Bruce Ross: Darned facts getting in the way of a good story.Thanks.

Keep in mind I’m an effete, bamboo-fishing dry fly geek. The best stretch I ever had on the Upper Sac was the first Fall/Winter it was open after the traditional season close – when pretty much everyone else said it wasn’t fishing well at all.

Bruce Ross: Tom,Random off-topic question.A guide told a colleague of mine that the fly-fishing had gone way downhill in the Upper Sac since Fish & Game allowed catch-and-keep.Is that your experience?

I don’t think so. Well, sorta.

The catch & keep section runs from Shasta Retreat to the Sweetbriar Bridge, and I think it’s inevitable that stocking and harvest in that stretch (5 miles or so) hasn’t done the native (big) fish populations any favors.

The rest of the river feels pretty similar to what it always was, though like any natural body of water, it’s not static.

We’ve had big fish years, and years when it seemed like the river was all small fish.

In the ten years I’ve lived up here, my two best years were split before and after the new regulations went into effect.

Better? Worse? I really can’t say.

Random off-topic question. A guide told a colleague of mine that the fly-fishing had gone way downhill in the Upper Sac since Fish & Game allowed catch-and-keep. Is that your experience?