pale colored egg patterns in the PM hours.

In addition, there has been some bug activity in the early AM hours... small mays and micro caddis. We have done well with many of Hogan Brown's patterns... S&M and PrimeTime Pupa (#18s). Also, attractor patterns like Copper Johns and Amber Princes have worked well in the late PM hours.

Here are a number of pics from the last couple of weeks of fishing...

Dustin starts the day off with a jumbo Trout...

Matt and Grandpa are all smiles about this fat HP...

Matt lands his nicest Trout of the day... way to go Matt!

Bob lands this robust Trout while nymphing deep...

Dave landed this nice Bow on a S&M May...

George with a nice chunky Bow...

Don is all smiles about landing this HOT HP that ripped it up...

Dustin with ANOTHER nice Trout on his first-ever fly fishing outing!

George fooled this fat Bow on a RL Stone...

George with one of many nice fish for the day...

John landed this jumbo Bow on an egg pattern fished deep...

Showing the chrome sheen of Greg's HP landed on an small egg pattern...

Greg's fish of the day... a 20 inch Trout!

Nana lands this gorgeous Yuba River Bow...

Released to fight another day...

Yuba Day for Ygal!

2010-09-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

Ygal is all smiles about this nice Yuba Bow...

Today, I had the nice opportunity to fish with Ygal from SoCal. He had fly fished before, but this would be his first time fishing an indicator. He picked up the game quickly and ended up landing some very nice Trout and HPs. The morning bite was slow... as usual, I changed flies continuously and finally found the right setup (or the fish just decided to eat) and we got into a strong bite in a few runs. This morning is a humble reminder that you have to feed these Yuba fish exactly what they want... and they can be finicky at times! Thankfully, the rest of the day fished consistently and Ygal landed some nice fish.

The hot flies were Hogan's S&M and RL Stones in the morning. It was funny... we landed smaller fish on the RL Stone, while the larger fish came on a S&M. Also, we fished egg patterns with success in some of the deeper runs that held Salmon. If the Salmon were holding in a run, some of the fish would eat an egg. The Salmon have not started on their redds yet, but the Yuba Trout and HPs must smell the eggs or something because they have been eating them if they are amongst Salmon.

Well, thanks again Ygal for a really enjoyable day on the river. You were a great student of the indicator game and were rewarded with some very nice fish. Fish On!

Yuba Trifecta

2010-09-13T13:43:00.000-07:00

Bill displaying a really nice sized Yuba HP...

Well, the Lower Yuba continues to fish well over the past couple of weeks. We are seeing more and more Salmon in the deeper holes and some fish must be "smelling" the eggs and getting ready for the big egg-drop. Yes, some fish are beginning to key in a egg patterns even though the Salmon are not in spawn mode. Along with the arrival of Salmon, are hundreds of suckers in the tailouts and turkey vultures flying above deeper holes. It is this time of the season when the appearance of these other species indicate that the Salmon (and Steelhead) are beginning to arrive. In other parts of the season, I don't see the vast numbers of suckerfish that we see now... I speculate that these fish follow the Salmon up the river in preparation for the big feeding frenzy that will begin when the eggs start dropping. In addition, the turkey vultures must see the schools of Salmon while flying above and follow them up the river system. In one run, we have seen as many as 100+ turkey vultures perching on rocks/trees and flying circles above. I surely hope the magnitude of suckerfish and vultures that I am seeing is an indication of the quality and quantity of the Salmon and Steelhead run this fall. If so, this will be a great year!

OK, I spent 6 days on the river since my last report. I did spend one "busman's holiday" and snorkeled the river extensively. I am always amazed (and humbled) to observe how many fish are in the Yuba... AND, how many BIG Trout there are that often elude us. Yes, I saw some really bruiser Trout. In addition, it was awesome to see some schools of Salmon, an occasional Steelhead, and all of the other fish in the river (suckers, pike minnow, sculpins, etc.)

In the last week of August, I fished with long time customers Joseph and his father Mark for two days on the Yuba. They ventured northward from San Diego and were making a fishing road-trip up through CA. They fished the Kings and Stanislaus River on their own before meeting up with me to fish the Y for a couple of days. Our days on the Y were super productive and yielded some very nice sized Trout and HPs. Even more of a surprise was hooking a few Jack Salmon that we thought were Steelhead at first. We nymphed the entire two days and landed fish on Super Pupas (tan), glo-bugs, Gidgets, PTs and RL Stones. Our first day was interesting... we had to change flies in almost every run to figure out the bite. Then, on day two we literally fished the same setup all day and caught plenty of fish. This setup was a RL Stone with a pupa dropper. Granted, the day was a bit warmer on the second day so the caddis were a bit more active. All in all, a great two days on Y with a father and son team. Thanks guys!

This past week, I fished 3 days with new customer, Bill, from PHX, AZ. Bill has fished all over the place (domestically and globally), but had never fished the Yuba. Well, he was in for a treat,... as the river showed its chrome colors during our days of fishing. We had a solid bite on RL Stones, micro-mays, and egg patterns. We hooked some really nice Trout on day 1 - immediately, Bill commented on how strong these Yuba fish fight. Yes, the Yuba produces some of the most perfect Trout and Steelhead. Interestingly enough, on day 2 we hooked almost all HPs exclusively. Then on day 3, we caught a mixed batch of HPs and Trout. And yes, each day we did hook some mystery fish that would show us who's boss and either break us off or pull free. A couple of our fish were confirmed Steelhead and that was nice to see this early in the season. Finally, we even hooked a Salmon or two by accident... these fish were new arrivals and actually ate the fly (or at least we saw the hook in its jaw). All of these fish broke off or bent the hooks, as we really did have a flying-chance to land a 15 - 20 pound King on a 6 wt. It was fun though for the short time that it lasted... Overall, it was a pure joy to fish with Bill. His attitude toward this wonderful sport is exemplary... we hooked many, landed some, and lost more. And he enjoyed every minute of the time on the water. As a final thought for the trip for Bill, he was enthralled by the wildlife that we saw on the river. We saw hoards of turkey vultures in some runs and he photographed these large scavenging birds. Also, we even say a pair of does across the bank while wade fishing one of the runs. All of this added up to a most memorable trip. Thanks Bill and I look forward to fishing with you again soon. Fish On!

Bill is all smiles for a super bright HP landed a dusk...

An egg-eating Trout...

Turkey Vultures in flight looking for their next meal...

Yuba In-Transition and Fishing Strong (Week of Aug. 23)

2010-08-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

John starts the morning with a nice Yuba Bow...

This past week, the fishing on the Yuba was in transition... the caddis hatches are starting to subside a bit and the fish were not looking up as much in the evenings. With the scorching temps, we did fool a few fish on hopper patterns. Aside from this on top, all of the fishing was done nymphing down below or on streamers. It is my experience that, in the late-summer when many of the hatches have expired, the fish begin to become more opportunistic and begin to eat bigger. This past week, we started picking up more jumbo Trout on RL stone patterns and streamers. I LOVE THIS TIME OF THE SEASON!... go big or go home! In addition, we have been hooking a few HPs and small Steelhead too... these are early arrivals for the fall season to come. Finally, I am seeing more and more expired Salmon on the river... these early arrivals passed early for some reason and did not get the chance to procreate.

Earlier in the week, I guided first time fly anglers and father-son combo, Steve and his 11 year-old son Seth from Saratoga, CA. After a bit of instruction on the finer details of nymphing, they really picked up the "feel" for it and were fishing well. We hooked a good number of fish while nymphing, but did not end up landing many. As Steve and Seth found out, the Yuba has the hardest fighting fish in the Valley! The highlight of the day was when we hit a pod of HPs... Steve hooked a real dandy that rocketed out of the water and cartwheeled across the surface - it was a really big HP and, unfortunately, it got off right at the boat... UGH! Anyway, it was exciting because Steve and Seth hook a number of other HPs in this same run. All in all, it was a great introduction to fly fishing and they said they will be back!

Next, I guided long-time customer, Bob, and his friend John from Yuba City. This day was stellar... we decided to make it an extended day and we fished hard. Our efforts and time on the water paid off... BIG TIME. We nymphed throughout the morning and afternoon... the Yuba produced many fish and even served up a number of really nice sized Bows. We fished RL stones, PMD nymphs, and caddis pupa... all produced well. Also, we did take a shot at the evening caddis hatch and hooked a few on caddis emerger imitations in the film. We mixed it up a bit throughout the day and landed fish on a variety of flies and tactics. The highlight of the day for Bob was when he hooked a substantial fish that bucked his rod to the cork. Then, the fish went screaming upriver and went airborne... he had hooked an adult Steelie, or one of the biggest Trout I have seen in a long time. Then,... unfortunately, it did a quick turnabout and came screaming downriver. Yes, you know how this story ends... it created its own slack and with barbless hooks, the fish came unbuttoned... UGH! It was a most exciting moment of the day. Next, the highlight for John was when I had instructed him to cast to a "one-shot deal" spot... his timing and presentation were perfect, as his nymphs dead-drifted in a soft slot between fast currents. He got the grab and it was game on... this fish fought hard and we had to chase it down river before landing it. It was a gorgeous 20+ inch Bow! Now, here is the funny part of it all... John was on speaker phone with his sister when he fished this small window of opportunity. He multi-tasked talking to his sister and landing his fish of the day! Way to go John... you are never going to live that one down (according to Bob!) A great day on the river with Bob and John... thanks guys!

Bob is super happy about this Yuba chromer that ripped it up!

John displaying his fish of the day... way to go John!

Yuba Caddis and More! (early-mid August)

2010-08-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!... sorry, I am behind on posting reports over the past few weeks... life has been quite busy juggling guiding, travel business, and caring for baby Ella! All good things happening, but definitely fallen behind on keeping up with the blog. Anyhow, I have been on the water guiding a few days a week and fishing has been fairly consistent while nymphing in the daytime hours and emerger/dry fly fishing with caddis in the evenings. There has been a good mix of small fish and larger fish. Believe it or not, the larger fish have been fooled while fishing the caddis hatch!... not nymphing. While nymphing, we have been landing a number of smolts (6-10 inches)... this is NOT a bad thing. These small fish are the future population of highly desirable jumbo Yuba Trout and Steelhead! I am seeing more of this size compared to previous years and that is promising for our future fishing on the Y. Amidst all this, I am also pleased to say that we are seeing more and more salmon entering the river lately. I love this time of the season... a lot of variety in the river showing that the fishery is heading into the exciting Steelhead season this fall!

