American River Spring Steelhead Special

As March approaches we typically begin to see some spring steelhead or supercharged half pounders in the American River. These fish respond well to a swung fly and will even take dry flies on the surface as the weather warms and the caddis begin to come off. Most of these fish average 16-20" with fish up to 6 lbs. Many of these fish have just arrived in the river and are extremely bright and full of fight.


I will be offering a spring special for those interested in fishing for Spring steelhead. The focus of these trips will be swinging flies on single or two handed fly rods with floating lines or light sinking poly leaders. The trips will run about 3 hours in either the morning or evening. We will target a few of the prime runs where these fish tend to hold. Cost is $75 for one angler and $100 for two anglers. This is a great way to refine your techniques for swinging flies for steelhead and learning about spring steelhead fishing on the American River.

Jason Hartwick

Pleasanton Fly Fishing Show

The Fly Fishing Show is in Pleasanton, CA this upcoming Friday thru Sunday February 27-March 1. For those of you that might be attending, I will be in the Beulah Fly Rods booth. Come by and say hi and check out Beulah's new line of Platinum Series Spey rods. These are one of the best new models of spey rods on the market right now and are extremely smooth and easy to cast. Not to be overlooked by their great Elixir and Tonic lines, switch rods, and Bluewater rods. I hope to see you there.

Jason Hartwick

Winter Update...

Again, sorry for not keeping up with posts and reports. Between the few days of fishing we have had and trying to get the Kiene's online spey store up and running, I have been pretty busy. But enough of that.

Right now the rivers are all high and brown and look like they will remain unfishable for at least a week if not more. So far, we have had brutally tough fishing conditions this year. The water has either been low and clear or high and muddy. Both make for tough winter steelheading conditions. This past week we had maybe 1 or 2 days of fishable conditions but the reports I have heard back were not that great. Gear guys getting a fish here and most fly guys striking out. I have to believe that once the water drops after this storm and hopefully we see more than a few days of good conditions, that there should be plenty of fish around and fishing should pick up.


I have spent a little time on the American River in the past week and was able to watch Ryan Miller land a couple of nice fish on the swing. The fish are there and those that are putting the time in are finding a nice fish here and there. Black leeches in the 2-3" range have been working well. Soon we should start to see a few spring fish and then its time to start swinging some smaller leeches and even drop a caddis pupa off the end. I will keep ya'll posted as fishing and conditions change.

Jason Hartwick

Finally some rain! It seems as though it has been months since we had seen our last rain, but it has finally arrived! While the forecast is not calling for a huge storm, every little bit will help. Lets just hope the rivers rise a bit and put in a little color without them blowing out.

In the last few weeks we have seen extremely low clear water conditions causing many rivers to close because of low flows. What few rivers remain open have seen some pretty decent fishing for the few that have been out. Last week we spent four days on a well known North Coast river and had some beautiful chrome bright steelhead come to the swung fly. While fishing was not red hot, we averaged 1 steelhead each day which is great for winter steelheading. With a little rain the forecast, I anticipate fishing to pick up in the next week and many new fish to pour into many of our North Coast rivers.



I was fortunate to spend some time last week with Jeff Bright. For those of you that don't know Jeff, he is an accomplished steelheader, photographer, and graphic designer. Jeff has spent a lot of time fishing for steelhead throughout the Pacific Northwest and hosts trips to both Blackwell's Lodge and Nicholas Dean Lodge in B.C. He has also spends a lot of time working with the Wild Steelhead Coalition and other various conservation oraganizations to help protect wild salmon and steelhead. When you get a chance, check out his website. www.jeffbright.com

The Grab

Winter steelheading is by no means easy. Usually the weather is cold, its raining, and you cant feel your hands as you strip in your line to make the next cast. We anticipate that grab, the moment that makes an anglers heart skip a beat! This is what many die hard steelheaders look forward to, long days and cold nights with dreams of that 20 lb chrome buck that just might grab our fly on the dangle.

