Fly Fishing Lodge & Steelhead Guide Service
Marble Mountain Ranch is a Klamath River “destination fishing resort” and we feature packaged steelhead fly fishing trips. Our complete “Steelhead On The Fly” fishing trips include all meals, private cabin lodging, guide service, drinks and snacks on the river, all needed flies, and shuttles. We target the Middle Klamath River, Trinity River, and Cal Salmon via drift boat, raft and by guided wade fishing. We specialize in leading you to steelhead on the traditional “tight line grab” of a swung fly. Our target waters are close to our home ranch, require only short shuttles, and easily allow us to nightly return you to your private cottage for a hot shower and a 5-star lodge dinner. Your fishing day with us will be characterized by solitude on the remote stretches of the Klamath River, upscale lodging and meals, and dedicated and enthusiastic guiding.
Fly Fishing Rates And Steelhead Season
Our steelhead season starts in late Summer, as we transition our guest ranch operations into our steelhead fly fishing lodge. Fall is the prime season, with Winter steelhead fishing continuing into the Spring months as we venture out between larger weather patterns. Our full service fishing trip rates are based on guide packages with meals and lodging included, but can also be arranged a-la- carte for steelheaders who may not need a professional guide or a cabin and meal package. Stand alone fishing rates are based on a $300/person drift boat guide day with a double occupancy in the drift boats.
Steelhead Fly Fishing Using Local Guides With The Home Court Advantage
Doug Cole, the ranch owner and lead guide, and his family and staff live here and fish here. Our “home turf” advantage of intimately knowing the mid Klamath, lower Trinity and Cal Salmon allows us to lead you to the best possible fishing day. Our guiding signature is in taking steelhead on the “swung fly” as our predominant tactic, in accessing remote and seldom pressured river sections, and in our extreme work ethic as we strive to build your fishing adventure. Your fishing experience here will rival anything you might find at a fly-in resort.
A typical fly-fishing day with us involves a mixture of tactics based on the classic “greased line” method. We cross current cast, mend and swing the fly downstream through targeted water to produce that “grab and run” hit made famous by Pacific steelhead. We also team fish the swinging fly with extended drifts using boat movement. We quietly walk the boat alongside holding water while you cast from stable boat decks. We cast dries to undercuts and pockets, and we swing waking patterns across glides. We also dead drift nymphs under indicators in the cooler Winter water temperatures, but you will NOT spend your entire day watching a “bobber” while fly-fishing the Klamath or Trinity in the Fall, since our emphasis is on the “tight line take” from a swung fly. It is important when you book with us to tell us what level of activity you prefer. Aggressive wade fishermen and Spey casters will be taken to different water than those wanting a more relaxing day casting entirely from the boat.
Gear – For the mid-Klamath we suggest you bring rods in a 5 wt – 7 wt range and review our fly fishing gear suggestions to fully prepare for your fishing trip. Any gear you do not have, we do have. We provide the guide, the drift boat dory (2 guests per boat), all shuttles, tippet and fly patterns as needed and lunch with beverages. For our guests who do not have an appropriate fly rod, we furnish 7 wt Sage Z axis fly rods equipped with Abel reels and the appropriate line to target Klamath Steelhead.
It usually works best if you bring your own rod, reel, line, tippet and patterns and we fill-in the voids. We also stock an inventory of rental waders and boots if you need help outfitting some of your party ($25/day/wader & boot set). Don’t forget your fishing license with steelhead stamp, and a rain jacket with layers of poly-pro, since we do not cancel rainy fish days. Trips are only cancelled when the river is unsafe or not fish-able. Also, since we float some difficult stretches of white water, we will require that you wear one of our comfortable fishermen’s life jackets while on the river.
We are a “catch and release” steelhead guide service taking home only the memory and photographs of your fishing day. We usually can offer digital fishing images of your guide day available from our adventure images down-load galleries.
Your licensed and bonded guides are Captain Doug Cole (Marble Mountain Ranch owner) Adam Cole, and fellow guide associates. We hope you will make us your choice for your guided California fly fishing trip and offer these tips on selecting a fishing lodge and guide service.
Be sure to call for current fishing reports. For more general ranch information or reservations, please visit our California guest ranch home and visit The Klamath River Report for river, road and weather conditions.
We are licensed by the Coast Guard as OUPV #26242. We are permitted by the Klamath National Forest, and have been licensed by the California Department of Fish and Game since 1994 – guide license number 1983.
We thank our sponsors who include us on their pro-staffs and our supporting fly fishing associations.