The Magic of the McCloud and Upper Sacramento Rivers Experience fishing some of Northern California’s finest trout waters JUNE 2009
In the spring of 1995, I served an internship in Northern California under Dick Galland and the guides of the Clearwater House on Hat Creek. During this Ivy League education in guiding, I fell in love with the waters of the area, and vowed never to go long without spending time on them. One of these waters is the McCloud River, a 6-hour drive plus a bumpy, 30-minute dirt road away from Mammoth Lakes. This river starts as a spring-fed creek, then dumps into the McCloud Reservoir. We fish the milky cobalt blue tailwater out of McCloud Dam, its source ancient glaciers high atop Mount Shasta. The river’s edge is surrounded by old growth pine giants that have seen hundreds of years of Native Americans, pioneers, and fishermen.......................................... My daily goals are to teach the art of fishing a river. To draw a parallel between being an accomplished golfer and accomplished angler; the drive, the approach and the putt are essential to having a complete game. I will teach classic puff-ball rigging and techniques for fishing the big, deep, slower pools that the Mac is famous for (the drive.) Then, shorten up our system to fish the tail-outs and deep structure (the approach shot.) Then, lose the indicator all together and hit the fast water (the putt.) That’s where I teach my spin on Czech nymphing or Northern California tight line high sticking. After dinner we ditch the spit-shot all together and hunt fish until dark using the dry fly. Generally, we fish with four or five wt. fly rods with floating lines. The bug hatches you can expect this time of year are Pale Morning Duns, Pale Evening Duns, Green Drakes, Caddis and Giant Salmonfly........................................ We camp streamside and enjoy the feeling of being in the middle of the land that time forgot (but with flushing toilets.) Our mornings begin with coffee at 8 am as we discuss the complexities of the day- whether to fish up river or down. We usually fish water about a stone’s throw from camp, or travel by car 15 minutes to the McCloud Nature Conservancy, where only ten anglers are allowed to fish per day.................................................. If camping isn’t your bag, then the charming little city of Mount Shasta is only 45 minutes away, offering excellent accommodations and restaurants. If you’re traveling light, I recommend a flight to Redding and a one hour drive by rental car to Shasta City............................. I am also permitted to guide the Upper Sacramento River just 15 minutes from Shasta. Another tailwater, the techniques and overall beauty parallel the McCloud. It’s another must-fish if you’re in the area................................ Available dates: June 22th through June 30th FULL DAY ONE OR TWO ANGLERS - $ 400.00 ADD EXTRA ANGLERS - $ 125.00 per person HALF DAY ONE OR TWO ANGLERS - $ 300.00 ADD EXTRA ANGLERS - $ 75.00 per person *I recommend that anglers have good wading skills. I welcome you to bring your own gear and favorite flies, but our trips include any gear and flies you will need for the day. Pat Jaeger Eastern Sierra Guide Service 2327 Stone Circle Bishop Ca. 93514 home-760-872-7770 cell-760-937-2310 www.jaeger-flyfishing.com

Upper Owens river 2009
Yesterday, I fished the UPPER OWENS and it blew so hard I could barely stand up! This is typical for this time of year in higher elevations; it seems the winter tries to hold on as long as possible. The fishing was good but not great, and it was on the crowded side. The Upper Owens will be good all summer because the majority of its water is spring fed, so the flows will not go too low (unless God wills).The techniques I will be focusing on will be: sinking line strategies, indicator nymphing, and hunting fish with dry flies. The months of choice are JUNE, JULY, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, and OCTOBER.

