News,    upper sac,    Upper Sacramento,    weather

Next Year's Fly Fishing Water Falling From Sky

By Tom Chandler 2/15/2009

After a long, long stretch of largely winter-free winter weather, the Trout Underground World Headquarters is experiencing winter weather in a very visceral way.

Yesterday at 6 PM, I cleared the snow off the Trout Underground/Man Cave's back deck. Today - at precisely 11:00 am - I measured 19 inches of snow there. And the fluffy white stuff continues to fall.

Ahh, the pretty snow - until you've got to shovel it.

It's next year's trout water - and our parched state clearly needs the stuff - but it's also an interesting lesson in microclimes.

As I write this, the CalTrans traffic cams near Yreka (30 minutes north on I5) are sending back images of a sunny, completely snow-free landscape.

Meanwhile, the Dunsmuir traffic cam shows snow on the ground, but nothing near what we're experiencing.

In one sense, it's a good illustration about why I can't give clear answers when people email, tell me they're going to fish the Upper Sac/McCloud/Pit River, and ask what the weather's going to be like.

The short answer is I only know what it's like here, which may or may not be anything what it's like there. Tomorrow? Oy vey.

In the face of what amounts to a pretty heavy snowstorm, it's clear my plans to ski into the river today are kaput; I'll be home moving snow and (probably) working in the hopes I can sneak out during the week. And yes, this hardly signals the end of California's drought, but we do desperately need the stuff, and I plan to move it into nice, neat piles, waiting for it to melt and make a lot of trout, salmon and steelhead very happy.

See you in the snow, Tom Chandler.
AuthorPicture

Tom Chandler

As the author of the decade leading fly fishing blog Trout Underground, Tom believes that fishing is not about measuring the experience but instead of about having fun. As a staunch environmentalist, he brings to the Yobi Community thought leadership on environmental and access issues facing us today.

5 comments
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Not to put too fine a point on it, but we're a little higher elevation than the town; I'd say even four feet is conservative. I'll bliss more next spring.
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Weather Channel just reported 40- inches at Mount Shasta. Bliss out.
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Very cool picture!
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@Dave: Not fighting the snowblower today; yesterday's deluge of wet snow was too much, and the snowblower - like a cranky, thirsty donkey - simply refused to go any farther. It's simply not up to wet snow. We called the guy with the front loader, and instead of skiing the high-altitude powder or heading for the river to fish, we're waiting for him to show and clear our impassable driveway.
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Well TC, You got it this time. We did get it in the high country where we need it though. I couldn't believe the weather report this morning. It will be 20 deg. warmer here than in Redding. Sorry you have to fight the snow blower today (just think that you are putting up a reserve for the trout). I guess I will go chase the BWO's and March Browns. David
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