Upper Sacramento

[G-stone]

went on a business trip and fished the upper Sac. I did not realize the amazing fishing in Northern California. Once I got on on I caught about 20 rainbows between 10-18" in 2 hours- tough fighting strong fat Bows! on about size 12 golden stoneflys. Next time I hope to fish the McCloud river I hear its even better. Any body fish up there before?

[MOKE]

California is nothing but gangs, private property, crowds, cement culverts, asphalt. Dont believe this!

The McCloud is great. The Sac' is great. The Trinity is great. Squaw Creek is great. The Pit is great. Hat Creek is great and an absolute challenge...20 -->25 ft leaders! These are basically all within a 100 mile radius.

About that rainbow thing....McCloud river 'bows are the most widely spread of the 'bows. Eagle Lake 'bows are almost equally well spread and are both noted as being highly aggressive meat eaters.
Before the addition of two wonderful dams all of these streams were also top notch steelhead and salmon fisheries....oops.
The McCloud is in 2 parts. the best fishing is in the lower part below Lake McCloud. This canyon is some of the only old growth forest left...anywhere!
You get the feeling of Bigfoot in a big way up there.
LOCAL TIP. contact the Nature Conservancy and TRY to make reservations to fish the N.C. Presevation stretch. This is a stretch of water that is just above the tightly secured lower stretch, which you can fish for only about $600 a day!
The N.C. water is free and just as good.(?) I cant afford to play with the exclusivists, so I dont know the lower river.
These rivers flow into Shasta Lake, which is home to Brown Trout as well, so you know they're in the river. There is a fall run of big lake run browns that go into the double digits, though this is not realized sometimes due to the closing of the season. Nov. 15.

Dont tell anyone, but you landed in trout heaven, the Cal version. I dont mind describing these areas as they are far from secret. And quite often far from uncrowded.
The Sac' is that areas equivalent to the Provo canyon, except longer.
If you really want some big fish try below Shasta on the Sac'. This is a great rainbow fishery, though a dangerous river...low flows are 5000 cfs. not uncommon to see 15000 cfs, so you can see that this is a sweeper. Be careful!
I've eaten up to much database in this description.
Send me an Email and I will help you if I can.
Out....MOKE
edit....The Trinity is a drainage that does not flow into the Sac', sort of a little mtn.range thing I forgot to mention. The Trinity flows into the Klamath,(when man allows it to), then into the ocean....minor detail!
Somehow I forgot about the Fall R.....Its wet up there!

July 4 '02 flows = 15,000 cfs as per posting on http://www.ncffb.com
August 23 '02 flows = 8,000 cfs

[mcgx2]

I grew up in Northern California and learned to fish on these streams. Upper Sac, Pit, McCloud, Hat Creek, Fall River, are all excellent fisheries. I concur with everything MOKE said.

When you go, check in at The Fly Shop in Redding (just off I-5) or one of the shops in Burney or Fall River. They will give you the straight scoop on what is hot and what is not. If you get the chance to fish Fall River, do it. You do need a boat however because access is very limited. The fly shops will tell you where you can get on.

mcg

[G-stone]

yeah I fished in the town of Dunsmier. Easy access. I thought I was going to get swept away and someone would find my remains drifting upside down a few miles below a few times. I was so happy to catch some fish on larger flies! I'm tired of using sizes 18-22 on the Provo. I've caught some big fish on the Provo but nothing has fought like the fish on the Sac. I was really impressed with the strong bows. Bigfoot? yeah I saw him...I'll probably take another trip or two before Nov. 12 to that area, I'll let you know.

[BoSox]

I have heard about this river and have always wondered where to go on it. I go to Sacramento all the time on business trips. How far out of town would I need to go to fish?

[MOKE]

G-stone...If you fished in Dunsmuir, you were fishing the tiny water! The Sac' doesnt get real scary until you get down in Redding, below the dam. In Redding it can be an absolute monster. At least 10+ times what you were fishing above the lake. Below Shasta Lake you have the combined flows of ALL the other rivers that I described including a large part of imported water from the Trinity drainage. BTW..Bigfoot lives in the McCloud Drainage and Aliens (ufo's) inhabit the backside of Mt. Shasta!
If you think you were getting bullied in the Upper Sac' you might not want to go below the dam! HUGE water below the dam. 15,000 cfs is regular and nothing to get excited over...stay out of the river!!!, unless you know what you are doing, many quick dropoffs from knee deep to WAY overhead. This is drift boat and jet boat water.

BoSox...Go I-5 north 3 hours to Dunsmuir. ~OR~ Try the Yuba Drainage or the American River or the Feather R drainages. There are some tricky regs. in this area so get a proclamation! In the vicinity of Sacramento you can get into some amazing fishing of a giant variety. From saltwater all the way to the tiniest headwater areas. In downtown Sac' you can catch Striped Bass, Shad, Steelhead, and Salmon in the same day.....take your pick. I know of these drainages, but haven't spent the time in this area. I have some guide books, so if I can help further let me know. But there are more knowledgeable people for that area.
Bottom line...try to find time to go up on the upper drainages of the Sac'. Even if you dont catch a fish, its absolutely gorgeous country up there.

Contacts in the Dunsmuir, McCloud, and Mt Shasta City area:

~Ted Fay Fly Shop
~Jack Trout guide service...nice guy!
These are the guys that know the area best!
The Fly Shop in Redding is great as well, but these other guys are the area locals. The fly shop will be the one to contact about the lower Sac'
I'm burning up database again so I hope that this helps.

Bring your SPIKES and wading staff, as most of these rivers can really eat you up if you're not careful!

OUT....MOKE

(edit) The Sac' in the area that you were fishing was totally sterilized when an entire train car of "Round Up" weed killer was spilled into the river (10 yrs ago ?). The train car actually fell off the tracks and into the river, splitting open.
Fortunately for the fish and the river this happened in the spring when the native 'bows were in the tribs spawning. This river came back far faster than biologist ever expected. Lots of studies of downstream insect migration as well, because of the TOTAL and COMPLETE sterilization of the river.