10/1/2026 Ted Fay Fly Shop Report

Greetings from the oldest operating fly shop in California, located in the heart of Northern California’s fabled trout-filled rivers! A gathering place for flyfisher folks for 76 years, where you can always depend on hearing the honest truth about the latest lies.

A Successful River Cleanup - 80 participants showed up this year!!! Thank you to everyone who participated in the annual river clean up! About 1 ton of trash was removed from our beloved Upper Sac. Some participants even made it down as far as the Lakehead area. This event will be held on the last Saturday of September every year. Judging by this year’s turn out and the enthusiasm that was received, this event is going to grow exponentially in its river cleaning success!

Shop Talk: Yesterday evening, near Box Canyon, I saw the first October Caddis of the season! It will still be awhile before they will be on the main menu, but a couple more weeks and the magic will happen. This is the time of year that the locals wait for. When prodigious hatches of the largest of caddises are anticipated to fill the air and trout forget their late summer wariness and gorge themselves in preparation for the leaner months ahead. October is when the streamsides are flush with the palette of fall colors with wild grape, cottonwoods, alders, dogwoods, black oak, willows and elephant ears showcasing their vibrancy in the cool mists of fall. It’s a beautiful time to be on the river!

Tip: When you place your rod down make sure not to place it in the dirt or sand. The grit can get into your drag system, and overtime, it will ruin your reel.

Upcoming Events:

Dunsmuir 2nd Saturday (Oct 10): Downtown Dunsmuir shops, art galleries (like Siskiyou Arts Museum), and restaurants stay open late with live music and special menus from 4:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Dunsmuir Octoberfest (Oct 17): The signature annual fundraiser for the Dunsmuir Botanical Gardens running from 3:00 PM to 7:30 PM, featuring German food, a pretzel bar, beer and wine, yodeling and stein-holding contests, and live music by Scott Joss and the Side Men.

THE REPORT

Upper Sacramento River

Water Temp: Mid 50s in Dunsmuir area

River Flows at Delta: 208 CFS

I’ve been out on the Upper Sac a couple times this week. I’ve used a #12 CDC Tungsten PT and had great success, including 3 browns. The browns that I caught were holding deep and one took the PT while swinging at the tail end of a deep hole. Others are finding success as well with rainbows and a few browns, using perdigons, baetis style nymphs, midges, etc. By catch rates, the Upper Sac seems to have about a 1 brown to every 20-25 rainbow ratio, but that number narrows in the fall, especially if you focus on them.The migratory lake rainbows are moving slowly up river, but when the rains of fall come, they will come upriver in greater numbers. Simms, Gibson, Pollard Flat, Lamoine, McCardle Flat should be a good bet for lake fish. Some small caddis, midges and a few PMDs are hatching. My observations have been that mostly smaller fish are feeding at the surface right now, generally in the evenings. Rubber leg stone flies, Posse Buggers, caddis pupas, and size 16-18 Lil Amigos have been working well also. When the October Caddis hatch happens, switch to dries only, or a dry dropper set up. Don’t hesitate to twitch the dry a bit to entice strikes.

Nymphs

Rubber Leg Stone Nymphs (I prefer the Tungsten Bead Stone at Ted Fays)

Posse Buggers #10

CDC Tungsten PT #12-14

Birdnests Tan/Brown #14-16

Little Amigos #16-18

Weiss Nymphs #16-18

Baby Assassins #14-18

Copper Johns #14-18

Blowtorch #16

Dries

October Caddis

Parachute Adams #14-18

EC Caddis #16

Light Cahills #14-16

BWOs #18

Stimulators

Yellow Humpies #12-16

McCloud River

Water Temp: Upper 40s

River Flows at Ah Di Nah: 190 CFS

Sporadic hatches of BWOs, Midges and Small Caddis should be in the mix in the evenings. When the fish are rising, it might be a good time to put away the nymphs and have some fun pursuing the risers. The October Caddis will be arriving soon and the fishing will really turn on then. Limited reports are coming out of the McCloud lately, but those who put in the time are finding chunky browns and hard fighting rainbows. Rainbows are caught on the usual fair: Weiss Nymphs, Birdsnests, Little Amigos, Prince Nymphs, Brush Hogs, Variations of Pheasant Tails and Perdigons Browns are getting ready to spawn and are becoming more visible. The low waters and clearer waters make stealthy approaches more necessary. Use rubber leg stones, large caddis pupas or streamers to target the browns.

As always, the dry dropper is a killer combo here, especially for the rainbows.

Nymphs

Weiss Nymphs (Black) #16-18

BH Black APs #14-16

Dark Lords #14-16

Little Amigos #16-18

Brush Hogs

Posse Buggers

Tungsten Bead Black Stone

Dries:

October Caddis

Parachute Adams #14-16

PMDs #16-18

EC Caddis #14-16

BWOs #18

Chubby Chernobyls

Lake Siskiyou

Water Temp: Low 60s

Fish are being caught but it’s taking a bit longer this season for the lake to turn on with the double digit fish days that can be expected when it’s on.. The browns are moving along the weedbeds, near the stumps, in the creek arms and off points. They aren’t always easy to find, but sometimes you get lucky and find where they’re feeding. Smallmouth bass are near any structure. Rainbows are moving throughout the lake and can be caught in the top few feet of water with small streamers in blacks, browns and olive. Trailing a #12 0r 14 beadless natural hares ear behind a slow stripped leech can be a killer combo. Currently, at the surface, they are predominantly feeding on small midges. Look for rising fish and target them with small dries like Adams, Ants, Caddis or Griffith Gnats.

Current flows: https://www.tedfay.com/forecasts-flows

- Report by Michael Kielich

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Guide Notes

October Report

October 2, 2026Bob Grace