These colder flows at first appeared to be working, as the salmon runs slowly began making a comeback. In 1992 the TCD was completed, and the Lower Sacramento River near Redding maintains a consistent temperature today of approximately 56 degrees. The logic was that cooler temperatures would enhance successful salmon spawning. Then the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, in a desperate search for a solution to the decline of the King Salmon hit upon the construction of a Temperature Control Device (TCD) to extract colder water from the depths of Shasta Lake and send it downstream. The hatcheries were a failure, and the town of Redding had a population larger than spawning runs of salmon that had once numbered in the millions. When we opened The Fly Shop® in 1978, the tail water below the dam, now commonly known as the Lower Sacramento River, could hardly be considered a quality trout fishery. At the same time, the Sacramento River Delta began a catastrophic decline, and one of the most formidable runs of Chinook Salmon in the world was decimated. Any overcast, drizzly day will bring off thousands of these tiny mayflies, and if you're lucky you may even get some shots at casting dries to rising trout! Flows on the river are also at their lowest during the winter months, making wade-fishing a good option on the many riffles and gravel bars that are submerged through much of the year. We don't always get the number days this time of year, but it is definitely the best time of year to catch truly massive Rainbow Trout we're talking about fish that are better measured in pounds than inches! In addition to eggs, the winter months show us some of the best Baetis hatches of the year. The trout have been feeding heavily on a high-protein diet for several months, and their girth in the winter is evident. The Late-Fall run of Chinook Salmon enter the spawning gravel, so there are still plenty of eggs popping loose. When our guides drift this lower river they will frequently hook into one or two of these angry brutes in a day (although landing them is often an entirely different story!), along with the healthy resident rainbows that the Lower Sac is famous for.īy December the weather starts to turn cold and winter storms are more frequent, keeping many of the anglers that come to fish the Lower Sacramento River in the Fall at home so that the die-hards on the river frequently have the water to themselves. These lower floats take you through some beautiful, rural countryside decorated by monstrous valley oaks and pock-marked by molten rock left over from the region's volcanic past. One of the biggest highlights of the fall season is the arrival of Steelhead in the lower reaches of the river, from Anderson down to Los Molinos. There are still caddis hatching in the evenings, and on slightly overcast days in October and November we can see some good Baetis hatches, too.

As salmon begin to lay their eggs in the tailouts - usually by the first week in October - fat hungry Rainbow Trout move into the shallows as well to gorge themselves on the eggs and aquatic insects kicked up by the spawning Salmon. Starting in September, the water starts to recede from the high flows of summer, and shortly thereafter first of the Fall run of Chinook Salmon begin to arrive. The nights begin to cool, the colors start to change, and the fishing for trout and steelhead is at its peak.

International Fly Fishing Travel Magazineįall is a special time of year on the Lower Sacramento River.Skip to content The Fly Shop 800♶69♳474 Menu

Fish store sacramento