Fishing the Upper Sac Part 2: Spring Summer Fall

By Michael Malekos

In the spring, insects become active as the weather warms. This time of year can make for epic days along the upper Sac, weather permitting. It’s as though nature flipped on a switch – bugs are everywhere, tempting feeding trout. Blue Winged Olives begin hatching during the late spring and continue intermittently throughout the year. In April, anglers often encounter Pale Morning Dun hatches here.

Nymphing is productive all year round. The “high-stick” method, popularized by local legend Ted Fay, has been and still is a very effective tactic to catch fish. However, other nymphing techniques produce as well.

The summer begins with the river swollen with runoff, and fishing can be challenging and sometimes dangerous. But after the high waters are gone, summertime is one of the best seasons of the year to fish the upper Sac. What you’ll encounter is relatively low, fast-moving pocket water. High-sticking remains the best method to fish the water in the summer, so remember to fish close in.

Throughout the summer, I fish small size 20 to 24 dry flies and also have had reasonable success with a Little Yellow Sallie pattern beginning in mid-May. These and other small flies will find a home in the mouth of a trout. I often have had a fish take one without appearing to feel the hook. When that happens, simply lift your fly rod.

An angler I took fishing here complained that it was impossible to see flies this small. “How can you see the fly?” he asked. “Often, I can’t,” was my reply. “You need to pay attention.” When dry-fly fishing in flat water, sometimes the most distinctive part of a take is the sound a trout makes breaking the surface film.

If you turn over rocks in the upper Sac anytime during the year, you will likely see stonefly nymphs. Stoneflies typically hatch from May through September. During a hatch, females return to deposit their eggs by bouncing off the surface of the water. If their wings get wet and they become stuck in the fast-moving current, they try to get to shore. So one way to attract trout on the upper Sac during these periods is to skate or twitch a large Golden Stone dry-fly pattern to encourage a take.

Typically, fall is when the October Caddis larvae begin to appear. You will spot the adults in droves on the rocks and plants lining the shoreline. The fall caddis hatch is a popular occurrence on many rivers, especially here. Once word is out, many anglers make plans to fish the upper Sac. Ant, beetle, and grasshopper patterns also work well during this time of year,

Dry Fly only angler Erol prepares to release a handsome brown he caught last summer fishing flat water Image Courtesy of Mike Malekof as do other terrestrial imitations.

Additionally, fall on the Upper Sac is a great time for dry-fly fishing. Let the fly ride for a bit and drift past the fish before you pick up to recast, to avoid spooking the fish, and change flies often if nothing’s working. If you can, start at the base of a run and work your way up. I see many anglers start fishing at the head of the run, then work their way downstream. If they catch a trout, it will likely spook the entire hole, and they might as well move on.

The upper Sacramento will challenge you. If I were to rate the level of skill an angler needs to catch fish consistently, it would be intermediate. Yet by high-sticking short lines and leaders, beginners have an opportunity to catch fish there, as well. Other than a stretch from the Scarlet Way Bridge in Dunsmuir downstream to the Sweetbriar Bridge, the river is barbless-artificial-only.

Both the Castle Crags Campground http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=454 and the Sims Flat Campground https://www. fs.usda.gov/recarea/stnf/recreation/ohv/ recarea/?recid=6577&actid=29 offer camping sites along fishable stretches of water and are good jumping-off places for fishing the upper Sac.

The upper Sac is a great destination, all year long.