Mission Peak Fly Anglers

I will be speaking at Mission Peak Fly Anglers this Wednesday. I will be tying flies at 5pm and the meeting starts at 6:30pm. I will be giving my presentation "Trout Flies: From Imitation to Creation" 

If you are in the East Bay Area or Peninsula Area come check it out. 

Location:

Silliman Center

6800  Mowry Blvd

Newark  CA

Friday Fishing Report

Feather River – The Low Flow has dropped to 1000cfs and should stay there through the fall. The big news is that the High Flow had dropped down to 1730 which is LOW for this time of year but should slow down the upstream migrating salmon and get the ones that are in the river up in the riffles cutting redds. I talked to a few guys that have been smallie and striper fishing out of Yuba City and have been seeing a bunch of fresh salmon coming up the river still so it should be a pretty good run this year of salmon. The hatchery opened up the gates this week and fish poured in. So there should be a great batch of fish to harvest eggs from this year.

Most people that have been getting out for steelhead have been getting a few fish here and there. The ones that I have heard that have caught fish are getting nice sized chrome bright adults. Salmon in the low flow are just starting to pair up so the egg bite is still a few weeks away and I think the High Flow is not far behind. All the fish I have caught have been on nymphs so the steelhead are not even really keying on eggs yet but that I would still fish an egg when out there.

Lower Sacramento River Trout/Steelhead – I was on the Sac this last weekend both days and had fair fishing both days I did a float that fellow guides did “amazing” on the day before. Typical should have been here yesterday deal as those same guides were on the float both days and said those exact words…That said that is pretty typical of this time of year as fish start to get on the egg bite and start to pile on food for the fall. The flows are down to 7650 coming out Keswick and are around this flow all the way down to Irvine Finch west of Chico. I caught my fish on beads, rubber legs, and small mayfly nymphs. Most of the fish came in typical, what we call bug water, I did not find fish up in the riffles looking for eggs but fish in the bug water ate beads so they know the eggs are coming. Most of the guides I know have all hooked a few steelhead so far and while I didn’t get any this weekend I know they are out there and on their way up river. I would expect the Lower Sac to be getting really good here any time.

Lower Yuba – Flows are low, down to 750cfs and fishing has been pretty good. Fish are moving up into the riffles looking for eggs and the last time I was on the river I got most of my fish on attractor nymphs and egg patterns which means they are eating bugs turned up in salmon redds and looking for juevos coming down river. I would say the Yuba is going to get really good here any day.

Bottom line is that fall fishing is days away and if you would like to get out I still have a few fall dates and plenty of winter steelhead and trout dates. If you have any questions or would like to book a date look over the list of dates below and shoot me an email or phone call.

Nov. 17, 24-27

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25-26, 

Idylwilde Update

I have been getting a lot of emails over the last few months with regards to the status of Idylwilde and my flies that they tie. There has been a lot of encouraging news with a new production facility up and running and the first few shipments of flies coming out of the facility over the last week.

Check out the Idylwilde Blog  HERE

Flossin and bossin in the Ville + Fantasy Football + fishing reports

So fall is slowly rolling in Northern California. The days are getting shorter, nights are getting cooler and the rivers are dropping to their fall levels filling with Chinook salmon and hopefully soon steelhead. I have been transitioning between summer and fall fisheries holding on to the last vestiges of summer but getting excited for some fall fishing.

Feather River – The Low Flow has dropped down to 1000cfs and is FULL of Chinook salmon schooling up in every conceivable hole and run in the river. This is a great sign but makes me wonder how many fish are left in the high flow or if there is any fish in the low flow. I took clients out on the river this last weekend and we hooked 3 fresh steelhead and landed one. I would say it is still a bit early but there are some fish around and the ones we hooked were wild chrome bullets. The flows at 1000cfs change the game a bit but not much just add water to the normal spots don’t really created any new ones. Extend runs and make spots in existing runs deeper and more likely to hold fish. With the amount of salmon in the river and the aggressive nature of them at this stage look for steelhead below the masses of salmon and in the deeper water below runs, just kind of hanging back. All our fish came on caddis and mayfly nymphs.

First Feather Steelhead of the Fall Season

Lower Yuba River – The Lower Yuba has dropped down to 760 cfs and has been stable here sense August 31. This is a normal fall flow, really the minimum flow for the river. This flow drop should kick the salmon that are in the river up into the riffles and get the starting to cut out some redds and get to the business of dropping some eggs. I would expect the egg bit to get going in the next week or two, but I am sure the trout will start moving into the riffles looking for eggs and eating bugs as the salmon cut their redds.

