The picture sucks, but the moment didn't...

(It didn’t hurt that I was the dope holding the camera and the bamboo fly rod.)

After a December only barely populated with outdoor pursuits, I found myself at the shooting range on Saturday and fly fishing the Upper Sacramento on Sunday.

God, I hate it up here.

I wondered if the dying October Caddis bite was still on, and I discovered it was.

More when I can find a minute to write about it.

See you outdoors (finally), Tom Chandler.

Funny what a size 22 insect can do for a fly fisherman.

Thanks. I needed that.

The Upper Sacramento’s hatches are maddening; one day they’re gratifying. The next — despite perfect conditions — they’re nonexistent.

And yesterday’s conditions were were damned near perfect.

So I was prepared to get wet for no good reason at all.

Happily, at 1:15, enough BWOs showed to pull a few trout to the surface, a handful of which I tricked into eating my Quigley Cripple.

It’s a simple enough sentence, but fly fishermen read it and their pulse quickens.

Especially when the trout are, well… stunning:

In just the right light, they're stunning (better looking than your angry fingers)

Fall in the Upper Sacramento River canyon is easy on the eyes; half the trees are evergreens, yet the other half are turning red and yellow and orange, and those isolated riots of color stand out more than if they consumed the entire hillside.

The water is low and so clear it’s as if the river bottom is encased in Lucite.

It’s also a time when your hands sting every time you (foolishly) dip them in the water, and when the average size fish throw the hook before you can land them, you’re secretly relieved. Later, when you look at the photos involving fingers, they’ll be an almost angry red.

Our digits apparently are less enamored of fall than we are.

The Details

By the numbers? I had seven grabs, three of which turned into those “life the rod and feel them for a millisecond before the hook pops out” endeavors.

That leaves us with four hookups and three landed fish, all of which were in the 11″-12″ range.

All that happened on a #22 Quigley Cripple (the scaled-down Ed Engle version), the trout having already ignored the #20 Adams Parachute I’d started with.

I was fishing the Raine 8’3″ 5wt hollowbuilt I mentioned here, and as you’d guess, I kept pretty close tabs on its performance — right up until the first good drift over a trout was ignored and I switched to vengeful angler mode.

The verdict? It’s looking good, Undergrounders.

But more testing is needed. Lots more.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

Opening day on the Mccloud and Upper Sacramento Rivers has traditionally found anglers keeping a wary eye on the flow gauges while scoping out the weather forecast — and likely praying that PG&E didn’t wholly screw up the McCloud the day before opening day.

Oddly, damned little has changed over the years, though at least you can fish the Upper Sacramento before opening day. What about the very popular McCloud River?

Hell, I’m too lazy to even speculate, but fortunately, others aren’t. Here are the Underground’s notes on Opening Day (or, The World According To The Trout Underground) — aided by the thoughts of a couple local fly fishing guides.

First, The Joe Kimsey Memorial

Those in the area on opening weekend might want to drop by Dunsmuir City Park on Saturday at 3 p.m., where a tribute/wake/remembrance of Joe Kimsey will take place.

We mentioned Joe’s passing here, and while Joe was buried some weeks ago (in his trademark red suspenders), this is a chance for some of many fly fishermen Joe touched to say good-bye (informal).

Where: Dunsmuir City Park
When: Saturday, April 30, 3:00 p.m.

Bob Grace at the Ted Fay fly shop said it’s an informal gathering (that would be “Red Suspenders Optional.”

Alert Underground Reader Ed also shared this video featuring Joe Kimsey (Joe starts at the two minute mark). It’s vintage Joe (“Pardon my french”), and worth a few minutes.

Opening Weekend Guesstimations

The area’s cool spring continues, which means our runoff hasn’t really started yet, though when it does, it’s going to last a long time.

The question now is this: Will the Upper Sacramento and McCloud Rivers — currently fishable in places, though clearly threatened by runoff — hold up until opening day?

The answer lies in the Mt. Shasta Weather Forecast

Which suggests our cool spring is going to continue at least through the weekend.

Normally, we’re seeing temperatures heading upwards of 70 degrees (last year we didn’t really see 80 degree temps until June). That melts snow, which makes runoff, which blows rivers out.

