The lower Sacramento River, or the lower Sac, as most people call it, is arguably California’s best trout fishery. I know there are anglers out there who think there are other California waters deserving of the crown. Places such as the Fall River, Hat Creek, the McCloud River, and Hot Creek are all blue-ribbon trout streams, but I will argue that the lower Sac trumps all of them. The lower Sac deserves top honors for the sheer numbers of trout, with 3,500 fish per mile, and for the very large rainbows that call this river home. I believe that the lower Sac rivals most of the top trout rivers in the West.
The river is no secret in California. There are lots of guides and anglers who fish there every day of the year. I have been blessed to guide on the lower Sac for 20 years and have learned lots of tips and tricks to master this large California tailwater. Here, I have listed eight things that will help you better understand the river and increase your chances of having a great day of fishing.
The lower Sac starts its journey when it leaves Shasta Dam, eventually f lowing past Sacramento into the California Delta and then into San Francisco Bay. Immediately after leaving Shasta Dam, it makes its way into small, narrow Keswick Reservoir. Below Keswick Reservoir is where the famous trout water begins.
We will be focusing on the 50-plus-mile stretch from Redding to Red Bluff.
When Should I Go?
All of the seasons on the lower Sac offer great fishing in comparison with most rivers. The slowest days on the lower Sac would be considered great days on most other streams. There is literally no bad time of the year to fish the lower Sac. Winter, spring, summer, and fall each have amazing opportunities for catching a lot of fish. The winter is famous for putting out the largest fish of the season. If you want to catch big rainbows, the lower Sac is hard to beat from December through February. The angling pressure is less, with many anglers focused on steelhead, the water flows are at their lowest, and the big fish are channelized due to the lower flows.
The spring is my favorite time of year, though, because this corresponds with the largest hatches of the year. Starting in March and on through May, anglers can expect large hatches of March Browns, Pale Morning Duns, and caddisflies. Every day, the bugs are going to hatch, and the fish will respond. The summer is when the flows get high, the outside temperatures ramp up, and the anglers go away. At this time of year, focusing on the cooler parts of the day will really help your success. The cooler parts of the day are when the bugs will be hatching, fish will be feeding, and you won’t risk getting heat stroke. Many guides focus on the river midmorning and late in the evening.
The fall is the busiest and most popular time of the year on the lower Sac as people start ramping up for the egg bite. When the salmon show up, the trout start feasting on eggs, and the fishing can get silly good. With the great fishing come the crowds of people. This time of year, a drift-boat hatch is fairly common. Get on the water early, fish your favorite egg patterns, and look for salmon spawning in the shallow gravel. If you find the salmon, there are hungry rainbows directly downriver of them.
Don’t Let the Big River Scare You Off
A lot of people look at the lower Sac and get scared off due to its large size. Yes, it is a large California tailwater. In the winter, the river flows around 4,000 cubic feet per second. The river starts increasing in f low during the spring and will fluctuate between 5,000 and 10,000 cfs. In the summer, to serve the irrigation needs of agriculture in the valley, it is common for the river to flow between 7,000 and 10,000 cfs. Then, in the fall, the f lows start to decrease and hover around 5,000 to 6,000 cfs.
No matter how you look at it, there is a lot of water moving down the lower Sac. The key to fishing large rivers such as this is to break them down into small sections. If you just look at the water and see a river that is 200 feet wide, you are going to be overwhelmed. The key is to train your eyes to look for the small spots that likely hold fish amid the large volume of water.
Look for the smaller riffles, ledges, and drop-offs. Look for fallen trees that will create a current break for f ish to hide behind. Lower Sac rainbows love hiding in and around large rock and clay formations. If you find a spot with a great-looking riffle, a perfect drop-off with a change of depth from four to seven feet, or a set of clay rocks coming off the bank, then you are in a good spot. Looking for smaller areas when fishing a large river takes the guesswork out of where to fish.
Drift Boats Only?
The lower Sac is predominately a drift-boat river. With the large size of the river, drift boats help you access more fishable water and increase your chances of success. However, that doesn’t mean that if you don’t own a boat, you shouldn’t give it a try. There are numerous places to wade on the lower Sac. The only thing about wading the lower Sac is that you can’t just fish one area all day. You will need to drive to a spot, get out of your car, fish that section of the river, and then get back in your car and drive to the next spot. The lower Sac is too large to wade everywhere, so anglers have to pick and choose the best spots to try. Some of the top places to wade the lower Sac include the Redding Fairgrounds, the Highway 44 bridge, East Anderson River Park, the Deschutes Road bridge, the Barge Hole, and the Bend bridge. Again, when wading these spots, look for small fishable areas within the large river.
