Northern California Fly Fishing

One of the best things about California is the nice weather.  For people who love to fly fish, Northern California is a paradise on the West Coast.  Many streams in Northern California stay open year-round offering great options for fishing trips.  There are some great options for the avid fly fisher when in Northern California.

The lower part of the Sacramento River is a prime place to catch California’s largest rainbow trout.  The river provides amazing year-round fishing opportunities.  You can catch some amazing fish in both winter and spring, but spring brings a huge caddis fly hatch that brings the fish out in droves.  You can also find some great salmon catches on the river – especially in the fall and winter.

Feather River is a great place to catch steelheads.  Fishing on this river is exciting, productive, and challenging all at the same time.  The best fishing is in the fall where adult steelheads weighing over four pounds can be found quite easily.  In the spring, you will also find some great opportunities to fly fish for some record catches.

If you’re looking for a challenging fly fishing experience in Northern California, you may want to look at the East Fork of the Carson River.  This stream provides trout anglers with many different experiences - access being one. The narrow, fast-flowing upper reaches, above Wolf Creek, are accessible only by a rough four wheel drive trail, on horseback, or by foot.

This is a classic freestone stream with lots of riffles, rapids, deep runs, and pools. These conditions create excellent habitat for stoneflies, caddis flies, and some species of mayflies throughout the Carson drainage.  Large fish are consistent on the Carson, especially around the Nevada border where the river branches off providing a great place to find the fish.

The Truckee River is the largest of three major river systems in the Northern California/Reno area.  The good weather provides year-round fly fishing with easy access, beautiful canyon scenery, and feisty wild trout.  Experts rate the Truckee as one of the best fly fishing rivers in Northern California.  It is, however, a tough river to fish because of the current where it flows into the Nevada area.

These are only a few of the myriad of choices you have available to you for fly fishing in Northern California.  You have a lot of options to catch some amazing fish plus, you can enjoy fly fishing year-round in the balmy Northern California weather.  It can be a great opportunity for you to hone your fly fishing skills and plan a wonderful fly fishing getaway.

California Fly Fishing

There’s no doubt about it that some of the best fly fishing in California is located in the northern part of the state.  The Sierra Mountains provide some great scenery as well as some great rivers and streams where the fish are plentiful and the weather is great.  Because the California weather is quite static, year-round fly fishing is available to the fisherman.

Located above Crowley Lake, the Owens River is one of the best places to fish for trout in California.  The river is one of a kind with a gentle current that flows through a glacial valley between mountains that are 9,000 feet tall or more.  At one time, the Owens River provided water and power to Los Angeles.  When they converted the gorge, much of the fish died out.  With a restoration of the river back to a fly fishing destination, you can now find some beautiful brown or rainbow trout at any time of the year.

The McCloud River is one of California’s premier trout fisheries.  This River feeds Lake Shasta and was the breeding ground for rainbow trout that was shipped all over the country to stock other rivers and streams.  You can find big brown trout as well as rainbow trout in plentiful supply on the McCloud.

In Northern California, the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River provides some great fly fishing for some excellent trout.  This river is one of the few places designated as wild trout waters by the state.  This area receives a lot of fishing, so it’s a good idea to get there early in the morning to stake out your spot.  Besides the normal species of trout, this river also boasts a hybrid variety of rainbow and golden trout with bright orange sides.

Hat Creek is another great place to fly fish in California.  These, too, have been designated trophy wild trout waters, and you will find plenty here.  This creek is very well-suited to both beginning as well as experienced fly fishers.  The banks are laden with heavy brush that provides some great hiding places for brown and rainbow trout.  Much of the creek is heavily stocked, but there is some natural reproduction that takes place making Hat Creek a very easy place to fish.

If you are looking to go fly fishing in California, you have a lot of options available to you.  Much of the best fly fishing would be in the northern part of the state, but you can also find many other places where fish are plentiful and challenges about.  You can’t go wrong with a fly fishing vacation in California.