UPPER SACRAMENTO FLOAT & FLY FISH PLUS ECUADOR

HOWDY FOLKS! LOOKS LIKE WE’LL BE HAVING A LONG SEASON OF FLOATING & FLY FISHING ON THE UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER.

SIGN-UPS FOR  *  JUNE ~ JULY ~ AUGUST

RIVERS ARE HIGH BUT WE’LL BE FLOATING THE UPPER SAC WHEN FLOWS GET BELOW 2200 CFS. TOMORROW!

Flows have been high but the trout are hungry, leaves are on the trees and bugs are out when it hasn’t been raining. June is June people, the trout must feed and I’m out in my raft catching them! 

McCloud River  ~ Ok to Fly Fish ~ Ah Di Nah Section Flows are 352 CFS 

Jack & Carola Trout 

 From the crags, cracks, creases, crevasses, crevices, columns and corners melts the ice and snow from all the peaks around the Mount Shasta, Dunsmuir and McCloud area drainages. This season Shasta Lake is at 100% capacity making this one of the most unusual starts to any any season I have ever seen in my lifetime. The rivers are high for June 1st, I can deal with that. The leaves are on all the trees so the bugs are out and I did notice the rivers are running clear. The difference this year is how unseasonable cold it has been this late into Spring. Here it is June and I just heard on KZRO Radio 100.1 (Our tunes station in Shasta) that there’ll might be snow tonight in Mt Shasta around 4000 feet. So if you come up be ready for colder November like weather.

This week I went out four times and all four trips we caught nice trout and had a great time. We just are wearing alot more warmer gear and I’m encouraging clients to wear more synthetics and less cotton. 2 pairs of synthetic socks less cotton in cooler weather more wool and man made materials.

You can see wading would be nearly imposible but I did see some areas you could walk into and catch a trout.

 

From my raft life is golden and the lighty off color is good for camouflaging us and the boat! Right off the bat I noticed birds out, bugs out like Calebaetis Mayflies (Grey Mayfly size 14) and the rare day I was out that week with the sun on us.

It was so great to be back in Mount Shasta in my raft with Neal Henry, Professor and Dean
Graduate School of Journalism University of California, Berkeley.

Wow! When I guide folks like this it makes me feel smarter. (Ok, cast your fly over there…)

 

Neal hooked up not long after we departed so I tied up the boat and got out to net the trout.

 

 He was a real fighter, this was Neal’s first time ever fly fishing. I can imagine it must of been so exciting to be floating and catching a nice Upper Sacramento river trout.

 What an absolute beauty of a first trout to land! Way to go ~ Neal Henry ~ Go Bears!

 Ah, shucks what a nice trout, I love the Upper Sac for it’s hard hitting and fighting native rainbow trout.

 

Neil Henry of Cal Berkeley ~ CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE THE SIZZLER OF THE WEEK AWARD WINNER!

 Look it’s the tressle from 1901, I’m hooked up to a willow branch and were fishing this edge I know holds trout and suddenly…Blam!! Trout hits and were off to the races folks!!!

 You can see the river is high but all the wild Azalea in the top right are blooming and the gracious scents of spring’s pollination is still right on schedule.

 So Prof, lets stop for a little streamside cuisine, Shasta style!

 Thanks for bringing a nice bottle of French pinot to go with what I prepared. I have Peets Coffee chocolate chip cookies for dessert..(Desserts spelled backwards is Stressed, eat more desserts don’t go backwards man.)

 Some spots are high and swift while others are slow and perfect to fish.

The hookage, we all love that! Some spots I just go deeper with traditional flies like P.T’s or Prince Nymphs. I like a size 14 to 12 on top but below I always use a size 16, usually very traditonal this time of year.

 

   

 Nice fish lets pull over to the side here and land’em.

 Tim Stonelake of Bakersfield Ca feeling the magic of the Upper Sac.

It’s just nice to be outside right now the plants and bugs are out.

 

 We hooked fish constantly running down the river, I’m averaging about 8 to 15 hook-ups per trip per person.

 Let’s stop for a little hors d’oeuvres and wine.

 After lunch fish on!

Loving every minute of it, Tim Stonelake had a great day on the Upper Sac with over dozen trout on or landed.

 

 

 Someone nipped at his tail, he might be lucky we caught him.. Or possible a tough week for the little guy..

 

 

 Edges are always good in high water so are graphs that show water levels.

 

 < Click here and stay informed on California River Flows.

 As you can see the river is clear so if you run the proper weight, depth and a rig with 2 flies you should hook up.

 

 

 My baby!! I love that raft, we have had some fantastic memories with you on board!

 George Kessler, ladies and gentelmen working a nice trout to the edge so we can take a photo for ya.

Happy campers that’s all I have to say.

 

 Off the big rock with the fat drop-off, we hook up on another as the temps start to warm up and bugs are seen every where.

 Ok, nice trout for not having fished in a long time. Feels great to be out again.

 Then he walked over to the top of the hole and hooked up on another very large trout that screamed line out of his reel and took off down stream and we couldn’t ever catch up to him. Nice trout!

