Reel Adventures Guide Service

Fly Fishing continues to be solid...

This summer is coming to an end and the fishing has been lights out (good!!) on all of our local rivers. The big winter season dramatically improved water quality - the resulting cold, clean flows have done wonders to the health of our steelhead tributaries and local wild trout streams during those dog days of summer.

We have experienced a bit of early fall season weather this past week and it's been really cool watching the season slowly change. Hoping the trend continues and we have good, wet fall/winter season that includes consistent rain events... fingers crossed for another wet year!!

I've been rambling all over Shasta and Trinity Counties this week... We have been fishing the Lower Sac & Fall River for big, wild trout and Trinity River for steelhead. I didn't talk much about Fall River in my last post so here are a few pics from a couple days this week:

(Iconic Red Barns... Fall River Mills, CA)

(84 yrs young, Ol' Tony swinging one up on a very long drift in the slow flat water...)

Fall River is a super productive spring creek with prolific populations of wild trout in all shapes and sizes. This is one of the largest spring-fed systems in the entire USA with an estimated 1 billion gallons a day flowing from numerous groundwater springs throughout the valley, particularly in the northern area called Thousand Springs.

Much of upper Fall River and surrounding fisheries in the valley are bordered by private ranches and family owned farms so access to the water is very limited - leading to lots of solitude on the water. 

We only fish by boat, either small Jon Boats or in this case, my drift boat with a 8hp motor on it. Works perfect!

Late August to September is one of my favorite times of the season up here. The weather cools off a bit with plenty of low angle sunshine... there is a palpable feeling of fall season in the air.

(John and Tony Monteleone came up and visited at Clearwater Lodge... We spent two fun days fishing the Fall River and surrounding locations)

(Lots of healthy, wild trout in the entire Fall River system... We fished dry flies and nymphs and experienced a pretty epic mayfly hatch from 11am to about 3pm hooking around 20 and landing over a dozen quality fish with a few smaller ones, too.)

(A lot of wildlife hanging around, too...)

(Tony Monteleone with another nice wild one from the upper Fall...)

(There are many special places to explore all over the Fall River Valley...Fall River just being a small portion. There is also the Tule River and the Little Tule, Ahjumawi State Park, Eastman Lake, Big Lake (bass!) There's a ton of water to fish and lots of cool stuff to see while you're at it.)

 

Steelhead Fishing is beginning to heat up and I'll have more to say on this later...

(Group trip with buddies Mike Hibbard and Aaron Grabiel on the Trinity this week... 14yr old Gavin int he upper left hooking into a few steelhead over two days and this was his first time fly fishing!)

Fall run salmon have not showed yet so concentrations of steelhead are pretty spread out. The mouth of the Klamath just opened up last week so it may be a while before we see the salmon get into the upper river. The summer run (wild) steelhead are mostly through now - this week we started seeing the first of the hatchery steelhead show up and this will be the main deal moving forward until winter arrives. The next few weeks could be interesting... 

Late September and Fall Season is shaping up...

Been a busy week.

Here's a few more pics from where I left off... 

(Images: Frank and Jake enjoying a fine day on the Lower Sac right here in Redding, CA. Big, wild, rainbow trout fly fishing at its finest...)

(The Lower Sac is loaded with badass wild rainbow trout that will straighten your arm and hooks, too. This is the best wild trout fishery in the State of CA hands down...)

(Greg and Kait enjoying some father-daughter time on a Lower Sac float trip recently...)

(A very good fall-like-day on the Lower Sac under the Sundial Bridge... great fishing weather!!!)

(Craig G holding a real good one... they live in here!!)

(Craig and Kait... good times & memories...)

(Another typical backing burgler from the Lower Sacramento River...)

Fishing has been great on the Lower Sac and more salmon are showing up each week. There has been a few days of an early egg drop in a few spots up top - cloudy, cooler and rainy weather will kick it into high gear... I'm optimistic on the salmon run in the Sac this season.

My October and November dates are completely booked up right now... there might be a cancellation or two (hoping not!) So keep looking at my online calendar on website. Next available dates are later in December and Jan/Feb for winter steelhead. These dates will begin booking up soon as I get emails daily so plan ahead and lock your dates in soon!! Visit my webpage at:

Reel Adventures Guide Service 

First rain of the season...

Even though Autumn is officially next Monday September 23rd... fall season is in the air! Redding area received a pretty good rain shower last night (our first of the season) so I was pretty stoked to wake up this morning to overcast skies and that sweet damp air. The river was cool and breezy today - being in the mood we decided to float the lower section in Tehema County and it felt even more like fall season down there with salmon rolling around and the cottonwoods making their final stand with green leaves.

(Image: A well fed 20" rainbow was waiting in the Barge Hole for the salmon to do their thing...)