Last night was one of those nights when it was hard to fall asleep with so many thoughts running through my head. Are there fresh fish pushing in the system? Is it really going to be worth the 3 hour drive? What run should I fish first? Should I fish a 3" long black string leech or a 1.5 Mahoney? One thing was for sure, I was anxious to get to one of my favorite not to be named coastal steelhead rivers.

On arrival I was shocked when I stepped out of the car to 60 degree sunshine and very little breeze. Its the end of January and I am fishing for winter steelhead in a short sleeved shirt. I know it sounds crazy but welcome to California! While mid 60's temperaures are abnormal in January, winter steelheading in the sunshine is not. Typically, if it is raining the rivers are quick to rise and discolor and you might get lucky to have a day or two of fishing before they blow out. I cant say that I was overly excited by the weather because high pressure and bright sunshine are usually not a great recipe for good steelheading. But when the fish are in, I guess it really doesn't matter.

After a few minutes of deliberation, I tied on a 1.5 Mahoney, one of Dec Hogan's fine creations. A classic feather wing spey, this fly glows in the water under bright light. I was confident I made a good selcetion. I steeped into one of my favorite runs with no one is sight. Shocking considering the weather and the fact that this is one of the few rivers that has enough water in it to fish. I worked half way through the run when my line began to slow and I felt a quick jerk, dropped my loop and nobody home. I made the same cast again with no grab. I fisnished out the run with no other grabs but was certain there were fish around.

I made my way to another favorite run that looked to be a bit on the low side but what the heck, there just might be a fish on the soft inside seam. It was a nice swing through most of the run but the swing on the bottom end was a little slow for my liking. I was thinking that there was not enough current or depth from here on out to hold a fish. I was going to give myself a few more casts and then head for another spot. Just as the fly finsihed its broadside swing my line just stopped. I dropped what little loop I was holing in the in my right hand and the line went tight. Immediately, the fish came to the surface and splashed. It looked big but I wasn't feeling its weight yet. As soon as I took a turn of the reel the fish took off down river cartwheeling two more times as I neared my backing. This fish was big! Each time I tried to gain line, the fish would make another quick run. Just as I thought I could not gain any line on this fish it decides to turn and run upstream. I reeled as fast as possible but could not keep up. After a few seconds of reeling as fast as possible, the line went limp and the steelhead won the battle. While I was a little disappointed, just feeling that grab and seeing that fish fight that hard was well worth it. As I sat on the bank and pondered for a moment, I couldn't help but smile and think, "There is nothing like the grab!"

Jason Hartwick

Stinger Hooks

In the last few years we are starting to see many new creations in fly tying and the fly tying industry. Many of today's patterns are tied much larger and incorporate the use of free flowing materials such as marabou, rhea, ostrich, and amherst tail to name a few. This allows the tier to create a large fly with a big silhouette, lots of movement, and fairly sparse making them a bit easier to cast. Many of these flies are tied on either shanks or tubes allowing one to use a stinger hook and change out a hook if it becomes bent or dull.

One of the most popular stinger hooks is Gamakatsu's Octopus hook. While these are good hooks, I find themfairly light wire and very easy to bend or have straighten out on a big fish. Owner makes a similar hook, SSW Cutting Point, which has the same size and bend but is a heavier wire and virtually impossible to bed or straighten. These are both popular hooks but my favorite stinger hook is the Gamakatsu Split Shot/Drop Shot hook. This hook is a little heavier wire than the Octopus but has a unique bend which seems to penetrate very well and has had a good hook to land ratio for myself and a few other friends. This is also a favorite hook of well known steelhead guides Scott Howell and Mike McCune. Check them out on your next steelhead outing.

California Winter Steelhead Update

Sorry it's been so long since my last report. In the last couple of weeks we have seen no rain and our coastal rivers that have been dropping and clearing extremely fast. That being said, most of our North Coast rivers had a few days of ideal flows and water conditions in the past two weeks. We have not seen big pushes of fish yet but the ones we have connected with have been chrome bright and full of piss and vinegar. If we could get some rain here in the next week or so, I anticipate bigger pushes of fish to move in and fishing to be great in February.