Winter Fishing

Fishing in Northern California during the winter is a special experience of it’s own. Across the west, most trout fisheries go relatively dormant for the winter months. River anglers across the west will flock to California for this reason. In Nor Cal, we are lucky that winter is by no means an “off season”. For many of us, it’s our favorite season. We have excellent trout and steelhead fishing all winter, and during this season you can often find yourself in complete solitude on the most popular of rivers. Additionally, we see the arrival of winter steelhead in Nor Cal. The biggest, baddest fish of the year that hardcore anglers have been waiting all year for a chance to pursue. 

First and foremost to discuss on winter trout fishing, is the Lower Sac. During the winter, we see the lowest flows of the year coming out of Shasta Dam. This coincides with some of the biggest fish of the year getting caught, as their deep water hangouts are now accessible for nymph anglers. We see hatches of Baetis mayflies all winter, and when the mid-day hatch happens, the river can come alive with feeding trout. Additionally, there are typically some late-fall / winter run chinook spawning in certain areas of the upper-river which creates a localized “egg bite” that can yield great action and huge fish from December through March. The fishing in winter typically ebbs and flows, some days are red-hot and others can be a slower bite than you might see in fall or spring, but slow fishing on the Lower sac typically still means a few shots at trophy class fish even on the toughest days, paired with absolute solitude, what’s not to love. On the good days, we experience tons of action from big fish without a sole around. Due to the Sac being a tailwater, the winter rains typically do not cause a “blow-out” meaning you can fish the Sac when other venues are unfishable. 

Our most favorite thing to do in winter is to chase winter steelhead. Guides and hardcore anglers all know this is the most exciting thing we have waited all year for. With each passing rainstorm, fresh chrome winter steelhead migrate upriver into our fishing zones. We chase them primarily on the Trinity and Feather rivers, and when conditions are just right, we head over to the coast on the Eel river for a chance at the biggest, most aggressive, and most special fish we have on the west coast of North America. We are addicted to chasing these fish because hooking one can feel like getting struck by lightning in the best of ways. Pure excitement and chaos. Chasing winter steelhead can mean cold hands and long hours searching for one glorious opportunity, and when it happens, you’ll remember it forever. Fish can exceed 30 inches at times. We don’t do it for numbers, and if you experience it with an open mind it’s easy to see why. The variety of steelhead and trout fish options during the winter in Nor Cal will leave an angler with too many places to fish, and not enough time to fish it all. Fish that live in your mind forever, and Nor Cal is one of the very few places on earth to experience it in it’s full glory.