Northern California Fly Fishing Report - Trinity & Lower Sacramento Rivers

Northern California Fly Fishing Report

Here is a quick Northern California Fly Fishing Report & recap of our last month or so of fishing, and a look ahead into what we are excited about coming up.

Trinity / Coastal Steelhead:

Over the past month we've had some great weather windows to target winter steelhead. Successful winter steelhead fishing is measured by simply getting the opportunity to target them with good conditions, but so far this season we are happy to report our nets have been staying wet and rods staying bent with positive catch reports in all the rivers we fish. There has been a good push of wild adult fish in the upper reaches of the Trinity. Our guides were busy catching them throughout all of January despite the higher than normal releases from Lewiston keeping many anglers at home. For many of us who are addicted to chasing these fish, the last month has been an onslaught of good times on both the coastal and inland steelhead fisheries. Our Coastal fisheries up and down the entire coast saw a great window of opportunity with prime flows throughout the entire last half of January.

Looking forward, we are excited about what this new round of storms will bring. If rain doesn’t happen, steelhead fishing will get stale. This year, that worry can be considered gone. We have an awesome freshet renewing the lifeblood of our favorite steelhead rivers as we speak, and without a doubt when that water recedes it will usher in a fresh push of fish from the salt. We can’t be certain of exactly when this will happen, but be assured that the first few days after the rivers drop, it will be game time. It looks like there may even be a short window to fish the coast in the later part of this coming week. If you have flexibility in your schedule, go time could be coming very soon. In the meantime, we celebrate that all of the fish in our systems have the chance to migrate far into the headwaters and spawn safely.

Lower Sac:

Another winter highlight over the past month has been the solitude on the Lower Sac. A few of our guides have fished it consistently over the past month and have had great success. In winter, you can often find yourself all alone on the big river. It may not always be the numbers slay fest of the warmer months, but if the sun peaks out and the bugs hatch in that mid-day glory, hold on tight. Winter is typically when we see some of the biggest fish of the year come out of the depths and try to get a little snack time in as they wait for the longer feeding windows of spring time.

The Lower Sac will see some high flows these next couple of weeks and is up to 60,000 cfs as of this writing. Even with these current high flows keeping us off the river, we fully expect March to line up for great flows and great fishing on the Lower Sac. Although we expect the flows to drop significantly into March, we are not at all afraid of high water on the Lower Sac. Many of us have experienced some of our best days ever in extreme high flow conditions that keep many folks at home. The higher flows will create soft pocket feeding lanes near banklines which will uniquely congregate the fish. The first warm days of spring will also bring us the first major rounds of insect hatches. When this happens, you want to be trout fishing. The lack of fishing pressure all winter will have the trout uneducated and ready for the first dead drift that comes near them.

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March Madness in the North State

By Matt Formento • March 9, 2026

It’s March Madness time - basketball lovers and trout fishermen unite in a love for this month. March marks the beginning of spring, and the beginning of spring bug hatches that wake up nearly every trout in the North State from their winter sluggishness. It’s time to string up those 5 and 6wts. As the weather warms, the first streams to really “wake up” are the Central Valley streams, because that’s where it gets warm first. The Lower Sac and Feather River often have trout / steelhead fishing in the month of March that can rival or beat the madness of fall. The reason being, is that as temps rise significantly, the PMDs really start to hatch. Caddis, other mayflies, and even some stoneflies will begin kicking around in March, but on the Lower Sac it is usually the PMDs that take center stage. With this abundance of food on the Lower Sac, the trout tend to be willing to expend more energy to feed, and become far more accessible for the fly angler. This means they are out looking for food, rather than just taking the food that drifts by them. These same trout have received very little pressure all winter from anglers, and are thus less “educated” and more bold about how they take a fly, and less picky on the more popular patterns they will have seen plenty of by the time the month of June rolls around. On the Lower Sac, March is the last chance to fish the famous upriver stretch from the Posse Grounds down to Highway 44. While there is plenty of epic water below highway 44, this upriver stretch is known for plenty of big aggressive fish, and March is the last chance to fish it before it closes on April 1st. On the Feather River, March typically marks the beginning of more elevated spring flow releases in the “low-flow” stretch of the Feather River. This can make for some of the most epic fishing of the year on the Feather, and those who have experienced it will attest to just how hot and heavy the fishing can be for the Feather’s feisty Valley Steelhead due to these elevated flows. March also marks the beginning one of the better chances for dry-fly fishing on the Lower Sac. Although still rare, when the stars align on a cloudy day in March during the first strong PMD hatches, you might just find some mega-sized trout softly sipping PMDs in the shallow and undisturbed current edges, flats, or soft riffles. Another fishery which is often overlooked in March is the Trinity River. March is hands down the best month to throw single dry flies on the Trinity. March Brown Mayflies are hatching strong on the Trinity, and feeding one of the Trinity’s wild winter steelhead, or large resident browns on a single dry fly is an experience like no other. There are typically plenty of “half-pounders” mixed in during this time as well, so action is consistent. Right now, all of this is on the table. All of these great options for epic fishing are part of what makes up the madness of fly fishing Nor Cal in the month of March.

