Jack Trout’s Weblog

*****STONE FLY HATCH STARTS ON THE KLAMATH, HENDERSON SPRINGS OPENS TO A HEX HATCH!*****

In 1905, Mt Shasta was called Sisson, after the pioneer who ran a tavern and eventually sold land to the rail road. The town’s name changed in 1924 to Mt Shasta. The other night we celebrated our 100 year anniversary at Sisson Baseball Field. Back in the early Sisson days, men working in lumber camps came in by steam train every weekend to frequent the bars (there was one bar for every 20 men). They burned down the town 12 times in 30 years! (I’d change the name too!) Mt Shasta is a wonderful community, with history, interesting geography, little traffic and no matter what direction you head into, the mountain is watching. I love my town and its people, and never take it for granted living here! There’s no place like home…..

Back to the Upper Sac rafting! Larry Masula, one of my best rafting customers, is fighting a healthy trout in-between all of the storms we’ve been receiving. The water should stabilize now, and other than storms next week should be completely back to normal on the Upper Sac. Right now the flows at Delta are 1340 CFS which is great! I will mention though with all this unsettled weather the fishing has been spotty. Wind matched with rains fading in and out has put trout this past week on waivers. Most trout aren’t dealing and are holding out for more GG and better weather! Is it me, or has this been the longest winter you can ever remember??? I think this stuff needs to be spread out over a period of five years! Let’s amortize the weather! Spread it out in weather payments over 30 years instead of getting all in one year, then we’re dry for 6. Heck, this weather has been like an interest only loan with the payments due all this year!!!
Actually we needed it and our area will be rich in equity because of it! Thank you Sky-Pilot for the all this great weather…..jt PS. Can you send us some adjustable rate weather!!! We need some more sun…?

Meanwhile, Larry is having fun catching trout on one of his favorite rivers. Larry has done the fly fishing raft trip more than anyone else. This is what makes Larry such a great fly fisher out of the raft. Also notice the pinky raised as he holds this fine specimen, this is the one handed pinky
display. Many wine drinkers use this method when drinking fine wine in crystal glasses….. Way to go Larry Sizzler!

Donny is Larry’s son and went on the rafting trip last year for his first time. He loved it and is planning on being a regular with Pops.

Nice trout. Have a great summer!

Jennifer and Brian Engstrom came up for the first time to go out in the raft and catch some trout on the Upper Sac. The flows were perfect and all day we caught trout as we nymphed our way down the mighty Sac.

Jennifer with her prize! Maybe one of my best pictures ever??? What a cutie and notice how the scenery and Jennifer compliment each other!! My new Cannon A95 is so awesome. I am very happy with this digital camera and only paid $277 on Amazon.com. Remember when you book a trip, you get every photo by email and you might be, Sizzler of the Week!

Over on the McCloud things are heating up as hatches increase! Kevin Howell came to visit us from Pensacola Florida last week and never put on a nymph! We used dries all day as he hooked and released too many to remember!! He was so funny with his southern accent and my northern slang.
We laughed at each other most of the day and Kevin saw waters
like none other back at home. He commented that this was the most beautiful water he had ever seen!

Trout were on the surface hitting mayflies and caddis and Kevin couldn’t have been happier! Not all the trout were big, but as my Dad used to say, “You can add 3 inches if you catch it on a dry fly!” Ah Pops!

Here on the McCloud we hope that PG&E will hear our voices and start posting the CFS flows under the McCloud Dam at MC7 gauging station on the internet and maintain flows always above 120 CFS. This section from Ash Camp to the Dam has the highest concentration of resident trout than any other part of the McCloud River. PG&E needs to practice what they preach by really serving the habitat and listening to the ones who know, the ones that are on the river and are intimate with it, not some jerk in a suit and tie pretending to be a fisheries biologist who never really visits the river (he’ll
just read about it in a memo or a brief)…… In my eyes PG&E does the least possible for the McCloud River habitat and recreation. Hopefully with the new relicensing these issues will be addressed, but if I know PG&E nothing will happen and somebody will probably be paid off….

Up above, Kevin knows nothing about these issues and likewise I don’t even say a word about it. He deserves the benefits that my area has to offer without having to hear
about the whole Erin Brockovich saga. I guided an attorney last year named Roger Crane from New York. He was the attorney who represented the 41 counties in Northern California, when PG&E decided they could maintain flows on dams they leased at any level due to them being in bankruptcy and not feeling like they had to abide by any regulations. Luckily our great state hired Roger Crane, and he won our case against PG&E.
Roger told me the other day that PG&E is worse than the Erin Brockovich movie and it comes from the top right on down the line. Can you believe after all those problems PG&E gave their top officials hundreds of thousands in raises. This is like the top 5 or 6 dogs that care nothing about the environment, or trout or even their own employees. They cut wages and gave themselves raises. So far, the 2005
Yellow Snow Award goes to PG&E! We’ll see if the Union Pacific has any derailments and takes the prize away, or will it be my friends at the Bureau of Rec with their untimely flows that punishes habitat….? Stay tuned Sizzlers as these questions and many others will be answered in, Wheel of Fortune!

Trout are jumping for dry flies, the weather is starting to change. Figure on next week for best dry fly action of the year!

Look out for snakes! I saw 7 in one hour on the McCloud River the other day. Don’t kill snakes. They will do anything to get away from you, even rattle snakes. Snakes are better than rats just like health is better than disease. We need snakes for rodents and unless it’s on your property, be respectful of every aspect of nature. It will come back around some day.

Turtle River is doing raft trips on the California Salmon River! Call them at 530-926-3443 Rick is a Shasta Cribbler and has been around Shasta since before John Muir. This recent bad weather has hurt the rafting industry, please support rafting and get out and see the river from the middle!

My best friend Matt Hill and I did a documentary for PBS
KVIE last week on the Upper Sacramento. (I didn’t
say a word regarding the railroad….just R/R stands for Russian Roulette!) Actually, I said my peace and it’s true
the railroad has got an attitude problem and something needs to be done about it. If the PUC and the Federal Railroad
won’t impose stricter laws on them, like just letting someone know when you derail a train. (They never reported a derailment last year down by Sims to the City of Dunsmuir until some of my guides found it out guiding, diesel fuel was leaking into the river from an engine) They are on my shit list! Also, we have a surprise for you the next time you won’t let the media in to see the derailed train cars….
(dogonit!)

Ah, what would Justin Sisson think 100 years later after selling that land off to the railroad. Wow, if you and I littered like they do we would be fine $1000 per day and eventually thrown in jail… You the readers need to help me by voicing these same concerns in the appropriate places, I see it, you know it, we can help!***** HOPE YOU ENJOYED THOSE ADVENTURES AND INSIDE INFO, NEXT WEEK BIG TROUT CAUGHT ON THE UPPER SAC, DRY FLY AND A CLIMB UP MT SHASTA!*****
TAKE CARE JACK TROUT