Fishing gold on the Upper Sac…

My recent alpine trips had been fun, but with reports coming my way of an Upper Sac fishing well on dries, I finished my day’s work (leaving plenty for tomorrow), grabbed my equipment, and ran for the river. In the parking lot I ran into a couple of regular Underground readers who - for the purposes of protecting the identity of the innocent - we’ll call “W” and “A”. But more on them later. First, your Underground Fishy Zen Moment:

Notice the shoulders on this torpedo.

I fished the upper river, and constantly switched between a Golden Stone pattern and a #16 PED parachute. I’d catch smaller fish in the runs on the PED, and ran my “tight to cover” big fish spots with the stonefly pattern. At the end of the evening, I hooked five nice fish (smallest 13″, biggest 16″) and landed an equal number of smaller fish. Big fun! (And about time.) Contrary to my experience, Chris reported catching his biggest fish out of the fastest water in the runs he fished, so clearly, you’d be a fool to listen to either of us. Fish it all, and see what happens.

Hopefully, “W” and “A” had similar fun on the river, but given how pretty it was last night (and how “A”s casting loop was coming around), it seems like a slam dunk.

“W” and “A” looking for fish. Underground Readers are all smart and good looking, so I’m sure they got some…

For those who missed it (one entry back), a train derailed in Pennsylvania and poisoned a key wild trout fishery. If you’re like me, you want to believe it couldn’t happen here again, but clearly it can. I’ll take this opportunity to urge the Underground readers to join the Upper Sacramento River Exchange or California Trout as both organizations are playing a role in protecting the Upper Sac (or at least trying to). It’s a tough battle, and with any luck, there may be another fishing report tomorrow.

Until then, here’s an Underground Entertainment item from our friends at GoOutdoors.com — the venerable(and inflatable) Canoe Skirt. And no, we’re not making it up.

Frankly, I doubt I could get the L&T Nancy to wear this, dreading the inevitable “does this inflatable canoe skirt make my hips look big?”

See you in the doghouse, Tom Chandler.