Hot Creek 2009
Open for catch-and-release fishing. DFG Rules . . .Hot Creek from the State hatchery property line to the confluence with the Owens River. All year. Only artificial flies with barbless hooks may be used. .....SPRING FORECAST............................ HOT CREEK is truly a gift from God. This spring creek will be most guides’ go-to creek for the summer of 2009. It really seems that the last five years haven’t been as crowded as remembered. I think Crowley Lake has taken pressure off Hot Creek because "midge’n" got so popular. Currently, the creek is fairly clogged with weeds and silt; we could use a good old spring runoff to scour the river and open up the holes. The runoff this spring should start soon and will be only a few weeks. I like to fish the higher off-colored water, and June will most likely be an excellent month to be on the water. We can expect Yellow Sally, along with the first of the caddis hatches, while the Baetis hatches linger on. The P.M.D.’s will be infrequent this year because they like clean fast water and rocky bottoms, as in big runoff years. But the Trico’s fill the voids because they love the slower, weedy sections of river. We might see first generations as soon as JULY; the first generation is big….18-20 inches (ha, ha.) Don’t sweat the small stuff. The grass- hoppers will be out later in the season, until the first hard freeze, which is usually in late September. I will spend most of the summer teaching dry fly fishing techniques (downstream and upstream). We love to fish without indicators and HOT CREEK is a perfect classroom to teach "Czech" style nymphing. Hot Creek will have is hot and cold time throughout the season but, I will be on it, MAY, JUNE , JULY , AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, and OCTOBER...............update-5-15-09 Hot Creek is enjoying a good cleaning, run-off is happening full speed. The water is high and off color, but clear (tea color). This is a very important part of spring, this cleans the creek bottom of over grown weeds, silt and N.Z. snails (for a while), this mandatory FLUSH creates new habitats for bugs and fish. By no means un-fishable....its fishing dam good. Take off your indicators and fish TIGHT. We are seeing good Baetis hatches in the mid morning and then goes into Caddis 18-16, I wouldn’t be surprised to see yellow Sallies start to pop.....I know the signs say no wading because of the N.Z.Snail, but assume you have them on you shoes or boots even if your walking in the parking lot, because you do.....get up here.......UPDATE 6-10-09 This week has been a shot of late winter..the water level has dropped, fishing is excellent......great fishing

San Joaquin 2009
The SAN JOAQUIN will come and go fast this year, runoff will be swift and prime flows will most likely be during midsummer. The wildflowers will go fast, but look at the bright side- the mosquito season will come and go quickly. This river is a midsummer paradise well out of the heat. For those of you that don’t mind a walk, a half hour will take you to an uncrowded “play land” with angry fish. The techniques I will be teaching on this great little freestone will be: dry fly and dry flies dropped rigging and strategies, small indicator nymphing, and Czech nymphing (when the water is high.)I would recommend the months of JULY and AUGUST.......................UPDATE 6-10-09 The road down to Reds is OPEN...the USFS will be at top station starting June 15. I have not been down yet, I would expect the water to be a tad on the high side but not for long....the wild flowers and fishing will be outstanding this year.

Crowley Lake, Bridgeport Reservoir 2009
Conditions and Hatches thanks to uncle Kent owner operator and Crowley king: June 10 2009..... Fish are mostly in about 15-18 feet of water everywhere. Sandy has been the most popular place for midging but crowded. Fishing gets better daily as more fish arrive. Thunder storms continue to push everyone off earlier than noon. If you can sneak back out after the sparks pass, it can be red hot. Sometimes Bay is holding some nice Rainbows. Big Hilton has some nice Browns but it is long waits between grabs, but worth it if you prize size over body count. Recommended Flies: Midges: As the clear water goes so does the realistic. Blood worms early, and red/ black patterns through the day have been best. Flashback PT trimmed to be midge shaped will also do the trick. Streamers:The stripping has turned on finally and they will chase a slow-trolled size 10-12 Docs with a little flash. Black and purple working well but you have to get your fly down to them so Type 5 or very very slow in the tube. Try every cadence until you find the soup de jour. The Crowley Cam is now at the Fish Camp and ready for your viewing.

