Middle Fork American River, North Fork Feather River

Opened Early – The Middle Fork of the Feather River

by Matt

The Middle Fork of the Feather River between A-23 bridge above Portola and Mohawk Bridge in Mohawk is the only Sierran trout stream in California that opens the first Saturday in April. For anglers who are not in the know, this early opener can be a frustrating game of hide-and-seek. I tried fishing the opener last year but the severe drought hindered my chances of finding fish. This year was different.

The El Nino storms of 2016 have helped bring up water levels and pack the Sierras with much needed snow. Good flows and warm weather welcomed me as I made my first stop in Clio.

Clio is the furthest “town” upstream that provides access to the MF before it turns into a canyon. The water in the upper MF has a brown tea colored tint that begins to clear further downstream. This darker tinted water is quite deceptive at first glance. Most fly anglers would take one look at the upper MF and leave because of its tint but trout do live there.

Jon Baiocchi is a guide that fishes the upper section of the MF every year during the opener. He has mastered this section and has found that the most important detail when fishing the opener is water temperature. Jon has also caught a few brown trout in this early season section which is very cool.

I dedicated this trip to fishing streamers in order to try and catch a rare MF brown. Throughout the day I was able to find one solid take and a few bumps. When I finally hooked my first fish I thought it was a brown, mission accomplished! As it spun itself around to try and throw the hook, the sides of the fish flashed a silvery hue with no signs of a red lateral line. Once I netted the fish I saw that it was not a brown but instead a rainbow. Mission failed…

Although there were bugs flying around everywhere, I had a difficult time finding fish. I covered a lot of water from Clio to Graeagle and was a bit bummed that the fishing was so slow however it was nice to fish some new water. The water is still a bit cold but once it warms up I’ll give this section another shot before shifting my focus to the canyon.

On the way down HWY 70 I stopped and fished an open section of the NFFR. I was able to rise a few smaller fish with a caddis dry but with the wind gusting through canyon I wasn’t able to hook any. I changed tactics to tight lining and caught a little guy.




Putah Creek

Crank It Up!

by Matt
Crank It!

It’s about that time of year, Putah Creek flows are on the the rise. As the flows slowly creep up to its peak 800 CFS in the summer, I tend to find less access, less anglers on the water, and more big fish to catch. This week I made a trip to check out the creek and field test a new streamer pattern that I’ve been working on.

Before I started fishing in the morning the flows read 245 CFS which I believe is absolutely perfect. The wading is challenging but you can still safely get around most of the creek with a wading staff. I had planned on throwing streamers all day from access one through five. Despite fighting windy gusts throughout the day, my trip was good with four solid hook-ups and two landed.

Little Streamer Eater

The fish tend to move around when the flows get cranked up. One thing I like about fishing the higher flows is that the fish will be more spread out throughout the creek, the problem is trying to get your flies into the areas where they are holding. I don’t really like nymphing Putah’s higher flows because there are a lot of factors that are added on to the already difficult wading, casting, and access. Factors like constant debris management, depth estimating so you don’t snag, attempting to cast into the correct spot, and getting the perfect dead-rift becomes much more difficult as the flows go up. You will lose a lot of flies.

Caught Some Free Flies Today

Streamers are my go-to when the flows are above 220 CFS. You won’t catch a lot of fish on streamers but you’ll have good chance at hooking some of the biggest and most badass fish in the system. The hardest part about fishing a streamer pattern is covering water. The heavily overgrown foliage around the creek makes it feel almost as if you’re fishing in a jungle. Getting around from one place to another is a real pain but necessary if you want to catch a Putah bow on a streamer. The creek gave me a real beating this trip.

I waded through deep sections, hiked throughout all the accesses, slipped and bruised my hands on rocks, and got cut up by thorny berry bushes. But it was worth it.

Big Steamer Eater
The Higher Flows Create Some Good Spawning Habitats
The Very Gnarly Caterpillar

I also ran into a lot of nice people that I ended up chatting with for a few moments during this trip. Fly fishing always attracts the nicest folks.

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Keep Calm and Fly Fish™