Lower Sacramento River Trout – The Sac has dropped down right around 8000cfs as of August 30^th. Fishing has been tough from what I have been hearing. Fishing up through redding area has been a few good fish at best and then a ton of smaller 10-12” fish for most people. Fishing down around Red Bluff has been good one day fair the next. Fishing in the lower stretches for steelhead should be picking up over the next few weeks and the egg bite is still at least a month away I imagine.

Lower Sacramento River Stripers – Fishing has slowed down a bit as flows have dropped substantially. I have heard of a few people catching fish but I have not been out sense the big flow drop so I don’t really have a handle on what is going on but I imagine fishing should remain decent until the weather starts getting cooler.

Guiding – I still have a few fall dates available and plenty of winter dates open as well. These will fill soon so if anyone wants to get out for fall or winter trout and steelhead let me know.

Nov. 17, 23-27.

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25, 26

Feb. 8-10, 15, 16, 22, 23

Tales from the ‘Ville

 Flossin and Bossin on the Feather

As October approaches we enter Feather River Steelhead season…I love the feather there is no better river for getting people into steelhead fishing. There are good numbers of fish in the river each year, it is close to the bay area and sacramento, and the fish are pretty willing to eat a egg or nymph pattern. That said it runs through the ‘Ville and as I began to spend time on the river a new blog column emerges …. Stories from the Ville:

With only one day on the river so far this year I already have multiple experiences to discuss…First is the “shit house spey crew” that plant themselves in Shit House riffle full with camp chairs and coolers for at-least 8-10hours a day. If I was to fish shit house for more then an hour I may shoot myself due to the repetitive nature of  fishing the run. Second of all, shit house is FULL of salmon this time of year to the point where we call it the Oil Slick … it is just black with the backs of salmon and the lose of gear would bankrupt me. Couple all that with the fact that the Low Flow is closed to Salmon Fishing and the warden station for the wild life area is just over the levy and if they see you fighting a salmon they will come down on you like the hand of god…that said most are pretty reasonable if you hook one and break it off ounce you know it is a salmon or even if you think you have hooked a state record steelhead and fight it all the way to the bank most wardens will look at your 5-7wt rod and indicator rig with egg patterns, trout nymphs, and 2-4x tippet and know you weren’t trying to break the law.

Now the “shit house spey crew” swings flies on large traditional spey and switch rods ALL day through shit house, which I have no problem with but lets be honest if you swing flies you are going to snag, floss, and hook salmon on every drift.  Now I have no problem if you want to try to catch a steelhead on a swung fly and in the process lose a fly every cast on a salmon, totally your deal. That said these guys hook salmon and fight them all the way to the bank, tailing them with helping hand tailing gloves one after the other while hooting and hollering up and down the bank …. So I have been watching this for a few years now and if they were legitimately fishing for steelhead there is no way they would be fishing with tippet heavy enough to land 15-35+lb king salmon and spey rods that belong  in Smithers not the Low Flow of the feather. Most of the time I keep my mouth shut and assume they just don’t know any better, but I couldn’t take it anymore this last weekend. So, as much as I wanted to row a cross the river and tell them what morons they were , I politely said to one of them that the low flow is closed to salmon fishing and that you are not allowed to target salmon…This guys response was completely over the top hostile with “I know exactly what I am doing” and he got totally defensive, while he was beaching a salmon mind you, so at that point I just said for get it…my client even said “wow you were really diplomatic about that and that guy was a total dick!!!!”  So tales from the ville began… dudes flossing salmon with spey rods. Stay Classy Oroville.

Beer Report

Biggest news in Brews is the release of the seasonal release from Sierra Nevada of Flip Side Red IPA. I have had this on tap and in the bottles so far. I am really liking it! Nice smooth red IPA with a little bitter aftertaste at first but the more you drink the less that bitterness lasts. I have also had a few bottles and a few pints on tap of the Southern Hemisphere Harvest Ale. I am digging it but it is not amazing…good but not great. I also secured my self two tickets to October Fest at Sierra Nevada…Pretty pumped on that.

Gods Favorite Football Team

We opened up the season with a nice win over Temple at home. Tommy looked good at QB but was a bit lacking on 3^rd down conversions and lets be honest Temples Secondary is not world class. I was pretty impressed with the running back and recievers as well and of course the D was solid. Field goal kickers were a bit worrisome and in close games like we are bound to be in this year may be a bit of a concern. Bottom line is we will know what we got when we take on Michigan at Michigan this Saturday Night.

