Upper Sac Report

[Sammy]

Hey all,
Fished the upper sac for several days last weekend. None of us in our group of 4 had fished this river. The first morning, me and a buddy fished in Dunsmuir close to the house we stayed at. parked under the bridge near the north end of town. Mostly pocket water, and we didn't get on the river until about 10 am so the sun and heat were already playing a part. I had a few grabs but nothing to show for it. (I am awful at fishing pocket water)

For the remainder of the weekend we would drive down 5, fishing at the flume creek area, and then finally finding a few really great spots down around Gibson and Pollard exits. (aggressive and somewhat slippery wading to get to the good runs)

The fishing was spotty at best for our entire group. Fairly easy to fish with small dry flies and catch 4 inch to ten inch fish in case we got tired of nymphing. One guy in our group got super lucky, drifting a small pmd just to the side of a large rock in a slow shallow pool. He landed a hefty 16 incher, which by the time, was a trophy trout to all of us. (he's also brand new to fly fishing and felt pretty good about catching the biggest fish of the trip) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94wz_ZA0YmI You can cut and paste that link to watch the youtube video.

I was able to land a 16+ inch fish on my nymph rig the next day, but that was it for the larger sized fish. There was one evening where an amazing caddis hatch took place right at dark. You could hardly breathe in without sucking one up your nose. Unfortunately the fish had already settle down to the bottom.

All in all, I'd say fishing was tough to fair. It seemed that all the fish were small, or there were a few much larger ones. Was as if the middle generation (the 12 to 14 inch trout) were not eating. Not sure if it was our lack experience on this river, or if it was just tough fishing. Temperatures were pretty hot during the day. Water might have been a bit warm on the lower stretches, but I didn't have a thermometer.

I will be organizing pictures and posting today or tomorrow. Upper Sac is a beautiful river and I will definitely be back, but probably need a little guided experience.

If anyone else was up there over labor day weekend, I'd be curious to hear how you did.

[luckydude]

What's the camera you used that you can stick it under water like that? That was cool.

[Sammy]

it's called a go pro. It has all these attachments you can use to strap it on your head, on your chest, your motorcylce, surfboard, etc... I borrowed it from a buddy. Super sick little camera. I'll post some other video of me setting the hook on some fish while it was strapped to my hat.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

On normal water/normal snow pack years, on average, June is a top month on the Upper Sac.

During a draught cycle it can start in May.

This year with the big snow pack it did not get going till sometime in July.



Mid-summer till it really cools off in October is pretty tough for most.

Oct/Nov is good with the October Caddis action.



**Right now I would head to the Pit River for the Isonychia mayfly emergence.

.

[joshfish]

the evening seems to be a better bite than the morning. i fished the other day in the morning to about noon for nothing. would have rather fish the evening but that was the only window i had. i was also fishing lower on the river and the water temps are a little warmer down low making it even tougher.