Lower Sac and Trinity River Fly Fishing Report
Lower Sacramento River-
It’s been a long wait for anglers on the Lower Sacramento River… and there just might be a turning point on the horizon.
I went for a mtn. bike ride the other day by Shasta Dam and the Centimudi area and noticed the lake is FINALLY beginning to clear. Water conditions on the lake are currently green with visibility two about 2’ or slightly better.
The water coming out of Keswick is still darker brown/green and the river down through Redding hasn’t improved quite as much - still pretty dirty - with just a slight shade of green in the light brown range. But… we may be turning the corner and the river may slowly improve or quickly improve, we will see!
I can’t stand it any longer and will be floating the river with a buddy very soon - hopefully have some good news to share. We may have a ways to go before it’s “great” but at least things are showing some improvement. Shasta Lake is looking a lot better than it did a week ago.
Trinity River-
The Trinity River is still kicking. Flows went pretty high blowing out the river last weekend - but it has been dropping just as fast. The water up top down thru Douglas City is in good shape.
There will be some new opportunities for fly anglers beginning on April 1st with the Fly Only Water opening up.
Expect mega-crowds over the weekend as this event is not much of a “secret” and with the opener on a Saturday and all… Best bet maybe to try and check it out mid-week.
Hatchery Coho smolts have been released - so you will have to contend not only with crowds of anglers on opener but also lots small willies eating your drift on every cast.
This is a great time and place to teach young anglers, kids and beginners, especially with dry fly tactics and casting, etc… but it may be a little more frustrating for other anglers trying to target the bigger browns and holdover steelhead in the system w/ all the Coho smolts. But hey, it’s a beautiful section of river and gives us one more opportunity to fly fish in CA right now.
I should have a little more to say next week with the Sac looking brighter and maybe some other rivers beginning to fish as well… look ahead to April and hopefully we can salvage some of these awesome spring days and get on the river!! My next open dates are: April 5, 6, 7 and I would be happy to discuss options for fishing in the near future.
David Neal
Reel Adventures Guide Service
760-914-0465 mobile
PO Box 990496, Redding, CA 96099
http://www.reeladventuresguideservice.com
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