The Pictures I get from my friends when I text them "what are you up to right now"

Classy Friends I have...

The League...

So last year my fellow guide friends and I decided we needed to get into Fantasy Football...so we started a league. It started small last year with like 5 or 6 of us, we decided that fly guides can only be in a league with fly guys as we can't have any of those nerds that sit in front a computer all day checking fantasy stuff...plus we suck so we need other people in our league that suck. Hence the birth of the Nor Cal Guides Fantasy League...it has now grown to nearly 16 guides and we had our draft on Labor Day this last weekend at the Deelers house. Bottom line this thing is getting competetive this year. I have spent every bowel movement for the last month reading up on fantasy football, strategies, players, etc....Updates to come. 

Fishing Reports, palm muted power chords, and news on fermented beverages

Summer is on its way out of town and while the taillights are not over the horizon I can see those taillights pulling away…that said the headlights of fall are coming over the opposite horizon. Salmon are filling the Sac, Yuba, and Feather with hopefully plenty of steelhead behind them. The days are getting shorter and nights are getting longer and cooler as well. Personally I have been still out chasing stripers on the Sac, but I did pull out my steelhead rods, switch rods, and corresponding reels this last weekend and start getting organized. Here are some reports, forecasts, and ramblings…enjoy

Lower Yuba River – The Lower Yuba is sitting around 1600 cfs, which is a great flow for salmon and steelhead to move up river. I have been seeing school of salmon moving up river for over a month now and heard of the first adult steelhead being hooked this last week. I think if the flows stay this high it is going to be a great year for the Lower Yuba. I have not been out on the river lately but talking Ryan J. who was out earlier this week fishing has been fair to good with most fishing coming on nymphs.  The egg bit should get going around mid September but with these good flows mid August to mid Sept there is going to be some early steelhead hooked I am sure.

Lower Sacramento River Trout – Flows out of Keswick dropped from around 1200cfs to 10000cfs this weekend. I guided from Barge Hole to Bend Bridge on Saturday and fishing was fair. Areas that had been fishing didn’t hold fish like they did before the flow drop. It is always tough fishing the river the day of a flow drop but considering that fishing was pretty decent. I would expect fishing to get good again after a few days and fishing will only improve over the next month. The word on salmon is that there is a bunch of fish in the river but they are moving up stream fast. I have seen salmon up and down the river but most guys are struggling to catch fish. So maybe an early egg bite this year.

Lower Sacramento River Stripers – Flows dropped to 7700cfs at Ord Bend. Striper fishing has been really good. We have been hooking really good numbers of fish in the 3-7lb range and having shots at 20+lb range on most days. Fishing both sinking and Intm. lines and smaller clousers seems to be the ticket. With salmon traffic being high it is important to know when and where to go to find feeding fish. Fishing should continue through August into mid September. Fishing can get a bit tougher when they decide to drop the flows for the fall though.

Nice L. Sac Summer Striper

Lower Feather River – Flows in Low Flow section are 2500cfs, this is very high considering most years it is 600cfs. The river channel of the low flow is more then capable of holding a flow of 2500cfs so it does not have the characteristics of a “blown out” river. 2500cfs is a much more “normal” flow actually for the river channel the low flow moves through. The high flow is flowing at 5500 cfs, this is pretty high for the high flow. Now with the high flows coming down the low flow a lot of the salmon are moving up through the high flow and into the low flow and not getting held up in the outlet and high flow. My guess is that the steelhead are moving up river quickly as well. Both these flows should change by October, but I think the low flow is still going to be higher then usual this year due to issues involving a fire earlier this year in one of the generators/pumps. I am going to try to get out and float the low flow in the next few weeks to check things out. Reports to follow but expect a good and early steelhead season on the Feather.

Beer Report – So I have been drinking some really good beers…granted they have all been from Sierra Nevada. I went through a case of the new Beer Camp release and was a bit disappointed, I guess I shouldn’t say disappointed but just not totally impressed. The 3 beers that are part of this release are an IPA, Belgian Style Black IPA, and an Imperial Red Ale. None of them really jumped out at me as amazing, they were all good, but not great. My favorite would have to be the Belgian Style Black IPA as it had a pretty unique flavor. I have always thought the Beer Camp releases are pretty hit or miss, some good some OK and some have even been bad. I also was lucky enough to get a bottle of the limited release “Barrel Aged Ruthless Rye” which is Ruthless Rye aged for 3 months in bourbon barrels…I have not tried this yet but I am pretty excited, and have some pretty high hopes for it. I am thinking this week I may pop the cork on this baby. Also I am excited for the coming release of a new seasonal brew from Sierra, Flipside Red IPA, which will be coming out this late summer/early fall.

