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.

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 17 ^th…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.