Fly Fishing the Upper Sacramento River in Winter

Unless I suffer a senior moment and leave it at home, I always take a digital camera fishing. Usually it’s a waterproof Pentax Optio, and while it provides graphic fodder for the Underground, it can also distract when the fly fishing isn’t that good.

And Sunday, the fly fishing wasn’t that good. Dave Edmondson and I gambled on a formerly great dry fly run near town. We saw only a few BWOs, one consistently rising fish (we took turns putting him down), and a handful of October Caddis still flitting about.

Naturally, you end up taking pictures when maybe you ought to be fishing, but there are also the times when you probably should be taking pictures – like when your fishing buddy is flipping a big dry and dropper at a primo run.

Winter on the Upper Sacramento River 
Yes, the standard nature documentary “life waiting for springtime renewal” picture.

Fighting a Trout on the Upper Sacramento River
OK, I missed the hookset. But nice bend, eh?

A big Upper Sac Rainbow Trout
He’s 17″-18″ long, but damn — what a porker.

Upper Sac Hero shot
OK, gotta work on the fish-inflating hero pose.

If you’re only going to catch one fish all day, then this is the kind of fish you’d want to catch. A solid 17″-18″ long, it was deep — like he’d been eating the same Thanksgiving leftovers I had (with the same result).

The only other actions was a small fish slapping at my big dry. And yes, it was cold out there — the north wind kept gusting, and though I would never, ever whimper, you could say at times I noticed it.

Still — fueled by the delectable molasses cookies freshly baked up by the L&T — we stuck it out long enough to agree that one big fish is a good end to a trip (and that we looked like Junior Michelin Men in our winter gear — not the kind of look that attracts the babes).

The week’s forecast is for partly cloudy and highs in the low 40s — though Friday offers a hint of promise with a 20% chance of rain/snow. I’m there, baby. There.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

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