*****ALL RIVERS OPEN THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 26TH !!! HAPPY NEW YEARS!!*****
RAFT FLY FISHING UPPER SAC TRIP IN FULL SWING NOW
JUST HAD A CANCELLATION FOR THIS WEEKEND, APRIL 26TH & 27TH
Lodging – Redding:
La Quinta Inn, Redding 2180 Hilltop Drive Redding, CA 96002 0512 Phone: (530) 221-8200 Fax: (530)223-4727 ~
20 % OFF FOR JACK TROUT GUIDE SERVICE CUSTOMERS!!
http://www.lq.com/lq/properties/propertyProfile.do?ident=LQ912&propId=912
JACK TROUT 530-926-4540
What a nice beach on the Upper Sacramento River. The river flows have been fluctuating somewhat making flows high or low, depending on the weather for that particular week. Cold weather weeks have best because the flows are lower. Figure the first heat wave we get after these series of storms will raise the river levels of the mighty sparkling pure waters of the Upper Sac. Scroll down my page looking on the left hand-side of this site and you can click on California River Flows and see the river flows of almost every river in Northern California. The opener is this Saturday at sun-rise. Please do not litter our area. If you see litter pick it up.
Best Rivers to You, Jack Trout
As I looked out at my backyard, I can see spring was almost amongst us! I loaded up the Trout Truck and head out for the Upper Sacramento River to raft and fly fish with two “young at heart” kind of guys!
John lays out a perfect roll cast, does a small mend and the indicator/bobber drifts perfect with two flies underneath it.
(Size 8 Poxy back golden stone and a size 16 green fox poopah below).
Not more than two minutes go by and John has a BIG hit and fish on!!
This was a toad folks, up from Shasta Lake, frolicking in the water, just minding his own business and we come along……
John hooked this fish literally two feet from the raft or closer and this trout took him out in the current like an Volunteer Olympic Torch Runner! He screamed out more line and the canyon walls were filled with the sounds of a reel crying for mercy like a childhood game of titty whistle. And then as innocent as it began, the fish just came unbuckled and the line went slack….
You can see the trout just before he got off… Ah shucks!
May & June are good man. The hatches are peekish and abundant trout are lurking with hunger gnawing at their giblets! jt
Nice drift on the edge of the current makes life interesting.
How sweet it is! I think were only moments away from the inevitable hook-up!
The fish wolfs the nymph down and Gary is hooked up just like that! Scrappy fish puts on a good show just before evoking it’s final hoorah!!
Hi Jack,
John and I had a great time with you on the raft trip. It was a very smooth ride. Your raft sails right over the rapids. You hardly feel them and you don’t get wet. The stretch of river that you took us on was beautiful. I’ve never experienced anything like it. I learned a lot about fly fishing too. Many thanks…………… We will plan on doing it again with you sometime in the future.
Good fishing to you.
Gary Lipking – Santa Rosa, CA
PS: Thought you might like to know, we had dinner Sunday night at Mike & Tony’s. GREAT RESTAURANT!!!!
The hillsides are getting down right gorgeous these days if you haven’t noticed. Isn’t it amazing for all the places I’ve traveled in the world, only the Shasta area has colors of trees and shrubs that are like no other place in the universe. Next month the Wild Azalea blooms and fills the canyon with a scent synonymous with the Shasta/Trinity Forest.
Running down a dream. Floating the Upper Sac catching trout is like running down a dream.
Tom Petty: Running Down a Dream:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eW91-5TC78 Check it out and come back.
Look up high, it’s a bird, no, it’s a plane! No it’s the River View Vacation Home! This place has beach access to the Upper Sac and incredible views of the Upper Sac from the home’s massive deck.
Call me for information on renting this very fine home in a great neck of the woods.
I can float you right to where you stay!
Jan Darrow and Jessica Hector came out on the raft to try a little fly fishing for the first time. The weather was warm and the crew was eager to get out on the water. It looked to be another great day out on the Upper Sac.
Jan enjoyed learning how to high-stick nymph fly fishing. Right away we got some fish to take! But just learning the drift and line control was more important to me, for it’s the basics first that land the quality trout in the end. Jan liked it!
