Lack of Fishing Report

So this weather sucks...yesterday was great but with a muddy river it was hard to take advantage of it. I had shad dates all week that I had to cancel due to rain and cold weather. I even trailered up the boat and headed out to the river yesterday in hopes of at least marginal clarity but with a flow jump of about 5000cfs I was being optimistic. pulled next to the river on river road and it was brown with debri floating down it...turned around, went back home, cracked a beer, watched the giants, and lit the BBQ.

I guess the good news is we have plenty of water this year and once the weather and flows come around there is plenty of shad and stripers in the river. This mild weather is gonna keep the trout fishing on the L. Yuba going through the next couple weeks maybe even through June. Our mountain streams and rivers are gonna be great all summer... delayed gratification is tough.

I will be out the river all next week guiding and fishing so with 80 degree weather in the forecast hopefully the river comes into shape and I can get some fishing in.

OPEN DATE

Just got canceled this Saturday 29 May 2010. Last minute family emegency. I will offer this date up at a $100 discount for a full day (discounted rate $300) or a discount of $50 for an evening Shad trip (discounted rate $175). Weather is suppose to be nice with temps in the 80's. There is good numbers of shad and stripers in the Lower Sac along with active largemouth, small mouth, and carp. If that doesn't appeal to you the Lower Yuba and Lower Sac for trout should fish well with the spring weather moving in.

Give me a call or drop me an email. Date is first come first served.
Thanks
Hogan Brown
hoganbrown@hotmail.com
530-514-2453

Quick Report

Here is a quick report of what is going on. While the weather has been all over the place we have had some great days fishing and also some really tough ones but it looks like the weather may finally turn here soon. I still have some great dates available if anyone is looking to get out and fish if not read the reports and get out on your own.

Lower Sacramento Shad/Striper/Bass/Carp:

Shad: Good numbers of large female shad are in the river up through Chico. The bite with the cooler days and evenings has been best from 11-5pm but with warmer weather on the way look for the bite to move to the evening

Stripers: Good numbers of stripers up through Chico and the resident fish are getting active as well. As more and more shad arrive the bite will slow down but should pick up again towards the end of June and carry through August. Top water is best mid to end of August.

Bass: Are all outta wack with this cold weather. Every body of water I fish for bass is in a different phase of the pre-spawn-post spawn Cycle. That said most days there are fish to be caught and bass fishing is only going to get better as the weather warms.

Carp: They are in the shallows and their tails are up. Which means they are eating and ready to cast to.

Lower Sacramento Trout: Fishing has been fair to good depending on the day and the weather. Personally I wait to turn my attention to the Lower Sac until the weather really warms up and the lower stretches through the canyon start to fish. If you have never seen these sections of the river they are truly unique and much different than the back yard tour of Redding and Anderson.

Lower Yuba: Fishing is up and down with the weather but for the most part fishing has been fair to really good. Fish remain active all day with the milder weather and if the hatches come off while look out. PMD’s, Little Yellow Sallies, Golden Stoneflies, Caddis have all been around on various days and should gain in strength as the weather warms.

Clearwater House on Pit River: If you have never fished the Fall River it is a truly unique piece of water. A Large Spring Creek sitting in the shadow of Mt. Shasta with all the classic spring creek hatches PLUS a great hex hatch mid June through mid July. Call or email for availability.

If you are thinking about booking a date June is booking up but there are plenty of dates left in July. July is prime time for trout on the lower sections of the Sac and of course STRIPERS!!!!

Evening Shad Trips ($225 two anglers): June 1, 3, 7, 10

Full Day or Evening Trips for shad/stripers/bass:

June 5, 6, 13, 17, 23, 24, 25

July 1-3, 6-13, 15-18, 22-31

Discoutned Guide Date

Just had a client cancel out on this Saturday May 15. Late notice but understandable reason. I would like to offer the date for the discounted rate of $300 for two anglers. The trip was a striper/shad/warm water trip on the Lower Sac but the L. Yuba is fishing good as well so if that interest anyone that is available as well. Shoot me an email at hoganbrown@hotmail.com or give me a call at 530-514-2453. This is first come first serve so whoever gets in first gets the date. Check out report from last weekend below.

Striper time!!!!

Spent yesterday guiding the L. Sac outside of chico, ca for stripers, Largemouth, Smallies and some carp. Started the day off throwing some flies to a few striper spots and hooked up at the first spot we tried. We ended up fishing stripers most of the day as we found fish at all the spots we stoped at. We caught about 5-6 fish around the 10lb bracket and then a bunch of 18-22" keeper size fish. Missed fish, broke fish off, and had the hook pull out on what looked like a BIG fish. Overall a very good day.

We did poke a round a bit in some flats for carp and spooked a few fish but didn't find any tailing fish and the clarity was really poor so we couldn't spot any. Also checked out a few small mouth spots and couldn't find any of them. I still think it is a little early for them with the cold spring we are having. With regards to largemouth we didn't even look for them but with the warmer weather we had this last week I would imagine they are getting pretty active.

Summer is Coming!!!!

Here is a little video I put together about Fly fishing during the summer in chico, CA.... stripers, bass, smallies, drinking beer in the boat in the parking lot of the Nord Ave Taco Bell, and Ernie drinken Patron and talken smack on camp outs....I love summer.

Summer is coming to chico. from hogan brown on Vimeo.

New Motor, high water, and slow fishing.

I got my boat back this week from getting my new 60hp Evinrude E-Tec put on the back. I guided the L. Sac back waters on sunday and this thing flies!!! Amazing how 10 more horses, modern technology, and electric trim can improve the performance of a boat. And that was with 3 guys and a full cooler weighing down the boat. I am scared how fast this thing is gonna go with just me and the dog in it.

High water is everywhere. Guided the Lower Yuba on Saturday and the flows were up to 3600 which on paper sounded fine to me but since the river hasn't been that high for any matter of time in the last few years the bank cover and river channel has grown in and shaped around a much lower flow. So...3600 was HIGH. The river was up behind many of the willows and I couldn't for the life of me find fish. We caught a few on stones but I think the majority of the fish were hankered down deep hugging rocks. Guided the Lower Sac Back waters on Sunday. The Sac outside of chico is high as well and off color. River is up around 14000 where it usually is up around 7-8000cfs this time of year. Pair this with a very cold spring (more importantly cold nights even on warm days) and you have tough fishing. Bottom line is the fish in the back waters haven't really woken up and got moving around. Usually the first week of May I find the bass on beds but we only found one bass on a bed in all the spots we fished. One nice thing about higher water is we can get back into some water that at lower flows we can't. I am thinking with the warmer weather this week things might start to snap into shape over the next few weeks.

In other water news I talked to my buddy who said that Shasta Lake is up to the tree line and 5' from the top of the dam and we still haven't even seen the snow start to melt. Mt. Shasta looks like a big pile of powdered sugar so it looks like it is gonna be a high water year.

In other news the new Hold Steady CD comes out today. If you like American Rock and Role with a tinge of punk, and lots of New Jersey check it out.

Let the Adventure Continue...Over and Out.