East Walker River forcast and current report Spring 2009
FORECAST 2009............ The EAST WALKER will take a hit this summer because the snowpack for its drainage was low this year. Bridgeport Reservoir will be on the small side, with an overabundance of anglers. But this is one of my favorite places on earth, and the fishing will be great. I would guess the prime flows will be from mid MAY to mid to late JULY. This river can fish excellently at any flow, but I prefer to guide and fish this water in the 100-300 cfs range. These flows give the river a layer of water that allows the fish to spread out and find their own lies. This clean cold water is oxygen-rich and stimulates hatches and "down-to-backing" fighting fish. My favorite hatches happen after Mother’s Day, when our traditional caddis flies start to emerge in force. I will warn you, many articles have been published these last months describing the ‘Big Fish’ and easy angling, but they forgot to include the proper education. So, sharpen up your elbows, it’s going to be crowded. Drive until you can’t see cars, and don’t worry about the miracle mile…. it’s a miracle river. The techniques of choice will be my spin on Czech nymphing, puffball nymphing and evening dry fly shoot-outs. The months of choice will be late MAY, JUNE, and JULY...................UPDATE 5-17-09 I told you I wouldn’t hitch my trailer unless I see flows over 100 cfs.....well, I’ve been on the river for a week now and the flows are hitting its PRIME. The last time I looked, the water flows were 180 cfs....clean and cold. The fish are enjoying the oxygen and elbow room to hunt. The hatches are good ...we see good midge hatch first light, mid morning spinner fall then the duns pop......the Caddis hatches are building every day ( in the afternoon ). There’s been lots of folks on the river, please bring good manors. There’s plenty of water and for now, plenty of fish, lots of small ones but be prepared for the big boy....I fish 4x and 5x on my dropper. A wading staff can help you get to water that most people don’t touch. See you on the water...........up-date 5-24-09 the current water flows are 240 cfs.....perfect, cool, clean water. The hatches are pretty close to last report, but the caddis hatches are getting better in the late afternoon. Lots of people on the river, but its fishing really good. I dont have many trout photos, they have the upper hand with these strong water flows. We broke a fish off yesterday on 2x fishing sink tips with a # 4 coneheaded streamer streamers...East Walker Steelhead painted brown. My trailer and I will be on the river full speed the next three week come on up...................................UPDATE June 2nd The water flows are at 195cfs today, the fishing has been excellent. the caddis hatches are getting better and better every day, its time to stay till dark and fish the dryfly. The caddis pupa are #18-16 blue, green and cream colors. First sign of PMD's last week, mostly down river in the fast water #18-14. Lots of small fish but we hook a half dozen jumbo's a day, not alot to net....lots of broken 4x and staight hooks

The Lower Owens River 2009
6-11-09......yes, she's seven years old and yes, she is standing on a milk crate............. Current conditions are excellent, the LADWP holding the water flows under 200cfs the last few weeks. Todays flows are 190cfs.....THIS CAN CHANGE AT ANYTIME. The temps down here in the valley are a perfect 75-80 midday. Midges, May flies(small Baetis)and Trico's starting to pop. I saw some PMD's the other day (late afternoon), the fish were not on the duns but they ate the nymphs (size 14 PT). The afternoon caddis hatch is a blast (mostly small).....the fishing has been as good as it gets.

FALL 2009 Steelhead Fishing In Southern Oregon’s Rogue River
In the fall of 1995 I started my annual pilgrimage to explore legendary rivers of Southern Oregon and court a beautiful girl named Pamela who coincidentally resided in Grants Pass. I made Pamela my wife and promised the rivers that I would return every year in search of its elusive Steelhead. We will be floating the river in my new Hyde drift Boat, that will comfortly fish one or two anglers. We primarily fish out of the boat but we like to pull off and comb the Runs by swinging and dead drifting flies. The wading is mostly easy but plenty of water to challenge advanced. Our target is the Steelhead, this turbo charger ocean running Trout from 2-10 pounds. We average 5-10 fish a day but have had days of twenty fish to hand by 10:00 AM., and days we get goose eggs get handed out to all. The Octobers in Southern Oregon are spectacular; the fall colors are to best to be seen buy boat, the average temp in the 70’s and little or no rain. Spawning King Salmon fill the runs on there final mating ritual, and Geese and ducks clouds the sky. Most of my clients fly to our closest international airport in Medford Or. (40 minuets away from Grants Pass). A shuttle can be arranged but car rental is highly recommended and an extra day or two to explore this beautiful part of the world is advised. The Holiday Inn express Grants Pass has comfortable accommodations with restaurants within walking distance. This trip cost is $425.00 for one or two anglers per day; it includes river-side lunch, beverages, rod / a reel (7-8wt.), terminal tackle and flies. A list of necessities will be sent to you with conformation of trip. This trip is recommended for intermediate to advanced fly fishers, young and young at heart. My promise to you is the same as all of our adventures; is that I will be on time and prepared greeting you with a smile, I will have plenty of flies, tackle and good food for the day, my promise of a safety for you and your family and FUN. I invite you to come up to Oregon and float down the Rogue River with me, and you’ll understand what trout guides do on there time off. I welcome you to bring your own gear and favorite flies but our trips include any gear and flies you will need for the day.