 That was right before he headed for Shasta dam…! He took off like a bullet.

 Thank you Huckaberry Raft! We all salute you and thank you for taking us saftly down  the Upper Sacramento River in our 13th year of offering this private trip.

 

Hope to see you out in my raft this spring, summer or fall because we all know there’s enough water. Carola and I leave for Chile this year on October 27th, so get your date in pronto.  Thank you, Jack & Carola Trout

530-926-4540  or info@jacktrout.com 

 

CASA SILVA IS ONE OF THE BEST TASTING WINES CAROLA AND I HAVE FOUND.

WHEN VISITING CHILE TRY CASA SILVA, YOU WON’T BE DISSAPOINTED.

www.casasilva.cl/

 

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ECUADOR * ECUADOR * ECUADOR * ECUADOR * ECUADOR *

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All my life I had always wanted to explore Ecuador. I knew it was a beautiful country that had tropical areas as well as mountain passages as high as 12,000 feet and a gorgeous coastline with perfect temps year around.

Carola was game so we loaded up our stuff from Brasil and landed in Quito, Ecuador.

The countryside of Ecuador was incredible, almost mystical where everything and anything could grow so easily.

 

 All the rivers were so high from unusual rainfall..(Tell me about it!)

 Maybe I could float the river..

 We have our Sims waders on lets go for a hike through the jungles of Ecuador Carola!

 What a nice arrangement of plants and jungle thrive.

 So we stopped off at this fruit hut that made fresh mixed fruit drinks. We particularly liked their swing chairs this was

in Mindo, the butterfly capital of Ecuador.

Cool plant life here near the center of the Earth.

 

 Thousands of butterflies come to this part of the world to seek companionship and enjoy the perfect temps.

I really think you two should get a room…

 

 The rivers come out of the 17,000 foot Andes mountians to make mighty rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean or the Amazon River Basin.

 We stayed here for around $25 bucks per night, what a bargain it was like the good ole days again! Out back was worth it all though with the most amazing spectacular views. This place is located in the middle of the town of Bancos Ecuador inbetween Mindo and the coast near Pedernales.

Rent a Car in Quito Ecuador ~ Highly recommend Easy Rent A Car in Quito Ecuador. Santiago & Gardenia made it very easy picking us up at our hotel, taking us downtown to buy things and showed us the area. They rented us a new car for around $40 per day much cheaper than the name brands we all know. You don’t need anything but a small or mid size since the roads are terrifc in Ecuador. We drove all around the country for 2 weeks and had the time of our lives in Ecuador.

 

Easy Rent A Car – Av. de la Prensa N49-269 y Valdiviezo.

Email: ankeyrentacar@hotmail.com

Office: (593)(2) 4332782-433-278

Telephone Cell: 084317901 – 083167868

 Owners:Santiago & Gardenia Pazmino.

 The jungle trails out back were very accessible and the fragrance of the tropical rain forest filled your senses with freshness and moisture. It made me feel healthy to be out in and I wanted to hike in it forever.

 

 We found the Indiana Jones bridge!

Really sweet tropical plants that were unique in color or something I had never seen before. This happened oftened in Ecuador, a place where many new things you never knew existed.

 

So we headed down the coast from Pedernales. It was a great drive with lots of views as we continued down the coastline road until we made it to Puerto Cayo and then the famous Montanita beach party town.

(Don’t miss Montanita)

 Everywhere we went the prices for lodging with views were about $25 to 30 per night for 2. This was our view room when we stayed in Pedernales. These places are safe from crime, the hotel staff are very helpful and know the value of tourism. They speak a lot of English and Spanish here as well use American dollars as their currency.

 Great food like these giant shrimp, Bubba Gump Shrimp would be proud of these!

 Lovely landscapes like this when you drive inbetween the ocean and the Andes, these are foothills.

 Back at the ocean my wife and I are having a good time enjoying the rays and the lack of tourist on the beach.

 The next day I decide what the heck I’ll fly fish again in the ocean. Besides if I catch something it would mean I caught a fish in both the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans in one weeks time.

We’ll I wouldn’t brag about this one…

Recap on the trip:

The route we drove during our 2 week tour in Ecuador started in Quito, then we drove west to Mindo, Bancos and Pedernales. Then we headed down to Puerto Cayo and Montanita on the coastal route. Then way up high on the road to Volcano Cotopaxi, over the Andes and down into Ambato and Baños.

Then we visited the Amazon basin and the villages of Puyo, Teña and Baeza and back to Quito. Kind of a full circle tour around Ecuador 2200 kilometers or around 1300 miles in 2 weeks. What an epic adventure, I would highly suggest Ecuador for the beauty, prices

beauty!

  

 Here we are ready for another season on the otherside of the planet..

Can’t wait to see all of you and share in those great adventures this season, and with Carola next to my side, folks it just doesn’t get any better.

 

Salute, Jack & Carola Trout

 

Emails From You:

Jack, 

How is the upper Sac looking for a 2 day drift later this month? What do you have available?

J Rogers

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