Tuesday, April 17, 2007 Flows are low , hatches are slow
I have been checking out the Upper Sac last few days.
Flows are great, fishing is fair. Hitting some nice size fish but intermittently.
I do not think I have a really good feel for what is happening on the river yet.
With 36 miles of river it takes a while to check it all out. Been doing end-of-winter clean-up and prepare for summer stuff the last few days so I have just been going out for a few hours in the late afternoon. I have been seeing a suprizing variety of mayflies over the last few days, but no significant numbers of any one bug. It is still a bit too cold for prolific hatches. Water temp in the middle river area was about 50 degrees at 3:00 PM. A few more degrees will really get some bugs moving. I have been finding the occasional pod of fish rising here and there so I have been getting a little dry fly fishing in.
Weather took a turn today. Was out today from 3:30 to about 7:30. Cold and windy. Brr. Hailed for a little while and that wind has a real nip to it. I did not see many mayflies on the water so I mostly nymphed. Got grabs from about seven fish, but only landed two.
Gotta sharpen those dang hooks sooner. 
For the entomologist among you here is a list of the bugs I have been seeing.
I am guessing on the Latin names, based on the Mayfly chart published in
Shasta’s Headwaters by Craig Graham Ballenger, A must read for anglers interested in the Upper Sacramento and McCloud rivers. .
Anybody out there who has been on the river and has other ideas of what the latin names are for these guys I would love to hear from you:
Pink Alberts size 16 (Epeorus albertae)
March Browns size 14 (Rhithrogena morrisoni)
Baetis size 18 (Baetis Tricaudatus)
Calibetis (?) A mottled winged mayfly about a size 16 but a little more tan rather than the usual clibaatis grey. Also calibaetis mostly come off later in the summer so I have real doubts about what bug this one is.
Mahogany Duns size 14, Maybe a 12 (Epeorus nitidus)
Little Western Green Drake size 14ish (Drunella flavilinea)
Been seeing the occasional salmon fly and Golden Stone. Just one here and there. Not happening yet on the Sac, but within the next three weeks we should start seeing better numbers of Salmon flies. They tend to come off in mid may , while the Golden Stones don’t usually really get going until June.
Hit the Pit river yesterday afternoon and found some nice dry fly action.
Found fish rising to a Pink Albert hatch from 3:00 till we stopped at about 7:00.
More Pit fishing over the next few days. It is a little warmer over there and tends to have better early season hatches than the Sac, so with this cold spell that is forecast for the next few days, I think it will be the place to be. Keep in mind that this is the first year we have been able to fish the Pit this early. Until this last March the Pit was on the general trout stream regulations and did not open until the last Saturday in April. Last December DFG
(CA Department of Fish and Game) opened up something like 13 new rivers to year-around fishing. Most of them are over in the Sierras, but here in the North State we got one also.
So this year the Pit opened March 1st, and will now be open year-round. From my standpoint this is a treat. It’s like having a whole new river to fish. I expect some great early season dry fly fishing on the river.
No new photo’s right now. Seem to have misplaced my camera. But it will have to resurface soon. (I hope).
Expect a new entry next Saturday,
