Yuba/Upper Sac report

[Pupa]

adding to Troutsource report:

Yuba: great/lowish flows. a few skwala adults in the evening. sporadic march browns. nice pinky hatch in the evening in flat water. most fish taken on caddis pupa/emerger patterns with a few on march brown nymphs and pinky dries.

Upper Sac: great flows. water temps in upper 40's around Dunsmuir. not a ton of action but almost all fish were chubbies in the 18" range with a few pushing 19-20." mostly high sticking with dark lords, pheasant tails, rubber legs.

some of my photos may look suspect in terms of fish handling, but i promise they were treated with the respect they deserve....

alot of snow around shasta and lassen.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Fish in picture #3 has a huge tail.

Thanks for the excellent report.

June is usually the top month on the Upper Sac but this year it might be May?

[TyV]

Nice report! Will add on Sunday on the Yuba found the trout looking up through much of the day, with a little mid afternoon lull for us. We saw only a smattering of March Browns...but a March Brown Sparkle Dun I tied is what did damage for us all day.

How do you like your Shadow X Pupa? I can’t get over how awesome mine is. Same length and weight as yours. Only fished it briefly Sunday due to the quality dry action. Did manage a monster on it...which quickly found a weak spot in my tippet lol.

Tight lines

[Pupa]

Thanks Bill. Yes, that rainbow had a big tail, partially magnified by the water lens.

[Pupa]

TYV, the shadow is an amazing rod. I have broken my tip and the cork is starting to split, but otherwise solid. i hooked a fish pushing 20" in fast current on the upper sac. The lower fly hooked his tail and he caught the current hard, bent in half like a water sail. My rod was flexed like a candy cane as i charged down the river, but it held its own without the dreaded snap. Casts nicely for dries, but lacks a bit of backbone. Also use for slinging bobbers on occasion.

[Troutsource]

Shadow X is the bomb. I have the 11' version since I'm always leaning forward for more reach. The longer rods allegedly are less accurate at casting, but I can't tell. Try going from a same length/weight switch rod back to the Shadow X. They're light as feathers. I love casting dries on mine. And with the ultra sensitive tip acting as a shock absorber, I've been able to euro nymph with 6X tippet and rarely lose a fish. With the extra length it's a good idea to have a longer net so you don't bend the rod as much while netting the fish (per ECHO they can break more easily due to the sensitivity).