Temps on this gage are beginning to bump up towards 70 degrees in the late afternoon

Sacramento River - Upper - Shasta, CA (Shasta County)


by The Fly Shop
7-13-2023
Website

As the runoff has subsided, the flows on the lower end of the river above Lake Shasta are now fluctuating between 360 & 390 CFS. Temps on this gage are beginning to bump up towards 70 degrees in the late afternoon, if you are fishing below Simms play your fish quickly and keep them in the water. With just a hint of some color in the water, the fish are happy. Up top some residual Stoneflies are coming off and you can still get fish to take a Salmonfly or Golden Stone dry. Good rigs are a Chubby Chernobyl with a brown Rubberleg dropper. Some Blue Wing Olives and midges coming off will have fish sipping in the shady slicks. Smaller, dark Missing Links in #16 & 18 are working well. Keep you eyes peeled for ant falls. Besides the Rubberlegs, Perdigons, Sweet Peas, and #16 S&Ms in olive and brown are good patterns to drop.

Upper Sacramento Flows at Delta

Hot Flies: 
Dry Flies:
D&D Cripple - March Brown
Low Water Baetis - #18
Adams - #12-20
Mercer's Missing Link - Dark #14-16
Parachute Adams - #14-18

Nymphs/Wet Flies:
Mercer's Tungsten October Pupa
Morrish October Pupa
Skip's TB October Caddis
CB Birds Nest - #10-14
Red Copper John - #16-18
Zebra Midge - #18-20
Mercury Black Beauty
Mercer's Glass Bead Micro May - #22
Mercer's GB Dark Stone - #8
Mercer's Dark Stone - #6
Pat's Rubber Legs - Brown #6-8
GB Birds Nest - #12-14
Gordon's Amber Wing Prince - #12-18
Swink's BTS
Mercer's CB Micro Mayfly - #14-16

Streamers & Leeches:
Sheila Sculpin
Woolly Buggers
Muddler Minnows - #10