I guided Jed and his friend Steve earlier in the month. They had not fly fished in a few years and were looking to get a day of fishing in on the Yuba before heading up to the Truckee to fish. We nymphed during the earlier part of the day and landed a few on PMD nymphs and caddis pupas. Steve scored when he landed a jumbo Bow on a tan caddis pupa fished in deep water. We then had a decent session of wade fishing caddis dries in a shallow riffle. We landed a few feisty Bows and HPs on E/C Caddis and Jed lost a trophy fish right at the bank... UGH! As the evening wound down, we nymphed and hooked a few more fish. However, the most memorable was a "mystery fish" that Jed hooked... it was definitely a large fish with pumping head shakes. Then, it surged and went on a strong run, only to be broken off. Yeah, typical Yuba story... big fish eating small flies on 5X tippet! It was an exciting day with some really nice fished hooked.

On the next trip, I fished with long-time friend and customer, Bob G. from Sac. We decided to make it half day trip and just throw dry all afternoon / evening. Bob fished a hopper through the afternoon and only had a few "lookers". The prime hopper window has passed and the fish are on to other food sources in general. We then pulled to the bank and wade fished. Bob hooked a number of feisty Trout on a caddis emerger imitation. Ahhh, there is nothing like fishing "in-the-film"... very technical, but super effective if you get it done right! Bob is very accomplished angler and I always learn when I fish with him. Thanks Bob!

The next day, I guided past clients Joe and his son Matt from Portland, OR. These two are Steelhead addicts from the PNW. They brought their light switch rods with the intent to swing streamers this day. It has been a few years since I last guided them, but we had some epic streamer days in years past and they wanted to try to repeat the memories. Well,... I will start by saying that this river never ceases to amaze me. We had an epic day swinging sculpin / streamer patterns. Joe and Matt hooked a number of fish that day, with the most memorable being three very large Trout to almost 21 inches and one Steelhead about 4 pounds! The big surprise for the day was when Matt hooked a super powerful fish... it ran off about 20 yards of backing before rolling on the surface and showing its big shoulders. I thought... OMG! a jumbo Steelie! By the looks of it from afar, I thought it had to be at least 8 pounds. Well, when Matt finally worked the fish back to us, we got a closer look at it and saw it was a jack salmon that was mint bright! We popped the fly out and sent it on its way. It sure was nice to fish the Yuba on the swing! Thanks Joe and Matt for an awesome day on the river...

Later that week, I guided Jed again. This time, he brought his father along, Warren. This was half day program where we wanted target the caddis hatch. We fished nymphs in the afternoon and landed a few small Trout. The best nymphs continue to be PMD and caddis pupa. Then, we fished a riffle and targeted the caddis emergence. Jed rose a few very large fish, but none stayed pinned. Warren ended up landing two very nice Trout on a caddis soft-hackle. His best fish pushed 19 inches and gave a great fight. As we finished the day, we deep nymphed a run and, once again, Jed hooked a very large fish. This was the same run that he hooked the "mystery fish" last week. This fish surged away and then turned about and ran right at the boat... unfortunately, it was just enough slack to cause the nymph to fall out... UGH... again! We were all bummed about losing that fish. In the end, this day would have a grand finale. The next run we fished caddis dries and Jed hooked a nice HP that screamed across the river. We actually had to chase the fish down river before finally landing it. It was a gorgeous fish that would mark a great ending to a day of fishing.

The next trip, I had the pleasure of guiding beginning fly anglers Terry and Carie from Rancho Cordova. I truly enjoy teaching and guiding first timers in fly fishing. We started out the day learning the drift boat nymphing game and Terry quickly broke the ice with his first fish on the fly rod. It was a very small Trout, but Terry says that it made his day. Truth be told... as fly anglers, we never forget our first fish on a fly rod. Terry continued to have the hot hand through the morning hours... he hooked a number of Trout on PMD nymphs. Then, Carie hooked her first fish ever on a fly rod... it was a robust 15 incher. She masterfully fought this Trout and was ecstatic that her fish was bigger than all of Terry's! As the day progressed, the fishing was consistent while nymphing. It was a great introduction to our sport and I look forward to our next outing this coming October.

The latest trip was with father-son combo, Will and Jared from Colorado. They are avid Trout anglers and had heard about the famed Yuba. We fished a long day... and fished almost every technique in fly fishing. Lucky for them, we landed fish on all the methods. Nymphing, swinging-stripping streamers, Czech nymphing, dry fly, soft-hackles, and even skating/waking. These guys are good... really good. They are used to fishing super technical waters in CO and it showed during this day of fishing the Y. They had the new Hardy Czech nymphing rods - the Marksman Drifter 11' 5 wt. WOW, what an incredible high stick nymphing rod. We fished many of the riffles while nymphing without an indicator. Most of the fish would hit on the "lift" at the end of the drift. We fished a variety of Czech nymphs in tan and tan with a hot spot. The HPs really liked the hot spot (pink) on these flies. Toward the end of the day, we would trail a caddis soft-hackle and hook fish on the lift once again. It was a lot of fun to see these long single hand rods in action by Will and Jared. To change it up midday, we swung streamers in my favorite runs and hooked a couple of jumbo Trout and one nice sized HP. Olive, olive, etc... was the best color for a streamer (Matuka, Zonker, and Woolhead Sculpin all worked). At the end of the day, we fished a run that had Trout busting caddis at dusk. Just for fun, we skated Elk Hair Caddis dries and hooked a few more Trout for the day. The highlight was the last fish of the day... Jared laid out a cast and as soon as the fly hit the surface it received a boil around the fly. He continued to let it swing around and this Trout kept slashing and missing the fly. Finally, after the fly skated halfway across the current, the Trout finally connected with the fly and Fish On! It was not a huge fish (15 inches or so), but the whole sequence was amazing. The Yuba always amazes me...

Well, that is all the reports in a looooong post. I will try to do better at posting more frequent reports. Fish On!

Yuba Strong (7/31 weekend)

2010-08-04T10:18:00.000-07:00

Jim lands a robust Bow while nymphing shallow...

What a great reunion once again... I had not seen or fished with Jim and Roger in quite some years. We spent a full day on the Yuba and experienced some consistent fishing through most of the day. The best fishing was while nymphing with caddis pupa and PMD nymph imitations. We fished hoppers in a number of runs, but I think the cooler weather stalled the hopper activity most of the day. We had a few "lookie-loos", but no major commitments in the morning and midday hours. At the end of the day, Roger did entice a really nice Rainbow along the willows... it was a super strong fish that ran circles around the boat!

The highlight of the day was when Jim hooked a jumbo Bow while shallow water nymphing. The funny fact is that he was quietly hooked up in the back of the boat and did not say a word! Roger and I were looking ahead and out of the corner of my eye I see Jim's rod doubled over! Jim jokingly said, "Oh, it is just another one..." Then the fish jumped and showed is girth and size... WOW! We all got excited, while Jim had to masterfully fight this fish around a large snag in the middle of the river. We jumped out of the boat to fight this fish... after a few jumps and powerful runs, thankfully, we landed it! This was one of the nicest looking fish I have seen this summer... not a mark on it and it was healthy and strong! Way to go Jim!

Roger lands a jumbo Bow on top... hoppers!

The "Hopper-tunistic" Yuba (7/19 week)

2010-07-24T01:22:00.000-07:00

A gorgeous hopper-eating Yuba Trout...

The past two days on the Yuba was a reunion, comedy central, telling fish stories, and great fishing! It had been a number of year's since I fished with my friend and client, Tanner, from the Fresno area. It was great to catch up and share life's path over the past years. Tanner invited his friend Scott to join him for these couple days of fishing for the Yuba's supercharged fish.

On these two days, we fished top to bottom while drift fishing from the boat and wading the shoreline. It was a great two days of variety fishing - nymphing shallow and deep and hoppers from the boat and while wading. Overall, the nymph bite was consistent in the morning. Then, our focus would turn to the hopper and caddis bite in the PM hours.

The nymphing game has turned to caddis... lots of caddis pupa / emerger activity in some runs. Olive has been the prime color choice for caddis pupa. We had a nice evening session on day one fishing caddis soft hackles in the film and on the lift. Scott hooked and landed some very nice Trout and HPs while fishing a fast, shallow riffle. The hopper bite was consistent on day one... fish were looking up, but most of our fish landed were on the smaller side. On day two, the hopper bite was slower, but we ended up landing some real bruiser Trout... quality over quantity on this day.

The highlight of the day was when Scott spotted a jumbo Trout rising occasionally for grasshoppers along a rock strewn bank. We changed hopper patterns three times and made more than 25 casts to this fish... Scott was patient with this fish by not over-running the fish while wading. Finally, the fish rose to the fly in the fast current and slashed his hopper off the surface. The fish then cartwheeled head over tail before peeling off almost all of the fly line. This fish was HOT! It went on multiple runs and Scott had to chase it down the bank before we were able to land it in softer water. It was an epic battle and it was a true honor to land such a gorgeous specimen of a Trout. Way to go Scott!

Tanner lands this Yuba "slab" on a hopper pattern...

A robust hopper-eating trophy Yuba Trout...

Scott lands this superb Trout after numerous reel-screaming runs and chasing it down the shoreline... way to go Scott!

Tanner lands another trophy Trout while wade-fishing with a hopper...

"Hopper-tunity" on the Yuba (7/14-15)

2010-07-15T21:24:00.000-07:00

Rudd lands a jumbo Yuba Rainbow on a hopper!

It is time (rather, about time...) The Valley 100 degree heat has finally arrived and the feel of summer is here. The intense Valley heat has kicked off a serious "hatch" of hoppers. Along the Yuba, if you walk amidst the dry grass you will be pelted by jumping grasshoppers of all sizes. Never have I seen such a variety of sizes of hoppers at the same time... some are less than 1/2 inch, while others are almost 2 inches long!

Fishing hopper patterns is my favorite type of dry fly fishing. Here is why... a grasshopper is classified as a terrestrial (non-aquatic species of insect). Once grasshoppers hit the water, they are "stuck" in the surface film of the water and can not fly off. The best part of this fact is that the Trout KNOW this. This yields some of the most visually exciting "eats" by Trout... I mean sloooooow motion eats. The wise-old trophy Trout seem to know that the grasshoppers are vulnerable, so they take their sweet time in rising, opening their mouth wide, and "slurping" the hoppers. As an angler, you MUST hold your nerves and say "God... save... the... queen..." before setting the hook. If you set too early, you pull the fly out of the trophy Trouts mouth. This slow motion eating event creates visions that stick in your mind forever... the amazing part is that you most remember those that you set too early and missed. Yes, the "one" that got away...

Well, I just completed a couple of days on the Yuba with my friend and repeat customer Rudd from the Peninsula. Day one was epic... Rudd had hopes of hitting the hopper hatch and the Yuba delivered. We started out with some good sessions of nymphing during the cooler morning hours. The fish were in the mood to eat and we landed fish on a vast variety of flies... RL Stones, PTs, Psycho Mays, caddis pupa, SJW, etc... Then, as the heat of the day fell upon us, we turned our efforts to pounding the shoreline with hopper patterns. The fish were looking up and on the feed. We even wade fished a bit and landed some HPs on a foam hopper. Throughout the day, we would switch back and forth from nymphing to hopper dries,... and we were blessed with a wonderful day of fishing.