That, it seems, is not going to happen this year.

The Upper Sacramento

Currently, the Upper Sacramento River is running between 2000 cfs and 3000 cfs at the Delta (link to the Upper Sacramento River flow gauge here. As local guide Steve Bertrand pointed out (and many others have discovered to the tune of aching feet), at anything above 2000 cfs, you tend to cover a lot of ground to find “fishable” spots.

At 3000 cfs and above, Bertrand starts looking for other rivers.

“It’s a good year to take advantage of our cool spring,” he said. “Once it warms up and that 170% snowpack starts to really melt, the river’s going to boom.”

Visitors should note that the Shasta Retreat Parking Lot is closed, so getting up to the area around Mossbrae Falls will require different access (blame Union Pacific).

The Lower McCloud

First, large chunks of the Upper McCloud are locked in the grip of snow drifts, so if you’re headed there on opening day, be prepared to park and walk.

The Lower McCloud is running 1600+ cfs at the lake, but is apparently fishable at Ah-Di-Nah and will likely remain so while PG&E is plays its usual game of starving the mile below the dam (and above Hawkins Creek) with 100 cfs flows.

Also:

• The Nature Conservancy section will probably not be accessible by the opener due to snow drifts
• The road to Ash Camp is blocked by rockfall, though this might change by the opener

This year, anglers enjoy the benefit of multiple McCloud River gauging stations, so take advantage of them:

Below McCloud Dam
Ah-Di-Nah
At Lake Shasta

Currently, the stretch below the dam and above Hawkins Creek (about a mile) is quite low, but PG&E has issued a warning about water spilling over the dam, and those flows could go up very dramatically (and very quickly).

If they don’t, you can still expect a fair number of fly fishermen to enjoy your low water with you.

As Craig Nielsen says, “Bring your own rock and enjoy the company of your fellow anglers.”

Opening Day Picks by Local Luminaries

Local Guide Steve Bertrand

“I had one of my best fishing days ever on the Lower Sacramento last week, and with Keswick releases apparently stuck at 6000 cfs, it could become on of those ‘days of a lifetime’ on the water for an fly fisherman.”

“I prefer to guide the Lower Sacramento from the jet boat with a single angler (more fishing time), but also take pairs down in my drift boat.”

“Hat Creek doesn’t blow out, so it might also be good.”

Steve’s Sleeper Pick: “McCloud Reservoir offers fly fishermen who are willing to cast streamers a shot at some big brown trout.”

Local Guide Craig Nielsen

Choice: “The McCloud Until the Dam Spills, though the Lower Sacramento is silly good right now.”

Backups: “Fall River and Hat Creek are seeing good hatches right now, and aren’t as affected by runoff.”

“Bring your own rock; it’s always going to be crowded on opening day because not much is fishable.”

Craig’s Sleeper Choice: flows on the Klamath scheduled to go to 2600-3025 cfs on May 1; that could be amazing fly fishing. Stay tuned.

Local Guide Wayne Eng

Choice: “The Upper Sacramento River is running high, but it’s definitely fishable, and you’ll have a a shot at catching your biggest Upper Sac rainbow of the year. They’re in great shape, though watch out for the late spawners and spawning redds.”

Sleeper Choice: “Some of Upper Sacramento trout are actually coming up and eating March Brown mayflies — a midday hatch found mostly on the middle river. You have to find the right place, but you can catch trout on dries.”

I’m ducking back into my text editor now in an attempt to get some work done, but you’ll hear more from me soon.

See you on opening day, Tom Chandler.

Of course, all that snow had to *go* somewhere, which means the Upper Sacramento is yo-yoing up and down during what are typically the best BWO hatches of the year.

La Nina, it seems, has little respect for fly fishermen.

The weather’s not getting better until this weekend, so if your plans included a trip to the Upper Sacramento, then better reconsider (I hear the Klamath is fishing well).

If the weather moderates and flows settle down before too much time passes, I might still lay my hands on some hardcore fish-on-fly action, and because the big flows may have encouraged the lake fish (whom we suspect are remnant steelhead populations) to run up the river, the fish could be damned big.

It’s rare, but anything’s happened in the past could conceivably happen again – or at least that’s how fly fishermen see the world (through hopeful eyes).

