Feather River

Just One More Before The Storm

by Matt
Just one more please?

So tonight the storm of the century is suppose to roll in. Winds over 60 MPH and over 1-2 inches of rain is forecast. As I write this there is very little excitement going on outside as the weather is currently just wet and cold in Chico. Hopefully this storm will live up to its media hype.This storm of course means that a lot of rivers will be blown out the whazoo and the fishing will be on hold for at least a week or maybe two. D-:

Feather River
Despite the storm call and the blown out rivers, I just had to wet my line and I couldn’t wait for the water to clear or blow out again. I took a morning trip to the Feather and was able to hook a nice half-pounder on an egg pattern that was swung. The water clarity was about a foot and the flows were just slightly above average, still wadeable and kinda not really clear. Most of the salmon are gone and with these flows the fish are either up near the hatchery or just trickling in. It was a tough day with the bad water clarity so I didn’t stay very long.

I’m planning a weekend trip to the Trinity with my brother. I’m hoping it isn’t too blownout so we can actually fish it. Really crossing my fingers on this one.

Fish Talk

Steelhead Report Card Statistics and Updated Fly Box

by Matt
2014 Steelhead Report Card

To fish for steelhead in California you need to purchase a Steelhead Report Card for around $7. It’s not much and is more of an entry ticket to fish for one of the greatest freshwater gamefish in the world than a fee. You have to “BEFORE YOU FISH” enter where you are fishing and date it. Once you’re done fishing, you indicate how many you caught and kept (if you kept), what kind you caught (hatchery or wild), and worst of all, how many hours you fished.

Your ratio of hours fished to fish caught will always be super low. It’s one of the perks of fishing for steelhead, recording that you spent countless hours chasing a fish that you most likely won’t catch. I love it. The risk for reward payoff is huge and the challenge keeps fishing interesting.

Steelhead. Ah yes… The fish of a thousand cast. 10% of anglers catch 90% percent of the steelhead. 90% of the steelhead hold in 10% of the river. Summer-run, Fall-run, Spring-Run, Winter-run. Egg-bite. All of these sayings associated with the great and almighty Steelhead. I’ll tell you one thing I’ve learned about steelhead, the hype is real.

I just thought I’d share my completed report card for 2014. I never thought I would finish filling one of these out and needing to getting a new one. These numbers don’t show fish hooked and lost which is greater than fish landed and recorded. I’m a pretty average experienced steelheader.

Steelhead Statistics
21 Steelhead for 141 hours fished
3 Most steelhead caught in a day
4.7 average hours fished a day
11 Wild Steelhead (52% Wild Steelhead)
10 Hatchery Steelhead (47% Hatchery Steelhead)

14.8% Chance of landing a steelhead per hour
56% Chance of landing a steelhead in a day
6% Chance of landing multiple steelhead in 30 days

1 … 10 11 12 13 14 … 22

Keep Calm and Fly Fish™