Keep Calm and Fly Fish

It’s been over a month since I’ve put my full effort into fly fishing. I’ve fished a little bit here and there but my heart wasn’t into it like it usually was. The question I kept asking myself was how do I top driving around California looking for native trout and catching them in their native drainages? Finding an answer was difficult. Occasionally I looked on Google Maps to find destinations that would be interesting to fish however I didn’t feel like it would be quite the same as the Heritage Trout accomplishment that I had achieved. It wasn’t until I felt the first raindrops of fall that I started to get the fly fishing spirit back into my body. I believe the best remedy to get back into catching fish is swinging flies for steelhead.

I’ve been fishing the Feather River for the past couple of weeks on the weekdays strictly swinging flies. Earlier in October the fish were taking caddis patterns however as more and more salmon have made their way upstream the fish are now eating eggs. The amount of returning salmon in the Feather this year is amazing. I’ve only been fishing the Feather for a couple of years now and this is the most salmon I’ve ever seen returning to the river. The salmon must be in by the hundreds because I can’t swing around them without flossing and losing my flies. An indicator is a good option when trying to fish around the salmon as the presentation is more of a line than a quarter circle swing making it less likely to foul hook a salmon.

Full Of Salmon

So far my catch rate this fall hasn’t been very good. I’ve lost more flies and fish than I’ve kept and landed. I’ve been hooking into two or three steelies each visit but they are proving to be quite difficult to land this year however when swinging flies the take is all that matters. Here’s to hoping the salmon die off soon because I’m tired of losing flies.

The first big storm of the year finally passed through adding much needed snow to the higher elevations and rain relief to the valley. When it comes to steelhead fishing rain is what triggers movement. My last couple of visits to the hatchery section of the Feather River have been fruitful however my most recent trip yielded no grabs. The fish that were holding in this section most likely finished spawning and fled downstream back to the ocean during the rainstorm.

One of the things that makes the Feather River a great system is that it will always have andramous fish in it. The absence of the winter-run simply means that the spring-run are well on their way.

Does This Count As A Steelhead?

Spring time on the Feather River is absolutely beautiful. Fishing on a warm sunny day surrounded by clear water and pretty greenery is what it’s all about. It’s not quite spring yet but it felt like that during my last visit. Mayflies and caddis where hatching and the fish that I found were on them. Although I couldn’t find any adult fish, I was able to swing up four small hatchery trout.

Different seasonal steelhead runs will hold in different riffles, runs, and pools therefore you’ll need to change your strategy if you can’t find them. After no luck in the hatchery section I quickly changed locations and found some fish. Cover water and find your target.

It’ll probably be a few weeks before the fishing gets better on the Feather River however I have a good feeling that this spring is going to be a good one.