Preparing for the Spring Transition in Nor Cal

By Matt Formento • February 23, 2026

A keen angler is focused on the present moment, but also keeps in mind what’s ahead so that they are ready when the time comes. Don’t get caught with your waders down. Right now, steelhead are swimming heavy through our brains, and for good reason. We have at least a month and a half, maybe even two months of prime steelheading left in Nor Cal. Often, the last part of steelhead season is the best part. Fewer people out targeting them, warming temperatures turning on the bite, and both inward and outward migrating fish in the systems. Looking ahead, we know that the transition from winter fishing to spring fishing will happen sometime in March, and when it does, an angler should be ready. It happens fast. Typically, these first few weeks of spring fishing ushered in by the warming weather will trigger some of the best fishing of the entire spring. The portion of the trout population that are relatively dormant in the winter come alive and start feeding ferociously at the first sign of a good Caddis, PMD, or BWO hatch. They haven’t been pressured, and they are hungry. The month of March can mean fishing on the Lower Sac that rivals the fury of the egg-drop in October. While there is always a small chance of rain showers in March, usually the weather is nice, and either way the fishing is usually great as soon as the temperature warms up just a little bit. On the Upper Sac, March also marks the beginning of some angler’s favorite season on this river. We see great numbers of large lake-run rainbows enter the lower portion of the river from lake Shasta in March, some of which can rival the punch of a coastal steelhead. They are aggressive, opportunistic, and hands down the best fighting fish you will find in this river. The transition from winter to spring also often creates a small window of ideal flows on this river, where snowmelt from Mt. Shasta has yet to begin in full force, and the rains of winter have subsided. Other great spring opportunities abound in March, and sometimes anglers miss out on weeks of good fishing with no crowds if they are not prepared for when spring begins. The Feather River, Lake Shasta, and McCloud River should also be on an angler’s radar in March in addition to the Lower and Upper Sacramento. April and May are when spring fishing is in full swing on nearly every body of water in Nor Cal and is by all means a fantastic time to go fishing. However, if you like taking advantage of every good opportunity, the winter / spring transition time in March should not be overlooked. Usually water levels are ideal, fish are unpressured, and memories are made. In the fly box, having PMDs, BWOs, and small dark colored Caddis are the key to being ready for these early spring hatches. If the stars align, you might even see some pretty epic dry fly action.

February Fishing Report

By Matt Formento • February 9, 2026

Fishing Report 2/9

Winter Steelhead

By Matt Formento • December 27, 2025

Winter Steelhead "The Pinnacle" of freshwater Fly Fishing

December Fishing Report

By Matt Formento • December 12, 2025

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No crowds and epic fishing. Winter steelhead are showing up in good numbers, and the stable weather over the past two weeks has produced some epic trout fishing on the Lower Sac. The main focus lately has been on Lower Sac trout and Trinity Steelhead. Rain on the extended forecast means more of this, as well as an increase in steelhead numbers on all rivers!