Upper and Lower Sacramento

9/17 - 9/18......After a brief trip to Idaho for some monster steelhead and king salmon I am back behind the oars on the lower Sac and hiking the upper Sac. Fishing remains good in both places. The evening hatch has been consistant on the upper Sac below Gibson Rd. The fish are strong and are taking dries like they have never seen one before.... They must be 'Lakers' coming up from Shasta Lake hungry and aggresive. They are a bit on the stupid side so skip 6x and go to 5x tippet. use a #16 (even a #14) PMD and/or a small dark caddis. I prefer the PMD because I can see it :-).

The lower Sac has been good also, on 9/18 Roberta hooked 6 and landed four between 5:30 and 7:30. All the fish were taken between Cypress St and Bonnyview. The fish seemed to like the poopah and the PMD/PT (a fly of my own creation). A #14 PT would probably work too.

The weather will begin to cooperate next week too. Temps will drop into the low 90's and high 80's which ir really excellent weather for Redding.

Upper/Lower Sacramento combo

8/31...We did a combo trip.... the upper Sac for an evening of dry fly fishing and a morning/afternoon drift from the posse grounds to Bonnyview.

The upper Sac was a bit slow in the McArdle Flats area. We nymphed while the sun was on the water and landed a few dinks. We switched to dries (sparsly dressed pmd's) as soon as we saw a few splashes. We landed a few smallish fish (9 to 12 inches) then switched to a small dark caddis and even though it was tough to see (we were 'zone striking'...LOL) we did catch two nice fish about 15 inches as the light was fading.

9/1.... The lower Sac was fun as usual. The float netted 8 fish for the two anglers (father and son). The teenage son caught the a nice 18" 'bow just before the riffles at the posse grounds and played it through the fast water..... We moved into the hold water just below and released the beauty. dad was proud and maybe even a bit jealous..... :-) Dad exacted some revenge by having the hot hand the rest of the trip. Who says the back of the boat in a handicap...?

Lower Sacramento

8/27.... It was a hot one again both with the fish and with the temperatures. We hooked fish in all the usual places. One we hooked played and lost right at the net as an interested crowd watched from the Sundial Bridge. There was a collective 'Ohhhhh!' as we missed the fish. We blamed it on the barbless hooks.

We had several grabs up from the posse grounds but only landed one: a nice healthy 17" rainbow. We had consistant action all the way. Bob was a beginner and this was the first time he had ever drifted so we worked on casting and mending a bit and he responded very well. I am sure he will be greatly improved on his next trip. The spots around Cypress St. bridge continue to be good and we released a small 6 incher as well as a nice 15 incher.

Lower Sacramento

8/25..The lower Sac from the posse grounds to Anderson River Park seems to the most productive drift. There are a lot of strong fat 15" to 17" 'bows hitting our nymphs. The olive micro-may #16 seems to be the big hitter followed by the cinnamon Poopah. The consistant flows keep the fishing consistant too. The temps will be dropping next week which should improve the fishing. It will certainly be more comfortable for the fisherman.......:-)

We found fish in all the usual spots and released about 10 and missed a few hits and played a few more that preferred the remote catch and release option.

Upper Sac continues to be good

8/24.....The dry fly fishing on the upper Sacramento river remains good to great. The blackberries are ripe and the the lower river is full of eager 14" to 17" wild rainbow trout. There are even some bigger ones lurking around but its hard to target them with all the commotion of the mayflies, caddisflies and of course the other rising fish.

I have been running combo trips for some folks that arrive the day before their float trip on the lower Sac. It is a short 40 minute trip up I-5 to some really sweet spots. The water is low but still cool and seems to hold a lot of fish right now.

I have been using 4wt. rods 12' leaders with 5x (maybe 6x) tippets. The rises don't look like much but you figure it out fast when the line begins to peel off your reel as the fish head for safety,  then it's down stream to fight them and land them.  Bring a headlamp so you can tie on a new fly in the dim evening light.