Upper Sac: When will it become fishable?

[Troutsource]

…as flows drop.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

[StevenB]

Well the smart-a** answer is "when the snow melt ends", but I expect you are looking for a bit more detail than that.

Unfortunately, we have no way to tell cause it all depends on the weather, esp how hot it gets which controls how fast the snow melts.
We will be doing good if it is down to normal flows by the 4th of July.

Here in Dunsmuir we can tell when the end of snow melt is close by looking at Mount Bradley, once there is no more snow on the north-east-ish side of the mountain the snow-melt is mostly done.

Looked at it this morning and we are not there yet.

There are still patches of snow along Highway 89 at 4,500 ish FT of elevation in the shady areas.

In a normal year end of snow-melt is usually end of May or early June.

Worse year I have seen in the last 25+ years on the water was the Middle of July and that year we did not have as
much snow as we have this year, but we had a very cold spring so the start of the snow-melt was delayed.

I do not remember what year that was. Maybe the late 90's.

Was talking to a buddy recently who kept a rough count of the snow fall this last winter,
In a normal year Dunsmuir will get about 2-4 FT over the course of the winter.
This year we got closer to 12-14 FT


Hey TroutSource:

Was above an answer to the question you asked? I thought about your question and realized you could have been
asking a different question that what I answered.
Were you asking at what flow (even though high) it was reasonable to try to fish the river?
If so, the answer is below 2,000. 2,000 to 2,500 is sorta doable, but 1,500 to 1,800 is much better.
500 is great.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Steve

Nice to have your feedback.







_________________________________________

In 1990 we bought a small cabin across the street from local guide Fred Gordon.

Fred grew up right next door to my grandmother's home in south Sacramento.

Fred's mom and my mom worked together at the Sacramento Bee Paper.

Fred's dad was a serious outdoorsman and fly fisher so Fred started out very young.

We have been friends and around each other for our entire lives.


In July 1991 we had a chemical spill into the river that kill everything from Cantera Loop to Shasta Lake.

Ron Rabin and friends were serious veteran anglers who thought the largest Rainbows were about 24" and 5#.

He said after the spill they found wild Rainbow trout to about 32" floating dead.

The river recovered faster than expected but who knows if it is really the river it once was?


They were some great years for us with many friends having cabins up there, many renting cabins and many camping too.


On Friday and Saturday nights, we would go to Madelana's Italian restaurant for amazing food and wonderful socializing.

Fred, Nicole, Marilyn and I would walk into the restaurant and it took us 15 minutes just to say Hi and shake hands with all our

customers/friends.

[Troutsource]

Steve, Yes, you did answer my question in two useful ways -- timing (July 4 would be "doing good"), and flows (< 2000 CFS). This helps a lot. Going stir crazy being unable to fish. Reminds me of my teenage years before I got my first girlfriend...

[PV_Premier]

There are fishable rivers in CA right now for wading trout anglers...not many, but there are some...

[Troutsource]

PV, I’m sure there are. Unfortunately the ones I frequent and know well aren’t on that list, or they don’t have enough such water right now to justify the trip.

Steve, how’s Mount Bradley looking… ? If you set up a live streaming cam I will watch it.

[StevenB]

…as flows drop.

Any thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

Flows are still a little high but coming down nicely. high 400 to low 500 now.
Evening dry fly is going really good.
If you have been waiting on the Upper Sac to get into shape, stop waiting and start fishing..

[Troutsource]

Thanks, Steve! It just so turns out that I may be on that river over the next week!

[amoeba]

Thanks, Steve! It just so turns out that I may be on that river over the next week!

"Little high" was an attempt at humor, I believe. It's a lot high, wait until Delta gage is under 250 cfs.

[StevenB]

"Little high" was an attempt at humor, I believe. It's a lot high, wait until Delta gage is under 250 cfs.

I suppose it depends on your frame of reference. After months of flows in the 1,000 to 2,000 CFS range

400 to 500 looks pretty good.

And there are plenty of golden stones out right now and the fish are eating them.

Ya, wading will be easier at under 250, but the dry fly fishing may not be quite as good.