3 days on the fall

Every summer I am lucky enough to spend a few days guiding on the Fall River. This year I have been able to guide out of the Clear Water house. Before I talk about my 3 days of guiding and Spring Creek time let me say this about the Clear Water House... It is freaken top notch. I have guided for a ton of outfitters and a few lodges and never as a guide have I been that well taken care of. If I was planning on going to stay up in the shasta area and fish the fall, hat, or pit I would stay there, from a clients perspective it is a deal. $150 a night with all your meals and then sum included. All the meals are amazing!!! Definately five star. Billy and Vanessa Downs run an amazing lodge and guide service.

Now the fishing....Let me preface this by saying I fully consider myself a skilled trout guide but fall river ALWAYS requires me to adjust my tactics. Spring creeks are great trout fishing and a great place to test your metal as an angler and guide. Clear slow moving water, a smorgesboard of hatches, and educated fish do not put the odds in your favor.

During the moring until about noon there were multiple options for catching fish. We drifted weed flats with indicators smaller than flies I usually fish and shot smaller than some of the beadheads on my flies and tied on leaders longer than some of my longest rods and cast PMD emergers, cripples, and spinners to rising fish as well. Both produced fish but I will say hooking fish on #18-20's is not a sure thing. Most of the time takes on the nymphs were very subtle and diffcultt to detect, but we did manage fish. The dry fly fishing was equally challenging and as I explained to my clients just rising a fish to your fly should feel like success as you achieved a good drift and fooled the fish. This only made them feel moderately better as they were rising fish almost every cast to PMD crips and spinners at various times.

One night we stayed out for the Hex hatch and while we didn't see many bugs we did hook fish on nymphs and dries along with getting bit my mosquitos. Overall it was a great 3 days spent on an amazing river in truelly one of the last isolated and wild places in CA. Now for a few days off and then back out on the sac for some stripers...
Over and Out.