Nymphing Is King
The lower Sac is a nymphing river. Are there opportunities to cast dry flies? Yes, but they are very limited. If you get a dry-fly opportunity, it will probably happen when lots of bugs are hatching and the flows are low in the winter and spring. If all of the planets align, if God smiles upon you, and if you are holding your mouth right, then you may get a small window during which fishing a dry fly can be productive. I can honestly say that in 20 years of guiding the lower Sac, I have had clients casting dry flies for a total of about forty hours, and half of those dry-fly hours came in one year.
So when you go to the lower Sac, if you want to do well, plan on nymphing. With the slow gradient of the river, indicator nymphing is going to be the best approach. Lower Sac rainbows love water that is five to eight feet deep. Try to find a spot with that kind of depth and a flat, calm current line, and you will probably find a fish willing to eat your fly. Lower Sac rainbows generally don’t like fast, turbulent current. They are some of the laziest fish that you will ever find. The amount of aquatic food available to them is so enormous that the fish don’t have to be aggressive when feeding. The large number of insects allows them to sit in soft current and have the bugs come to them.
Are You Fishing Deep Enough?
If the majority of the fish in the river hold in water that is five to eight feet in depth, the number one question you need to ask yourself is, “Am I fishing deep enough?” Assuming you are indicator nymphing, you should have your indicator set at six to eight feet at all times. And when setting your indicator depth, you should be measuring the length from the indicator to the split shot. Many anglers make the mistake of measuring the length from the indicator to the flies, but it’s the weight that determines the depth at which the nymphs will be riding. Don’t make that rookie mistake. All indicator depths are measured from the indicator to the weight.
Are You Using Enough Weight?
If you are rigging your indicator for five to eight feet of water, you need to make sure you are using enough split shot to get your flies down to the fish. Trout live on the bottom of the river, so you need to make sure your flies are in that zone. You want your flies to get down to the fish quickly, too. To accomplish both these things, you will need to use a lot of split shot. Commonly on the lower Sac, you will be fishing two pieces of AAA split shot. Once the flows get high in the late spring and summer, you will be using three AAAs. Whenever you’re nymphing the lower Sac, you always should use at least one AAA. If you are on the lower Sac and not fishing enough weight, you will not be successful at catching these rainbows.
What Time of Day to Go Fishing?
The lower Sac is famous for having a reliable four-to-five-hour bite window when the fish are feeding heavily. If you are not fishing during this time period, you are going to struggle at catching fish on the lower Sac. The lower Sac can turn from hot to cold or cold to hot very fast. You can literally set a clock to the time of day when you will start catching fish. I have never been on another river that is as time dependent as the lower Sac. Within 30 minutes, everything on the river can completely change.
There are many days when the guides go out knowing that the first few hours of the day are going to be slow, because we know that 90 percent of the fish are going to be caught later in the day. If you really want to maximize your fishing experience on the lower Sac, knowing when to be there is absolutely key. Call the local Redding or Chico fly shops to find out the best bite windows currently happening on the river.
What Are the Best Flies to Use?
I am going to let you onto a huge secret about the lower Sac. The specific fly pattern doesn’t matter that much. There are lots of guides on the river, and almost every one of us has a different favorite fly. There will be 20 boats on the river, and the majority of us are using different flies. It always cracks me up when someone says you have to use a certain pattern to catch fish there. That statement is completely false!
What truly matters on the lower Sac is making sure that your fly is the correct size and has the correct profile for the bugs that are coming off. In the winter, the lower Sac gets a great midday Baetis hatch. The Baetis are generally darker in color and small, darker mayfly patterns in size 16 and 18 are the ticket. In the spring, when the Pale Morning Duns hatch, use lighter-colored mayfly patterns in 14 and 16. In the later spring and summer, when the caddisflies are hatching, use tan and light brown caddis patterns in size 12 to 16. If there are a bunch of mayflies hatching, why are you fishing stonefly and caddis patterns? Using flies that imitate the bugs that the fish are seeing the most will greatly increase your chances of catching more fish. Trust me when I say there is no magic fly pattern to catch lower Sac rainbows.
The lower Sac is a fishery that every fly fisher should experience. It is a big river full of big, healthy rainbows. Each year, many anglers from California travel to the blue-ribbon waters of the Rockies, but the lower Sac is just as good as those famous spots. As with every river, the lower Sac has it nuances and secrets that are only revealed with time, but if you follow the tips above, you will be ahead of the curve and on your way to lots of successful fishing days on California’s best trout river.
