Nor Cal Fly Guides
Specialized Walk & Wade
Nor Cal Fly Guides
Specialized Walk & Wade Fly Fishing Trips
Some of the most rewarding fly fishing you will ever experience doesn’t come from a drift boat or a jet boat — it comes from standing in moving water on your own two feet, reading seams, choosing your approach, and making every cast count. Our Specialized Walk & Wade Trips are built for anglers who don’t just want to go fishing… they want to learn how to fish. These trips are about understanding a river from the ground up. They’re about knowing where to park, where to walk, where to cross, where to cast, what bugs are living under the rocks, and how to put all of that together so that long after your trip with us is over, you can return on your own and be successful. These trips are not about how many fish we catch together. They are about how many fish you will catch on your own for the rest of your life.
Nor Cal Fly Guides
Where These Trips Take Place
Our true walk & wade trips take place on rivers where boats can’t be launched or simply not effective, allowing anglers to fully connect with the water on foot. These include Putah Creek, the Upper Sacramento River, the Truckee River, the Mokelumne River, the Stanislaus River, and other selected fisheries that demand precision, patience, and local knowledge.
Each of these rivers fish differently. Each holds different insect life. Each requires a different approach. And that is exactly why they make such powerful classrooms.
From reading subtle seams to managing complex currents, anglers learn to adapt in real time. We focus on presentation, fly selection, and efficient movement, building confidence step by step. These intimate settings reward thoughtful decisions, sharpen observation, and cultivate skills that translate everywhere, long after the day ends, while reinforcing safety, river etiquette, and respect for fragile fisheries and ecosystems.
Nor Cal Fly Guides
Teaching Over Catching — Always
While we fully expect to catch fish on these trips, the true measure of success is your confidence, awareness, and independence, not a number on a clicker. We explain the “why” behind every decision—why this fly, why this depth, why this seam, why this angle, and why this drift. Once it clicks, you will see rivers differently forever.
Nor Cal Fly Guides
What These Trips Are Really About
On these trips, we slow everything down and break it all apart. We teach:
- Where to access the river legally and safely
- How to move along the banks efficiently
- How to read pocket water, seams, riffles, and tailouts
- How to cross safely and when not to cross
- How to rig properly for each specific river
- What flies to use — not from a chart, but by turning over real rocks and matching the real bugs living in the water
- How to adjust weight, depth, and drift on the fly
- How to approach pressured water without spooking fish
- How to fish in different flows, weather, and seasons
Throughout the day, we will show you multiple access points along the river, even if we don’t fish them all. You’ll learn where to enter, where to exit, and how to move efficiently without burning unnecessary energy or water.
The ultimate goal is simple:
Specialized Walk & Wade Float Trips (Hybrid Trips)
There is a second version of these trips that blends walk-and-wade instruction with the mobility of a drift boat or raft. These hybrid trips take place on the Yuba, Feather, Trinity, American, Lower Sacramento Rivers, and a couple un mentioned waters. On these trips, the boat is used as a transport and positioning tool rather than a crutch. We float from launch to take-out, stopping at strategic locations to get out and wade fish, with instruction delivered exactly as it would be on a true walk-and-wade trip.
These trips are ideal for anglers who own their own boats, DIY anglers who want to learn how to row these rivers safely, anglers who plan to fish these waters multiple times per year without a guide, and anyone who wants to learn essential skills such as launch ramps, shuttle logistics, proper rowing lines, river hazards, seasonal flow changes, and how each river fishes at different water levels. You will learn not only how to fish these rivers, but also how to operate on them safely and confidently on your own.
A Note on Putah Creek (Important & Ethical Fishing)
Nor Cal Fly Guides proudly supports and promotes the voluntary “hoot owl” closure on Putah Creek from November 1st through March 1st. This closure protects Putah’s incredible wild trout during their critical spawning season and during extremely low winter flows.
We believe in letting Mother Nature do her thing without interruption. And honestly… during those months we’d rather be chasing salty anadromous trout anyway.
We encourage everyone to:
- Respect the closure
- Let those Putah trout rest
- Wish them well through the winter
- And come back in the spring when the system is healthy again
- That’s how great fisheries stay great.
Who These Trips Are For
These trips are perfect for:
- Beginner anglers who want real fundamentals
- Intermediate anglers stuck in a rut
- DIY anglers who want independence
- Boat owners who want to fish smarter
- Anglers who value education over ego
- Anyone tired of guessing and ready to truly understand
- If you want to become:
- More confident
- More consistent
- More adaptable
- More self-reliant
This is the trip that will get you there.
Let’s Build You Into a Better Angler
Whether on foot in tight water or floating between walk & wade sessions on bigger rivers, these trips will change the way you approach fly fishing forever.