The procession from fishery to brewery is not only predictable, but surprisingly direct during toasty Northern California summers. After wet wading and deep nymphing frothy white water during the day, for sweaty, parched fly fishers, the retreating heat and waning sunlight of evening often trigger other pursuits besides dry-fly fishing.
When you ask Northern California anglers their secret for beating the summer heat, the smug (but true) answer is likely to be beer. Though I would never consider losing my edge by drinking beer while fishing, absorbing moderate quantities of liquid hops afterward is hard to beat as a way to end the day. So why not combine some of the great summer angling opportunities in NorCal with the terrific craft breweries in the area?
The idea isn’t as far-fetched as you might think. During a recent week of serious research on this topic, I found one craft brewery with a fly-fishing theme and another one across the street from a well-known fly shop, and I bumped into several fly-fishing friends in another, who were fortifying themselves with cold brew after a day on the water. With the connection between fly fishing and beer thus established, I can say that good craft beer after fishing on a hot summer day simply makes people hoppy.
The summer heat sets in with a thud around the Fourth of July, signaling the end of spring’s easier fishing and giving way to a time when the heat starts taking its toll on fish behavior. High sun and spiking temperatures can make the fish lethargic on warm afternoons, but that hardly means that they quit feeding altogether. It’s a matter of knowing when and where they are likely to be most active. Two areas in particular, Dunsmuir/ Weed and Redding, are ideal places for both great summer fishing and surprisingly good craft beer.
Dunsmuir/Weed
While the upper Sacramento River is the closest fishery to these craft beer towns on Interstate 5, the Pit and McCloud Rivers are also within reasonable driving distance. You needn’t remain thirsty while in the area.
If you want to make me really enthusiastic, tell me we’re going to fish the Pit River on a hot day. The elevation below Lake Britton Dam (Pit 3) is around three thousand feet, which helps moderate the air temperatures. Most anglers have heard that the flows were increased a few years ago to benefit the fishery, and these higher flows also keep the water temperatures down. Wet-wading the Pit during the summer is glorious.
Summer flows in Pit 3, the six miles of water between Lake Britton Dam and the Pit 3 Powerhouse, are now around 300 cubic feet per second, twice the amount of water that was in it before. You can’t wade a lot of the deeper, faster water, but by working a bit more line, it’s remarkable all the places you can fish. The grand thing about the Pit is that wherever you think there is a fish, there are probably two or three, and it remains the easiest place to catch a wild trout in Shasta County. I recently added a 10-foot 3-weight fly rod to my arsenal, which has proven a valuable asset for covering this water.
The Pit has always been mainly a nymphing river, and nymphing is still by far the best way to fish it, most of the time. You might not be able to get as close to fishy-looking spots as before, but by fishing a bit more line with a floating indicator (I prefer Thingamabobbers), you have the possibility of catching an awful lot of fish.
The Pit River’s trout aren’t terribly selective when it comes to fly patterns. What works best is almost any medium-sized nymph (size 12 to 16, beaded or not), in darker colors such as black, brown, dark olive, or gray. Larger nymphs than these are more apt to get snagged on the rocks, and smaller ones are unnecessarily harder to see.
Hardly anyone thinks of the Pit as a dry-fly stream, and on most days, it is not. When the sun is off the water on summer evenings, however, it’s a different game. Fish are likely to respond to bushy attractor patterns fished on short lines and dropped around boulders and other instream structure.
Much of the Pit River water is fast, so medium-sized attractor flies (size 12 to 14) work well. An Elk Hair Caddis, Adams Irresistible, Humpy, or Stimulator will take fish in the fast water. There are also slower sections where the trout can be a lot fussier and are far more liable to fall for a great presentation, rather than for any particular fly pattern. Generally speaking, a medium-sized mayfly pattern (less bushy than for the faster water) will work. Try a traditional or Parachute Adams, Pale Morning Dun, or Comparadun (size 12 to 14) on the slower water.
