The Upper Sacramento Fly Fishing Report: Roberts Sick. Fishing Ill.

All my gear was stacked by the door, and I hopped out of bed like a kid at Christmas. After a couple tough weeks, I was going fishing on the Rogue.

Or was, until Dave Roberts called and said he had a stomach flu.

Damn. Plan B.

Instead of the Rogue, I headed for the lower reaches of the Upper Sacramento River. The mid-river has been fishing poorly - the sizable BWO hatches of two years ago were AWOL, the fish gone with them.

Been so long you forgot what a river looks like?

After getting spanked the last few trips to my usual BWO water, the idea was to explore the slower, warmer water of the lower river, hoping for a better BWO hatch or even enough midges to bring the fish up.

I was on the water by 11:30, and even though I had to grit my teeth do it, I nymphed my way upriver, hoping to slide into the killer dry fly run about 1:45.

I’d be lying if I said I nymph with anything approaching style or grace, but I did get good drifts in some likely runs and slots, and never once did the bobber do anything not attributable to a rock.

Begin the BWOs.

At 1:50, the first BWOs started sledding down the Chosen Run, perched atop the water like - to my eyes - so many targets.

Like so many of this winter’s other trips, enough bugs didn’t show to bring the fish to the surface, and freeline nymphing a small Pheasant Tail (a worthwhile tactic two years ago) had no effect.

Once it became clear no fish were working the flats, I covered a lot of the river looking for backwater fish - solitary trout working the eddies, curls and foam lines.

No dice.

The wind blew in gusts, so I fished a strong bamboo rod - an 8.5′ AJ Thramer hollowbuilt, though I could have been fishing a paper mache rod and it wouldn’t have mattered.

A detail wrap on the AJ Thramer rod. Ain’t bamboo pretty?

What’s left? The forecast for Thursday and Friday calls for a 40% chance of rain; enough that I might find my way back out for the afternoon hatch, looking for even a single rising fish.

Still, it’s been colder than normal, but also drier. Without some significant snowfall in February, we’re looking at a subpar snowpack. That translates to shorter runoff, but trouble farther downstream, where all the diversion leave the delta feeling ill.

Pray for rain snow.

More as it happens.

And Roberts? Still sick when I called this evening.

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