With cabin fever settling in for the duration and the Upper Sacramento fishing slower than in previous winters, it’s not hard to look ahead to warmer days.

I don’t know about you, but bouncing around inside my head are detailed (and mostly unrealistic) plans for 2007′s fishing trips, and while some of them might actually come to pass, they almost certainly won’t happen the way I imagine them.

Which – if you stop to think about it – is probably the point.

It’s the kind of rainy day, lay-around-the-house leisure activity that could waste a whole afternoon, assuming such a thing could ever be a waste.

What’s the plan?

The Early Season

Winter fishing on the Upper Sacramento hasn’t been stellar, but with the snowpack far below normal and no real storms in sight, we’re looking a drought right in the eye.

That’s not the best news for salmon, steelhead and the California delta, but it’s not the end of the world up here in the mountains.

With a little luck, we could hit a few good hatches before the runoff even gets going, and once started, it won’t last long.

A drought would also open the backcountry earlier, and if I sound almost giddy at the prospect of a drought, so be it.

One man’s tomato stake is another’s priceless bamboo fly rod, and complaining about the weather rarely changes it.

I’m just making lemonade.

Tennessee

About the time the runoff gets out of hand I could be winging my way to Tennessee.

You’ll find me headhunting Tennessee’s rich tailwaters, and enjoying my time on the smaller rivers and streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

I might even tumble for an overnight trip into the park’s backcountry, and scarf a few slawdogs at the local Phillips 66.

I’ll even have a chance to test fly the lies which don’t work in California any more, but might find a new audience in the Southeast, where they’ll make a worthy addition to the Southern oral tradition.

Consider me a verbal philanthropist.

Tennessee’s key attraction is the fly fishing diversity; one day I’m casting for tiny brook trout in tiny streams, the next I’m fishing a blanket caddis hatch on a rainbow tailwater, and yet another I’m chasing Brown trout with streamers the size of squirrels.

The bonus? All this happens while the Upper Sacramento fishes poorly.

Idaho? Wyoming? Montana?

This summer, I’m mulling over a tour of the trouty fleshpots in the Rocky Mountain West. A new trip.

Sure, Yellowstone’s famous rivers call, but I’m looking for destinations not found on the travel plans of the well-to-do angling set.

Instead, lesser-explored parts of Idaho beckon, as do some of the more interesting bits of Montana and Wyoming.

A handful of covert hints have come my way, and the old saw about killing you after telling you applies.

More on this as it happens.

The Backcountry

Last year I fished the backcountry’s lakes and tiny streams more than usual, and had so much fun I expect more of it.

Starting in early summer, the backcountry loses its snowbound status, and all the underfished Brookie lakes open.

I even bought a shiny new ultralight backpacking tent, and have been turning equipment lists over in my head.

Modern day backpackers prune away excess weight seemingly at the subatomic level, and though I won’t exhibit that level of mania, I’m learning that a 45-pound pack takes all the fun out of backpacking.

The goal? Pare the backpacking equipment list down far enough that a float tube is a possibility.

Of all the trips I’ve listed, the backcountry wanderings offer the greatest potential for solitude – a solo appreciation of beauty that

Maine

Every year I’ve gone, Maine has delivered a different fishing experience. It’s not a 100% lock that we’ll go this year, but I hope we do.

It’s textbook smallmouth bass water, and smallies are pure fun on the fin.

Plus the lakes are beautiful, the Grand Lake Canoes are beautiful, the smallmouth bass are beautiful, and the whole setup is just plain, well… beautiful.

It’s not the kind of vacation where you fish until you drop, but it’s the perfect vacation when fishing is a main course on the menu, but you want to spend a lot of time with the L&T Spouse too.

Salt Anyone?

I admit to a long-distance fascination with redfish, and keep idly speculating on the costs of a Gulf Coast redfish trip.

Complicating matters is the need for a boat and guide, which run upwards of $450 a day.

It’s hard to imagine coughing up several grand (flight, rental, hotel, guide, slaw dogs) for a couple days of fishing, but this is how trips happen.

I start with the seed of an idea, and the whole thint eventually dies on the vine or grows into a full blown idea.

The Usual Suspects

Naturally, I’ll be fishing all the local hangouts: the Upper Sacramento, Rogue, Klamath, McCloud – and a few smaller venues which I am not going to mention in print.

Of course, once you compile a list of all the places you want to fish, you realize you couldn’t possibly do so outside the confines of a trust fund or winning lottery ticket.

It’s a reality that hovers around the periphery of any wintertime “places to fish” list, but if you let it slow you down then you’re taking life too seriously.

One thing is true: driving 15 minutes to fish for an evening is something done (or not done) on the spur of the moment, but epic trips to places you’ve never been require some small amount of planning, or they simply don’t happen.

So what’s your plan for 2007? Where are you headed?

[tags]fly fishing, fishing, 2007[/tags]

Posted in Fly Fishing, Travel.