This post probably should be titled "Everything Always Happens All At Once."
The backcountry’s opening up, bugs are flying around the Upper Sac like confetti, and when I called Oregon Guide Dave Roberts from the river to taunt him about catching trout on a Pink Cahill, he fired right back with the news he’d caught 30 Rogue trout on a stonefly dry.
Damn.
Of course, we’ve got a few stoneflies of our own:
Yup. The Golden Stones are playing the Upper Sac.
Normally, I try to find a philosophical underpinning for my fishing reports, but today’s crazy, and the time I spend writing this means less time writing paying work, which means less fishing down the road.
You get the drift.
So here’s the scoop:
- #16 Pink mayflies (we creatively call them the "Pinks") started somewhere around 10:30-11:00
- Golden Stones were much in evidence, though the fish apparently tune into them a little later in the day
- There are many rumors circulating about Green/Brown/Gray Drakes - and the fish who eat them
- The Upper Sacramento is still a bit high, but eminently fishable
- Wayne and I left at 4:00 (things to do), but the fishing was supposed to be better later in the day
- I fished my 8.5′ 5wt Steffen glass rod (soft tip for pocket water casts, but enough guts to pull a fish out of fast currents)
- Bring sunscreen
I had ten grabs over the course of four hours of fishing — all on a #16 pink cahill. Sadly, I only landed one.
Wayne had fewer grabs on his golden-stone sized stimulator, but actually managed to get one into the net:
Pretty Rainbow Trout who made a simple mistake; that ain’t a stonefly
The Upper Sacramento is all green and gorgeous, and a after a long winter and an interminable spring, the color simply dazzles my weary, monochromatic eyes.
Wayne Eng on the newly green Upper Sacramento River.
Decisions, Decisions
The problem with spring is that everything happens all at once; I’ve twice put off my alpine small stream trip to fish other venues, always reasoning I’d fish it next.
Of course, now the week is half over, and Saturday and Sunday are spoken for (a shot at a pair of alpine brookie lakes).
So in addition to staving off divorce and making a few bucks, I’m faced with a choice between Rogue stones; a ready-to-break-open Upper Sac; and my poor, neglected alpine stream (for those counting, that’s essentially four choices, but only three days).
I know most the Undergrounders are in tears; my plight has almost certainly touched you deeply.
Wayne Eng fishing the far side of a current tongue (1 grab, no fish).
Never fear, Undergrounders. I’m a survivor. I’ll make it.
See you somewhere (I simply haven’t decided where yet), Tom Chandler.
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Harry 06.04.08 at 8:59 am
Wow! So many choices and only 3 days to fish them all? Sure hope it ain’t sympathy you’re looking for.
Tom Chandler 06.04.08 at 11:33 am
Yes, that’s precisely what I’m looking for.
Kentucky Jim 06.04.08 at 12:53 pm
Yes, yes…it has touched me deeply, Tom. My day’s been sent all akimbo (whatever that means) over this terrible conumdrum you find yourself in. And oh, conundrum is a word I’ve chosen to replace dillema, since I don’t know how to spell that word. But you get the idea…Life is hard. Meanwhile, I’ll just sit here in my office in Woodland Hills, and make believe I’m on a beautiful trout stream somewhere decently far from civilization, catching big, brightly colored pugnacious rainbow trout hungry for the stone fly now gone from the Kern river.
Smellslikefish 06.04.08 at 1:48 pm
And you’ve got it pretty bad there Kentucky Jim, working in Woodland Hills. Such an aptly named place, uhhh, except for the lack of woodlands.
Alabama flygirl 06.04.08 at 5:38 pm
When someone in the South finds themselves in such a quandary, the common response is “Well, bless their heart.”
Tom, bless your heart! Hope you find SOME way to suffer through this!
Tom Chandler 06.04.08 at 5:58 pm
AF: That’s what first confused me about the South. There was all the stuff that got said because custom demanded it, and then there was all the stuff folks really meant.
Alabama flygirl 06.04.08 at 6:55 pm
Tom….It’s a very fine line sometimes. A lot of times people will say something that is really not very nice…follow it up with a “Bless her heart” and that makes up for the first part of their sentence!
For instance….
That girl is such a B&%#h….bless her heart.
Rick 06.04.08 at 7:22 pm
Hey Tom,
Another heinous task to add to your pile- I just saw that a dvd version of the movie Tarpon has been released- seems to be screaming for an Underground review.
I am a trout/steelhead/cold water at heart, but with tarpon, Harrison, McGuane and Brautigan, how far off can it be?
Best of luck struggling through your fishing opportunities. We had a spectacular cloud of sulphers on Monday night. Watched mayflies as much as fished.
Rick
David Roberts 06.05.08 at 2:15 am
OK Tom just went out to the fly tying room and nothing but stars. If it stays that way I will be putting the boat in about 10:00AM this morning. It’s you or Boo, (Lab) in the front seat. Your call.
David
Tom Chandler 06.05.08 at 6:10 am
AL: I can see we need a “Southern for visiting fly fishermen” series.
Rick: The Tarpon movie would be cool, but no one’s offered to send me a review copy yet. Their oversight, since that’s the kind of thing I’d probabl lap up.
David: Gotta be the dog. Tomorrow is possible…