I don’t know at what point putting on waders and heading to the river ceases to be a fishing trip and becomes an excuse for getting out of the house – the walls of which grow a little closer every winter day – but it’s likely I passed that point today.
It was snowing, the Upper Sacramento flows were coming back up, and Wayne agreed on the phone that we wouldn’t fish long or go far, none of which mattered.
I was getting out; not writing, computing or blogging.
I might have driven to Dunsmuir a little too fast.
Snow falling on Eng. (click the image for the big Hollywood version.)
We found ourselves fishing right in town, sharing a fly rod and a camera.
I missed the only bite of the day on a dry and dropper, which is a factually accurate summation of the trip, though it misses the point entirely.
There’s something about fishing in the snow; it’s a separate experience from fishing in sun or rain.
It’s quiet, and – if you’re dressed warmly enough – there’s the sense of functioning as a self-contained, foul-weather, mobile fishing unit.
It’s freezing outside, warm inside, and you’re pretty sure you could do this most of the day.
Still, when the fishing is tough, a couple hours is plenty to prove you’re a smart, tough fly fisher who fishes when the weather’s bad and everyone else is holed up in front of a heater.
Some days you just need to get out and marvel at the concept of waterproofing.
As I’m writing this (the end of the day), it’s snowing softly and steadily outside, and tomorrow will find me shoveling several inches of the fluffy white stuff off the driveway.
Snow is forecast for the next couple of days – good news for the ski industry – and I’ve got enough writing to do that I’ll be back in my office.
Which, suddenly, is looking a little roomier.
[tags]fly fishing, upper sac, upper sacramento river, fishing[/tags]
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Never quite understood the appeal of fishing in the cold.
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You know Tom, I learned a little something about people like you and my dad, and to some extent me. Do you know why trout addicts are so addicted?! Well first, it is something called positive reinforced operant conditioning – where something you do, an action, provides you with enjoyment. In this case fly fishing allows you to catch trout and this gives you pleasure. Now, since we don’t always catch a trout, the rate at which we are rewarded for our efforts is varied. This creates a possibility to catch a fish on any cast from the first to the last…but also that we may not catch a fish at all. However, since there is always a possability we always have a desire to fish, and for the same reason it takes a fair amount of time before we throw up the white flag. In egards to snow/rain/ugly weather, there’s still a chance you could catch a fish and therefore you still try. It’s not quite that simple, as we all enjoy getting out and just fishing fish or no, but that is one of the big draws. Hope you enjoyed being psychoanalyzed…yes it is similar to Povalov’s dog, but not quite the same…
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So you guys do rock/scissors/paper, and he lost and had to wear the hat? (Just kidding!) It is actually pretty cool – I have one made of yak’s butt that I wear myself on special occasions, like running through the snow naked.
Fishing in bad weather with a rising river can be rewarding. Sometimes you will catch a big fish to really make your day. I always think it is worth it.
Heading down to SF today down I-5. I hope the roads aren’t too bad.
- rriver
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This post has been nominated for The Sacramento Bee’s roundup of regional blogs, which appears Sunday in Forum. As part of an unofficial program, you can help decide which blog posts are included by voting at http://www.ipsosacto.com/bw.
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John Hughes
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I gather C4C is taking some kind of behavioral science class. I found that part amusing; first you take psych 101, which explains that all behavior is easily explained.
Then you take philosophy, which teaches you that nothing is truly knowable.
rriver: roads are great. You’ll have no problems, except for the part where you draw close to “civilization” and you want to turn and run for home. At least I do.
And for anyone with a few extra minutes, feel free to stop by the ipsoSacto blog voting gig and vote for the Underground. I don’t know who keeps nominating us for the “blog entry” of the week (thanks!), but I’m always down with winning.
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as always this blog is full of information (with big words I don’t understand)I fish because I can and live on a river where I can. (if it ever calms down).
Hey Dave (RRiver) give me a call haven’t heard from you sence you got back.
David
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I’ve enjoyed fishing the upper sac in winter, and can’t remember thanking Chris lately. Ah, the sound of casting through the snowflakes. Apparently, the eastern slope Sierra regs will change as well on March 1.
The fly fishing show in Pleasanton was worthwhile yesterday. Shasta Trout was well represented. I heard Ted Fay mentioned in one seminar. I had a conversation with Joe Humphries, after his presentation, and learned that this is his last west coast appearance. So, Pasadena will be your last chance to visit with this great guy on this coast. He’s sold me on Labrador trout fishing with a lemming pattern. Imagine a 15 pound brook trout on the end of your line. Gotta do that.
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Roberts – will do. I have gotten out some. I caught another one of those 24 inch cuts that don’t exist and some steelhead. Shucks and I went to Denman last week end for Blue Gill and got skunked. We would cover a rise and nothing would happen. The rises were sparce but the water temp was about 54. Hard to figure.
This was to punish us for our last trip when we caught over 200 between us.
- rriver
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Excuse my ramble. I stopped by to bother Raine Sunday and his shop wasn’t open. Sheesh. Then I stopped at the Fly Shop in Redding, and the guy helping me exceeded his 60 “Dude!” a minute allowance, so I ran out the door with just a little goat hair and that was it.
- rriver.
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Raine is interred at the Burger Barn, where he’s remodeling the interior, creating a far more pleasant “quality burger eating experience.”
At least that’s the marketing spin.
And ahh, the Redding Fly Shop. I could write a whole blog on that place alone…
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Don’t believe any of that crap….I’ve got the inside scoop and nothing is happening in the buger barn…it’s one of those situations where it looks like a lot is going on, but beneath the subterfuge it’s really just a group of people arguing with each other and moving the same shi…I mean crap back and forth…..almost like one of the storied fisherman’s tales where two anglers witnessed the same occurence and can’t agree on what really went down due to seperate perspectives and so fourth – hey look more helpful insight from my B.S. course! Only, rather than arguing about the size of the fish and how long the fight was, my folks are arguing about whether the trim should be pink or green, a long standing argument between the powers that be, and where to start painting first. Meanwhile, the enslaved school child, my brother, accomplishes what he can providing what little measureable process there is….so if you saw this and were intimidated by the length, the situation is a whole lot like CalTrans. Aside from that, how are things looking for fishing around May 23-30?
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errata: “process” 3/4 of the way through should be “progress.”
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April and May will be cooler and wetter than normal, on average, with the stormiest period in mid- to late April. The first half of April will be warmer than normal, with below-normal temperatures most of the time from the latter half of April through May. Which is, about normal. I’m thinking of becomming a weatherman. I figure that I can be wrong most of the time and still get a paycheck. Is there an analogy to fly fishing in there somewhere?
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May can be great, though it all depends on the flows. It’s snowing now and the snowpack is building, but we’re behind on the snowpack and could easily remain so.
Life could be great.
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Great hats in history , George Washington crossing the Delaware hat-Hat points out the direction of the British in a snowstorm, Under Hedda ’s hat-Why its Hedda Hopper, Tom Terrific’ hat- A thinking hat to think I Think .Minnie Pearl’s hat-priceless. Great minds have great hats. My hat was passed on from generation to generation from the great Kubla Khan to me. Under my hat is grey matter that contains all the secrets of the universe, including how to fool a trout..unfortunatly the day Tom and I fished it was low on batteries.
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I too fished in the snow yesterday. To be more comfortable, do as I do: drive to the spot, get out, auger a couple of holes, drop a line, then sit in your vehicle and listen to the radio with the heater on. I would flyfish but it’s a bitch cutting those long thin strips through the ice. I’ll wait till June when the ice melts.
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