Lower Sac .... Best Nymph?

[Idadon]

Heading to my new winter over spot in Redding soon. Need to be prepared to fish when I get there. Would appreciate all opinions as to proven fish-catching nymphs. Sizes, color, materials --- would be nice. If I know the bug that's active and when I can usually do OK at improvising. Up here in Idaho it's pretty much midges (very small) and BWO's in the winter with SJW or rubber legged nymph at the bottom. Worried things might be different down there.

By the way, is a Nose Picker a good nymph. Horrible name but if it catches fish what the heck!

[JayDubP]

2 great resources:

The Fly Shop in Redding. Their website has list of best flies for Lower Sac-- click on fly name for a picture & recipe. (has same info for other waters in the area).

http://theflyshop.com/streamreport.html#lowersac



Lance Gray holds a number of "River Tours" and has one scheduled for the Lower Sac in early Dec. Cost is around $145

http://lancegrayandcompany.com/fly_fishing_tours/lower_sacramento_tour

[DLJeff]

Can't go wrong with a size 16 pheasant tail. Day in, day out, over the course of a year, it'll catch as many fish as any fly in the shop.

[cyama]

The best "nymph" for the the next two or three months are a peachy king mottled in size 10 followed closely by the rubber legs in size 6 or 8. If those don't work various sizes of the pheasant tail will get a few of those picky fish that stopped eating steak and eggs....

[Idadon]

That Fly Shop page is a really good deal! Plus it has info on the Trinity too. I'll definitely use that source. I like the PT Nymph too. Over the years, fishing Idaho, that's been my go-to fly. I always have those, or a variation, in my box. Rubber legs seem to work just about everywhere too. I'll need to tie up a few egg patterns but no big deal there.

Really looking forward to fishing the Redding area this winter!! One last thought; are those fish leader shy? Anything smaller then 4x and my fingers get in the way. It SUCKS getting old!

[Dragking]

4X will do it.

[JD]

Heading to my new winter over spot in Redding soon. Need to be prepared to fish when I get there. Would appreciate all opinions as to proven fish-catching nymphs. Sizes, color, materials --- would be nice. If I know the bug that's active and when I can usually do OK at improvising. Up here in Idaho it's pretty much midges (very small) and BWO's in the winter with SJW or rubber legged nymph at the bottom. Worried things might be different down there.

By the way, is a Nose Picker a good nymph. Horrible name but if it catches fish what the heck!

Nose Picker would definitely work in either BWO or PMD colors, #16-18. As others said the Fly Shop lists the recommended flies with every fishing report and the Amber-winged Prince aka Gordon's Prince would probably be the one year round performer I would recommend, even during the 'egg hatch'. A normal Prince works, but for some inexplicable reason, the version with an amber wing seems to work just a bit better, in my experience. YMMV.

[Idadon]

Prince nymphs are a strange breed I think. On my home water, Henrys Fork, they are my nymph of choice in Box Canyon and above Ashton Resevoir. Down below Ashton dam...nothing. I've used the amber wing variation for steelhead. Thanks for the tip!

[NCL]

Definitely have some PMD patterns, a few years ago I used a Nick's PMD emerger with great success, golden stones, Mercer's Missing Link, in fact most Mercer patterns. For the Trinity, a red Copper John is a must have.

[dude02]

Good advice all the way around.

Lower Sac eggs n' legs will be in full force. Be careful of redds if you are wading.

Rubber legs will work on Trinity, Lower and Upper Sac. Amber prince can work on all three, especially Upper and Lower Sac. Hogan's S&M is my go to mayfly on the Lower Sac. Dark Lord is an Upper Sac fly that works on the Lower as well. I have good luck with midges on the Lower Sac. These I do use with 5x. I use 5x on Upper Sac too.

As NCL said, a big red copper john is deadly on the Trinity. I would guess 80% of time I fish the Trinity is with a rubber legs and red copper john. Psycho Princes, golden stones, and dark poxyback stones make up the rest (if you aren't swinging). There can be some October Caddis around on the Trinity.

I think the October Caddis dry bite is best on the Upper sac in late October or November, but each year can be different.

TFS has some free maps on the Lower Sac showing wading access points that would be helpful.

Dunsmuir Brewery for food and beer on the Upper Sac. Both Wildcard and Fall River breweries in Redding only serve beer, though you can bring food with you.

You can be in mid river on the Upper Sac in just under an hour from Redding. I-5 the whole way and RR tracks are the foot highway along the entire river.

Improvements to Buckhorn Summit on Highway 299 have cut down travel time (and improved safety) to the Trinity. You can be in the Junction City area in about an hour and 15 to 20 minutes. You could fish there or follow the river along Highway 299 for miles. If there are cars in pullouts, there are fish. The Trinity run may be a bit low this year, but is sure is fun to go.

[matooka]

Salmon aren't in yet...but managed to pick up a slab on an egg pattern on Sunday. Caddis patterns between 16 and 20. Beadless matters at times. Bird's Nest...Poopah's...Prince(amber wing)...PT's...Copper Johns(brass, red, blue). If I were fishing it today...(Bead less) tan poopah with a bird's nest or PT dropper. When the egg bite is on...the fish will react to all caddis patterns mentioned above. Dang feeding frenzy. Let's hope they show up!

[Idadon]

I'm getting really anxious. Don't stick all of em'!!!!!