Big trout prowling rivers

Fall is the season when big trout, especially German brown trout, are on the move from lakes up rivers and actively fattening up for a long winter.

In California, you can find them on the lower McCloud, Pit and even the Trinity rivers.

There are also some in the upper Sacramento River above Lake Shasta.

Steve Kyle drifted and fished the Pit River this week and caught some fish. But apparently none were worth a photo. All I got from him was a photo of his pontoon boat, and a couple of crawdads mating.

Usually that means Steve hasn’t caught any fish, or very few.

Meanwhile up in Montana, Andy and Louise Massie had two fantastic days fishing on the Big Hole River with guide Brian O’Connor

On their first day, they caught 70 fish including several north of 20 inches. Most were browns with a smattering of rainbows. The average size approached 18 inches. “It was an unbelievable day,” Andy said.

The following day the numbers dropped a lot, but he and Louise still caught several trout over 20 inches, including one 24-1/2-inch brown.

Local doc Doug Campbell recently returned from a trip to Wyoming where he caught lots of nice trout fishing on a ranch of a friend.

If you want to catch some excellent fall trout fishing, but don’t want to drive to Wyoming or Montana, I suggest you stay on the upper Sacramento and fish that river, and then drive over to the McCloud River and fish it near the Nature Conservancy. There are some monster browns in there at this time of year, and the fall foliage is magnificent.

Bob Grace, at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir, said the fishing has been fair to good on the Sacramento this week. They are getting some cooler weather now, including a few sprinkles. This could be good news and turn on the fall caddis fly hatch.

Dottie and I stay at the cabin on the Sac owned by Ken and Mona Carr. They’re really nice folks and their location is perfect for fishing the Sac. Call them at 530-235-4217.

One of my former best correspondents, Joel Sinkay, told me Saturday that he has been catching some nice striped bass from the back of his houseboat at the Napa Valley Marina on the Napa River. Stripers are in the river and actively feeding.

Keith Fraser, at the Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, said he is seeing some of the best striped bass fishing in 10 years inside the Bay, particularly near the Brothers, Sisters and Whaling Station.

Halibut fishing is also pretty good right now, Keith said.

Salmon fishing off the Sonoma coast has been fair to good this week, while rock and lingcod fishing continues to be red hot. Call Capt. Rick Powers, at Bodega Bay Sportfishing, 875-3344, to make reservations on one of his party boats. Rick is also taking reservations for the Dungeness crab opener set for Nov. 1.