The McCloud River is another great place to go when the temperature soars. The McCloud canyon is somewhat narrower and has a lot of shade. Even so, the best fishing is going to be early and late, and some warmer days have a midday lull that beckons you to find a shady spot to nap. Wading is easier on the McCloud than on the Pit because there is less fast water, but there is also more deep water where you couldn’t wade anyway. Fish nymphs under floating strike indicators there, much the same way you would on the Pit.
A good tactic on all of these rivers is to concentrate on fishing the bubbles. Riffles and shallower water that plunges into deep water — any place that mixes oxygen into the water, creating bubbles — is a likely place to fish. When temperatures soar, fish often congregate in these places. The upper Sacramento doesn’t fish quite as well as either the Pit or McCloud during intensely hot days, unless you fish above Dunsmuir. Once the sun is off the water, even the lower sections down near Shasta Lake might produce good dry-fly fishing just before dark. The upper Sac is lower in elevation than the Pit or McCloud. The water is gin clear, so the fish are more likely to sulk on bright afternoons. When the sun is on the water, fish either find shade or hug the bottom in the deepest water they can find.
All three rivers can provide dry-fly fishing just before dark. You may get an hour of duns on the water and rising fish, or you may get 10 minutes when you can barely see your hand in front of your face. The quixotic nature of this fishing is made easier by the knowledge that ice-cold beer is waiting close by. An upper Sac trip almost requires a visit to the Ted Fay Fly Shop in downtown Dunsmuir, which happens to be nearly across the street from the Dunsmuir Brewery Works. Bob Grace in the fly shop is always an entertaining and charming host, and the conversation often turns fondly to Joe Kimsey with those of us who knew him. Joe was the previous owner and a beloved character. From there, it is an easy downhill drift into the brewery at 5701 Dunsmuir Avenue, where on my visit I found other anglers holding court.
It would not be a stretch to call the Dunsmuir Brewery Works a hole in the wall, but I mean that in the best possible sense. It is small, with only about half a dozen stools at the bar. There are also several tables for groups, and I get the impression that their food is as much of a draw as their beer. I noticed a book on the counter titled Thug Kitchen: Eat Like You Give a Fxxx. “Thug” or not, the burrito I ordered was first-rate.
Small though it is, there were seven different beers on tap the day I visited. Of the several I tasted (all were good), I preferred their Rusty Spike Imperial Pale Ale. The brewer’s description: “A blend of pale ale malt and toasted crystal malts provides a deeply layered, full-bodied mouthfeel that is balanced with generous additions of Chinook, Cascade, and Crystal hops.” Well, I don’t know much about that, but I know what I like.
The decor is rustic, with a bamboo fly rod hanging on the wall and several old fishing photos. It reminded me of a halfhearted attempt at furnishing a man cave, but somehow, it seemed very friendly and casual, and it worked. I will be back and wouldn’t suggest changing a thing.
Just a few exits north on I-5, in Weed, you find the Mount Shasta Brewing Company at 360 College Avenue, close to the College of the Siskiyous. This was by far the largest of the NorCal breweries I visited. Besides the brewery, it also offers a large eating and drinking area, a bar with real character, and food that is both tasty and reasonably priced.
When I asked what their IPA (India Pale Ale) was, the barkeep told me it was named “530” after the local area code and gave me a sample. “Deep orange in color, this sweet, yet balanced ale is brewed with authentic Belgian malts and a truly distinctive Belgian yeast strain,” is how they describe it. Then, without asking, the bartender also poured a sample of their “Shastafarian” porter, and before I could object, he dumped the IPA and porter into the same glass.
“Try it,” he smiled. “It’s our double IPA.” Maybe that’s the way they do things in a town named “Weed,” but I had to admit, it was tangy and good.
Redding
Bend, Oregon, with ten thousand fewer people than Redding, California, has 25 craft breweries to Redding’s two. Nonetheless, the brewery hatch is beginning in Redding, and the promise of increased hoppyness is almost as good as the potential for great fishing.