The upper river in Redding has been fishing well, too, and I've spotted dozens of salmon staging in the Posse Riffle already...

(Image: If inches = years this fish could have bought us beers!!)

 

Doubled up... couples that catch fish together, get netted together. Or something like that...

(Image: Frank and his grandson Jake... slayin it on the Lower Sac)

I'll have more later... I gotta run for now. Fall Season 2019 is shaping up to be a great one. Book your steelhead dates for Jan and Feb now!!!! Do it...

Summer is closing down... fall season is slowly creeping in

It's beginning to feel more like fall season with each passing week. The mornings have been cooler and the days are noticeably shorter. Weather is up and down in Redding, some days dipping into the low 80's and then bouncing back into the 90's. A few clouds and thundershowers here and there... still waiting on our first rain and that may happen early next week.

Salmon are arriving on the Lower Sacramento and Trinity Rivers in bigger pods and a few steelhead are being hooked in both of these rivers right now... we've hooked a few of each this week.

Most of my guide days right now are fishing the Lower Sac and I've been floating the entire river from Redding down to Cottonwood. The upper portions offer the bigger fish the lower floats offer solitude, aggressive if smaller fish and the possibility of a steelhead or two. 

(Image: 13 yr old Kelly Chang had never been fishing before... that changed when she told her grandpa Bob that she wanted to go fishing and learn. She is a natural angler - she listened well, was patient, applied the things I showed her and as you can see by these pics she did a fantastic job!)

The Lower Sac in September can be a lot of fun with good fishing. Every day is different and the insect hatches might be fading somewhat but during the prime windows there are some quality wild trout getting netted.

Many folks are waiting for the October "egg drop" so the river is not all that crowded right now. This is a good time to bring newbies and beginners out, especially as the weather cools down and things get more comfortable.

(Image: Typical lower river - below Anderson - wild rainbow trout... smaller on avg than the ones we get around Redding but super grabby and aggressive. These fish rip!!!)

(Image: Kelly and Grandpa Bob... future fishing partners for life)  

 

Salmon and Steelhead season is upon us... river conditions in both the Trinity River and Lower Sac are very good right now. The Trinity is releasing 450cfs from the dam so in JC that means it's around 550cfs which is perfect. I'd like to see these flows bump up a bit by some natural rainfall though! The river has undergone some major changes in recent years and the section around Evans Bar still has work crews doing restoration work daily. Flows between 500-1000cfs are super fishable and preferred in the present day on the Trinity. When the river drops to min flows 300cfs in mid October it's going to be a rocky, shallow river until we get some rainfall this season. 

There are fish in the system all throughout and the patient and persistent anglers are getting them daily. Is it easy? No, but when is it ever easy? The Trinity has a lot going for it right now and for those who know the river well and pay attention it may be totally worth it.

(Image: Days off fishing have been fun especially when you get to fish with friends!!)

(Image: Flat lining plug grabs are pretty epic... especially when you actually see the salmon slam it!)

I'll have more later gotta run for now...

September and October are completely booked up although I may have a cancellation and two days open Oct 31-Nov 1st.. stay tuned. Get your steelhead dates set for Dec, Jan and Feb as these will be booking up soon. I have a very good feeling about this winter season ;)

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September is a fantastic month for fly fishing...

The mornings are getting crisper and the days are noticeably getting shorter in Northern California... we still have a few hot summer days ahead, I'm sure, but fall season is beginning to show itself with each passing week.

Glass calm waters of Fall River, northern California. Amazing wild trout fishery and one of the nations largest spring creeks...

David York and his son,Tyler... We fished the Pit River, Hat Creek and Fall River and had a great 2 days up at CWL. 

Wild Fall River rainbows are exceptional...

Tyler getting around the Pit River like a boss...

It's been a busy couple of weeks and I have been all over the place fishing the Upper Sac, Lower Sac, Fall River, Pit River, Hat Creek and even a little time on the Trinity. There is so much to choose from right now it makes the daily decision that much more difficult. Everything is fishing well...

Matthew Moore read my FB/Insta post about some evenings I had open in late August... he jumped on an available Friday and crushed it hard... I try an drop subtle hints from time to time; I'm glad he was paying attention. Nice work Matt!

And another fine one...

The evenings in late August and early Sept can be fantastic during the caddis event...

And we didn't take pictures of them all... 

There are potentially some cool things setting up for mid to late September and I just got word of a few cancellations - so I have some open dates... Sept 23, 24, 25 I might possibly have the 9, and 18 also, or any combination of 1 or 2 of those days. Think about early steelhead on the Trinity River or Lower Sac. Contact me asap for more info. Flows for the Hoopa boat ceremonies drop back to 450cfs on the Trinity on the 5th (down from 2400cfs). 

Visit my website for more information and stuff.

Reel Adventures Guide Service