This past Saturday I gave a nymph and swinging demo on the American River to about 10 people. My friend and co-worker Sebastian and I met everyone at Riverbend park at 8am. The river was really crowded, mostly guys swinging big treble hooks and sinkers trying to snag salmon.
The demo went pretty well. Everyone said they learned something but there aren't really any Steelhead in the river yet.
Around 1pm I got to do some fishing of my own. I went down river a ways and fished a favorite spot for some half pounders. I hooked one really nice one that got off after a nice fight. He was hooked swinging a #16 green birds nest. I hooked two more fish in the same run on the same fly.
There are a lot of salmon in the river. Most of them are dark and dying. It never ceases to amaze me how powerful those fish are. Sebastian hooked a couple swinging a big egg pattern and even in their depleted state they were difficult to land.
I drove up to Truckee late in the afternoon and met up with some friends. We fished Herschdale road the next day. I caught fish on a bunch of different patterns but was most successful with caddis soft hackles dead drifted. I'm sure any caddis or mayfly nymph would have worked but the key seemed to be moving around. The fish were found in pockets. I would fish 100 yards for nothing and then hook 2 or 3 in the same hole.
I also swung a streamer. I used a sculpin pattern from 9-about 1130 for only one grab and one small follower.
The weather was great. 75 degrees and sunny. No wind. I would post pics but my phone was wrecked when I fell head first into the chilly Truckee water. Complete submersion.
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