On day 2, Rudd's friend Eric joined us. Hmmm, the best way to describe day 2 is that we were in the shadow of a great day before (or in angling prose, "You shoulda been here yesterday!" UGH... ) The fish were not very grabby this day and one can only speculate why or how... maybe the fish fed too vigorously on hoppers the day before and they were full bellied? Only the Trout and Mom-Nature knows for sure. All we know is that we covered the water thoroughly and show the fish dozens of different patterns from top to bottom. Although we did not land nearly as many fish this day, we were rewarded with a couple of 19-20" trophy Trout on hoppers. This was Eric's first time hopper/dry fly fishing from a boat and he was rewarded with some spectacular "eats" by big Trout.

Well, thanks Rudd and Eric for a fun two day of fishing... Fish On!

Rudd christens his new Hardy 11' 5 wt. on this chunky Yuba Trout...

Rudd is all smiles for this jumbo Rainbow that ate his hopper in 12 inches of water!

Eric lands this gorgeous Bow on a hopper pattern...

Book Fall Steelhead Dates NOW!

2010-07-12T20:19:00.001-07:00

A beautiful Yuba River Steelhead...

Plan ahead and book your Fall dates now! My calendar has already started to fill since this is a popular time of the season to pursue Steelhead. Here are the prime timeframes and possible river options:

Mid-Sept thru October: The Lower Yuba River is one of the first rivers in the Valley to receive the first pushes of Steelhead and HPs. With the earlier arrival of Salmon, the egg bite usually kicks off in mid-to-late September. The heaviest egg drop by Salmon occurs during the month of October. The Yuba has the Valley's strongest Steelhead due to its all wild strain. These fish are chrome bright and eager to eat nymphs and egg patterns. Of course, the Yuba Trout are in high gear feeding opportunistically as well.

November thru mid-December: The Lower Feather River is prime for Steelhead during this timeframe. With the spawning of King Salmon in the river, the Steelhead eagerly feed on the nymphs and eggs that are dislodged from the Salmon digging and maintaining their redds. In addition, the Lower Yuba continues to fish well during this timeframe and, often, some of the larger Steelhead will arrive during this timeframe.

So, please contact me if you would like to reserve a date(s) for this coming Fall! With the heavy snowpack and high runoff we had this spring, I am quite optimistic about the Steelhead run this coming fall. Until then, good fishing to you and Fish On!

American Shad and Steel (7/9)

2010-07-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Today, I had the pleasure of guiding father-daughter combo Joe and Megan from the Sonoma area. They had recently returned from a stellar Trout trip to Montana and Idaho and were looking to mix it up with some American River Shad. We got an early start, but the bite was tough in the AM because the water temps were down because it RAINED in Sac the night before. Yes, can you believe that it rained in July!!! UGH... this has been such a strange season of weather. We abandoned the Shad fishing for the AM hours and fished for HPs. To their surprised, we hooked a couple of HPs... one of which was quite large. Joe and Megan chuckled and admitted that this was a first for them... hooking Steelhead in July.

As the afternoon heat finally kicked in, so did the Shad grab. We ended up finishing the day with a nice session of Shad fishing. Shad love the heat, and so do Shad fisherman! All in all, it was good to finish strong with Shad. Thanks Joe and Megan for a very enjoyable day!

Good Times on the Yuba (7/8)

2010-07-08T18:47:00.000-07:00

Grant is all smiles about a bright Yuba Rainbow!

Today I had the pleasure of guiding Grant and Megan from Napa, CA. The weather was perfect and the river fished strong. This was Megan's first time fishing from a drift boat and she did a stellar job of learning and applying her new learned skills. Throughout the day, we found fish that were looking to eat BIG. Today's larger fish came on a #6 rubber legged stone... you gotta love it when the Yuba fish eat big! In addition, we did well on #16 PTs in the early AM and caddis pupa in the afternoon. This is one of my favorite times of the year on the Yuba... the river is running clear and cold from the continued runoff in the Sierra Mountains. Fish On!

Megan landed this FAT Rainbow in the tailout of a broad run...

Grant and a chunky Yuba Bow...

Yuba Photos (7/3)

2010-07-06T07:54:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Alan from SoCal for sending me a few pics of our day on the Yuba this past Saturday. He landed some beautiful Trout and dime-bright HPs... here are a couple of his pics:

Yuba / American Report (7/4)

2010-07-04T08:57:00.000-07:00

Denny with a Steelhead surprise on the American River

First, Happy 4th of July to everyone! Sorry for the delay in posting reports, but I have been busy guiding, managing the travel business, and, of course, changing diapers for my newborn baby Ella. So, this is a "catch-up" post with lots of good reports and info. To begin, I hope all of you beat-the-heat this past weekend by wet-wading somewhere nice. Many of our Valley rivers and the Sierra streams have really come into shape after a long wet-spring of high runoff. All of this water is boding well for our fisheries and the fishing has proved it the past couple of weeks.

I have been splitting time between the Lower Yuba and the Lower American Rivers.

This past week, I spent a couple of days guiding on the American chasing Shad, Stripers, and even Steelhead. The Shad bite proved to be a 50/50 scenario... when the days where in the mid-90s plus, the Shad grab was solid on small Pinkies and Sparkle Darts. Then, later in the week... the cooling trend caused the bite to subside and fishing for Shad got tougher. We managed a few Striped Bass up to 5 pounds on #1/0 Clousers (black over chart.) The sleeper species the past weeks was Steelhead... in a high water / runoff year, the relatively cooler water temps bring up HPs and even the odd Steelhead. This past week, my client Denny landed a nice Steelhead of 4 or 5 pounds. We also hooked number of HPs in the riffles and faster runs. Fly selection did not seem overly critical... just fish and egg pattern with a mayfly nymph imitation in the AM and caddis pupa in the PM. Overall, I look forward to our summer weather "actually" arriving here in the Valley... 100 degree temps will be great for the Shad fishing.

The best venue for guiding lately has been the Yuba... yes, the water has been high (3,200 - 4,500 CFS) over the past month, but the fishing has been very good overall, with my most recent trips being absolutely stellar. Similar to the American, these higher flows and cooler water temps bring up HPs and the odd Steelhead. So, in addition to the awesome Trout of the Yuba, we have also been hooking a number of HPs from 12 - 18 inches. Most fishing has been nymphing with an indicator from the boat. These higher flows make it difficult to wade fish, so all of our fishing has been done from the boat. The best flies have been RL stones, micro-mays, two-bit hookers, and caddis pupa. There has not been much surface activity yet... the late-evening caddis hatches should begin to kick into high gear soon, as well as the hopper bite when we have a more 100+ degree days. I am just now starting to see some hoppers jumping around on the banks, so the hopper bite is going to turn on any day now.

Last weekend, I guided father-daughter combo Lindsay and Bruce. Bruce made his way down from Seattle to, specifically, fish the Yuba with his daughter,... so, pressure was ON! I had previously fished with Lindsay on Yuba and it yielded some epic days last fall. So, she wanted to share the Yuba experience with her father. Well, thankfully the Yuba shimmered chrome once again. We had a solid day of fishing amidst the 4,000 CFS flows. We landed a number of really nice sized Trout and HPs while nymphing. The highlight of the day was when Lindsay hooked a VERY large Steelhead in a small depression in the tailout of a run. This fish porpoised next to the boat, before screaming down through a fast riffle and, unfortunately, entangling us in fallen tree limbs. UGH... this was a tough one to lose. Nonetheless, it was "the story of the day" and the fish that will keep Lindsay coming back to the Yuba for more!

Next, I had the pleasure of guiding 12 year old George Engel and family friend John Waldum on Friday. If you followed last autumn's posts (Nov. 23, 2009), George was the superstar that had an incredible day of fishing. Well, he returned to the Yuba and put on a clinic once again. His absolute favorite fly (he ties many versions of them), is the SJ worm. So, as the saying goes... "Fish what you have confidence in, right?" Well, he had a stellar day and we ended up hooking numerous nice sized Trout and HPs.

George lands a chunky HP...

George with one of his many Trout for the day... way to go George!

Finally, on Saturday I had the pleasure of guiding Alan from SoCal. Although he had been fly fishing for years, this was his first drift boat trip. Well, he was a natural and picked up the nuances of this type of fishing very quickly. He was a great student of the game and I was impressed that he was actually taking notes as I described the tactics and techniques of "doing it right". Well, his attentiveness and application paid off... he had as good a day as any angler could hope for on the Yuba. We hooked countless fish this day... and many nice sized fish too. To add, we had great conversation and weather throughout the day... it was a fine day to be on the Yuba.

Well, that is all for now... I will report again this coming week. Take care and I look forward to our day on the water this summer... Fish On!

Stripers UP... Shad DOWN this week...

2010-06-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

Carlo with a nice bright American River "Line-Side"

Well, this has been a roller-coaster ride for fishing the past couple of weeks on the American River. The Shad fishing was decent the week before last with the warmer weather,... water temps were increasing each day and the Shad grab was improving each day. Then, this past week the weather temps turned downward once again!!!... geez, will our late-spring conditions ever arrive? This caused the water temps to drop a few degrees and the Shad bite got tough this past week. Now, with warmer weather arriving in the 10 day forecast we will see the Shad bite improve once again. On yesterday's float, the water was quite clear in the AM hours and allowed us to see the schools/pods of Shad... there are good numbers of Shad in the system now, but now we just need an increase in water temps to get them to be "grabbier". With 90 degree temps in this weekend's forecast, this should kickoff the Shad grab once again.

On the otherhand, the Striper fishing was decent this past week. There are a lot of shaker and schoolie sized Stripers, with a few larger fish mixed in. We landed a dozen Stripes up to 5 pounds yesterday. However, we did get few follows by a few larger Stripers in the 8 - 15 pound range. The fly of choice was a jig-hook clouser in black over chartreuse (#1/0) fished on a heavy shooting head.

Well, the Central Valley rivers are in the midst of the snowmelt runoff stage. The American fishes well through this higher flow (currently 8500 CFS), while the Yuba is in a holding pattern for fishing with current flows between 5500 CFS and 7000 CFS during runoff. As soon as the Yuba drops below 4000 CFS, I will be doing split time between the American and Yuba. Lots of water this year and that is a blessing for our rivers and fishing.

Take care, be safe on the water, and Fish On!

Go for the Shad GRAB! (6/4)

2010-06-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

Many of us have been waiting for the Shad grab to start this season. Some of the Shad arrived their natal rivers on-time this spring,... but the unusually cool spring weather kept the water temps cold and hindered the Shad's "grabiness". Well, the warmer weather of late has finally kicked the bite into action. And, along with the recent warmer temps more and more Shad are entering the river system each day.

