The Underground’s Monday Medical Report

I’d love to fill this post with a hard-hitting, Hemingway-esque fishing story, but in truth, Sunday’s plans for a Brookie trip fell hard to an intestinal virus whose effect I am not going to describe here.

And no, the disease isn’t connected to the slaw dogs consumed Saturday night at the Trout Underground/Man Cave World Headquarters by a handful of locals. They are above suspicion.

Sadly, even the innocent suffered the effects of the bug; Wally the Wonderdog was denied a tongue-hanging-out-happy hike to a brookie lake – a highlight in his tortured, lay-around-on-the-porch life.

Wonderdog ennui: Wally deals with the disappointment.

Still, even as a sicko, the Underground continues to forge ahead on the work front, and relatively soon (a week, hopefully), the Underground will (hopefully) be fishing more and explaining less.

The State of the Upper Sacramento

It’s the time of year when the Upper Sacramento slips into what folks call the Dog Days, becoming a largely morning-and-evening game until the weather cools.

Guide Wayne Eng scoured the river on Saturday and caught fish, though he admitted working pretty hard for them. Good bets are fishing the lower river with a Zebra midge (or other blackfly larva imitation), or tapping into the very localized evening hatches (often of #18 PEDs).

This is the time of year when broad, sweeping pronouncements about the river invariably make you look dumb; you could stare at an empty river all evening, hike back to the car, and find out the guys who hiked a quarter mile upriver caught a dozen trout working a decent hatch.

Then there are the rumoured Tricos, whose existence I’m going to deny because every attempt I’ve made to fish the hatch has ended in ignominy.

Thus do I refute reality, and substitute my own.

Two Things Remain True

I will point out a couple of truths; the Upper Sacramento is actually a tailwater that fishes like a freestoner, and while the hatches can be slow, the water’s certainly cold enough to support them. The trick is finding them.

Second, there is still plenty of good fishing around here, especially in those out-of-the-way places you’ve never been to but can find with a little map work (or the help of a long out-of-print guidebook).

See you in the outdoors, Tom Chandler.

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