Four of us set up this 3 day, 3 river fishing bonanza back in March . . . and it was finally here. We began by drifting the Lower Sac on Friday. If you want to get into good numbers of BIG Rainbows, now is the time to get up there. We went out with Ryan Johnston and enjoyed a day of big, healthy fish. It got to the point where you were dissapointed if you landed a 15" fish. Alastair and I were lucky enough to land 3 Rainbows which taped at 21" that day, and several that pushed that size. I think we landed around 30-35 fish between us and lost some nice ones as well. Luckily we dodged the rain that day.  I suggest you give Ryan a call and get up there soon.Â
Saturday, we drifted the Trinity through a morning snowstorm. Fishing was very slow for all boats on the river, most seemed to be skunks. I did get into a nice chromer which I fought for 7-8 minutes, only to lose it at the boat. What a drag' it looked like a beautiful fish. I got some nice shots of us getting going,  and putting in at the river on this snowy morning. Once the snow turned to rain downriver, it just kept on raining, a real soaker. Alastair and I were each able to drain our flasks, leaving us to argue the virtues over Scotch or Irish whiskey as the better warming fluid.
Finally we swung by the Lower Yuba on Sunday, taking our chances in the murk, following the rain all day Saturday. The river was brown, but cleared quite a bit during the day. The egg bite is all but over. There were a couple of salmon left and we were able to get a several fish each through the murk. I can't wait for the area above the bridge to open next week.
There were many good laughs and times enjoyed over the 3 days, reminding us that a hell of a lot more goes with fly fishing than just being on the river. I really did not miss being at the 49er game on Sunday either!
That looks like fun!! You guys have some pretty big fish and big smiles. I am ready for the big opener. I plan to ride my moto up as far as possible at 4 AM and then throw hand grenades behind me.....
way to go guys, hey bob you were not missing anything at the 49ers game. although we didnt get rained at during the game, the 49ers couldnt get anything going, i think a team of pop warner ball players could have done better. I think ill pass on the open since I will be on a 4 day Trinity trip, but i for sure will hit it up that monday when I get back. hey Alastair, you up for some Yuba fun Dec 6th.
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Fishing isnt about catching fish, its not about who caught the most, or who caught the biggest, its about the experience that you have on the water, and the life long bonds you make with others on the journey to becoming a better person inside.
first fish looks clipped...mabe your finger is holding down the fin...If it was clipped, that"s pretty darn far up the river for a half pounder....sounded like 3 great days of hanging out ,drinking and fishing...In that order Im sure....
was it packed between the bridge and the boat launch on the lower sac. i want to fish that stretch but everytime i drive by its just packed with boats so i have yet to fish it this year. i usually end up heading down stream a little ways to avoid the crowds. nice fish. what fly was the hot fly for you guys?
-- Edited by joshfish on Tuesday 23rd of November 2010 06:31:39 PM
Looks like fun ! Except was that snow ? I thought fishing slowed down in winter  ! those are some fat fish. maybe I was wrong, and head out to the trinity , oh ya I was and my plans fell apart o well from what I hear planning a steelhead trip is difficult at best maybe I should just drive up and find out ? nice fish guys
Looks like fun ! Except was that snow ? I thought fishing slowed down in winter  ! those are some fat fish. maybe I was wrong, and head out to the trinity , oh ya I was and my plans fell apart o well from what I hear planning a steelhead trip is difficult at best maybe I should just drive up and find out ? nice fish guys
Rich,
Those where all Lower Sac fish in the pics. I will try and get off my arse and get som of my trinity pics up, no fish though!! Was a great trip and much fun was had. How did you do at the Yuba on sunday??
As to winter fishing Iam not sure about this so if I am wrong will someone correct me..... but lower Sac, Yuba and the likes are all tail water fisheries so their water temps remains more constant and thus fish and bugs in the water stay more active even during cold weather. That said most bugs' life cycles are not supported by the cold weather so less hacthing and activity is to be expected while temps are cold. Thus even on the these tailwaters fishing will usually slow quite a bit during mid winter.
Anyway that my toughts on it if anyone else has a better explanation please put it up, as mentioned not to sure if what I've said is correct??
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"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Anon.
my understanding is the fishing on the lower sac in the winter does slow down. you dont get the huge numbers of fish but you get huge fish. i believe this is based on the high protien egg diet they get heading into winter. also there is still bug activity through the winter. i may be wrong but i think cloudy overcast days is when you get bwo action.
There is a spot on the sac that hold big brutes....I will take a guess and say RJ went deeper put on a bird nest or caddis and  did a little back rowing to get those biggin's. between 2 metal bridges.
There is a spot on the sac that hold big brutes....I will take a guess and say RJ went deeper put on a bird nest or caddis and  did a little back rowing to get those biggin's. between 2 metal bridges.
I think it went something like that........
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"Three-fourths of the Earth's surface is water, and one-fourth is land. It is quite clear that the good Lord intended us to spend triple the amount of time fishing as taking care of the lawn." - Anon.
Pretty much a bingo on the location call. There were a number of boats at the location in the morning, but they cleared out pretty quickly. The fishing was on most of the day. We cleared out and made a short drift down the river late in the day and got a few smaller fish. The big boys were up pretty high in the system. Also, there were a reasonable number of fish rising during the day.
I've been in Orlando, Fla for a few days. I think I got to witness what a bad day actually is . . . we think a skunk can be a bad day? Cal just happened to be playing in the Old Spice NCAA Basketball Classic while we were here, so I got some tickets and the son-in-law and I went to see Cal play Notre Dame in the semi's. I got to see Cal set an all time NCAA scoring record by scoring a grand total of 5 points in the first half. Now that's a bad day.
