A bit delayed but never stale...
So I have been a bit lax on my blog posts…I apologize…but I
jumped right into the month of June with no desire to stair at a screen anymore
then I absolutely had. That said I have been overwhelmed with guilt and am
going to hammer out a blog post.
Summer so far has been great. While the drought is becoming
a reality there is still fishing to be had and places to escape the reality
that will I am sure hit everyone come late July/August…That said there has been
some good news with regards to a possible El Nino year coming…A few of my good
friends that spend countless hours guiding and fishing the Southern California
Salt have been seeing signs of El Nino like they have never seen before over
the last few months. Pelagic fish species that usually follow warm water
currents well off shore are within yards of the coast and warm water currents
are pushing up against the beaches and coast lines. While I understand very
little about any of this people that I respect and who do KNOW about this have
been telling me El Nino is coming…I hope they are right.
Rivers like the Truckee and smaller streams are in big
trouble. It is truelly saddening to see such a California Fly Fishing staple
like the Truckee River essentially slowly die. I am not sure really what can be
done or said then repsecting the fishery while it struggles and supporting the
organizations that are tasked with protecting the fishery and who will be asked
to rebuild it when the time comes.
All this said there is plenty of fishing to be had my lack
of blog posts is due to guiding and fishing so let me get to the reports…
Lower Sac Striper Fishing – There is a TON of young stripers
in the river right now. Lots of shaker size fish and 17-20” fish. The big fish
seem to be slowly coming out of their shad coma and getting on the feed. I have
had clients land and loose a few nice 20+ pound fish and have seen some pics
from friends of bigger ones caught but I still think the big ones are yet to
get going really well as the shad are just thinning out. Late June –September is
prime time and things are shaping up for a great striper year on the Lower Sac.
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| typical lower sac line side |
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| Nice fish my friend sent me that his buddy caught...they are out there |
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| Not a bad schoolie fish...fun fish! |
Lower Yuba River Trout – Flows on the Lower Yuba are at a
really good level hovering around 1000cfs. I had high hopes for the fishing to
improve as flows were raised to protect the king salmon moving up river but
have yet to see the fishing really improve. I guided out there 2 days over the
last week and fishing was fair at best. Morning was best and the bite seemed to
get pretty tight midday. Hatches are minimal if non-existent from what I could
see. That said there is a TON of caddis on the rocks and I have not been
staying until dark when the caddis and PED hatches usually come off. I have
been throwing some golden stone dries and hopper patterns in likely holding
water as with the higher flows fish have been moving along the bank for shade
and cover but had no luck. Most of my fish are coming on rubber legs and
various caddis patterns. Not sure what to expect over the next few weeks to be
honest on the Lower Yuba.
Lower Sac Trout – spent a day or two floating from Jellys to
Bend and summer fishing in that area is in full swing. Trout are in the rocks
and swirls eating rubber legs, small stones, and caddis patterns. If you can
stand the heat floating down low on the sac during the summer is a great option
and should remain good through August.
Pit River – Spent two days up on the Pit River floating Pit
1 and walk and wading Pit 3 for Clear Water Lodge last week. Both fished well
and were a ton of fun. I love the Pit River and while fishing was a bit tough
midday with the heat it was a pretty good. I think the Pit will be turning into
a morning evening deal, like it usually does this time of year, pretty quick.
One thing I do on the Pit when the bite gets tough is go down to a lighter
tippet, makes it tough in the pocket water with a nice fish on but I’d rather
have them on and loose them then not.
Music Report – So I have been listening to a few older
albums…Dave Hause’s Resolutions album a TON. This was released in 2013 but is
one of my all time favorites. Just great Rock and Roll about life. Also I am
digging the new Lucero song “Went Looking for Warren Zevons Los Angeles” they
released off their new album coming out Sept 18 called All a Man Can Do”. The
song reminds of older Lucero…That much Farther West era. The next release I am
salivating over is Jason Isbell’s album coming out July 17th…Something
More then Free. The two songs he has up on I Tunes so far are as good as
anything he has ever released which to be honest is some of the best music out
there I think.
In my own music news my new project Royal Oaks is up and
live on Facebook. We recorded 3 songs a few weekends ago and played our first
show…we are now official. Check us out. https://www.facebook.com/RoyalOaksBand?ref=hl
Sports Report – Giants are doing it man keeping in the hunt
with realisticly pretty limited tools….2 starting pitchers down and Hunter
Pence down and hanging a game or two out of first place in the West. In reality
we seem to have no problem beating the dodgers what we need to work on is
beating the rest of the division…getting swept at home by AZ and then taking
2/3 from the dodgers in LA is a bit weird but who knows. All I ask for is
interesting and meaningful baseball through mid September and I am getting
that.