California

California offers more variety than almost anywhere else in fly fishing — Northern California tailwaters running cold year-round, Eastern Sierra freestones in alpine basins, North Coast steelhead in winter rains, and Southern Sierra rivers that swing from heavy snowmelt to thin pocket water in a single summer. The catch: most of it depends on snowpack, which has been unreliable through the recent drought cycles. The dry years push runoff early and thin out the freestones by mid-summer.

Year-round fishing is real here if you pick the right water. Tailwaters like the Lower Sacramento and Trinity stay fishable in February; spring creeks like Hat and Fall River hold steady through summer; the Eastern Sierra freestones come in by late spring and fish through October. Crowds vary widely — the Owens and Hot Creek see heavy traffic, the Pit River and upper McCloud you can have mostly to yourself. Plan around the snowpack year and the season, not just the river.