Bill Heger Guide Service

Completing the California Heritage Trout Challenge was a rewarding experience for me; therefore, I wanted more anglers to experience the fun and sense of accomplishment that I experienced.

For years anglers have casually challenged themselves to achieve a “Sierra slam” (usually catching five species of trout in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain range located in both California and Nevada), but I have created my own official version of the Sierra slam, which can be quite fun and rewarding and will require neither miles of driving into the back country nor hours and hours of scientific research. Here’s the deal: Catch five distinct species of trout within the Sierra Nevada. The fish do not have to be native to their waters, but they do have to be caught and released in the Sierras on a fly rod. Nine species of trout are common in the Sierras, and we are only requiring anglers to catch five, so there is room to play around with which trout to catch. After you have caught your five different species of trout, just mail in your pictures with dates and locations (which will be confidential) and we will send you a customized and numbered certificate displaying artistic renderings of the five species you caught.

You can challenge your friends to complete it first, learn more about which Sierra waters hold which species, learn how to identify trout species, and just gain bragging rights for your fishing prowess.

Ted Nahhas and I floated the Lower Mokelumne with Bill Heger on Monday February 22, 2010. It was a cold and dreary day and the fish were not very cooperative.

We tried throwing everything but the kitchen sink at them, but the bite did not turn on until after lunch. We were below the Highway 88 before we found willing fish. The hatchery juvenile steelhead were still present and was mostly what we caught. We caught most of them nymphing on black Copper Johns and a few on Micro Mayflies.

We were on the water about 9:00 AM and fished until 5:30PM. A nasty wind came up in the afternoon and we raced the storm to get off the water before the rain hit. We managed to get the boat out and secured and were in the truck when it started to sprinkle. Not bad timing at all.

Don't miss Ted's Take after the jump!

Craig Martini and I floated the Lower Mokelumne with Bill Heger on Monday February 22, 2010. It was a beautiful day and the fish were vary willing.

We lost track of the number of fish that we caught, let's just say it was probably well over 50 fish landed between the two of us. The hatchery at Camanche had turned out a lot of 8-10" juvenile steelhead, and it was all we could do to hook something larger between the little guys grabbing our flies. We caught them swinging buggers on sink-tips, we caught them nymphing on red Copper Johns as well as blue Copper Johns. They were spread out from the launch point to the takeout at Mackville, and probably lower. I managed to land a few fish between 12-15" amongst the juveniles and I lost one large fish that was much bigger. I never got a real good look at him, but he was definitely heavier than anything else I hooked.

We were on the water about 10:00 AM and fished until 5:30PM. A very enjoyable day.

Here are a few pictures:

Craig (rear) and Bill.

Kissing the fish for good luck...

Bill Heger and I fished the Calaveras River on Saturday 11-14-09. I had tried to persuade Bill to head upcountry and hit some waters that are due to close tomorrow, but he talked me into going down the hill.

He stated that flows in the Calaveras had been consistent all week and that it should be fishing real well. Something appeared to have happened overnight as the water level had recently receded about 6" in some places. It turns out that the flows were cut from 70 to 30 CFS at 10:00 AM. The fish seemed to be a little put off by the flow change. We fished from noon until just before dark. We started out working our way downstream swinging streamers on sink tips. We both picked up fish with Bill landing a beautiful rainbow that looked to be about 18".

After a few hours of fishing downstream we switched over to floating lines and used nymphs under an indicator to work our way back upstream. I ended up getting ahead of Bill and fished farther upstream than he thought I had. I picked up a bunch of small rainbows up to about 8-9". Bill said that he had gotten into fish in some of the spots that I had fished through rather quickly and kept wondering when he was going to run into me. It was only after I came back downstream and started shouting for him that we ended up finding each other. By that time it was getting close to dark and it was time to head for the truck.

Here are some pictures from the trip:

7/2/2009 - Great time on the Calaveras! Bill Heger is a superb guide who knows everything there is to know about this river. Bill introduced me to several unique combinations of flies, different lines and techniques to fool these wild rainbow trout. Based on the different situations we faced on the river, he made expert recommendations on whether to nymph, swing a wet fly, or strip a streamer. He even carried extra rods along so I could quickly transition to the best setup. The result was a 15+ fish day with the largest fish exceeding 14 inches…with a fight twice its size. As for streamside manner, you will find Bill to be helpful, not insistent, and a person who genuinely enjoys sharing his insights on his “home river”. In sum, Bill is an expert guide, masterful technician, and an enthusiastic fly fisherman whose hospitality you will thoroughly enjoy. Book a trip with him soon and find out for yourself!

John Burger
Tampa Florida

I focus my guiding efforts on the tailwater below New Hogan Dam. I have lived near the Calaveras River for quite a while and I am very familiar with it. This stretch of the river is artificials-only, barbless, with a limit of 1 hatchery trout or one hatchery steelhead. This helps to ensure a healthy population of resident fish. I have heard reports of a trout population of 5000-6000 fish per mile.

While the size of the fish usually runs 8-14", fish to 20" are routinely caught. The largest I have caught was 22". These fish are very acrobatic and even the little fish will put on a show for you.

Walk and wade trips for one or two people are $350 for a full day, including lunch.

I have a Hyde Drift Boat that I use to float the Mokelumne from below Camanche down to the town of Clements. This is pretty much an all-day trip. The size of the fish usually run 12-16", but my clients have caught fish up to 24". These fish are quite acrobatic and even the smaller fish will challenge your tackle and your handling abilities.

The Mokelumne River, below Camanche, offers an angler a variety of choices. There are places where indicator nymphing works well, others where swinging a streamer pattern on a shooting head or sinking line ca really produce some nice fish. Sometimes dry flies can be the ticket.

The river has riffles, runs, pools and even some frog water! Fishing the runs at the top and bottom of the pools can produce nicely as well. A nice time to float the river is when teh release from Camanche is around 400 CFS. This allows the drift boat more depth to clear the bottom, and gives the fish a little more cover in the riffles.

Next time you are looking for a quick get-away or day trip, consider the Mokelumne!

Drift boat trips on the Mokelumne are $350 for the day for one or two people. All full day trips include lunch.