Gone Fishing: The Upper Sacramento Episodes…

With the wind blowing and the temperature dropping, I decided it was time to look upriver for some fun. Outside of a mass assault by blood-drinking alien hordes, wind is probably the fly fisher’s biggest pain point.

Everyone develops strategies for coping (mine include whining), but success largely hinges on a mindset that considers any fish a victory, and with that in mind, I headed for one of my technical spots upriver. If it’s going to be tough, it might as well be damned tough, the idea being to clear out as much bad karma as possible on a single trip.

Victory! A 16″ Upper Sac rainbow in the net. Take that, wind.

Still, a solid karmic cleansing turned out not to be on the menu; the fishing was tough (and the long roll casts were tougher in the wind), but I still landed two good fish (12″ and 16″ rainbows).

I’d love to offer a single bug as the definitive “go-to” model, but I was confronted by three different mayflies (and not a lot of any of them). Making matters worse were the half-dozen cripples I tied specifically for this trip… and then left on my tieing desk.

(Clearly, the memory is the first to go. Unless I’ve forgotten something.)
The bugs? A #18 BWO with very dark wings, a #20 PED, and something in the #22 class. (Figure if I can’t see it, the trout can’t possibly be that picky. It’s a useful rationalization.)

Fall’s Here

The weather is cool and blustery, and heading out for an evening’s fishing without a jacket is more risk than sure thing. It’s dark early enough that you can fish until dark and still find something to eat.

And while it’s still warm during the day (especially downriver), all the big caddis cases that littered the river bottom are gone (crawled under the big rocks to pupate into the October Caddis we love and fish).

You can sense the animals are getting ready for winter, and summer’s hummingbirds are mostly gone. Wally the Wonderdog - who thrives in colder weather - is happy as can be (and that’s pretty happy). It’s going to be an interesting fall. See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Busy beaver? This tree’s coming down, and soon…

Technorati Tags: BWO, Pale Evening Dun, October Caddis, fall