Tunes Report – I have been listening to some oldie but goodies after I heard one of my favorite bands from the formative years of high school was getting back together. Knapsack from Davis, CA is a great pop/punk/emo band that I loved and really still do. I would say I like Blair’s (lead singer and songwriter) new band The Jealous Sound just as much but there a simplicity and rawness to Knapsack that is not part of the Jealous Sound. Knapsack made me want to palm mute power chords and then play them really distorted and loud and then palm mute them again…

Sports Report – The Giants are bad. Like 16 games back and in last place in the worst division in baseball. One nice thing about this is that the bandwagon is empty and only true fans remain. I still watch every night and have been overall accepting of where we are as a team…injuries, lack of production from key players, and pitching that has not delivered are hall marks of this season. That said there are some positive signs and I will watch to the last game. Curious to see how we handle Boston as they come in this week for a inter-leauge home stand.

The Irish open the season ranked between 8-11 on various poles which to be honest a is a bit high…apparently no one who votes or ranks has watched Tommy Reese run the football…tough to run the spread with a small slow white guy. We will see what we are made of week 2 at Michigan. I am pumped though for the season. I think we have some good young talent and I am confident in our ability to get back to the BCS…maybe not the championship but at least a BCS game.

CAST HOPE - Check out the 2nd Annual Cast Hope Barn Dance coming up on Sept 21. If you are in chico this is a blast of an event. Great food, Great Beers, Amazing Auction items (flyfishing and non fly fishing), dancing and bands! 

ONLY A FEW FALL GUIDE DATES LEFT...

Oct. 26, 27

Nov. 17, 23-27

Dec. 27-31

Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25, 26.

Fall and Winter Trout and Steelhead Dates

Fall and Winter Trout and Steelhead

Fall and Winter around Northern California offer some of the best fishing of the year!! Due to my limited guide schedule in the fall and winter I have limited dates available and they will go fast. I have listed the dates that I have available below along with a general description of fall and winter fisheries and when they fish best. I hope everyone is doing well and if you would like to book a date or have any questions give me a call or shoot me an email

530-514-2453
hoganbrown@hotmail.com

Lower Yuba River - Egg Bit is best late sept-mid October. Oct-Feb is best for trout and steelhead. 

Lower Feather River - Fall Steelhead is best Oct-November and with flows through the low flow hovering between 1500 and 2500cfs it may even start getting good by early september this year.

Lower Sacramento River - Egg bit is best Mid October through early November. Steelhead fishing is best in the lower River Nov-Dec. Fishing is good though from Oct - Feb

Butte Creek - Open Nov 15-Feb 15. The creek is Very very low so fishing won't pick up until we get some good rains, fishing is usually best mid December through mid Jan. 

* keep in mind these are general descriptions and all rivers are subject to weather and flow changes. If you have a specific question or want to know more about a fishery in greater detail feel free to shoot me an email. 

AVAILABLE DATES
Sept. 14, 15, 
Oct. 6, 12, 13, 19, 26, 27
Nov. 10, 11, 17, 23-27
Dec. 21-24, 27-31
Jan. 2-12, 18-20, 25, 26, 
Feb. 1, 2, 8-10, 15- 17, 22, 23

As always check out the blog or my website 

Discount Days August 2, 3

Evening Trip: $200 for two anglers - $50 discount
Half Day Float Trip: $275 for two anglers - $50 discount 
Full Day Float Trip: $350 for two anglers - $75 discount

Options: 
Float the Lower Yuba - Good nymph fishing with the possibility of some dry fly fishing. 
Float the Lower Sac - Good nymph fishing through the Lower stretches of the river down through red bluff.
Float the Lower Feather - Chance at some early season steelhead.

Striper fishing on the Lower Sac - Evening, half day, or full day options.

Walk and Wade fishing on the NF Feather

*all full day trips include lunch and drinks along with use of rods, reels, and lines along with all your flies and tackle.
*half day and evening trips include a snack and drinks along with use of rods, reels, and lines along with all your flies and tackle.