Then Jessica came up and before long I had both students drifting flies and comprehending nymph fishing. Even in the high flows fish are on the grab if you use the right bugs.
Rhyacophila Caddis and a Green Fox Poopah to imitate it. Other than size it looks almost exact.
I grabbed a stick because most bugs like wood over rocks because they can burrel or dig houses out or attach themselves better, especially bigger nymph insects. In the Upper Sacramento
River most of the rocks are round and that makes it even harder on
insects waiting for metamorphosis. So look for wood in the fast moving currents and you’ll find out what’s going on with the bigger bugs. Jan, Jessica and me got back into the boat and Jan tossed her flies in…
This fish grabbed her fly and ran off line!
Jan laughed and the fish ran the pool, up and across, then over towards the shore I rowed the boat to land the little philly.
Chunky! Nice first trout ever!
Then Jan put on her game face and hooked another trout within minutes
and this one was not a small fish. It ran deep and hard with big head shakes but never jumped. It had to be a nice sized fish it just wouldn’t come up and it was good that Jan just let it run its course.
Wow! It took the top fly. Size 8 Poxy Back Golden Stone.
That is a trophy for any beginner!! Jan, not bad for a first day out!
I think it’s in your blood, you are postal fly fisher!
JAN DARROW OF MOUNT SHASTA, CONGRATULATIONS!! YOU’RE MY SIZZLER OF THE WEEK AWARD WINNER!! CONGRATULATIONS SIZZLER!!!! JACK TROUT
The old highway 99 once upon a time ran from Redding to Mt Shasta
circumventing the Upper Sacramento River the entire way. Back and forth curve and one way lane made this daunting task a 2 1/2 hour journey where some of the way you had to honk to be sure no one else was to going to give you an Excedrin headache.
Jessica hooked into two trout and played them both before they became unbuttoned. She plans to come back soon with Jan or hubby Steve.
A float in the spring re-news the season and brings us all closer to nature and things that allows us to rejuvenate the soul.
Fish Hold There!>
Yummy! Adult Stonefly. That’s like Jack’s Steak House for a Trout!
Now that’s a nice scene. The old highway 99 bridge built in 1915. This endeavor led to the demise of the passenger rail car up the Sacramento Canyon as the automobile allowed folks to become more independent, traveling with family only, instead of many other passengers on a train. Maybe one day we’ll be back to traveling together again…..
Thanks for watching my adventures and making www.mtshasta.com the web log #1 Google web log in the world!
Google: fishing web log or fly fishing web log
Best Rivers to You, Jack Trout
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my father Raymond! Born in 1920, he’s
88 years young and in great health.
He attributes a good cup of coffee and a Hershey bar daily for good health. I love my Pops, what a good kid. Never missed a track, football or baseball practice or game, while I was in school.
He lives in Portola, California.
(Get this, he was 48 when I was born, what a stud! Possible, I was a mistake?)
EMAILS FROM YOU:
Thanks for the time of my life, a perfect day filled with new adventures, rafting down the Sac and learning the art of fly fishing from the most expert guide, catching and releasing the big one. I can‚t wait to do this again; I‚m hooked! Jan Darrow
and as an added bonus… my biggest to date caught and set back this last Sunday – 4/20 Incredible shots of a fisherman a bit more talented than you. Cameron Baxter
Man dies after boat hits bridge
Three boaters thrown into Sacramento River in Anderson
By Constance Dillon
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Photo by Greg Barnette / Record Searchlight
Shasta County Sheriff¡Ùs Deputy Mike Anderson and Lt. Jerry Shearman attempt to recover a boat that capsized Monday in the Sacramento River.
ANDERSON — A San Jose man died after he and two companions were thrown from their drift boat and into the Sacramento River after they hit the North Street Bridge in Anderson Monday afternoon.
Construction workers building the new North Street Bridge spotted the three men and were able to pull one of them from the water. Two others were swept down river by the strong current, one clinging to the overturned boat, said sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Shearman.