On A Less Hopeful Note, Technology…

Meanwhile, at the failure-plagued Underground World Headquarters (Official Motto: “If We Own It And It’s Electronic, It’s Breaking”) I’m performing a kind of freelance alchemy (triage might be a better word), transforming late-night hours into a working desktop PC, a new wireless network (the old router suddenly began failing on us 2-3 times a day), a new phone system, and a new wireless printer.

(The first person who says “technology makes our lives easier” receives a package courtesy our ordinance department.)

Once the dust has settled, the L&T and I should be living in a virtual technological Valhalla, which sounds great except for the following: I’m pretty sure it doesn’t exist.

Simply put, I doubt we’ll find utopia wrapped in fancy electronic wrapping paper.

At the moment, I’d suggest just the opposite.

Such is modern life.

Life Intrudes

In addition to the usual work indignities, I’m teaching classes this week, and feeding hungry minds takes time, though my ability to finish and ship an essay for the upcoming “blogger issue” of the Blood Knot E-zine means I can still embrace my inner writer for at least short periods of time.

John Gierach told me he was trying to spend his summers fishing and his winters writing (sorta), an idea which – when I’m wrestling with a client’s sputtering ecommerce system and a half-dozen other “online presence” projects – sends shivers down my spine.

In the meantime, I’ll content myself with making a living, working as an unpaid IT staffer in my own house, and writing an interesting a short, informative piece about how to use point-and-shoot digital cameras. Who loves ya, baby?

See you buying lottery tickets, Tom Chandler.

In fact, it’s been far warmer than “average” the last couple weeks, and while the heat feels good – especially after winter decided it was never going to leave – I am starting to wonder at the effects of sustained high temperatures on the trout.

The leading edge of last night's thunderstorm... which missed us to the North (damn).

For example, the water temps on the Upper Sacramento River (at the Delta – the warmest stretch) have oscillated between 65 and 70 degrees.

Trout tend to stop feeding at water temperatures much above 65 degrees (I’ve seen 68 degrees listed as the magic number), and 75 degree water is typically fatal to trout, who simply won’t get enough dissolved oxygen to breathe.

Note that I’m not advocating anglers avoid the Upper Sacramento River; the Upper Sacramento and Lower McCloud are essentially tailwaters, so temperatures on the upper/middle stretches of both will remain nicely fishable year-round.

But what happens to the lower stretches of the Upper Sacramento – or my beloved small streams – if our current heat wave continues?

With temperatures swinging between 65-70 degrees, I don't know if I'd fish the lowest stretch of the Upper Sacramento River (click image for latest flow/temp info)

I’m not sure, though I’m taking a water thermometer on my next small stream trip.

I’ll probably discover temperatures are plenty low on the nearby small streams, which are running slightly higher than normal.

Still, if the current heat wave continues, things could get a little grim come mid-August. Will we come to the point on some waters where the Undergrounders stop fly fishing voluntarily?

Or should California Fish & Game follow Montana’s lead and institute water-temperature-based closures?

Local fly fishing guide Craig Nielsen offers a surprising (to me) admission:

“I already closed my season on the Klamath River. In fact, when fishing for rainbow trout, I tend to stop fishing stretches of water when the temperature goes over 65 degrees. You get temperatures in the higher 60s, and the mortality goes way up.”

Note that legislating closures would be difficult on waters like the Upper Sacramento, where temperatures vary widely over the length of the river. Close just the bottom five miles?

Unlikely.

Thoughts from the Undergrounders?

See you tapping the thermometer, Tom Chandler

Got fly fishing?

The high snowpack means we’ll enjoy good flows farther into the summer than usual, which is good; most of our spring disappeared under high (or muddy) flows, and the big bug bonanzas that fly fishermen dream about during the winter only happened for a few.

So while it’s time to hit the river (and hope it doesn’t hit back), most evenings have found me slaving over a hot keyboard, largely because – astonishingly – my work week has collapsed under the weight of 25 pound child.

It’s not as if I’m shopping for sympathy; the kid is unbelievably cool, and it turns out some of the cliches are true; seeing life through a kid’s eyes is a useful – if time consuming – exercise.

At least it is if you’re a writer.