I will be guiding the Lower American for Shad and Stripers for much of June. Primetime for Shad is finally here, and there is even the opportunity to pursue Stripers as a combo venture. Please drop me a line if you are interested... my available dates are filling up now. Fish On!

High water and good times on the Yuba...

2010-06-03T22:31:00.000-07:00

John with a chromer HP!

Well, I have been back on the water a number of days since my last report and fishing has been strong. Overall, the increase in the flows on the Yuba have been wonderful for the river and its fish. It is normal for flows to run higher during this timeframe due to a couple of factors - agriculture demands and snow-melt runoff/flood-control. These higher flows freshen up the Yuba after a long fall/winter season of relatively low flows. With the higher flows of late, we have been hooking a decent number of HPs. A little known fact is that each year when the flows increase during the spring, it brings a shot of HPs into the river system. This is not unique to the Yuba... it occurs in many of our Central Valley rivers. For example, there are some nice HPs that have been landed on the American River too lately. Many shad anglers have been surprised to hook these HPs while swinging shad flies... a nice by-catch for sure!

OK, back to the Yuba... last week, I had the pleasure of guiding my long time customer Guy and his friend Sam. We had stellar nymph fishing and landed a number of nice sized Trout and HPs up to 20 inches. The hot flies were PMD nymph imitations (Two Bit Hooker and Mighty Mite) and caddis pupa (Super Pupa).

Also last week, I had the pleasure of guiding brothers Mark and Steve from the Bay Area. Mark booked the trip to introduce his bro to fly fishing. Well, I just received a nice message from Steve saying that he is "hooked on fly fishing" now. That day, we worked hard for our fish and hooked a fair number of Trout and HPs up to 19 inches. Unfortunately, this day we saw lots of LDRs... UGH. Mark lost a really nice Steelhead (yes, adult) after chasing it down to the next run. He fought it well surviving a few acrobatic jumps, only to have the fish wrap us on a snag when it reached deeper water (darn beavers!) Anyhow, it was great to introduce Steve to our sport of fly fishing... he landed some nice fish that day and fought them well for a novice. All of the nymphing... with hot flies being the Mighty Mite, caddis pupa, and SJWs.

Earlier this week, I guided Finn and Jake from L.A. (SoCal)... these fellas were SoCal surf fly anglers and were new to the nymphing game. They booked the trip because they heard the Yuba had the "hardest fishing Bows in the state!" Well, on this day the fish held to their reputation with consistent hard fighting fish action all day. We were blessed with a couple of fish of 20 and 21 inches! Also, we landed a fair number of smolts... nice to see that the future generations are alive and well. As for flies... this day was quite odd. None of the flies that worked so well last week enticed fish this day. The best fly was an Iron Sally... I did not see any Yellow Sallys hatching, but the fish must have been seeing them! Great day on the water... good times and good laughs.

Finally, today I had the pleasure of guiding my long time customer John and his friend Milt. The flow rate had increased to 3,250 CFS and I knew that we would have to fish hard to get our flies down to the fish. We covered all bases and fished leader systems of 10 foot on the short side, to 15 feet on the long side. In some runs, a deep water nymphing setup we essential. Fishing 10 foot rods was critical. All of this yielded and EXCELLENT day of fishing. The fish were eating small today... #16/18 on 5x tippet. We landed fish up to 18 inches, many of which were HPs fresh from the salt (LIVE sea lice all over the fins). We hooked two mystery fish that fought us strong and powerful... unfortunately, these fish broke us off on long powerful runs across the river. Overall, this was a great day of fishing. The top flies were the Iron Sally and Mighty Mite.

A great week of fishing for sure... low water - high water, the Yuba never ceases to amaze me with its beautiful hard fighting fish. See you on the water!... Fish On!

Milt with a chuncky Bow...

Belated Reports for the Yuba and other wonderful news!

2010-05-17T22:32:00.000-07:00

My greatest catch of a lifetime... baby Ella

Hello Anglers!

I must first start with an apology for the looooong delay in posting fishing reports for April and May. As you can see above, I had to focus my off-the-water energy on family time! Leslie's final weeks before delivery were somewhat rough, so when I was not on the river I was tending to her prego needs. Well, on May 8th (and to our surprise!), baby Ella was born three weeks early! Thankfully, both baby and mommy are doing just fine. For those of you who had trips booked around this time frame, I appreciate your understanding and flexibility in rescheduling your trips. I am back on the river guiding starting May 24th... thank you for your patience!

The past month and a half of guiding has been on the Lower Yuba... there were some intense hatches (PMDs, March Browns, Yellow Sallies, etc.) during the month of April and that yielded some very good fishing overall. Albeit, some days were tough to match-the-hatch on dries, and on others the surface action was stellar. That is the challenge of the Yuba when it comes to dry fly fishing! The nymph bite was quite consistent through the month and even produces a few small dime-bright Steelhead!

The bite in early May was stellar! With the higher flows, it brought up some HPs that were HOT! We found them schooled up in some runs and that offered some incredible sessions of fishing during the day. My last day guided before baby Ella was born was on May 5th with my long time client Nana and her friend Jennifer. We had incredible fishing that day on nymphs (caddis pupa and PTs).

Well, thanks for checking in with me... I will be more consistent with posting reports in the coming weeks. I need something to do between feeding times for baby Ella! ;-) Fish On (and sleep on...)

Chuck lands a nice one on a rainy day in April!

George lands a chunky bow...

Rich and a hard fighting Yuba bow!

Nana lands a chucky HP!

Jennifer and one of her many HPs for the day...

Big Trout for Jen!

Jen on FIRE!

Spotted Yuba Bow!

Quality Time on the Yuba (3/26-27)

2010-03-30T22:05:00.000-07:00

A chunky chromer landed while nymphing shallow...

This past week, I fished with father-son team, Fritz and Jeff, from Fresno, CA. I always appreciate days on the river like this, since I know that quality time spent with family in the great outdoors is a wonderful thing. I, as well, enjoy fishing with my father and it always yields cherished memories that we reminisce about often.

As for the fishing, we landed some really nice sized Trout and HPs. All fish were landed with nymphing setups, with the producing flies being the ShopVac, Gidget (brown), and caddis pupa (tan). The overall numbers of fish landed was low, but again, the quality of the Yuba fish never ceases to amaze me. There were sporadic fish feeding on the surface, but we were not able to fool any fish on top.

Thanks Fritz and Jeff for a very enjoyable time on the water! Fish On!

Fritz lands a beautiful Yuba Bow...

Jeff is all smiles about landing a beefy Yuba Trout...

Yuba Quality! (3/17-18)

2010-03-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

The day started with a double in the net!

The past couple of days have been a good time on the Yuba... I fished with friends Chuck and Don from Fresno, CA. We had the most beautiful weather of the season... with temps approaching 80 degrees and Poppies beginning to bloom, it sure was a relaxing time on the river. We had good fishing and lots of laughs!

The AM bite was slow on both days... we changed flies numerous times and were only able to entice a few fish each morning. However, as the day began to warm the bite became much more consistent. We ended up landing some quality fish each day including some nice Trout and fresh-from-the-salt HPs. We landed a few HPs that had live sea-lice still attached to the tail and/or caudal fin. Many of these fish were landed in deep pools.

The best flies the past couple of days were midge pupa, PTs, Gidgets, Two-Bit-Hookers (red), and caddis pupa (tan). It is this time of the season when one has to choose fly selection from hour to hour based on the hatches in progress. Throughout the day, the hatch pattern seemed to be midges, PMDs, March Browns, PMDs, and then caddis. As a result, we were constantly changing fly selection to match the hatch.

Chuck lands a quality fish... gorgeous!

A water snake visited us during lunch...

Don with a super bright HP!

This is the largest rock ever landed on a fly in my boat... this is a true story!

A nice chromer landed in a deep pool on the Yuba...

A change in flow rate and stellar fishing... (3/6)

2010-03-06T21:45:00.000-08:00

Chris starts the day with a Yuba beauty...

Today was a pure joy meeting and fishing with new clients, Don and Chris. These two anglers have done their fair share of trout fishing around the US, but today they were in for a real treat on the Yuba!

Last evening, the flows out of Englebright Dam plummeted from about 2,300 cfs to 1,200. With such a drastic change, one can never predict how the fish will react and what "mood" they will be in. Well, lucky for us the fishing turned out to be great for larger than average sized bows and HPs! The morning started out slow, but the midday bite was ON. The fish were supercharged and, as a result, we lost our share of very large fish. In one particular hot-spot, we lost 4 jumbo fish in a row... oh well, better to have had them on, than not at all.

We hooked a 50/50 mix of nice sized trout and HPs. The hot patterns were the same as yesterday's trip... egg patterns and SJWs. We were fortunate to have mostly overcast conditions throughout the day, so we fished shallower runs and flats. This is where we hooked most of our nice sized fish. We did have a couple of mystery fish breakoffs too.

Well, it was a stellar day on the Yuba... the fish are fat, healthy, and full of fight!

A gorgeous Yuba bow...

Don lands a nice bow...

Chris showing a yellow bellied Rainbow...

Don and a nice male bow...

Fish head shot...

Friends and Fishing on the Yuba (3/5)

2010-03-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Beautiful Yuba River Rainbow...

Today I had the pleasure of guiding my long time friends and customers, Denny and George, of San Jose, CA. Fishing with these two anglers is always a day filled with fun, jokes, banter, and all of the laughter one can barely handle in a day. It was a great reunion and the fishing helped celebrate our years of friendship.

A couple of days prior to our trip, the Yuba outflow was bumped to 2,300 cfs... thankfully, there was one day in between for the river to clear and settle before our trip. The river had a beautiful green Steelhead tint to it. Due to the higher flows, we decided to nymph all day... the river fished well on egg patterns, two-bit hookers, and SJWs. The fish were positioned anywhere there was softer water present. Many runs that had prime water depth and speed at 1,100 cfs, were now too fast to fish and hold fish. The fish seemed to relocate and were on the feed. We landed mostly trout and a few HPs up to 19 inches. The fish fought vigorously and used the heavy current to their advantage.

The Yuba never ceases to amaze me... the fish are so robust this time of the season. Their diet is protein-packed with a plentiful food supply of Skawla Stones and fry. In addition, we are now starting to see a few March Browns, PMDs, and caddis beginning to get active with the warmer days. This fish were not looking up today (probably because of the increased flows), but were definitely eating down below.

On the river again tomorrow... will post tomorrows fishing report too. Fish On!

Denny displaying a Yuba gem...

