It’s nice to be back after taking a week off due to neck pain. As I mentioned in the last report, it’s time I take better care of myself if I expect to keep doing this for the long haul. I also want to say thank you to everyone who reached out to check on me and express how much they want me on the water. It means the world to me.
- Water – Low & Clear
- Weather – The rain finally showed up for a few days and it was awesome. Back to low and clear now, but another storm is coming.
- Fishing – Super fun and consistent as long as there aren’t plug boats in front of you. Especially three plug boats…
- Fish – Ain’t no head like a steelhead. A couple of 28” fish were the biggest this round, with plenty in the 20–24” range. The half-pounder numbers are slowing down.
- Boat – NRS Otter Dodger, a.k.a. Lil’ Horchata
- Clients – AWESOME!
- Gear – 7wt Redington Vice 10’ with a Redington Ace in Tobacco color, lined with Rio Elite Indicator line (not XTREME Indicator—that stuff sucks compared to the Elite; the head is too short for proper mending and roll casting). The other Vice has a Redington Grande reel. For the starvation stick: Redington 11’ 5wt Switch Rod with a 350-grain Rio Skagit Max and 10’ poly leaders.`
I got nine trips in during this last run. The fishing has changed a lot in just two weeks. The salmon are finishing up their spawning, and the steelhead are now spread out more throughout the system. The bead bite is still going a bit, but I’ve been focusing more on bugs. Which bugs? Subscribe to my Patreon to find out.
Lately, I’ve been finding fish in both pools and riffles, whereas before they were mostly in the riffles and near salmon. My approach has been to stay away from other boats, get the flies as far in front of mine as possible, and stay quiet. The fish are podded up, so if you get one, there are likely more in that spot—fish it hard after you land the fish of a lifetime.
We had some rain that bumped the river up a bit, with Canyon Creek blowing out downriver. I’ve already had a few calls asking about water clarity, which I don’t share too often since I get way too many inquiries about that during the season. The best thing to do is subscribe to my Patreon, where I’ll post water clarity reports.
That said, the fish came alive after the rain, and the river never really blew out where we were fishing. It picked up a light brown “tea” stain, but nothing bad. These fish love rain, and the fishing went absolutely bonkers. Double-digit days were had, and wow—Brad scored again this year. Last year he hit it perfect with rain, and this year he had two insane days lined up with storms. Of course, that’s mostly luck—you can’t predict when storms will roll through in the fall when you’re booking months ahead. So good for him! Lucky mother fu… haha. Thanks for the epic day, Brad.
This is officially my favorite time of year. It used to be winter, and I still love winter up here, but there’s something about those colors. Pick up trash and get up here, it’s great, and honestly, crowded. I don’t see that changing anytime soon but is that necessarily a bad thing?
All in all, it’s been an amazing fall season—one of my best so far. So many awesome days with some great clients, and beautiful weather. Again, the fish are a bonus in my boat, just floating with my people is what makes me happy.
Right now, I’m booked out for the rest of the fall season, but I do have some dates available in December, January, and February. You can check my calendar here: https://tacoflyco.com/calendar/. Please bookmark that page if you want to keep an eye on open dates. Winter runs are just as fun as fall runs if you can handle the cold. With this quality of the Fall run, I am really excited to see what winter brings.
MagBay at the end of the month. I’ll be beat but I’ll be happy, and hopefully the neck is good. As always, I appreciate you coming to read the reports. BE WELL and hug your homies.
-Mario
