Trout Source

Addiction Is A Powerful Thing

Just this past Friday I was minding my own business, working the shop, during a nice snowstorm.  Not a blizzard. The air temperature was around 25 degrees or so.  Around noon my neighbor walks in and I can tell, just by his smile, that he’s thinking fishing…On the ride home the thermometer said 8 degrees.  The wind chill was in double digits below zero.  I came home and sat by the woodstove for about four hours dressed in a coat and hat while the kid ran around in his diaper.  I will tell you that I love winter fishing.  But I will also tell you that I love spring fishing even better.

Buy A Fly Shop in California’s Eastern Sierra
If you have ever dreamed of owning your own fly shop in a beautiful location like the Eastern Sierra, opportunity is knocking at your door now… Brocks Flyfishing Specialists, LLC is FOR SALE.  I have reached that magical age of retirement and it is time to move on to more fishing, fishing and more fishing. I want to thank all of you for your support over the past 23 years. For it was you, that made it possible for me. As a child I always wanted to own this business and it came true. This could be your childhood dream come to also. Again, thanks to you all.

Oregon Steelheading Near Peak
Runs on many of Oregon’s winter steelhead rivers will be at their peak over the next couple of weeks.

OR-7 Wolf Returns To Shasta County (CA)
After spending about a month in Lassen County, the wolf dubbed OR7 is back in Shasta County.  The 2-year-old gray wolf apparently headed west late last week and slipped over the county line into eastern Shasta County on Saturday morning, according to the state Department of Fish and Game...  Stopher said it is remarkable that OR7 has traveled about 550 miles through Shasta, Siskiyou and Lassen counties and no one has seen him.  ..the wolf hasn't been seen in five months, even though he has traveled some 1,300 miles, Stopher said.  "He's one sneaky dude," Stopher said.

Shanghai Falls – No More (Feather ,CA)
The clay berm that once kept stripers, shad, steelhead trout and salmon in a holding pattern beneath the water's surface is no more.  "It just wore out and gave way," Sutter County Supervisor Stan Cleveland says of the natural landmark's quiet death in mid-January.  On weekends during good runs, "it was probably the best spot on the Feather River besides the outlet up in Oroville," says Boucke.  Johnson says a potential silver lining in the loss of the falls might be represented by a large fish that has, until now, made only infrequent appearances in the area.  "Sturgeon can't pass barriers like that," he says of the falls. "This does open up a chance for them to get up a little farther."
…was a popular fishing spot for generations of anglers

Alewives a comin’? (Upper Delaware River, NY/PA)
With the reservoir hovering around 90%,and no real snow pack to speak of,this is a bit of daydreaming,but I am REALLY looking forward to the early season streamer fishing. In a perfect world,we will get a bunch of spillage right as the alewives are hovering near the warmer water at the surface of Cannonsville –much as we had last year!

Major Shad Kill (White River, AR)
… as of this morning shad were pouring through the dam ...This morning fish were taking shad off the surface as well as deeper down.  We have not seen shad come through like this in 4 or 5 years and they were coming through in weak generation of three units.  …I’m hoping the kill will last another week or so ...  As you can see in [the second] picture the gulls were taking shad off the surface on Saturday and today Sunday tons of shad came through with fish taking them off the surface.


 

Shad Kill Factoids
No other Ozark tailwater event gets local and visiting anglers more excited than the annual shad kill. ... When power is generated, tons of the shad get sucked through the turbines and they end up in the river. The harrowing ride and change in pressure usually leaves the shad crippled, and as they float along the surface they are easy prey for the river’s trout... Growth rates of the trout are amazing during these times and it is also a great opportunity to catch a huge fish.

Flow turnaround in the Northeast
Water levels have dropped dramatically in the last few weeks due to scant precipitation. Streams in Central PA are at or near normal flows for the winter months. Wading is not the adventure that it was a month ago. Fishing is almost easy by contrast…Conditions are stacking up for a memorable late winter−early spring.

Need precip in Michigan
And though it's not unusual to have low water before the spring thaw, it is unusual not to have heaps of snow in the swamps and surrounding forests.  There's just not a lot of water in the woods.  So if we can't have snow, we'll take some rain.

Cabin Fever Day (Au Sable, MI)
Don’t miss Cabin Fever Day this February 25th. It’s a great excuse to go fishing.

Signs of spring

Au Sable (MI)
There are some signs of spring, or at least of a winter that hasn't happened.  We've seen a few wood ducks on the river this winter.  The beavers are starting to build their castor mounds on the bank sides.  There are prespawn rainbows in the upper river, and on rivers like the Pere Marquette, there are steelhead starting to scrape the gravel.

Lower Sacramento (CA)
The fishing has been great! The springtime caddis are popping off the river, delivering crazed rainbows chasing any nymph pattern that is dark and a #16-18.  

Pit River (CA)
Fishing has been great! Hatches of BWOs, early springtime Caddis and Skwalla Stones are responisble for the spike in fishing quality!

Upper Sacramento (CA)
Right now above Sims it's winter like scenery but below Sims it's spring like [see below] …The whacky meter currently is showing bulbs popping up in Mt. Shasta, Robins are back(I really don't think they ever left), people wearing shorts a few days ago were spotted, and the USac has remained fishable so far without missing much of a beat.

Truckee (CA)
The bugs are out, East of Reno that is. …I haven’t seen any fish on top, but that will change here shortly. … It will be a solid month before we see those bugs up around Hirschdale on the Cali side of the Truckee River.

Hot Creek & Owens River (CA)
“I was fishing today on the lower Owens and it was just going off. I was in shorts under my waders and I was seeing 15 to 20 fish slurping bugs,” said Jaeger, who owns Eastern Sierra Guide Service. “Water temperatures are coming up, the days are getting a little longer and it’s starting to get darn good.”

Deschutes (OR)
On Saturday it felt like spring with a plethora of different insects hatching from caddis to BWO's to a smattering of Skwalla stones.

Warm Winter = Consistent Fishing

Frying Pan (CO)
With this mild winter our valley has been experiencing so far this year, the fishing has been staying very consistent from day to day.

Au Sable (MI)
The mild winter continues - trout fishing has been pretty decent overall this winter.

Bighorn (MT)
Water temp in the river hasn't been as cold for this time of year.  Therefore the trout have been more active.

Yellowstone
The mild winter up here has kept most of the rivers ice free which is good for those of us who enjoy rising fish and solitude on the rivers. What a difference a year makes! Last year at this time we were waist deep skiing powder, this year we’re waist deep in the rivers.

…With Some 30 ½” Pigs Thrown In (Frying Pan, CO)