Good eats and good fishing on the Yuba... (2/28)

2010-03-04T19:46:00.000-08:00

Yum, a breakfast burrito and homemade soup for our meals on the Yuba... and oh, fishing was good too!

Well, today I had the pleasure of guiding my good friends, Dave and Aaron Hanke, on the Yuba. It has been a few years since I fished with them and it was great to be on the water this father and son combo. We found a nice window of opportunity to fish the Yuba between storms and the water levels and clarity turned out to be just right. The flow from the Englebright were bumped a bit and there was only about 100cfs coming out Deer Creek. We started the day nymphing with rubber leg stones, SJW, and march brown nymphs. We hooked a few really nice sized HPs on the march brown nymph and rubber legs. Later in the AM, we switched to micro golden stone patterns and started to pickup more fish. It was great... all of the fish we were landing were in the 15 - 20 inch class and were totally robust. It is apparent that these fishing are feeding well this winter season.

Around lunch time, Dave and Aaron got out and swung one of my favorite runs and we had a couple of fish grab on the olive zonker. None were brought to hand, but Dave said that one of the fish absolutely slammed his fly and after 4 or 5 headshakes was off. At about that time, some Skwalas were crawling around on the banks, flying around, and some fish were taking them off the surface. Aaron fooled a couple of fish to the fly, but none connected.

In the afternoon, the nymph bite continued and we began hitting them on SJWs. In the lower half of the river, we fished the deep tanky water and fooled a few jumbo rainbows... some of the fattest that I have seen this season. All in all, it was a productive relaxing day with Dave and Aaron.

In final, you are probably wondering why I am referring to "Good eats..." and have posted a picture of signage. Well, I was completely spoiled today because Dave Hanke and his wife, Rose, are owner / operators of Sacramento's BEST Southwestern cafe - Nopalitos Cafe. And, they were kind enough to relieve me of providing my usual lunch food in lieu of breakfast burritos and homemade soup! Sure beats my daily guide food of deli sandwiches and chips! If you have never eaten at Nopalitos, you owe it to yourself to give it a try... you won't be disappointed.

Well, good eats and good fishing on the Yuba this past week. I am on the river for the next few days and will report more. Fish On!

Father and son, Dave and Aaron...

Good Times on the Yuba! (2/17)

2010-02-22T00:43:00.000-08:00

Rick lands a chromer while deep nymphing...

Good times on the Yuba! Today I fished with long time friends and clients, Rob and Rick from Modesto, CA. Each time I fish with these two, I can be assured of good laughs, great conversation, and stellar fishing... this adds up to good fish karma. In the AM, there was a lot of banter in the boat as one angler had the knack for hooking numerous quality fish and misfortune of "LDR'ing" all of them... 0 for 6 to start!... fishing is just this way sometimes. And of course, when the 7th fish hooked was finally landed, the tide turned and every single fish hooked thereafter was landed! The Yuba Trout and Chromers are super strong...

Once again, the Yuba kicked out some super quality fish today... we hooked a number of fish between 15 and 20 inches while nymphing from the drift boat. Most of largest fish were hooked in deep water slots and holes. Yes, 12 - 14 foot leaders were the norm in some spots. The Yuba is fascinating and challenging this way... in days previous, most of the big fish were hooked in shallower runs and riffles. Today, it was all about fishing deep.

The hot bugs today were Skwala nymphs, SJWs, and very slender baetis patterns (size 18). The water clarity has been improving, so we rigged down to 5X on the small flies... this improved our hook up ratio. The Yuba fish are fat and healthy... I am continually amazed at the quality of the Trout and Steelhead in this river.

Day 2 in the NET!!! (2/16)

2010-02-17T22:50:00.000-08:00

Well, today was day 2 of fishing on the Yuba with Mark and Don of Fresno, CA. The morning started out slower than yesterday, but we finished strong with good action from midday onwards. The water clarity was noticeably clearer than yesterday. We adjusted by downsizing our flies and going to lighter tippet - SUCCESS! We hooked a mix of Trout and HPs. The top producing flies were the same as yesterday's report... Fish On!

Don lands a nice Yuba Bow...

Mark going big on Yuba River HPs...

Don lands a chromer...

Variety on the Yuba! (2/15)

2010-02-15T22:37:00.000-08:00

Don and Mark displaying a "double"...

Wow... today was a gorgeous day on the Yuba. It felt like spring with warm temps of almost 70 degrees. And along with the warm temps was the obvious bug movement in the river. The Yuba fished strong today,... but the most amazing fact of the day was that we hooked fish on almost every fly that we fished today... and we fished a lot of flies! Rubber legs, PTs, egg patterns, micro stones, SJWs, micro-mays, mighty-mays, and others.

All of our fish were landed with nymphing tactics. We tried to fish dries and strip streamers, but were not able to entice any fish on these techniques. The water has about 3 feet of visibility and is in prime shape. Adding spice to the day was the observance of an osprey flying with a trout in its talons, a red tailed hawk, and a mature bald eagle with an expansive wingspan. It was a gorgeous day in many respects.

Don is all smiles with a nice bright fish...

Don lands a chunky bright HP...

The catch of a lifetime... not many anglers can say they landed a rock on a fly?!

Mark lands a jumbo Yuba chromer...

Yuba and Skwala Stoneflies...

2010-02-10T22:02:00.000-08:00

Bruce displaying his nice Yuba Bow fooled by a Skwala dry fly...

This past week, I had the pleasure of guiding my good friends and long time customers Bruce and Sallye of Ione, CA. It is always nice to guide couples that equally enjoy a day of fly fishing.

We hooked a number of small HPs nymphing. Skwala nymphs continue to be the best pattern when nymphing. The fish are definitely keying in on these nymphs. In the afternoon, we worked the banks with Skwala dries and fooled a few nice fish to the fly. As always, it is a pure joy to be able to take these Yuba fish on the surface. Bruce hooked and landed the best fish of the day after some incredible acrobatics by this jumbo trout.

The water is still colored from the past rain storms, but visibility is improving each day. This is my favorite time of the year to fish the Yuba... with each rainstorm and blowout, you just know that some Steelhead migrate to this river in these conditions. Some of the largest Steelhead of the year are landed during the spring months in my boat. Mix this with the many dry fly opportunities and you have a season of variety in both fishing techniques and size of fish. Keep you fly in the water and Fish On!

A new fly angler is "hooked!"

2010-02-07T01:52:00.000-08:00

Jeremy with one of his many Yuba fish landed last week...

First of all, sorry for the delay in posting reports lately. I spent a couple of weeks in the Amazon fishing for Peacock Bass during mid-January. Needless to say, I have been trying to catch up on all of my work and "honey-do's"! Anyway, if you want to read my complete trip report, please visit my FishBlog post for the Amazon trip.

OK, on to the fishing report from the past couple of weeks.

Lower American River:

UGH... the Steelhead action has been slow. Even after the heavy rainstorms in January, the good day -to- tough day ratio has been low. One day would be good fishing with a few adults hooked, followed by a couple of tough trips with 1 or zero adults. So far, the Steelhead counts at the Nimbus hatchery have been quite low this season. Let's hope the Springer run will be stronger... they should be arriving any day now.

Lower Yuba River:

The January rains have been exactly what the Yuba fish needed. The river has been off-color, but still has enough visibility for good fishing. The Skwala Stonefly hatch is underway and some anglers have been able to fool a few Trout/HPs each trip. In the afternoon, fish tight to the bank with a Skwala Stone dry that rides low in the surface film. Fish are positioning near bank side vegetation and looking for this bug. Also, in the morning hours the fish are have been eating Skwala nymphs (size 12). This is the dominant hatch now and most fish hooked have been on patterns resembling this unique bug. If you want to see some amazing closeup photos of the Yuba River Skwalas, please visit Andy Guibord's ZenFolio Gallery.

Next, I recently fished with my long time customer Don V. from Sacramento, CA. Don brought along his friend, Jeremy, to experience fly fishing for the first time. To make a long story short, Jeremy is HOOKED! on fly fishing. He had an incredible day of fishing on the Yuba and hooked a number of chrome bright fish while nymphing. Jeremy lost a few fish early in the day, but quickly advanced in his learning curve and ended up landing all of his fish in the afternoon. Don and I were grinning throughout the day as we watched Jeremy's face light up with each hookup. Of course, at the end of the day I had to explain to him that fly fishing is not always like today!

Don lands a bright fish while shallow water nymphing...

Beautiful fish on the Yuba this winter...

New Year Fishing Report: Yuba and American Rivers

2010-01-09T16:09:00.000-08:00

Victor displaying a nice American River Steelhead

To start, I hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year celebration. Sorry for getting behind on my trip reports, but the holiday family schedule took priority and I am now just getting back on track with admin work. Anyway, I was on the Yuba during the holiday and have now been on the American since the new year. The past few weeks finally feels like winter, minus the much needed rain. So, here is the fishing report from the past few weeks:

Lower Yuba River (last week of Dec.): during the holiday break, the Yuba was in good winter fashion with BWO's coming off midday. Consequently, there was some fairly good dry fly action with Parachute BWO's (#14-16) and Hackle-Stacker (olive #16). Also, we saw an early glimpse of the Skwala Stonefly hatch with a few hugging the willows. Nymph fishing was good with midge pupa (#20) in the early AM and baetis patterns (#18) the rest of the day. We did not hook any confirmed Steelhead, but did land some nice trout up to 21 inches.

Lower American River (Jan. 1 to current): the "A" has been fishing typical for winter Steelhead. Some days tough, and some days quite rewarding. Fishing has been a trophy hunt, knowing that we will need to work hard for our fish. The best day of fishing occurred this past week with clients Victor and John from the Bay Area. We hooked 4 adults. The half pounder bite has been slower than normal. The bite has been random when it comes to flies... egg patterns, caddis larva, and baetis nymphs. In past trips, most adult Steelies have been eating small... really small. #16 Might Mites, FBPTs, Gidgets, and Copper Johns on 4X tippet. Needless to say, we have incurred our fair share of break-offs lately from winter fish. The no rain, low, clear water conditions demand smaller flies to fool these fish.

The American River Steelhead season will continue up to early March. I have no more available dates in January, but still have some availability in February if you want to pursue dry fly action on the Yuba or a jumbo winter Steelhead on the American. Fish On!

John with a girthy wild chromer...

Steelhead are a beautiful fish...

Victor with a nice Steelie landed on a #16...

Happy New Year to Everyone!

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-08:00

Angling On The Fly wishes everyone a Happy New Year! I appreciate your business in the year's past, and now look forward to fishing with you again in 2010! Best Wishes to all of you in 2010 and Fish On to everyone!

Winter Steelhead - BOOK NOW!

2009-12-23T00:40:00.001-08:00

Terry Thomas with a chrome American River winter Steelhead...

