Fly Fishing: Upper and Lower Sacramento River

Hazel Creek

 Upper Sacramento River Monday 3/25/19

 Upper Sacramento River, flooded, 3/26/19

Upper Sacramento River, Dunsmuir City Park Access, 3/26/19

Wild Rainbow Trout, Lower Sacramento River, 3/27/19

Wow!  These photos were all taken within 48 hours and 53 miles of each other.  After checking in and picking up a few flies from the very helpful, friendly and knowledgable guys at The Fly Shop in Redding CA, I spent Monday and Tuesday huddling down in Dunsmuir, waiting for a snowstorm to abate so I could ply the waters of the Upper Sacramento river, just below Lake Siskiyou.  As the snow piled up on Monday, but temperatures remained at about 34 degrees F, slush filled every cranny in sight, and I realized that I would be unlikely to catch any trout, as the rivers became more and more blown out over the course of the the day.  Still, I had come to fish, and I went out to look at the river and various spots anyway.  I threw a few little Prince Nymphs in, because, why not? No takers.

The following day, I went out in earnest, since the snow had melted.  Unfortunately, the Upper Sacramento was flooded, as the snow was melting off, and the rain continued.  I did see a really fishy looking tributary near Sims, called Hazel Creek.  I tried my luck there too with a San Juan Worm, a few different nymph patterns, but again, no luck.  The water was COLD and moving really, really fast. I checked out Cantara, which was beautiful, but the road to get there was completely washed out. The Honda Fit, while nimble, is not designed for washed out, steep, rutted and muddy forest 'roads' and so I parked the car before getting stuck, and walked in to Cantara.  The river was gorgeous up there, but moving fast.  I debated hiking back up to get my fly rod, but it was getting late, and so I decided to call it a day, and made a mental note to return here in less flooded conditions.

Today I went out with Brian Kohlman from Confluence Outfitters in his drift boat on the Lower Sacramento.  The river was running much higher than expected-- reported in the morning at 9,000 cfs, but cranked up to 16,000 cfs by mid day, making conditions less than favorable.  Still, I hooked 4 trout, and landed 2 beautiful rainbows on nymph patterns.  We saw beautiful American White Pelicans, a Cooper's Hawk, Osprey, Swallows and a mind-blowing thunder storm which chased us down the river.  It was a lovely day and Brian was a super fun guy to have as a guide on this trip.

Fly fishing is a portal to the special and specific nuances of riparian environments.  Such portals can be found in any number of outdoor activities.  I like fly fishing in particular, because of how deeply involved with the various elements you must be in order to be successful.