Lower Sac Report

I was lucky enough to be asked to film an episode of “Fly Fishing the World with Conway Bowman”, a great TV show on the sportsman channel. I have known Conway for 6 or 7 years and I have worked with Justin Karnopp the producer of the show on other shows and with Idylwilde as he is also a contract tier for Idylwilde. We scheduled the filming of the show for this last weekend on the Lower Sac. They wanted to hit the spring caddis hatch.

Filming a TV show is always a stressful event for me as the pressure is on to put the fish on film. Luckily we had no problem with this as fishing has been lights out great on the Sac lately and Conway is a phenomenal angler. Coming from a salt background to trout fishing is a big change. Hook sets while fishing indicators, fighting trout, and all the line management of getting a dead drift is different. Conway had it all down though as he grew up fishing trout in Idaho and still does a bunch of trout fishing in the Mammoth area. What I found amazing was the shear focus he had, I think this comes from a salt background and just knowing that to make the show work he has to seal the deal on each opportunity. All that said by lunch of the first day we had put more then enough fish in the net for the show, but we kept fishing hard for the rest of the day and next.

We floated from Anderson to Balls Ferry the first day and Aqua Golf to Anderson the second. Bonnieview to Anderson seems to be the most crowded float but also seems to be cranking out the biggest fish. We hooked great fish both days but the bigger fish did seem to be on the Aqua Golf to Anderson float. Both days the top bugs were Jimmy Leggs, a new march brown nymph I am working on, and the S&M PMD. A few fish ate sucker eggs but not enough to say it was a hot bug. Fish seemed to be spread out in all types of bug water eating may fly nymphs in the flats and slower runs and Jimmy Leggs in the faster riffles. I tried like hell to get the fish to eat caddis but mayflies seemed to be much more to their liking this weekend.

Sports Report

I am loving the tournament. My bracket is in shambles even though I did pick a few of the upsets. I picked Harvard and Oregon, but no way did I have LaSalle and Florida Gulf Coast in the Sweet 16. I am pretty excited for this weekends games as any time under dogs make a run for it.

GIANTS open up the season this Monday April 1 in Los Angles and I would love nothing more then to take it to the Dodgers in LA for the opener. We have some serious questions though with the latest injury’s to Pablo and the question mark at Second base…I am sure Boch will put something together though.

Fermented Beverage and BBQ Report

It is transition time right now…I finished off some scotch this last few weeks that had been hanging around and I still have a really nice bottle yet to crack but I may hold off on it as the weather is heating up and it is feeling like Margarita time. Beer wise I have been straight domestics lately. Budweiser. Just seems natural as baseball is starting and I have been grilling some serious Carne Asada I have been getting from a local carniceria, El Torro Loco. Stuff is amazing and dirt cheap. I got a 6 pack of bud, enough carne asada to feed my whole family and have left overs, chips, and fresh salsa verde for $17. Awesome. So, I am thinking this weekend may be the first margarita weekend at my house as I am also planning to put in my garden. Also I may get the first 12er of bud light lime this weekend as that is a great warm weather session beer.

UPCOMING

There are a few reports of stripers lower in the Feather and Sac. I will be getting out over the next few days to see what I can find. Also there are reports of spring steelhead in the Feather, but I think some warmer weather is needed to get these fish going. Lots of great spring and summer fishing on its way here are a list of open dates over the next few months.

May 11, 25, 26, 27

June 10, 12-14, 17, 23-29

July 1-3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16-27, 30, 31

*Evening Shad dates available all of the above plus these mid week dates: May 21-24, 28, 30 June 3-6

Report and Random information

Spring I think is officially here as day time temps are reaching anywhere from 70-80 degrees and I have officially pulled out my flip flops.  Among my fellow guide buddies I am always the last guy to go flip flops and shorts in the boat so this is a telling sign. night time temperatures still get down from the high 30's to low 50's so there are some big swings in the morning and evening temps once the sun goes down.

The Lower Sac has been fishing great with some large numbers of fish being caught. This is where I have been spending the most time. March is traditionally the start of the caddis hatches but there has been a smorgesboard of hatches lately with PMD's, Baetis, and March Brown's out in the morning followed by the caddis hatch. This is a great time of year on the Lower Sac as the weather is beautiful and the fishing is great!

I have not been on the Lower Yuba much sense the Lower Sac has been fishing so good. I usually move over to the Yuba starting in April for the PMD hatches. I have talked to a few buddies that have said the Yuba is fishing good but the fishing is pretty technical. Clear water and finicky fish eating March Browns and some early PMD's when the hatches come off. Nymphing has been decent and the fish are holding the riffles there is plenty of water to nymph with fish in the flats and riffles. April is a great month on the L. Yuba and one of my favorite of the year so fishing is only going to get better over on the Yuba.

There has been a few reports of spring steelhead on the Feather, Ryan J. has gone over there and had a decent day or two hooking a few fresh adult fish and a few half pounders. April and May are the best months here so it is still a bit early. Come april there should be decent numbers of fresh spring fish in the river and the cadddis should get going so swinging caddis patterns on switch rods or light spey rods is a great option.

Bass are starting to get active. I have talked to a few guys that have been going out to some lakes around chico and getting into some fish but I think night time temps need to get a bit warmer to help warm up and turn over some water to get the bass really going. April and May should be great this year with the early spring.

Shad and stripers should get going soon to as April and May arrive.

Athletic news...
March madness is here!!! and the brackets are out with the "first four" games starting tonight with St. Mary's locally getting it going. I love the NCAA tourney and everything tourney related!!! I got my bracket filled out yesterday and it was tough based on the up and down nature of the season with so many teams looking great then falling apart. I am not a multiple bracket guy though. I fill out one and run with run in all my pools and wagering. Pick and commit!!!!

I am also loving the World Baseball Classic...even though I kind of feel like I am in the minority here. It is great baseball in March and beats the MLB network replays of spring training games every night. I have noticed that I am really the only person I know watching it though. I have tried to talk about it with some buddies and I mise well of started talking about MLS Soccer.

Staying on baseball news I have caught a few giant spring games on the radio or TV and there is some great young talent coming up. Johnny Monel is going to give Hector Sanchez a run for the 2nd catchers spot and the young pitchers Blackburn, Krick, and Stratton are looking GREAT!!!

Booze News...
I am not proud of it but I have been drinking the new Budweiser Black Crown...really good and kind of a guilty pleasure.

Random things Clients Say (a new addition to the Blog)...
Client: "Can the trout even tell the difference between a caddis and a PMD?"
Me: "I don't know can you tell the difference between a steak and an Ice cream cone?"
Client: "Well isn't it all just silhouette?"
Me: "Ya that is pretty important...Ice Cream Cone/Steak...silhouette a bit different last time I checked"