If you are interested in fishing for some of the Central Valley's largest Steelhead, look no further than the American River. Each winter, this strain of Steelhead returns to the American River and can often reach double-digit proportions. In addition, February also brings the arrival of the "Springers" (or BlueBack) Steelhead - a smaller (3 - 6 pounds), but super hard-fighting strain of Steelhead. The prime months to pursue these fish is from Jan. 1 thru mid-March.

If you are interested in pursuing these winter chromers, please contact me ASAP. Many of my available dates are beginning to book up. Have a Happy Holiday Season and a Fish On New Year!

Back on the Yuba and Fish On! (12/18/09)

2009-12-19T00:13:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous Yuba Bow...

What a grand reunion with long time customers, Rick and Rob from Modesto, CA. To start, we had a day of solitude on the Yuba... yes, we were the only drift boat on the river today and the fish showed in a variety of ways. The early AM was VERY cold and foggy... yes, numb fingers and lock-jawed fish. As the morning began to warm, so did the fishing. We hooked a number of HPs, including a couple that rose to a BWO parachute dry. The highlight of the day is when Rob hooked and landed one of the nicest Yuba Rainbow Trout that I have seen in a long time. It put up an incredible fight with some airborne antics before finally surrendering to the net.

Today's fish were definitely focused on baetis nymphs... PTs, Gidgets, Might Mites... all small (size 18 - 20). The warmest part of the day fished best. We swung fry patterns, but did not connect with any takers... may be a bit early for the "fry hatch".

To give you a perspective, Rob and I are 6'2" plus and mid-200s in weight... this was a jumbo Yuba Trout!

Rob with a dry fly caught HP...

Fly Fishing's Next Generation... (11/23/09)

2009-11-23T16:58:00.000-08:00

George lands a nice Yuba HP with sea-lice...

Every so often, I have the pleasure of guiding anglers of different generations. Today, I guided my long time friend, George, and his 11 year old grandson, George (aka "Lil'George). I always admire those anglers that do their part to interest youngsters in our great sport of fly fishing. This was lil'George's third fishing trip on a drift boat and today would prove to be a day that has him "hooked for a lifetime".

From the start, young George did a great job of learning the technical nymphing game on the Yuba. It was refreshing to see his enthusiasm and optimism throughout the day... EVERY dip, bob, or twitch of the indicator was A FISH! in George's mind. Honestly, I believe if a fish was even "thinking" about eating his fly, he would set the hook and Fish On! From a guide's perspective, this is the absolute best attitude that an angler can have... and George's optimism yielded many fish hooked and landed. He landed a number of nice Trout and HPs.

The highlight of the day was when young George hooked a behemoth chromer... we had to chase this fish downriver into the next run. He did a great job of keeping the pressure and letting the fish run when it tried to flee. In the end, we brought this very large fish to hand and quickly released it. Yes, this was young George's largest fish ever landed... and better yet, it was the largest fish landed in my boat this season! Way to go George!

The motto for the day was to fish small... very small. The fish wanted 18s and 20s on 5X... amazingly, we broke off very few fish. Midges and baetis patterns were the ticket to entice many of the fish. There is some dry activity during the midday (mayflies) and late afternoon (caddis).

Lil'George and a nice Yuba Bow...

George and I studying the Yuba entomology... amazing amount of bug life in the Yuba!

George displaying some of his specimens that he will tie at the vice this week...

Matching the hatch...

George and George spending quality fishing time on the Yuba...

Rain in the forecast... THANK YOU weatherman! (11/20/09)

2009-11-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

Don with a nice Yuba Steelhead...

Today, I fished with my long-time customer Don of Sacramento, CA... it had been a few years since we last fished together, so it was great catch up with him about his latest fishing adventures.

Well, after yesterday's tough day of fishing, I was very hopeful and optimistic about today since there was rain in the forecast. When we started out this morning, the rain had not arrived yet... we fished for a few hours and hooked a fish here and there - working hard for the fish. I kept looking at the sky and wondered (and prayed!) for the rain to arrive. In the late AM, the fish gods answered and the rain came. Like a light switch flipping to the ON position, the bite was ON! It was amazing to experience ALL species kick into high gear when the rain started... Trout, HPs, Steelhead, and Suckers - all were on the grab. We ended up hooking a number of nice fish and were lucky to land some of them. On the last cast of the day, Don hooked and landed a Steelhead on a Copper John. It was a great way to finish a great day of fishing on the Yuba... thank you Don and thank you RAIN!

Don and a big'ol Yuba Trout...

A hot HP with sea lice...

Dues were paid,... but rewarded with camaraderie (11/19/09)

2009-11-19T22:16:00.000-08:00

This may sound like an oxymoron,... but this was truly the most fun day of slow fishing that I have ever had. A few times a year, Ameriprise financial adviser, Derek Seo, treats a few of his clients to a fun day of fishing with me. Wow, since when has your adviser taken you fishing...? Derek truly knows how to take care of his clients! Well, Ryan Miller and I guided Derek and his three clients today.

Unfortunately,... fishing-wise, this was the toughest day of fishing this season on the Yuba... not sure why, but I know the river needs a dose of rain to freshen up the fish and habitat. We fished hard all day and only landed a few Trout. Ryan and I had everyone throw every fly imaginable (nymphs, streamers, etc...) and the fish would not cooperate. I guess this was the law-of-averages... we were due for a tough day after a season of such good fishing.

Well, thankfully everyone in this group was out to just have a good time on the river with fishing as a bonus. Honestly, I can not recall a day when I laughed more than today. Today was camaraderie at it best... all smiles, all day long. Thanks Derek, Wayne, Peter, and Mitsu for a really fun day on the water.

Mitsu, Wayne, Peter, and Derek... good times on the horizon

Good Times and Good Fishing (11/15-16/09)

2009-11-16T21:09:00.000-08:00

Triple "Doubles" on Day One!

For the past couple of days, I had the pleasure of guiding Rudd and Lindsay (Bay Area, CA) on the Yuba River. Both are long time fishing pals and this was their first time fishing the Yuba.

On day 1, Lindsay definitely had the hot rod and landed a quantity of Trout and HPs. However, in typical fashion (according to Rudd), he said that we would land the biggest fish of the day. And, by golly... Rudd did come through on his prediction! Of course, these two have a number of years fishing together, so it only comes natural that the course of fishing mojo will be revealed on a given day. Rudd ended up landing a couple of fish that were sizable and most memorable.

Rudd's first big fish was awesome... as we approached "the spot", I told them that there was an undercut bank and if they could get their cast to lay in the perfect upstream line, they might... just might be able to fool one of two BIG resident trout that live in this spot. I told them it was a one shot deal, since these fish only give you one chance. Well, we drifted our flies through and got no interest. My explanation of the spot peaked Rudd's interest and he exclaimed that he wanted another shot at this spot. Well,... to make a long story short, we made second pass and WHAM!... Fish On. Rudd landed this a nice Trout on a big rubber legged stone. Rudd's second big fish came to his fly while Lindsay was fighting her fish (one of three "doubles" on this day). I quickly netted Lindsay's HP and worked with Rudd to land his trophy Yuba Trout in this fast section of river. It was a beautiful fish of 20 inches... great fight and great to have a double!

Day 2 proved to be a "work day" for us... the bite was tougher and we had to work for the fish. The fished ate small on this day, so we were fishing a variety of #18 - #20 flies on 5X tippet. We had a few breakoffs from mystery fish, but did land a few fish that were of nice size. We swung a couple of runs with no success. The Yuba showed its "moodiness" today, but it did not affect our spirit and we still had a good time on the river.

Thank you Rudd and Lindsay for a fun two days on the Yuba!

Lindsay lands a nice Trout along the clay banks...

Rudd and a nice Trout fooled by going big...

Lindsay swinging a prime run on the Yuba...

A bit of fishing banter on the river today...

What a difference a day makes... (11/11-12/2009)

2009-11-12T20:00:00.000-08:00

Chuck with a stray Feather River Steelhead (fin-clipped)...

For the past two days, I fished with Don and Chuck of Fresno, CA. In addition to good times and humor (yes, lots of laughter with these two gents), they got to experience the complete spectrum of "moods" of the Yuba River. From tough periods of fishing, to crazed sessions of reel-screaming runs of Yuba behemoths... Don and Chuck experienced this and everything in between. Here is the daily play-by-play...

Day 1: UGH... this day started out like a repeat (or worse) of the previous morning of guiding. We fished the first three runs, changed flies X number of times, and hook this many fish... nada, zilch,... the big "bagel". Hmmm,... was the water just "stale" from no recent rains?... was the incoming front causing barometric changes?... or had the fish all moved above the bridge? Irregardless, I was "on-the-job" and had to figure this out... luckily, by the fourth run, we started hooking a few fish.. but all small. We even changed up tactics and swung streamers with no results. Luckily for us, the fishing got progressively better as the day went on. Also, we ended up hooking two Steelhead including a fin-clipped fish. The highlight of the day was when Chuck hooked a big Trout in a very shallow flat... it made two reel-screaming runs and jumps across the river,... VERY far across the river. This was one of the hottest fish I had ever seen on the Yuba. The Yuba never ceases to amaze me with the strength and stamina of its fish. As the day came to a close, we discussed the plans for day 2 and were encouraged by the rain in the forecast... please,... please rain!

Day 2: Our wishes were answered... big time! In the first run of the day we hooked fish... multiple fish. YAHOO! It had rained in the early AM hours and this must have kicked the fish into high gear. We had a consistent bite throughout the day and landed some really nice HPs during the high-sun hours. In the afternoon, we landed some very nice sized Trout up to 20 inches. Also, Don hooked a very stout Steelhead that threw the hook when it cartwheeled across the surface and landed back in the water with a loud splat. It was a very large fish that bent out his #16 hare ear. Later in the afternoon, Chuck went on a hot-streak and hooked multiple nice sized HPs and Trout from this one run. However, what we most remember is Chuck's fish that was "the-one-that-got-away..." He hooked a huge fish that completely ripped him and broke off... this fish took off so quickly that the line threw a rooster tail as it sprinted up river with authority. This was a very large fish that decided to eat a small nymph. Yes, big fish on small flies on the Yuba...

In final, thanks to Don and Chuck for a most memorable two days of fishing on the Yuba... Fish On!

Don and I with a beautiful Rainbow Trout...

Chuck lands a nice HP...

Chuck and John taking a break during lunch...

The mysterious Yuba... (11/10/09)

2009-11-10T21:12:00.000-08:00

Gorgeous Yuba Rainbow

Well, today was another "working day" on the Yuba. I fished with my long time friends and customers Chuck and Denny from San Jose, CA. As the day started, we had the seemingly perfect fishing conditions with muted lighting (cloudy), no wind, and a "fishy" feel in the air. However,... the fish seemed to have another agenda during the morning fishing session. The morning bite was tough and yielded just a few fish to hand (all small). We fish numerous patterns and did our best to try to "unlock the code"... random tiny patterns (#18 or #20) worked in various runs, but the AM bite was definitely off.

