Writers, consultants and web types really don’t need what you’d call high-powered hardware (at least not these days – at least not when they run Linux, which is a damned fast OS to begin with).

But like most deviants (I did say “writers”), my need for speed is a very real – if wholly emotional – thing. That true even though writers primarily harness those galactic levels of computing power – in the long, (frequent) spaces between words – to do the following:

Make the cursor blink.

It’s a little like putting on $500 breathable waders and then never getting out of the drift boat, or buying a nano-death-tech, extraterrestrial-level $700 fly rod to ‘challenge’ 5″ brook trout on a tiny stream.

What’s worse, to my mostly male readership (and to me), the above makes perfect sense.

Many of you are probably shaking your heads right now and re-reading the previous sentences for a clue to what doesn’t make sense.

Which leads us to our Thought For The Day (At Least This Early in the Day):

Half the planet’s crazy.

The River? Forget It

It drizzled yesterday and rained all night, and with the watershed’s low-lying snow being converted from yard decoration to river water in a hurry, the predictable’s happening:

Upper Sacramento River Flows (click for latest update)

(Don’t forget – links to local river flows, weather and road conditions here on the Underground.)

Planning to go fishing?

Better plan to go elsewhere. Me? I’m trying to finish a piece for the Blood Knot e-zine, offer some help to folks using point-and-shoot cameras, and yes – I’ll soon have a new computer to rig.

I hope it’s really fast.

See you anywhere but the river, Tom Chandler.

We're on the way down... Finally. (click image for latest flow data)

1300 is not exactly a fly fisherman’s paradise, but it’s doable, and it’s going to get lower.

Even a notoriously anti-high-water bamboo rod builder I could name (but won’t) thinks he’ll be fishing the river next week.

I’m Mr. Mom today, and may stow the tax deduction and Wonderdog into the truck and head for the hills to see what’s happening on some of the feeder streams.

See you somewhere the river’s falling, 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.

That offers all sorts of implications (e.g. – we’re not going to see a big runoff even this year), but to honest, 2000 cfs still renders large chunks of the river unfishable.

The McCloud’s flows are hovering around 1000 cfs at the lake, so it remains fishable in its upper regions – and it’s apparently not spilling over the dam – but Curtis Knight of CalTrout forwarded this semi-chilling message:

As previously indicated, PG&E is closely monitoring the inflow to McCloud Reservoir and is assessing the need to make additional flow releases below McCloud Dam to manage water surface elevation in the reservoir.  To date, flow releases from McCloud Dam have not increased significantly and inflow to McCloud Reservoir appears to be stabilizing.

The current instream flow release from McCloud Dam is 168 cfs, and the current flow at Ah-Di-Nah is 470 cfs.  McCloud Reservoir is at maximum storage.  Since McCloud Reservoir is at maximum storage, the need for increased flow releases from McCloud Dam is still probable, and is dependant on the rate of reservoir inflow experienced over the next several day.  Although additional precipitation is not likely, warming temperatures and saturated ground conditions may cause increased inflow to the reservoir.

OK. That’s not bad, and with no precipitation forecast until Saturday, I’d suggest the McCloud is fishable in its upper portions. And it’s quite likely the Upper McCloud is at least partly fishable, though again, one man’s “fishable” is another’s “let’s go get drunk.”

Me? I’d love to get drunk, but I’m teaching yet another series of online marketing classes, and will therefore largely turn into a pumpkin for the next three weeks.

Life, it seems, is often dark.

See you in class, Tom Chandler.