The Upper Sacramento’s sub-par BWO hatches are finally lighting off, so naturally, I’m getting out of town.

Timing, it seems, remains a weak point.

Upper Sacramento Rainbow Trout
Blurry image, pretty trout. It’s the Upper Sacramento, Winter BWO edition.

Since there’s a plane waiting for us – and the downcanyon drive to Redding will be a slow one due to snow – this will be short.

On Thursday, an old friend and I headed for one of my midriver dry fly runs, arriving to the spectacle of a medium-sized BWO hatch already in progress.

A sight like that creates a jarring mix of emotions; you’re irritated you didn’t show up sooner while you’re simultaneously trying to get dressed and rigged before it’s over (which seemed to be 2:30 or so).

I got five grabs, hooked three, and landed one (the blurry pic above) – a nice 16″ Upper Sacramento winter football.

Intriguingly, the small olive parachute didn’t do any business at all. Instead, a Roy Palm soft hackle emerger and Quigley Cripple got the job done – a not-that-surprising reality given how many adults floated downriver unmolested.

Catching trout on the Upper Sacramento in winter means typically catching trout a bit bigger than the rest of the year, and one of the fish I lost ran me around at will, my 8.5′ 5wt Steffen fiberglass rod bent to the water.

It was an impressive display – one that ended when the fish decided he’d had enough and took off like a freight train, wrapping my leader on a rock.

We never did see the fish, but he was likely bigger than the 16″ speciment by at least a couple inches.

Hot damn.

Meanwhile, back on the Mountain

While I was poking around on the river, the L&T was climbing up Mt. Shasta and skiing her way down, and because I (again) stuck a dying battery in my camera (yes, someday I’ll learn), I’m stealing one her pictures to pad the report.

Mount Shasta, the L&T
That’s Avalanche Gulch behind the L&T’s sunglasses.

More to come about this trip – including my test-flight of a pair of Patagonia’s “Sticky Rubber” wading boots, which seemed to grip better than my old studded rubber Weinbrenners?

Why am I trying new wading boots? Simple – my high arch is falling and my foot is lengthening, so suddenly all my sport shoes are getting a little short.

This, I think, is old age.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Posted in Underground Entertainment.