Middle Fork Feather River Fly Fishing Report ~ 9/27/2019

Autumn on the Wild & Scenic Middle Fork Feather River has arrived. It’s the second season, and with it brings hungry trout wanting to bulk up for the long winter. I love this time of year on the MFFR. Solitude abounds with hardly a soul to be seen, let alone any footprints. Talk about a remote experience, and the fishing? On fire! When your guest lands 3 dozen fish for a half-day session it becomes a fantastic memory that will remain deeply ingrained forever. Yeah, it was that good. Water levels are low, which actually bodes well as it concentrates the fish in the deeper pools, slots, and riffles. We found many trout in riffles about 2 feet in depth with a faster flow. Water temperatures were 57 to 59 degrees, which are perfect for this river.

There is a very profuse BWO spinner fall in mid morning, I’m talking clouds of them. Spinner falls usually occur when air temperatures are between 57 and 67 degrees. There were a few rising fish in back eddies near the main current taking advantage of spent ovipositors, but most wanted their food item sub surface. We ran two rods yesterday. A dry/dropper rig consisting of an orange Stimulator (yes, the October caddis are out) with a #18 Hogan’s S&M in olive dropped about 24 inches below, and a tight line rig with a tungsten Pheasant tail flashback #14 with Hogan Brown’s same pattern as mentioned above as the trailing smaller fly. 

Some fish took the orange Stimi, but 90 % came on the S&M on both rigs – Why? Egg laying BWOs will dive underwater water to lay their eggs carrying a gas bubble that acts like a scuba tank for humans. The gold beaded S&M accurately depicted the behavior of the ovipositors. I don’t know why I’m having so much luck with this fly, but it’s been great. From the Northern Sierra all the way to Colorado, this fly has kicked some serious ass. It’s the nymph of 2019 for me. Fishing was so good we slowed our pace down and hit every available spot while working upstream. The trout were podded up, even small pockets would hold an unusual amount of them confined to one particular area. It was amazing. 

The Middle Fork Feather River has rebounded exceptionally well since the drought, it’s the best I’ve seen it in over a decade or more. That tells you a lot as I have put in hundreds of days on the river, mostly when I lived in Graeagle for 14 years. Yeah, I know the MFFR pretty well. Our catch was a mixture of mostly wild rainbows with a few browns. Most fish ran 10 to 12” and very plump. I was very excited to see this as it offers some good news for the future. We’ve got a cold snap coming this weekend which could affect the river, and as long as the water temps do not go below 51 degrees we’ll be good. One thing is for sure though, with the sun arcing lower every day and colder temps, the fall colors will really pop. Like Lake Davis, the MFFR is an awesome place to take in the blazing colors of Autumn – It’s a must see event. I’m pretty much booked up for the fall season, but I’m good friends with the other two legal guides with USFS permits who operate on the river so give me a call or shoot me an email anyways. Don’t be fooled by false marketing and advertising with scammers out there. The Middle Fork Feather River is a designated Wild & Scenic river and managed by the USFS, and it is owned by the people of the United States. There is no private water, and being a navigable river the public can fish any section legally as long as they enter on public land, or (hint) at any bridge with a Cal Trans easement while working upstream or downstream.

Take advantage now of the second season on the MFFR, if you’ve got game, you will not be disappointed. See you out there…