Northern California Fly Fishing Report 5/10/25

Fly fishing in Northern California has been great over the past few weeks. Some highlights have been the flurries of dry fly action on both Hat Creek and McCloud River, along with a phenomenal spotted bass bite on Lake Shasta. Fall river is also beginning to take off, making now a great time to head to the mountains. 

River Reports:

Lower Sacramento:

The Lower Sac has been producing really great fishing on most days as is usual for this time of year. There were a few scattered days where wind or abrupt flow changes dampened the bite for a few hours, however even on those days anglers still had some action and flurries of bites. Looking forward, we expect the bite to continue being great. The river recently jumped up to 15,000 cfs after hovering around 8,000 cfs. Fishing in these flows is still good, especially in the soft water edges. These are the conditions where the guide / angler connection is key. An angler paying very close attention to the drift can have an amazing day, however the bites can be fast and subtle in these conditions making it very important to stay engaged with your drift. In the faster current, mending your line on time can be the difference between a day filled with bites, or a day struggling. Our guides reported a large variety of nymphs working. There was a hot yellow-sallie bite last week below town, and in town it sounds like the larger stonefly nymphs and standard PMDs are all working. Each day there is a smorgasbord of PMDs, Sallies, Caddis, and Stoneflies hatching. Also, we are entering the time of year where there are spawning trout in the redds, if you fish an egg pattern, please do so responsibly and avoid these shallow gravel spawning areas. We have been receiving reports that our guides have witnessed other boat anglers targeting these sensitive areas. 

McCloud:

The McCloud is now entering it’s peak spring season. The flows and clarity are ideal right now. If this river is at all on your radar, now is go time. Our guide Devon reported recently having an outstanding dry fly session fishing green drakes. They also saw some salmonflies and golden stones. Looking into the coming weeks, the salmonflies and golden stones will take center stage and create some epic dry-dropper conditions in the pockets and pools of this world famous river. We expect to see the Green Drakes fade out and more Salmonflies and Golden Stoneflies show up, along with some caddis, PMD, and Baetis action sprinkled in. Surface attacks on big salmonfly imitations has us all very excited to fish the MCloud in the coming weeks.

Hat Creek:

Hat Creek is also entering its peak spring season. Over the past week we’ve had reports of epic salmonfly action on the surface in a foot or two of water down in the wild trout section. The riffles below 299 are some of our favorite water to fish during these hatches. There’s not much more exciting than seeing a fish appear out of nowhere in shallow water to inhale a huge bushy dry fly. The next month will be the best window of the year to throw these giant dry flies, after that it’s back to the small subtle presentations hat Creek is known for.

Fall River:

We’ve had some fresh fall river reports come in over the past week and we are hearing great things. It’s finally go-time on our favorite spring creek after waiting all winter for conditions to warm. The fish have been keyed into a Calibaetis hatch that produced great nymphing action most of the day with scattered fish rising on top as well.  We did have an exceptionally windy day last week that made it more challenging, however fish were still caught even in these conditions. Looking forward, we are entering peak season for fall river fishing and are expecting the PMDs to begin hatching soon taking center stage while the Calibaetis continue hatching. 

Upper Sac:

The Upper Sac is still flowing around 1,000 cfs from runoff, which is higher than is ideal for this river. With so many other great options over the past two weeks we simply didn’t fish it. However, there is no doubt that certain soft edges would likely be producing. The Upper Sac is on the top of our radar, because as soon as the flows drop a little more we expect it to be on fire. This is the time of year when salmonflies and golden stones are the supreme bug of choice, especially with high flows. Also, swinging streamers in the lower end can be a very fun option targeting the larger, hot, lake run fish from Shasta. Not many folks have fished this river for many months, we can’t wait to see what it brings when conditions are right. 

Lake Report:

Lake Shasta is still producing wide open spotted bass fishing. Topwater in the mornings, and float n fly all day along with many other tactics working as well. It is a nuanced game, meaning you need to know where to look, as it is a massive body of water and changes frequently with lake level and water temperatures. Our guides have been dialed in on these hard fighting biters. This has been a guest favorite over the past couple weeks with some folks reporting it’s the best fishing they have ever experienced, a perfect experience for beginners. We expect this to continue through the rest of spring.