As a guide, I try to think "out-of-the-box" when we experience a tough bite like this. So, I thought that we should swing the pendulum to the other spectrum of the fly scale. If it was a tough bite on small flies (only yielding small fish), then maybe... just maybe if we showed the fish a BIG meal (ie. streamer) we would be rewarded with at least a quality specimen. Well, it paid off for Chuck... he got absolutely ripped by an awesome Trout while fishing a baby Rainbow streamer. It was an awesome fight that ended in fish to hand.

The afternoon bite did pickup a bit... but is was not a consistent bite. We found the biters in a few runs and each yielded some nice Trout and a few HPs. The egg bite is waning and the fish seem to be going back to typical trout behavior based on hatch schedules. All in all, it was fun day and we worked hard for each fish landed... such is the Yuba at times.

Chuck with a jumbo Trout landed on a streamer...

A blue collar day... (11/5/09)

2009-11-05T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today, I fished with my longtime friends and customers Bruce and Sallye on the Lower Yuba. We got a late start on the river today and worked hard to hook just a few fish during the morning fishing session - the fish that we hooked were taking small mayfly nymph patterns. When the cloud cover rolled in during the early afternoon, we began to get a more consistent bite and landed Trout and half-pounders on baetis and egg patterns. We did not hook any verified Steelhead today, but did land Trout and HPs up to 16 inches. Overall, the fishing a bit slower today... we worked hard for our fish and needed to fish different fly patterns to entice them.

It is apparent that the salmon on redds are thinning out and the Trout seem to be falling back into their usual holding and feeding lies. I believe that, with the warm weather we have been experiencing and resulting warmer water temps, we should experience the alevin emergence sometime during the next few weeks.

A great reunion on the Yuba... (11/4/09)

2009-11-04T20:49:00.000-08:00

In years past, I fished with my friends and customers Russ and George during the fall season. Today, it was great to reunite with them once again on the Yuba River. They fished hard and enticed a number of Trout and half-pounders throughout the day... Small mayfly nymphs proved to be the best fly today. We did hook a few Trout/HPs on egg patterns, but the egg bite was mediocre at best. We had a couple of mystery break-offs from very powerful fish... hmmm, jumbo Trout or Steelhead???... we will never know. Big fish eat small flies on the Yuba...

Lately, the fish have been demanding very small nymphs midday (#18s and #20s). In the afternoon, there has been a caddis hatch with fish rising in some runs and tailouts. If you are game for "mixing it up", you can extend your opportunities to fool Yuba River fish with soft hackles, dries, and streamers. Get out there and fish!

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 23, 2009)

2009-10-23T23:36:00.000-07:00

Ryan Miller displaying Kent's solid Rainbow...

Well,... two boats equals double the fun! Today, I guided with Ryan Miller of Northern Waters Fly Fishing. We had 4 anglers in the group including Derek Seo of Ameriprise Financial and his customers/friends Kent, Mark, and Dick. It was a great day on the river with persistence paying off with some really nice Trout landed during the day. Almost everyone in the group landed fish around 20 inches as their fish of the day.

The egg bite started off strong in the early AM and kicked back into action in the late afternoon. During the midday bite, we used almost everything we had in our box... we downsized and that seem to be the ticket to getting bit during the midday doldrums. On this day, anything small and red seemed to be what the fish were looking for at times. Not sure what that was about, but one of HB's patterns proved to be a hot fly during this part of the day.

Also, we caught the afternoon caddis emergence and fooled a trout on an emerger caddis pattern swung in the current. This is a very technical stage of the hatch to fish, but is always exciting to see how many fishing are actually in some of the runs on the Yuba... yes, humbling to say the least.

Well, I am off to the Klamath and Rogue to fun fish with friends next week. I will post a report or two from there. Stay tight and Fish On!

Keith

Derek showing chrome in the early evening...

Mark had the "hot stick" on the Y today... mojo was strong

Mark showing one of his many fished hooked today...

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 21, 2009)

2009-10-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

Three fish-smiles...

Friends and fishing reunion was the motto today... long-time customers and friends, Denny and Nana, fished with me today. In the "good'ol days" of guiding (Wow, almost 8 years ago!), Denny and Nana were some of my first customers to book a trip. Back then, they did not know each other but told me that they would be willing to pair up with another friendly angler to share a boat. Since then, I have lost count how many trips I have had with Denny and Nana now, but I will say that each trip is always a good time with laughter and good fish mojo.

Well, today's trip continued this tradition with good Trout and half-pounder fishing. We had a strong egg-bite in the early AM and mid-afternoon. Nymphs worked between egg bites and followed the daily hatch pattern. Also, we fished this afternoon with soft-hackles and dries. We had a couple of tugs on SHs, and landed one Trout on an E/C caddis. We did not hook any "confirmed" Steelhead today,... however, there were a few "suspect" fish that broke us off on the first run.

In final, today is a reminder that spending a day on the river is more than just catching fish for some... with camaraderie, good fishing usually follows. Good fishing to all!

All smiles from Nana with her first fish of the day!

Yours truly with Denny and Nana's "double"...

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 20, 2009)

2009-10-20T21:24:00.001-07:00

Today was a special day on the Yuba... I guided my friends and long-time customers, Shiz and Judy of San Jose, CA. A day on the water with this couple is always a joyous reunion and often yields good fish karma. What made this day most outstanding and memorable was some of the sizable fish that we hooked today... although not all were landed, we did manage to land some really strong fish including a jumbo chrome buck that we hooked at the head of a run and had to chase it down to the tailout before landing it.

Overall, the Rainbow Trout bite was somewhat slower than last week's trips,... but we still hooked and landed some really nice sized Trout. All Steelhead and half-pounders were hooked on glo-bugs, while the Yuba Trout were in the usual mood of match-the-hatch with desire for nymphs, dries, and the occasional glo-bug. We also tried stripping streamers and briefly "pinned" a mega-Trout before it rolled and got off.

Well, it was a wonderful day on Y again... a day on the water with friends is always a good time with fishing as a bonus! Fish On...

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 17, 2009)

2009-10-17T22:08:00.000-07:00

Fish On! Today I had the good fortune of fishing with Jeff and Marc from the Danville, CA area. It was a day full of good laughs, good times, and good fishing... actually, really good fishing! The trout bite was solid with most fish taking glo-bugs in the early AM and then switching to nymphs when the sun shined high. We also fished dries in the afternoon and rose a few fish to E/C caddis. Then, we finished out the day swinging soft hackles and landed a nice Bow on a sparkle pupa. And of course, we hooked a few mystery fish that broke us off on the first run... hmmm, jumbo Bow or Steelhead? That is why I love the Yuba this time of the year... you catch Trout, Trout, Trout,... and then, BAM!... you hook up on a behemoth and get your clock cleaned... That is the Yuba - stay sharp! Thanks again to Jeff and Marc for bringing good fish mojo today... what a fun day.

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 16, 2009)

2009-10-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Victor starts the day with a beautiful Bow...

Ahhh yes,... this morning finally felt like the fall season has arrived. It was a gorgeous morning with fog rising from the river's surface... and my anglers, John and Victor agreed that this was a very fishy day. The fog created subdued lighting which granted us with a nice egg-bite in the morning. As soon as the sun hit the water, hatches began to emerge and the bite switched to nymphs. We swung streamers and threw dries briefly, but it yielded no interest from the fish. We did end up landing a fin-clipped Steelhead (probably a Feather River stray) that ripped it up! And, both John and Victor have their own stories of "mystery sized" fish that broke them off today. Overall, we were very pleased to see the number of Salmon that have returned to the Yuba this season... an improvement over the past few years. Well, thanks again to John and Victor for a really fun and productive day on the river... Fish On!

John with a fin-clipped Steelie...

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 11, 2009)

2009-10-11T22:27:00.000-07:00

Great start in the morning for Bob... a hard fighting Yuba Rainbow

Game ON!... and, anglers Bob and Al brought their A-game today. We had a great day of fishing on the Yuba with some really nice fish brought to hand. We nymph fished most of the day and did well on the same mix of flies that worked yesterday.

This was Al's first time fly fishing from a drift boat and he did a remarkable job of learning the game while landing a number of trout up to 16 inches. Bob topped the day with a 19 incher,... but the most memorable fish was the "one-that-got-away". Bob hooked a Steelhead that, unfortunately, pulled free. Yeah... we use small flies that are sometimes not enough to stay connected to a fish of that size. Oh well, it is these fish that keep the anticipation and passion alive and well within anglers.

All in all... it was a wonderful day on the river with fish being caught throughout the day. You gotta love those healthy Yuba fish!

Al lands his first fish of the day... a chunky Rainbow

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Oct. 10, 2009)

2009-10-10T22:02:00.000-07:00

Dennis' first time fly fishing with good results!

Today, I guided the Yuba with Charlie Gonzales and his 4 clients from Salinas. In addition to good times and friendly laughter, we fished hard with good results. Overall, it was an odd bite today with each run fishing differently than the previous. I must have change flies and rigs about 25 times today... this was necessary to determine what the fish in each run desired. We fished everything from hares ears, micro-mays, caddis pupa, princes, mighty mites, gidgets, quasimotos, and glo bugs in various colors and sizes... all caught fish at some point in the day, but it was never a consistent bite on a particular pattern. "Variety" was the word of the day!

Charlie and his anglers raised some nice Trout to the caddis dries. We swung streamers for awhile, but did not entice any fish. The egg bite was not wide open for us... in some runs we thought for sure we would hook fish on egg patterns, and quickly confirmed that they were eating nymphs.

In my mind, today was the "typical" Yuba... requiring us to be flexible by digging deep into our fly box to find what each fish wanted. I am on the river tomorrow and look forward what the Y has in store... I will report soon. Fish On!

Fishing Report: Lower Yuba River (Sept. 27 / Oct. 1, 2009)

2009-10-02T10:19:00.000-07:00

A strong Yuba River Rainbow landed on a swung streamer...

The Lower Yuba is now in its transition to autumn... with the cooler weather in the Central Valley and the arrival of good numbers of King Salmon, the river is transforming as I write. It was wonderful to see the increasing numbers of Salmon over the past couple of weeks - this year's numbers of Salmon are definitely looking stronger than the past few years... what a blessing. They are busy preparing for the fall spawn by building redds and pairing up now. I am always amazed at the journey these species make to end their life cycle in these natal waters.

I recently snorkeled the river and video taped underwater footage of Trout and Salmon as I free floated down the river... I am always amazed and humbled to see how many fish inhabit each section of the Yuba. I will post some of this video footage very soon.

