Seeing these big reservoirs so low is shocking and scary. Shasta in Northern California is very low as well. If it’s another dry year in California, we will be in one big world of hurt!!!

Indeed, it’s a two part cast. One side and then the other, and then put the flies into the food stream. Just had trouble getting it out far enough from the boat when the target area was out a bit. But just great when that bobber went under with the lightest hit.

Good to know, will locate on the chart. Will be there week after next again weather depending, or maybe regardless!

Was up on the Sacramento river above and below Shasta reservoir Mon - Wed of this week.
Shasta frighteningly low when you actually see it. No snow on Mt Shasta.
Upper Sac: Fished Pollard Flats, two other turnouts/tracks that take you down to various parking places next to the Amtrak rail lines, and Sims. Scramble down the rocks to the river. Water - low. Riffs and pools are there but really need about 6"-1' higher to be good. Flies were hard to match to the feeding patterns. Ended up with nymphs, both singly and with floats added most of the time, altho did dry-fly fish for the dusk time frame. Fishing - fair to average. Took a lot of wading and hiking to get from decent riff to decent pool.
Redding: You can fish near that bridge in Redding and that was interesting as there are some very big trout hiding there.
Lower Sac: From town to the first pullout. Guide and boat. Fished small foam bobber and two very small nymphs. Towards end, three hooks. River is low but rowable/floatable all the way down. At junctions and slow moving areas where salmon normally congregate by this time of year, almost none. Late this year maybe because of water temps and/or water levels. I did hook into about a 15-20 lb and played it for a long time but once under the boat in about 4' water it broke off and that was it.
Maybe with a change in temps and cooler (rain?) weather, it will bring the salmon up quicker.

Generally good fishing altho I had a little trouble adapting to the boat cast from the plain fly casting we were doing the other days. Several "doubles" (two on and in the boat simultaneously), no "giants" unfortunately. All on barbless hooks and C&R.

Overall score: 7.5/10. Why so high? The weather, that we were fishing during the week, and the just delightful boat time. Deer in the flats, birdlife was outstanding with two Golden Eagles spotted along with Osprey, Egrets, Heron, etc, etc. We located good places for striped bass and WMB for later fishing opportunities. All to be on fly, altho spinners may be in order if they are coming in bigger. Just outstanding days on the river!

One other comment - it is always surprising to see how much there is in Redding and what a good town it is. The Fly Shop and the other fishing stores in Redding are 10/10 - excellent.

Agree. I probably had the wrong flies - some shown on websites were very different than those I had. But, it was fun for sure. The wind was up later in the day, so I had to caste on the lee side of the islands.
I’m going up to Redding to fly fish on the Sacramento River (new to me) - apparently the trout are rising very nicely. We are using a guide for one day. Expensive but they know what to look for and are dialed into the food chain.

Went up to the Delta near Stockton for a couple of days. Took some rods including a #6 fly rod, and a wide assortment of flies (floatable, nymph-type, and various others. Got in a lot of practice, hooked into a couple of small mouth from what I could see, three LM, fortunately not too large. (Weird to say that, but the leader and tippet was only 6lb and 3 lb respectively). What a sensation getting a fighter on a fly rod. Great experiment, will get better at finding the right fly for the conditions and situation. There was a lot of weed, a lot! Early morning and still evenings are best I found for the insect feeders.

Forgot this screenshot of “island”.

There is good access to the Marina and bay, as you know. Be careful leaving as there can be a big current flowing up/down in front of the entrance, depending on the conditions. Tide, wind, waves are big factors. There is an “island” west of Benicia that has protection and if you have a small anchor you can get holding if the wind is not too strong. Early morns and evenings without wind is good. Just be careful. Scuba divers know to stand and watch the ocean before going in. If you are leaving the harbor I’d do the same. I actually caught fish there the other day. One of the few successful days in California. I have a DiveYak inflatable sit-on-top designed for diving but is excellent for paddling if you can keep your rear somewhat dry…!!

Hi, that was the one that was supposed to be for me next week...! Darn it, unless you released it back in Spring for me to catch?

Ah, yes, the tree. Watch you don’t become wet bait with a slip of the foot. I was skunked here, but I remain convinced of the referral by BM it was my bad fishing, not the lack of fish. Must try the rubbery crawdad!!

Some friendly doctoral advice. Always keep a small bottle of peroxide and/or isopropyl alcohol in a TOP pocket along with a sterile bandage. Knife cuts pale in comparison to what a line, particularly braid, picks up from the water, your boat, even worst the ground and then if you cut yourself, runs at least 6” of that thru the break in your skin. Good luck if you get any infection from that. 50% do. Some lose a finger or worse. Drop everything. Grab that bottle (remember the top pocket rule) pull apart the cut pour some in the cut, scream loudly, and cover with the gauze-type bandage. The most common refrain I’ve heard is “ Jeez, never had that before”. Bacterial diseases are becoming killers. Take this advice with you as you head off to the drug store. Then go fishing.

Hmmm, ok, you’ve talked me back to SL…. Will drive up next week for a 6:00 am start at the tree overhang. We’ll see how things go. I’ll use the Senko…

Wow, wow, wow!! Unbelievable! How great for you I'll try again week after this one coming up...

Hmmm, didn’t mean to ignite such a pretty substantive discussion, but these comments hold some strong emotions and deeply held opinions. As someone not familiar with this topic, except from a surface view, I read all your opinions carefully. Thanks.

Maybe there are those that say "damn rules" and I am in that camp often particularly in this state that I am now (CA). But I was impressed that there were generally polite fish and game rangers with iPad type units that recorded the fish that came in on the recreational boats, and apparently went to some data base that allowed the fishing to be adjusted almost daily - not sure how you'd find out what the changes were - but it was interesting to see it in action. Length, weight, type of fish, and location caught.