Both of those men were pulled from the river at 3:45 p.m. behind a residence in the 3400 block of Riverside Avenue. Paramedics administered CPR to one man as they loaded him into a waiting ambulance.
Daniel Scott McMillan, 56, was later reported dead, said Deputy Lisa Green of the Shasta County Coroner’s Office.
The two men who were conscious and walking went to Shasta Regional Medical Center as a precaution against possible hypothermia, said Shearman. A nursing supervisor confirmed that they were being seen in the emergency room. Shearman said he could not identify the victims but described all three as middle-aged white men.
An autopsy for McMillan is scheduled for Tuesday, Green said.
Construction on the new North Street Bridge is well under way. Two 30-foot openings allow boaters to pass between the pilings that will support the new six span bridge, Pat Minturn, Public Works Director, said in November.
The new bridge will span 1,500 feet over the Sacramento River and will widen the existing two-lane bridge to four lanes providing more room for motorists, pedestrians and bicyclists.
Reporter Constance Dillon can be reached at 225-8372 or at cdillon@redding.com.
Jack,
We are still thinking about the trip. We want to keep it to 5 days
for the whole trip. We will probably fly into Medford, rent a car and
drive to Mt. Shasta. My son is hoping he can get away around 14 June.
Will that still be a good time for wading? June is actually
a little early for the San Joaquin near Mammoth.
Meeting you in Shasta would be great. What is the name of your shop
there? We would stay in the “Tree House” as you suggested.
We are ready to leave the fishing in your hands for a couple of days.
We are hoping that you will point out places we can easily get back to
for
wading for another couple of days. I understand from your website that
the charge per day for 2 is either $300 or $375, the latter including
rafting on the upper Sacramento.
By the way, do I need full waders or are hip waders sufficient? Is
there any good place to wade near Shasta, e.g.,
the McCloud? By the way, for wading – are hip waders sufficient? That
is all I have. My son has the full waders – do I need a pair?
John Ekelund
came across your name in the Chronicle fishing column describing your return from Chile.
He wrote about your coming back from wintering/fishing in Chile and bringing back a fianc¨˛e.
I told the columnist I could understand how that happened. I teach part time at Cal and one of my students last fall semester was a dazzlingly beautiful young lady from Santiago¡Ìsomeone who makes you wish you were young and single, (even though you are neither). I have a standing invitation to call her if I ever get down there…how far are your trips from Santiago?
I live in Novato.
Strange I haven¡Ùt run across you before…I have stayed at Dick Galland¡Ùs place a few times and have hired Gary Warren a few times over the years. I have lost track of him and am worried about his overall condition; he was pretty down a few years ago¡Ìthe last time I talked to him¡Ìhe got divorced for about the third or fourth time and a son died.
If you know him I¡Ùd like his phone number¡Ìa really good friend once.
David Distad
Jack
Many thanks for the fast reply. I kinda knew I was too late for this
years steelhead. Which rivers are you floating for the rainbows and
is it mostly nymphing. Of course success varies but on average what’s
your estimate of the number of fish your clients can expect to run
into? What sort of time frame are we looking at for peak fishing
conditions, this April, May and/or June? And finally what would the
fee be for myself and my Yreka pal?
Thanks for fielding so many questions.
Greg Johnson
Hi there,
Can you tell me what vacation packages (# of days and prices) you offer for your Belize location? Also, this may be a silly question but do you allow people to stay there and not go fly fishing? This is for a honeymoon, if that makes any difference.
Thanks,
Angie
Hola Jack,
Glad the hear you finally found a good chilean girl, wish you all lucky with her.
On the other hand Im also very happy and optimist about the travel book you will cooperate with. As you know everything count when you promote the country then people get understand that trouts are so much valuable for tourist alive than death.
You can see my web site at www.chucaolodge.cl I will update it when I have the final photos of my new lodge at Rosselot hopefully will be done next July.
In the mean time pls receive a tight hug and my congratulations because you are a chilean now.
Gonzalo Cortes
Hey Jack – Thank you for a most wonderful day! It was more than we thought it would be – Can’t wait to see the pics. Jessica and Jan
Jack,
how’s friday the 25th?
Larry