Great Spring Water Levels Productive Fly Fishing in Shasta

Key dates open for late May and all of June for fly fishing float trips in Northern California.

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What a marvelous spring season we’ve had this past month of April, the flows were perfect and the fishing devine. With all the rain storms that have occurred weekly, it helps bump up the healthy flows and I have never seen a better year for dry fly fishing on the Upper Sacramento River. Mainly I have seen creamy duns that are imitated by using a light cahill size 16. But this past week I have seen a few Golden Stones, Yellow Sallies and Grey or Green Drakes, I couldn’t quite tell the colors as they fly pretty fast. It’s a great time to get up to the Shasta, Dusmuir and McCloud area and do some exploring and compare some notes.

Jim Evans, a longtime client and advid referrer of propsective clients out catching some trout down by LaMoine.

Mighty fine job indeed Jim! Hope to see you in the fall for a little steelhead action. Thanks for all the referrals over the years.

 The over the log trick, that’s a good one David, favorited by most of the viewers watching.

A fine specimen on this last week of April with flows headed down weekly from this point on.

We had a double hook-up for the moment, but a very eventful river on this day as the over cast weather days is the ticket folks.

Fish this private riffle while I get lunch in order….

Love those racing colors of the Upper Sac Trout!

Meanwhile, the migration every night of the Salmon Flies (Stonefly Ternarsis.) is part of the reason why some trout fishing is slow in the light of the early day. If it’s bright at night, they could be gorging on stones folks all night long, so fish later into the day for more success.

These fresh water Night at the Museum dinosaurs live about 4 years in the river,  grow and feed then crawl out of the river and become a flying insects as they grow wings, mate and lay eggs then die. Such is life, all of this and you can’t get eaten before then or you lose your chance to fly your wings. That must be a life long dream if you’re a stone fly, to hang out with all your bro’s down at some hard rock cafe and chit chat about someday marching out of the river, a place you’ve never been before, with your generation of friends and family and breaking out of that shell and flying up into the air for a bunch of great insect sex. (More than one partner? Unverified folks?) It’s one of those miracles of life that feeds an entire eco-system including birds, reptiles as well as fish. Yea, if you were a stonefly what would you look forward too? I’m sure it would be that huge wing-ding – grand ole opry- stonefly migration that occurs every year about this time until July, I mean you’ve been waiting for over four years, it’s destiny.

Jim Evans, with a beauty caught with a size 16 Lt. Cahill on the surface as on the cloudy days dry fly fishing has been off the charts. On this day we caught 14 on dry flies.

Catching trout like this on dry flies is one of life’s simple pleasures and can be a notch on ones “Bucket List.”

The waters I guide on are very special, sure would like to share it all with you.  Jack Trout

Sweet Jesus, that’s beautiful, thank you again for this wonderful day!

“TiMe ~ is on my side ~ Yes it is!”

Chucky!

 Fresh Northern California Water, Not Over Rated Folks.

One more for the road!

 I just love when I get folks that were camouflage and they want to catch and release trout. Richard Bosio, of Modesto to the coast of Monterey with his famous pinot grapes he harvests annually had a trout on the line within a minute after we launched.

Sweet Sacramento Trout are the best fight this time of year, it’s like they have another gear when you hook a real decent sized one.

Bob McClure, of Modesto enjoyed his day on the river.

Nice trout Bob.

Trout on dries up in the air doing flips!

Then back to nymphs and fish on again, it was one of those great days where just about anything worked.

A lovely fish indeed, nice water too.

What an awesome trout porn shot! When you’re catching trout like this, it just doesn’t get any better.

 Trout air, breath, breath, breath, now go and reproduce many more.

“Ahg! I have indigestion, I have to go slow for a while…..”

California Poppy’s our California State Flower in full bloom right now.

 Further down the river, these pair of nesting Bald Eagles who I have known now for over 15 years looking down at me not scared, we know each other.

 What nobility and style these beautiful birds have, I’m glad this is the national bird and not the turkey as Ben Franklin petitioned for.

He started talking to me it was so classic, he didn’t seem bothered by me at all as the female flew off from another branch.

 Then Jake flew and followed Jane back to the nest.