The fishing this past week was very strong for Trout. The nice part of fishing this time of the season is the variety of techniques that can be used. We landed trout while nymphing (caddis and stone patterns were best), swung streamers (anything olive), and dries (E/C Caddis or similar). The egg-drop is not wide open yet, as the Salmon are still in pre-spawn mode. However, any day now the Trout and arrival of Steelhead will key in on the Salmon eggs once the drop occurs. We did not land any Steelhead this week, but expect them to begin arriving anytime.

Well, autumn is here and it is time to get out and fish... the Yuba is always a nice fishery because of its hard fighting Rainbows and the possibility of hooking beautiful wild Steelhead. Take care and I hope to fish with you soon.

-Keith

Fishing Report: Yuba River (Sept. 18/21, 2009)

2009-09-22T18:09:00.000-07:00

Jon with a nice Yuba River Rainbow...

Wow,... the river is seeing its first push of King Salmon. Last week, we only saw a few here and there,... while the last few days we are seeing bright Kings in all of the deeper runs, and even a few redds being prepared by some. With the start of this pre-spawn activity, the Trout are in high gear feeding on a variety of nymphs. We landed some very nice Rainbows over the past couple of trips... I am continually amazed at how healthy and robust these Yuba River Bows are. We hooked no Steelhead during these trips, but it should be anytime now when these chromers start arriving.

We will be on the river again this week and will have more reports for you soon. Fish On!

Small, but chunky Rainbow...

Another robust Yuba River Rainbow...

Fishing Report: Yuba River (Sept. 14, 2009)

2009-09-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day on the Yuba... and the fish thought so too by being quite cooperative! We hooked some very nice Trout up to 18 inches while nymphing, and even had a number of fish on swung streamers. We tried fishing dries in some areas, but the fish were not motivated to move to the surface for our stonefly and terrestrial offerings. What got us most excited is that we even hooked a chunky Steelhead that took an egg pattern... go figure. We saw salmon here and there throughout our drift. It won't be long before the "egg drop" season begins, with the Trout and Steelhead chowing on eggs and nymphs that get stirred up by spawning salmon.

Fish On,
Keith

What to expect...

2009-01-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

During a day of fishing with Keith, you will be provided with the following:

Full Day of Fishing: an early start and late finish of your day... NO "9 to 5" in my boat! (unless you request it of course)
Instructional Guiding: if you want to improve your fly fishing knowledge and skills, I will work with you on techniques, presentation, fly selection, casting, etc...
The Business End of the Flyline: included in your day of fishing are flies, terminal tackle (leaders, tippet, indicators, sinktips, etc.) and loaner tackle* (if requested) - I do NOT charge extra for these items...
Drift Boat: a clean, safe, well-organized drift boat to access and fish the best water on each river.

Catch-and-Release ONLY: to preserve our fisheries, all fish will be released. Thank you for your cooperation!

Release of Liability Waiver and Indemnity Agreement
Each angler will be required to read, complete, and sign a Release of Liability Waiver and Indemnity Agreement prior to guide services being provided.

*Loaner Tackle Breakage Policy: "You break, you pay..." Although I happily offer the use of loaner tackle at no charge, it is to be expected and only fair that any breakage or damage of loaned equipment will be covered by the borrower. In most cases, the repair cost for a damaged fly rod is $50, fly line replacement is $30, and reel/spool damage is based on replacement costs.

What to bring...

2009-01-01T02:19:00.000-08:00

Essential Items to Bring...

Chest-high waders
Wading boots (NO studs please)
Wading belt - SAFETY FIRST!
Polarized sunglasses - IMPORTANT!
Current CA Fishing License w/ Steelhead Report Card (for more info, visit the DFG webpage for sportfishing licenses - CLICK HERE)
Appropriate clothing for conditions - hat, warm clothing and rain jacket
Sunscreen

For recommended Fly Fishing Tackle, please visit the specific "Rivers..." webpages for tackle requirements for each river

Rates, Payments, and Other Details

2009-01-01T02:17:00.000-08:00

Full Day Trips: $425 per day (1 or 2 anglers)
Includes: 8 - 10 hours on the river, lunch, snacks, soft beverages, flies, terminal tackle (leaders, tippet, etc.), and loaner equipment (if requested).

Half Day Trips: $325 per day (1 or 2 anglers)
Includes: 4 - 5 hours on the river, snacks, soft beverages, flies, terminal tackle (leaders, tippet, etc.), and loaner equipment (if requested).

Deposit and Payment Policy
Payment options are cash or check (made payable to "Keith Kaneko" and sent to "2654 Marconi Ave., Sacramento, CA 95821"). A 50% deposit is required within 7 days of booking your trip to confirm your reservation. The balance is due at the end of your trip.

Release of Liability Waiver and Indemnity Agreement
Each angler will be required to read, complete, and sign a Release of Liability Waiver and Indemnity Agreement prior to guide services being provided.

Cancellation and Refund Policy
Deposits will be refunded if you cancel at least 30 days prior to the trip date. Within 30 days of the trip date, the deposit is forfeited unless the same date is booked by another party. I have the right to cancel a trip if river conditions are unsafe and/or unfishable - if this should occur, you will be given the option to reschedule the trip or receive a refund of your deposit.

Lower American River

2009-01-01T02:10:00.000-08:00

Kevin displaying a winter chromer on the American...

Flowing through Folsom / Nimbus dams and the heart of metropolitan Sacramento, the Lower American River can be a real surprise for many anglers with its year-round availability of gamefish. Depending on the season, there could be Steelhead, Striped Bass, Salmon, and/or Shad swimming in the currents of this wonderful fishery.

Winter Steelhead

Around the New Year, we are greeted with the arrival of winter Steelhead. From Jan. 1 through mid-March, there may be some of the season's largest Central Valley Steelhead in this river. While most winter Steelhead will be in the 3 - 6 pound range, there is always the possibility to hook fish in the 10 - 15+ pound class. There are both wild and hatchery strain Steelhead during this timeframe. You will fish for these winter chromers on the swing while wading or nymphing from a driftboat.

Recommended Steelhead Tackle

Nymph Fishing (primary technique): 6 - 7 weight single-handed rod (9 1/2 - 10 foot length), disc drag reel with 150+ yards of 20# backing, and a nymph/indicator taper fly line to match rod.
Two-handed/Spey Fishing: 6 - 7 weight spey or switch rod, disc drag reel with 150+ yards of 20# backing, and a matching scandi or skagit head with tips.

Striped Bass

As spring arrives, most of the Steelhead migrate out of the river and head for the salt. Crossing their path are the true giants of the American... the Striped Bass. Beginning around March, Stripers begin to arrive in the river to spawn and feed upon the bounty of fry and smolt that hatched in the months previous. From March through the summer, Stripers inhabit the American River and are an excellent pursuit on a fly rod. While most Stripers will be "schoolie" size (2 - 5 pounds), there are also behemoth Stripers up to 20+ pounds that take up temporary residence in the American River. The most effective means to pursue the Striped Bass is from a stealthy driftboat while fishing both topwater and sinking flies.

Recommended Striped Bass Tackle

Subsurface Streamer Fishing: 8 weight single-handed rod (9 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 30# backing, and fast sink tip (integrated [300-350 grains] or shooting head [T-14 or LC-13]) and/or intermediate tip [RIO Outbound Short F/I] fly line.
Topwater Fishing: 8 weight single-handed rod (9 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 30# backing, and floating line [RIO Outbound Short full floating].

Shad

Next, coinciding with the Striped Bass season is the Shad season. The season for the spirited Shad is from May through July. Fishing for these silver slabs is pure fun and we fish for them on swung or stripped flies. These fish school up heavily in some areas of the American and can sometimes deliver non-stop action. The Shad will range in size from 2 - 5 pounds.

Recommended Shad Tackle

Sink Tip Fishing: 7 - 8 weight single-handed rod (9 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 20# backing, and fast sink tip [200 - 300 grain] fly line

Lower Feather River

2009-01-01T02:06:00.000-08:00

A trophy fall Feather River Steelhead!

Coined as one of the Central Valley's most productive fall Steelhead fisheries, the Lower Feather River is a tailwater that flows southward from Lake Oroville. In the late-summer/fall, both wild and hatchery Steelhead migrate up this drainage and will feed vigorously on eggs and nymphs that are dislodged by spawning King Salmon. Most Steelhead will range between 3 - 6 pounds, however there is always a possibility to hook 10+ pound Steelhead too!

We will fish the upper section of the Lower Feather between Oroville and Gridley. During the float, we may fish deep pools, shallow riffles, long runs, or wide tailouts.

Seasonal Profile
September - December: Primetime for Fall Steelhead

March - April: Prime half-pounder Spring Steelhead

Recommended Tackle

Nymph Fishing (primary technique): 6 - 7 weight single-handed rod (9 1/2 - 10 foot length), disc drag reel with 150+ yards of 20# backing, and a nymph/indicator taper fly line to match rod.
Two-handed Fishing: 5 - 7 weight spey or switch rod, disc drag reel with 150+ yards of 20# backing, and a matching scandi or skagit head with tips.

Lower Yuba River

2009-01-01T02:03:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Lower Yuba River!

The Lower Yuba River is the Central Valley's gem... a fishery that is home to wild Rainbow Trout and the natal waters of migrating wild Steelhead and Salmon. Located about 1 hour northeast of Sacramento, this section of river is a tailwater that flows from Englebright Reservoir and westward toward Marysville / Yuba City. We fish the section from the Hwy. 20 bridge (Parks Bar) to the Daguerre Point Dam for wild Rainbow Trout and Steelhead.

The Yuba has a variety of water to fish... from fast riffles, glassy flats, boulder strewn runs, to deep pools. Depending on the time of the season, we may employ a variety of techniques such as stripping streamers, nymphing, swinging soft hackles, and/or dry fly fishing.

Seasonal Profile

February - May: Prime hatches for Trout (Skwalas, March Browns, PMDs, Stoneflies, Caddis, etc.)
June - August: Terrestrial and BIG bugs for Trout! Hoppers and Stoneflies...
September - January: Primetime Steelhead and Trout...

Recommended Tackle

Dry Fly or Soft Hackle Fishing: 3 - 6 weight single-handed rod (8 - 9 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 20# backing, and a weight forward floating fly line to match rod
Streamer Fishing: 5 - 7 weight single-handed rod (9 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 20# backing, and 150 - 200 grain or type 6 sinktip fly line to match rod
Two-handed Fishing: 4 - 6 weight spey or switch rod, disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 20# backing, and a matching scandi or skagit head with tips.
Nymph Fishing: 5 - 6 weight single-handed rod (9 1/2 - 10 foot length), disc drag reel with 100+ yards of 20# backing, and a nymph/indicator taper fly line to match rod.

All smiles for Yuba River Steelhead!

Yuba River Rainbow taken on a swung streamer...