Siskiyou Area Trout Planting/The Upper Sac

[Craig Nielsen]

Some of you may already be aware that the Department of Fish and Game has suspended planting fish pending some EIR reports.

The latest word is that this now includes all waters in Siskiyou County with the exception of Lake Siskiyou, which means that the Upper Sac will not have any planted fish in the put and take section from Sweetbriar up to Scarlett Way in Dunsmuir.

The regs have not changed so in a very short while the wild fish in this section of the river including several trophies we've seen of late will be harvested. The word from the folks at the hatchery is that it will be weeks, months or perhaps longer before planting will be reimplemented.

We've experienced good catch rates during the early season for both wild and hatchery fish in seasons past. If you are planning a trip to the area you may want to focus on a different section of the river.

[ARichcrook]

I'll be interested to hear how things go as the season progresses. I guess by October you'll be able to point us in the right direction as usual. :-)

Rich

[Wayfarer]

Interesting.

[Craig Nielsen]

Rich:
Fishing on the Upper Sac was phenomenal, more big fish than I have ever seen this time of year before the recent storms blew in and the river raised and muddied. I hope and expect it to fish well though summer flows will likely be late in coming with the snow pack we currently have, about 40% above the norm. Do stay in touch. You may be interested in checking out our most recent post "Ten Tips for Springtime Success" (http://www.shastatrout.com/ten-tips-for-springtime-success-fly-fishing-freestone-rivers). Always happy to share all I can about local conditions.

[Rockman]

I agree with Craig, cover the river and spend the extra time to scout the water. I fished the upper Sac. last Sunday and Monday, fished Lake Siskiyou on Monday afternoon. Smallest fish was 14". With limited water to fish due to the flows take the time to fish each limited location with a plan to cover it systematically. The fish are aggresive as I lost a large fish and two flies on the take. Another challenge is getting this missles to hand. Limited access, fast water, and your fish getting into it, does make if hard in someplaces to move in the water to land a fish.
Great day on Siskiyou in the Cold Creek arm of the lake. Fished an int. tip with a olive crystal bugger and caught many fish in the 2-3 1/2 lb. range.
I'm out of commission for awhile while I recup. from hernia surgery.:crybaby: DANG!!
GO FISH!!!

P.S. My finger in not in the gills as it looks, and the fish was kept in my big net until the moment my wife took the photo. Fish are my friends and I take good care of them!! The second photo is a big hatchery fish I caught as I pulled into the ramp to load. Many people were fishing the dock to catch some fresh run hatchery fish that just got dumped. Many had stringers full of fish. Not great eating fish! UGH!