Friday goodness...fishing, sports, music...all the stuff any self respecting person files under "interests"

So every time I think Fall is here it goes back to apocalyptic temperatures here in Chico, CA. That said the days are getting shorter and the mornings and evenings are cooling down a bit. The heat comes and goes but in reality it is only really hot for a few hours a day if that. I have been on the water a bit fishing on my own and guiding, but really getting ready for the Cast Hope Big Night Out and working on Royal Oaks stuff has taken up most of my free time.

Lower Sac Striper Fishing – I have been getting out to fish on my own in the afternoons a bit and running into plenty of fish. Been getting some really nice 10-15lbs fish that were absent most of the summer from the bags we were catching. As always good numbers of 3-5lb fish and a few trophies that have followed my fly to the boat. Guiding wise I have had good fishing that really mirrors my own recreational fishing as well. I will be guiding striper through October and into November as long as the river holds. September/October are usually really good months to be on the water as we catch some of our biggest fish of the year out there as the big fish start putting on the feed bags for the winter.

Awesome when someones 
Lower Yuba and Feather – I know my buddies are CRUSHING salmon at the outlet area on the feather putting limits in the boat daily. So salmon returns on the feather should be good this year. I got out this week with Captain Darrin Deel to fill the fish box myself and watch the chaos from the comfort of a jet boat. At $25 a pound for wild salmon I have no problem mixing it up at the outlet for a few hours to put some meat in the fridge. If you are looking to get some fresh BBQ quality salmon for the grill, smoker, or other preferred methods of preparation give him a call.
forage from the garden...
Key to the fish market...
tools...
the result...
I saw on social media a few chico locals are going out swinging some flies up in the low flow for early steelhead which can be fun this time of year but be ware of hooking into or snagging a king. I usually am not a fan as loosing a bunch of flies on kings sucks…

I haven’t heard anything on the Lower Yuba. I know it has dropped an is down to about 1000cfs which is a great flow for wade fishing and fishing from the drift boat….at least it use to be. Usually the last two weeks of September see the egg drop on the Lower Yuba (first in the valley usually) but that has gotten later every year and I am sure will be later even this year. I wouldn’t hesitate to throw some beads and fall caddis (usually black or really dark pupa) this time of year.

Open Dates for this Fall/Winter –
Oct 21, 28
Nov 22
Dec 2, 9, 19, 21, 22, 27-30
Jan 2-6, 13, 15, 20, 27
Feb 3, 10, 12, 17, 19

Sports News…Well the Irish don’t look to bad. A STRONG showing against temple and a 1 pt loss late in the came to SEC Georgia. I won’t like the Georgia loss was gut wrenching as I really think we could of won the game if we could of hung on to the ball better. I can’t forget though that this year is a total rebuild coming off a 4 win season last year. All new coordinators…and for the most part a whole new coaching staff outside Kelly…and a new QB. That said Georgia would of blown us off the field last year and we had a chance to win the game this year with 2 minutes left so improvement is improvement.

Music News – I bought the new War on Drugs album A Deeper Understanding and I am all in on this band. I have yet to buy the first album that really got them going Lost in the Dream but I will ounce I have A Deeper… fully digested. The sound is pretty polished indie rock style with just really amazing recordings and songwriting musically. The instrumentation and writing is really good. Super layered with AMAZING guitar sounds. Each song has its own sound but enough in common to be a cohesive album and band sound.

This weekend my wife got us tickets to see Jason Isbell and Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls at the Fox Theater…I won’t lie I am really really excited and will most likely spend a small fortune at the merch booth for both bands!!!!

Royal Oaks News – aka the band I play in…. We will be playing coming up in Nevada City at Coopers Ale House with our good buddy Chuck Ragan and the Sex Hogs II on Sept 22 and in Reno at Pignic Pub and Patio on Sept 23 with the Sex Hogs again and Western Spectres so if you are in the area come on out and get a free coozie and pin by mentioning the blog or don’t I’ll probably just give you one anyway as we have tons…. ALSO Just got back our Masters tracks from fellow fly fisher with a day job as a Mastering Machine Shawn Hatfield at Audible Oddities and they are GOOD…should have them up on bandcamp and then all the digital music purchasing venues as well as some compact discs for guys like me…no vinyl as that would take up my childrens college fund and lets be honest outside of my mom and like ten friends the other 1000copies would just sit in my garage.

Come one, come all!!!!



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Hogan Brown