And there’s the matter of falling in love a little more each day:

We offer this photo without comment.

Yet, as someone whose entire adult work life has involved considerable freedom – the ability to sneak out to the river pretty much at will – there’s a certain adjustment involved.

In addition, I’m firing up a couple big projects including a new web site for the Marketing Arm of the Underground, and starting one of the longest projects I’ve ever attempted.

That means I’m researching things like markup languages (ReStructuredText, LaTex), version control systems (wtf?), and powerful, extremely manly text editors (emacs, vim, Cream, KomodoEdit, or a tarted-up Gedit?) – any of which could probably fly to the moon and back if you used the right (and arcane) key combinations.

Life & Fly Fishing

We like to think of our lives as largely static constructs, but you don’t have to be a card-carrying philosopher to realize you wake up to a whole new world each and every morning, especially if you spend a portion of that morning falling in love.

So we’ve established that today’s motto might just be “Stop Learning, then Start Dying” – even if the learning is sometimes painful and the old ways look simpler by comparison.

If I needed a reminder, I learned of the death of a relative who pretty much owned the “Cool Uncle” niche – a man who lived a good life, and the world is a little dimmer for his leaving, even if he did so on his own terms (that “cool” thing again).

You mourn the passing of someone like that, but if you’re smart, you use it as a kick in the ass to get moving on a few ideas you were “going to get to eventually.”

If it involves a little extra writing time in the evenings – and a lot of extra time playing “alphabet” with a little girl who’s clearly destined to become Absolute Ruler Of The Planet one day – well, so much the better.

I will promise this; I’ll report on the next small stream trip here. Maybe one evening this week? Maybe.

See you somewhere, Tom Chandler.

And hell, if Moldy can do it, so can we. Behold this Friday’s fishing-related (barely) pinup:

Don't blame us - Moldy started it...

The Upper Sacramento Running High… Still

Meanwhile, the Upper Sacramento watershed is finally seeing its first 80+ degree days (maybe even a 90 on Sunday), and flows remain high – though not necessarily unfishably high.

The graph of flows has assumed the traditional oscillations, and we’ll know the bulk of the runoff has passed when the graph begins a stairstep downward instead of up.

For now, we’re clearly looking at ‘up.’

Flow trends are still up on the Upper Sacramento River.

Chris Raine invested a few minutes reconnoitering a mid-river stretch only to find some big mayflies putting in an appearance on the surface while the trout blithely ignored them (probably due to the fast flows).

That’s OK. The Underground’s Advanced Spy Satellite Network (the NSA comes to us for advice) suggests there are one or two small streams looking more than a little fishable, and there’s a chance for a weekend visit.

If it’s like other recent trips, I’ll catch a few trout, lose a few flies, curse a little, watch the batteries on the camera fail right as a truly colorful fish comes to hand, and basically have the time of my life.

What’s Coming Up?

I’ve been operating in a state of overwhelm the last two weeks, and while the Undergrounders remain safely out of reach of The Dreaded Blogger Bitching About All The Distractions post, it’s also true my pile of half-written articles far exceeds the number of articles I’ve managed to actually post on the Underground.

I’ve got a followup to our Blockbuster Boonie Hat article, another “Top Five” post written specifically to save fly fishing from Certain Doom, and perhaps – just perhaps – a David & Goliath story about a one-man fly fishing business running headlong into a Big Corporate Legal Department Apparently Filled With Bullies.

More as it happens from the Underground – fly fishing’s friend to the Small People.

See you at the diaper changing table, Tom Chandler.

The Upper Sacramento River is currently a touchy beast – prone to running wild (flow wise) at even the hint of precipitation.

I’m tempted to compare it to a fictional grouchy fly fishing blogger who now goes ballistic at the mere sight of more snow – the kind of guy who is deeply tempted to fire a couple shotgun blasts into the air as a warning to the weather that it had damned well better shape up, and soon.

Of course, such a comparison would be fanciful at best (if not downright frightening to our unarmed readers), and as we all know, when reality fails us, it’s time to console ourselves with cliches.

Like “When the Going Gets Tough, The Tough Discover Their Friends Are Basically For Shit, Like A Certain Dunsmuir-Based Bamboo Rodmaker Who – While On A Trip To Colorado Springs – Shot and Emailed Video of Sunny Blue Skies For The Benefit Of A Certain Shasta-Based Blogger.”