It’s time for the Shasta Historical Society’s Night of History at the Shasta Historical State Park in the City of Shasta. Carola and I dressed for the occasion in our 1800 hundred’s attire.

We love history, especially the period in the United States from 1840’s to 1905. I like to dress and relive that era as it was the real days in my eyes of our great nation being born and brought by individuals who deserve to be recognized. (You think we got it tough now…)

 I think it’s a great thing to get dressed up and treat my wife like the fine lady that she is and go out for a little old fashion socializing in the heart of the North State Gold Country.

 With our good friend Michael Grifantini an Executive Director with the Shasta Historical Society, what a good time we had that night.

Here was the old stage coach that would run you from Weaverville to the Delta Hotel on the Upper Sacramento River Canyon.

 

The museum is incredible with artifacts from Captain Jack, the Modoc Indian Chief and many incredible California gold rush era paintings that are worth millions, you could spend many hours here easily, I would plan to visit here.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=456

 I’ll Just throw a nugget I just happen to have with me out on the plate and let’s weight it out… 3/4 of an ounce.

One of my local favorites Joaquin Miller, they should require every kid in school to read Living Amongst the Modocs, by Joaquin Miller. It’s all about our local area from Shasta to the McCloud to the Pit and over to Yreka. If you haven’t read this book, if you live and know the North State, I think it’s incredible written for the 1870’s. Includes stories of his younger days on the Klamath River during the gold rush there. It might of been properly named, Living Amongst the Shasta Indians, but no one knew of them, so for marketing purposes, Miller called them by the world popular Modoc Indians of that era. (Looks like the writer Tom Stienstra SF Chronicle to me.)

Down the stairs now to the jail, things are starting to get real fun now, maybe they could lock us up for a while.

I sure wouldn’t want to wade a river with that tied to my leg, it could get ugly real fast folks.

All kinds of late 1800’s hundreds law enforcement paraphernalia on display, very interesting to check out, especially the written stories.

The jail, looks cold in the winter.

The court house section. “Your Honor I plead insanity, I was crazy for that girl…!”  HANG HIM JUDGE!

The backyard where they would hang you if you were found guilty. If you think about it, that was only a few grandpa’s ago.

 Then my old friend John Rogers brought his brother Bob up and we caught some great trout over the two days out guiding.

We found places to wade that were productive.

Then we fished the McCloud River and caught some beautiful trout wading its banks.

A very special trout, it’s always great when you catch these older trout with this big red band on their lateral line.

 Then another and another, Bob caught 5 trout in one hole that day.

Here’s looking at ya, smile!

 John Rogers with a very nice trout on the Upper Sac that previous day.

Frogs are out, better get a wooly bugger and a sinking line out on the boat.

Taylor and Dan Mansfield came out from Iowa this past week to fish the area with me!

 Dan and I had fished steelhead together on the Trinity River back in 2006 and now he was back to catch some trout.

 It was a great 3 days of hooking trout every where we fished. I mean 3 days of the best fishing anywhere!

A lot of healthy nice sized trout caught here lately.

Now that’s a nice trout in any country, love those colors.

Nice pocket water on the Upper Sac.

We always try to provide you with a very good lunch out on the river.

Back out on the McCloud things are heating up and the hatch is out mid-day.

Taylor’s got a trout on folks!

It’s out so far I’ll have to cross the river and try to net for him….

Here it is, in the dad’s hands as Taylor was out of position for the shot.

Lazy day fly fishing on the McCloud, isn’t it great.

Another great trout landed here in California.

In the heart of the north state woods lies a mountain so majestic in statue, its name derived from a Russian word meaning “pure as snow.” Mount Shasta, the mountain that feeds the great state of California with it’s rivers that flow from it’s purity ground aquifers and high mineral content. It’s value in the next generations of the amounts of water it can deliver will determine many ones fortunes or failures. This is to be seen as we must always study history and learn from what we know.

One who doesn’t read and know history has no past, future or present. 

Thanks for watching our adventures, Jack & Carola Trout

530-926-4540

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  McCLOUD RIVER RAINBOWS – WELL TRAVELED TROUT * BY: JACK TROUT

MOUNT SHASTA /SISSON  MUSEUM – 7 PM – JULY 22ND, 2014 – 

A Siskiyou Historical Society Presentation.