Fall Fishing in all the Variety

Fall is in the air all throughout Northern California. It seems like this year we are seeing a more typical fall than in the few years past. A few cloudy days, and salmon returning to their spawning beds. Life is good. There’s so much to talk about with Fall fishing. The honest truth is that there are no wrong answers. Just good fishing in almost every body of water all throughout Northern CA. 

Starting out, the star of almost every season in Nor Cal is the Lower Sac. While every season is good on the Sac, the fall is no doubt the most popular. This is for one main reason. The egg drop. Starting sometime in early October, the large fall chinook salmon dig their redds and start to spawn, kicking off a trout feeding frenzy that can rival Alaska. While the entire time you can still fish bugs and be very successful, the fall egg bite is just plain exciting. Typically great weather, and trout gorging themselves silly. This year, we are already seeing lots of salmon spawning in Redding and a red-hot trout bite, a great sign for the fishing to come. Along with this egg drop on the Sac, the Trinity River sees a push of Chinook salmon spawning during this same fall window, which triggers a steelhead bite that can be incredible at times. Fresh steelhead follow the salmon upriver in anticipation of the feast to last them through the winter. 

Another Valley stream that can absolutely go off in the fall is the Feather. It’s fished exceptional in recent years. The Feather can sometimes see as many or more salmon spawning in it than the Sac, which can mean tons of steelhead right behind them. The valley steelhead are fun fish that aren’t averaging as big as their coastal counterparts, but typically make up for it with numbers and aggression. The Feather is located conveniently to the major metro areas, about an hour closer than the Sac on average. 

Further up the mountain, another amazing fall spectacle takes place simultaneously with the return of the salmon and egg bite frenzy. The October Caddis hatch. For October Caddis, the McCloud and Upper Sac are the places to be. It’s small water dry fly or dry-dropper fishing at it’s finest. Golden fall colors highlighted against the lush green river corridor make it a moving experience just being up there. Seeing fish destroy a giant October Caddis Stimulator on the surface is icing on the cake. To make matters even better, the large brown trout from Lake Shasta also begin their fall spawning migration at this time.The mega brown trout of the McCloud are typically caught in October / November as they stage and feed before spawning. This time of year with so many good options, it’s not uncommon to find yourself alone on these streams as so many places are drawing anglers' attention at once.