For the past six plus weeks here in northern California I've been fishing the Lower Sac and *consistently* the river has fished quite well, albeit one day when a north wind was well over 30mph and you couldn't cast to save your life and we had to constantly row *downstream* to keep from blowing upriver. But other than that one day, the fishing has been really good. I've noted in previous river reports that what keeps my satisfied on the Lower Sac is just how much river there is to fish. With dozens of miles of trout water, one can target lots of different water as well as scenery pretty easily. Certain sections of the river are fast becoming my favorite parts of the river and I'm reguarly surprised by just how great this fishery is. Montana is amazing, Alaska is a dream, and Colorado has its spectacular waters too. But northern California is pretty hard to beat (not that it's a competition by any means).

So a few of the highlights to note have been the PMD and caddis hatches have been, at times, epic. The trips I was doing end of March and beginning of early April provided some really great dry fly opportunities too, with my double dry set up being a great option. On one particular day I think we caught nearly 20 fish on dry flies in one single riffle, from small "cookie cutters" (14 inchers) on up to 18 inchers. On another float the mighty rubber legs couldn't be stopped and fish after fish was crushing those big 'ole chenille wrapped scoobie snacks. The spring sucker egg spawn *seems* like it took place earlier this spring and the last couple of trips, surprisingly, hasn't produced much. But last week I tied on a steelhead fly, a modefied psycho nymph looking bug, and hooked up with a nice hatchery steelhead, which made the fantastic day even better!

All in all I've been fairly happy with the fishing minus that one windy day. Which brings me to an important point: trust your guide. We made the decision to go fishing on that day becausre we knew we'd be able to get a few hours in before the storm came in but I wouldn't have put guests in that situation for a million dollars. Actually... I take that back. For a million dollars I'll take you on a windy day. But seriously... your guide wants to put you on fish and wants to do her or his best with the conditions and if they think they can put you on fish despite the wind or rain, awesome. If not, take their word for it. At the end of that particular day I watched about six guides painstakingly row downstream with clients because the last two hours of their trip was essentially unfishable. Guides know tricks but guides can't control weather! At least that's what makes the most sense to me.

Anyway, I think we'll be back on the water with guests *REALLY* soon here and there are many options around here to fish. The Lower Sac in a drift boat is really fun but don't forget about the other walk and wade possibilities! The Upper Sac is a dream and the McCloud is legendary. Plus there are lots of other waters to fish, from the popular to the secret or private. Book your trip today or do a gift card or something! Contact Confluence and let's fish soon!