Opening day

[thepeacockspecial]

Where will you be?

I'd like to see which place is popular, so I can avoid it. lol

[Jeff Fisher]

I think many people's opening day Plan A's are descending quickly to Plan D's, E's, and F's due to blown rivers. I know my traditional opening weekend spot is definitely going to be a no-go.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and venture to say that a certain spring creek up near Burney is gonna be quite the popular spot come the last Saturday in April.......

[Scott V]

I'll be on a private pond fishing for bass, enjoy the crowds. :D

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Yes Scott........Bass in ponds and valley reservoirs would be the smartest thing.

[thepeacockspecial]

haha. i thought about that spring creek as well, then thought about how crazy it's gonna be, then ended up changing my plans to fish a tailwater.

[davkrat]

BBQ on Saturday followed by golf on Sunday. I gave up on crowds and blown river opening days a LONG time ago. If you haven't been to the sierras and foothills lately there is a TON of snow up there.

[Larry S]

Crowley Lake is ready to go. Understand they set off fireworks to open
things up. We'll wait a bit.

http://thetroutfly.com/crowleycam.html

Best to you,
Larry S

[Ben J]

Upper Hat Creek with a 12 pack of nightcrawlers:D

[thepeacockspecial]

im going to check out my favorite sierra stream this weekend.. maybe the snow is down compared to three weeks ago. its very fishable depending on how much of a cliff the snow made.

[Mike O]

Lower hat creek. Catch another 18+er. I am so hungry for fresh trout...

[BillB]

Bass bugg'in!

[pgw]

Lower hat creek. Catch another 18+er. I am so hungry for fresh trout...

I'll be the old guy fishing from the bank at Carbon Bridge Saturday evening...probably a pipe in my face and only casting to rising fish...say Hi!

Paul

[Charlie S]

I'll be the old guy fishing from the bank at Carbon Bridge Saturday evening...probably a pipe in my face and only casting to rising fish...say Hi!

Paul

Hi Paul, you animal you.

[NorCalDrifter56]

These past few years have been interesting in the north state. Since opening the upper Sac and the Pit to year round fishing the 'opener' is just a bit less dramatic than it used to be. I suspect all the popular rivers (Pit, upper Sac and Mcloud) will be high and on the borderline of fishable......The raised flows on the Pit will present a challenge throughout the season as well as in the early season. It will be time to find some new spots.

The spring creeks should be good (Hat Creek and Fall river)... but probably crowded as usual. Still waters should be fine (Baum Lake, maybe even Manzanita, Iron Canyon Res. etc...) or at least fishable. The water will be cold and I suspect the fishing will be slow, but you never know.

It rained and hailed last night in Redding....go figure......so the weather this time of year is a guessing game. But it was a warm short lived storm so hopefully the lower snow pac washed out a bit which could make for improved conditions in the upland streams and rivers in a few days.

As a 'local' I will concentrate on the upper stretches close to the tail waters in hopes of finding some fishable stretches with feeding fish in them. The other problem there is that the water is usuallly cooler below the dams.... choose your poison....

The lower Sac from Redding to Anderson will no doubt fish well as it has been doing lately. I prefer to hike wade and fish but I also guide so I will follow the fish regardless of where they are. The fish in the lower Sac seem to be spreading out a bit so that will help everyone and while the bigger fish seem to congregate below Caldwell Park there are plenty of nice fish to be had throughout the river.

Just one man's opinion.....

Curt
Licensed and bonded
530-604-6854

[pgw]

Hi Paul, you animal you.

Charlie,

Are you and/or the usual group of RRFF planning to be at the customary campground?

...and the animal is a Wulf

Paul

[joshfish]

ill probably fish a local creek in the morning and then ill be watching UFC fights that night.

[Charlie S]

Staying home from the madness and stress....probably tie some flies, build a rod, or something else productive.

[NorCalDrifter56]

At least the spring creeks were fishable on the opener. These fish were all caught on the same fly (a #16 nymph of my own creation..a little brown and a little flash.. fish can be stupid in the early season). I caught them in the afternoon after the water warmed a bit.

I fished under a very small indicator with very little weight....mending very gently.

Curt

NorCaldrifter56@yahoo.com
Guide in Training (licensed and bonded)
I Fish, Therefore I Am

[Dave Neal]

Our opener in the Eastern Sierra Region went well. It was a bit colder Sat/Sun but at least it wasn't SNOWING and WINDY like usual openers.

After the weekend the weather has warmed considerably and remains sunny! Spring is here.

Same point as made earlier for the Nor Cal waters... our opener is more a tradition and a big deal with the bait and lure folks on the local lakes. Since Hot Creek, Upper O, Lower O, E Walker and Gorge are open all year long now. Mar-April on these waters offers up some incredible opportunity.

The EW flows got bumped up Opening Day, but have since dropped under 400... at least at this instant! (flows on the EW will be yo-yoing every week from here on out)

Bridgeport area had a great opener... such a great town!

Some people may be surprised how fast the lower elevations have melted out - below 8,000ft. Some of the lower elev "choice" BC lakes are already ice free!

Even though we've had a huge winter for snowfall (and water content) the "January thaw" we experienced allowed for snowpack to diminish some in middle of winter below 8,000ft. Even though Mar/Apr were big snow months, the snowpack never consolidated to such a density that it withstood melting early. It has. However, the High Country is LOADED and your golden trout trips may need to come later this year.

But, it could warm up drastically and, well, who really knows?

Mosquitos... don't even want too think about them!

I will try and get a good, honest fish report (forecast) soon for some of our popular waters. Runoff prolly wont start with vigor until late May. There are plenty of good alternatives around here. I have been having a blast fishing and working under the radar lately!