Maybe it’s best if we forgo the cliches.

The good news? PG&E’s warning that McCloud flows could increase seems to have faded into the aether (along with so many other PG&E promises); flows on the McCloud’s upper stretches remain fairly stable, and well short of the 600 cfs PG&E threatened.

If you’re headed up to enjoy Memorial Weekend – and a Saturday featuring 73-degree weather (forecast) – the McCloud may be your best bet.

To me, it matters little; the Underground’s been teaching online marketing classes and engaging in his increasingly time-consuming attempts to keep the family in porridge and electricity.

Fly fishing trips have been scarce, and even when they have popped up (last weekend’s attempt at a local stream resulted in nice drive and a walk for the Wonderdog), there really hasn’t been much time to write about it later.

Which Leads Us To…

In a flash of what I’ll suggest is freakin’ brilliance, I’m tempted to simply slap a helmet cam on the Underground’s noggin, videotaping the entirety of my fishing trips, which I would then upload without editing.

That spares me the effort involved with writing a brilliant witty another fishing report, and you gain a first-person perspective on the joys of fly fishing with the World’s Most-Beloved Fly Fishing Celebrity.

In truth, I like the idea so much, I’m going to rename the site to “TheFlyFishingRealityVideoUnderground.com” (it sings!).

Stay tuned for more exciting, reality TV style content.

Right now, I’ve got a class to teach.

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

And because the giving never stops here at TU, here’s a summary:

They’re bumping flows up from now until Saturday, hoping to keep flows reasonable during the Memorial Day weekend.

If you want the longer version:

Lower McCloud River Interested Parties,

We have had a very good water year in the north state and the snowpack is approximately 254% of normal. PG&E has been taking careful steps to manage the runoff into McCloud Reservoir by monitoring the reservoir level and maintaining a low water surface elevation in Iron Canyon Reservoir to provide extra storage to accommodate additional runoff and running water through James B. Black Powerhouse.

To prevent a potential spill during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, there is a possibility that PG&E will be bypassing an additional 600 cfs of water from McCloud Dam. This would begin starting May 25th through mid morning on Friday, May 28, when PG&E plans to return to our normal operating flows. Since the current, non additional release, action plan is based on the forecast which calls for relatively cool temperatures the next couple of days with moderate amounts of precipitation, a rapid warm up in with higher than expected precipitation would increase inflow into McCloud Reservoir resulting in the need for the increased release.

In what we’ll characterize as a typical PG&E move, the email offers up a link to the Ah Di Nah flow gauge that doesn’t work (this one will – make sure you scroll down for flows).

The Upper Sacramento Situation

Those with a hankering to fish the Upper Sacramento will note that its flows continue falling steadily (around 1600 cfs as I write this).

With light rain and highs in the lower 50s forecast for the rest of the week, it’s likely the watershed’s extremely impressive snowpack won’t melt, and it won’t blow out the rivers, and fly fishermen – among the whiniest of the outdoor sportsmen – will have little to complain about (except maybe the fact that the cold weather inhibits the stonefly hatch).

See you on the river, Tom Chandler.

This year – due to an above-normal snowpack in California’s mountains and rainy/snowy spring weather, a lot of rivers will likely be high.

You Are Now Free To Move About Our Rivers

(Note I said “high” and not “unfishably high.” The last time I pronounced the Upper Sac “blown out and unfishable,” someone wrote to say they’d had their best day ever on the river.)

What follows is a loose assemblage of rumors, half-truths, guide promotion and outright lies.

At no time should any of my readers actually believe anything they read in this forecast (I’m a fly fisherman after all), nor change their carefully laid plans based on this information.

Void where prohibited by law.

The Upper Sacramento

It’s high. And with all the low-level snow still piled up in the hills, it’s likely going to stay high.

As of this writing, the Upper Sacramento is running around 3000 cfs at the Delta station (the bottom of the river), which means you’ll find fishable spots, but the midsummer program – wandering up and down the riverbank fishing every likely spot – is a non starter.

That said, local guide Craig Nielsen has reported some monster fish hookups, though I’d suggest some local knowledge of the best high-water holes is needed before you’re going to get your net slimy.

