Lower Sacramento Fly Fishing Report

Dave Neal Reports on 3.24.2016

I have this Sat And Sunday open if you would like to fish the Lower Sac

We have experienced awesome fishing conditions on the Lower Sac here in Redding this week. The river at 20,000cfs is another animal and it’s been downright awesome fishing the river this week! We have a few more days left to enjoy this higher flow event…the river is ramping down and will be at 5,000cfs by Monday the 28th as the weather pattern returns to warm and sunny and dry.

March & April are great months to experience the L Sac River and we are beginning to see many of the classic spring time hatches of aquatic insects. Diverse species of caddis, mayflies, and stoneflies reach peak numbers and will be increasingly more active as we move into Spring Season.

We’ll most likely see the summer flows go pretty big (again) at some point this season - these higher flows will be our new normal this year.

A lot of chatter over the Internet regarding the recent high flow pulse and why it happened (citing Iron Mountain waste into Spring Creek, etc, as potential reasons). I can’t speak for the issues at Iron Mountain, but I can speak for the fact that our Nor Cal reservoirs are major components of Central Valley Water Project (Folsom and Shasta) and are mandated to ensure specific capacity for flood control during winter season. The primary reason for this recent flow increase was to ensure “safety space” is reserved in the reservoirs. With five feet of rain already recorded this season…

water managers in the north state have had their hands full while watching Shasta Lake rapidly fill. And, El Nino might not be ready to depart for spring break just yet. The engineering and management of the CVP is an enormously complicated system with many variables and moving parts. Just Google “Auburn Coffer Dam Failure 1986” https://youtu.be/tDmwo5nsWfQ – to view a fascinating 10 minute video that shows the level of planning and engineering, and luck (!!)

we’ve had in the recent past avoiding catastrophe with devastating consequences.