Redding is famous for its torrid summer heat, but the water in the lower Sacramento River is kept so cold that the fish hardly notice. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for anglers not to notice the heat and the lack of shade. Fishing the river in the summer requires a shady hat, lots of sunscreen, and plenty of liquids. Water managers are keeping flows low due to the drought, so it’s very wadeable this summer. They’ve also recently closed the river to fishing above the Highway 44 bridge to protect endangered salmon, but there’s still plenty of really good water, and there are numerous access points. The Fly Shop in Redding can supply you with free maps to a number of good local wading areas.
During hot, sunny weather, it’s important to get your nymphs down where the fish are, close to the bottom in at least six feet of water. This, of course, is much easier to do from a drift boat, but it’s not impossible for wading anglers. Small mayfly nymphs are generally the ticket. A few good choices include Kyle’s Beerhead Baetis (naturally), Mercer’s CB Micro Mayflies, or a Beaverhole PMD (all size 16 to 18). Most evenings, there are also rising fish, especially in places where riffles flatten out into flat water. Presentation is much more important than which specific dry fly you use. This fishing can be tricky, but dry-fly fishing the lower Sac until the bats start flying is an experience worth having. Despite the fact that the river is so close to so many people and to I-5, there’s a lot of water, plus sunset is generally quite beautiful, which is when the fish become active. You’re most likely to find mayflies hatching in the evenings, and almost any medium-sized (14 to 16) mayfly pattern will work. These fish have seen a lot of flies, so presentation is key.
Situated within an hour or so of Redding are numerous great angling alternatives. To the west, there is the Trinity River, plus Grass Valley and Lewiston Reservoirs. To the east is Hat Creek, Baum Lake, and, a bit farther, the Fall River.
My personal favorite underutilized Redding fishery, Keswick Reservoir, also fishes well during hot weather. The air temperature might be 110 degrees, but it is not unpleasant when sitting in a float tube in 50-degree water. What I really love about Keswick is the size of the fish. At the very least, they rival the size of the rainbows in the lower Sac. I catch more trout over 20 inches on Keswick, bobbing around in my float tube, and there are never any other anglers around. Keswick fish will take pretty much any dead-drifted nymph (for example, a beaded size 12 Bird’s Nest) fished four to six feet under a small indicator. Hiking back to your car with a float tube slung over your back is no fun at all in the summer heat, but that’s all the more reason to find air conditioning and a mug of frothy craft beer. And there is a fly-fishing theme to the Fall River Brewing Company (at 1030 East Cypress Avenue in Redding, not in Fall River Mills), so anglers have no problem feeling right at home. The handles on the beer taps even look like fly reels! How cool is that?
The Fall River Brewing Company is second in size only to Mount Shasta Brewing in Weed. There is ample seating, and every time we visited, it was packed. In the mood for something lighter, I went with their NorCal Blonde, which I thought was a lot like a Heffeweizen. They describe it as “a light straw-colored ale with a very crisp finish. It has a subtle hop profile with little bitterness and virtually no hop aroma.” I describe it as Ahhh. . . .
Another option, the Wildcard Brewing Company, is tucked way back in an industrial complex on the east side of Redding, at 9565 Crossroads Drive, but that does very little to keep people away. Both times we visited, it was crowded, and I even ran into fishing guide friend Brian Kohlman.
Since my tastes usually lean toward bold flavors, I chose their Double Down Imperial Red Ale. Their description? “Various malts and three varieties of hops battle for a place on your palate giving this beer a great piney, fruity flavor and full body.” I wouldn’t dare write anything like that, but the beer is choice. The next time you’re planning a summer fishing trip to Redding or points north, even when the mercury is peaking, there are ways to make it a trip worth remembering. Should you visit any of the great craft breweries in the area while wearing any sort of fishing shirt or hat, chances are good that someone will ask you about fishing, and presto, you’ve made a friend. Though it’s supposed to be a solitary sport, anglers who fly fish seem to enjoy getting together. Wherever that happens, there will eventually be beer.