There are also rumors of a midday BWO hatch – which (according to Wayne Eng) went largely unmolested due to the speed of the water.

There were even rumors of salmonflies in the air during the warmers days, though the cooler weather has put the brakes on that hatch.

My take? There are going to be better opening-day opportunities than the Upper Sacramento, but if you’re bent on fishing it (tradition, jonesing for Dunsmuir, etc), be prepared for some heavy nymphing, pick your spots carefully, and recognize the simple fact that trout are often in the slower margins of the river, not the mid-summer central spots.

Click Here for the Upper Sacramento Flow Gauge

The McCloud River

For those who fish the McCloud River (and there are a lot of you), it really is the season opener, and if you go, you may come to realize the local’s nickname for the river (The McCrowd) isn’t entirely in jest.

Still, it’s one of the prettiest rivers on the face of the planet, and you ignore that reality only if your soul is already dead.

The rumors are flying thusly:

Bob Grace of the Ted Fay Fly Shop says a boulder blocks the road between the main drag and Ash Camp. The feds are supposed to blow it up before the opener (everyone who wants to see that please raise their hand), but that remains unresolved.

As usual, a big snow drift blocks the road to Ah Di Nah, though Grace thinks someone will blast through it by the opener (much of this comes via Rick Cox).

Finally, PG&E’s playing its usual games with the McCloud’s flows.

They’ve turned flows from the dam down to criminally low levels – something they do whenever Hawkins Creek is going good.

This preserves more water for power generation, everything looks OK on the flow graphs, but it can hammer the spawning trout population above Hawkins (this is one of the things CalTrout is fighting in the McCloud relicensing).

New this year is a McCloud River flow gauge at Ah-Di-Nah – a handy resource for anyone interested in fishing the McCloud. (Scroll down below the river stage numbers for flows.)

Obviously, there’s no fishing report for the McCloud, but the river’s so beautiful, it’ll draw a crowd despite the looming access issues.

The Upper McCloud used to be an opening day secret, but those days are gone, and in fact, my recent early-season forays there have found anglers camped on every rock.

Thus, I’m going to play up the dangerous wild animals that frequent the Upper McCloud instead of the fly fishing in the hopes I’ll one day get to fish it again (without taking a number for the prime runs).

Accordingly, the only real rumor I’ve heard was about the small scouting party who went in, but never returned.

They were reported attacked by a rare California wolverine before a herd of moose stampeded over their campground and a pack of wolves moved in to eat what was left.

Sad, sad stuff. Don’t go there.

The Pit River

The Pit’s fishing about as well as ever does (which is really good), and unfortunately, the word is out.

Pit River specialist Allen Blankenship told someone (who told me) that the Pit is fishing phenomenally – if you can find some open water.

Last weekend, every turnout hosted a couple of cars, though with more choices, perhaps the Pit – no longer a spring fishing secret – will loosen a little.

And oh yeah – bring your wading staff.

The Fall River

According to the rumor mill, the Fall River is in really good shape and generating some really good dry fly hatches, though the word is they may not last long.

A lot of snow sits near the head of Bear Creek – waiting to melt – and once it does, the river tends to muddy.

In other words, if you want to fish the Fall River, you might want to do it sooner rather than later.

Hat Creek

I have no information about Hat Creek. You’re on your own, Undergrounders.

The Klamath River

According to Craig Nielsen, conditions are perfect and a few steelhead are still hanging around (you can always fish for trout), but he’s been fishing the thing all winter, and like most folks, his attention is directed south to the Pit, McCloud, Fall, etc.

The Lower Sacramento

This industrial-looking river is apparently on fire right now (not in the same sense that the Ohio River once burned), and one normally reserved guide suggested it “was the best day of fishing I’ve ever experienced there.”

They couldn’t catch a small fish because the 17″-20″ trout were at their baits.

Naturally, the Lower Sac doesn’t offer the scenery or wildness of the surrounding rivers – and it can see a parade of drift boats – but the fish are big and the catching is good.

Your choice.

The Little Stuff

Most of the smaller streams are going to be high, and those that aren’t may be hard to access (no, I’m not telling).

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See you on the water, Tom Chandler.