Fishing five times in the last seven days should imbue me with a relaxed, "I’m getting it all done" feeling, but in truth, I’m still straining at the leash.

Everything is breaking loose simultaneously, and a barrage of choice means no matter where you go, you’re missing something somewhere else (as if the laws of physics could somehow be repealed for fly fishermen).

Steve Bertrand on the Upper Sacramento River 
Steve Bertrand looks calm, but then, he’s a guide, so he’s got lots of time to fish.

Still, I’d heard tantalizing reports of evening hatches of big bugs (and big trout) on the Upper Sacramento, and in fly fishing’s universal gesture of hope, found myself on the river tying on a #10 parachute.

Big bugs often equal big fish, and last night a big bug was a ticket to a splashy take on pretty much every cast… from small fish.

Catching 7" trout on every cast might be somebody’s idea of fun, but after you launch a couple out of the water with a hook set, you start to feel a little greasy, like you were conning elementary school kids out of their lunch money.

So Steven and I moved upriver in pursuit of bigger fish, and though we never got on them (like we did last year), I did land a 14" chunk and lost another about the same size.

It wasn’t the epic big fish night, but it was still trout eating big dries (which means it was damned fun), and we fished hard enough that I only stopped long enough to take two photographs.

Interestingly, the "same" trip last year netted us many big fish, and it happened prior to Memorial Day, when the river was lower than it is even now — a good lesson for those of us who expect the river to run like the Swiss train system.

For those making the trip, the river’s very fishable, but don’t accept that as license for doing stupid things; crossing isn’t a given, and while the flows are coming down, it ain’t summer yet.

The Gear

After fishing the 8.5′ Steffen glass rod on Tuesday, I thought I’d drag along the Orvis prototype 8.5′ 5wt Helios fly rod and see how the two compared.

Orvis Helios 8.5' 5wt fly rod 
Looks like it’s floating, but it’s sitting on a rock

The Orvis Helios is a fabulous rod — unbelievably light and very zippy — and I can understand why they keep winning awards for the thing.

Still, my low-modulus casting stroke is seemingly hardwired into my genes and tomorrow’s trip will involve fiberglass, though I’ll freely admit graphite manufacturers are finally building a little "feel" into their rods.

Good for them.

See you somewhere (I’m hitting a just-opened alpine brookie lake tomorrow), Tom Chandler.

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