Early August Fishing Report

Overall, we’ve had great weather and great fishing over the past few weeks. We have a couple more hot days, then back to the 90s which is actually unusually cool for Redding in August, something we are all welcoming with open arms. Now let’s get to the fishing…..

Lower Sac

Our beloved trout fishing powerhouse is still kicking out great fishing as we nose into the dog days of summer. Our guides are reporting that right now, it’s been best in the mornings. It is opposite of how it normally would be this time of year, where evenings are typically the hot bite. The evenings have been fishing well also, but with less consistency than in the mornings due to the sporadic nature of the caddis hatch. A Baetis spinner fall and other spent mayflies like PMDS have been making up the majority of the food source during these cooler morning hours, and the trout having been taking keen advantage of it. Also, there has been a notable showing of Spring Chinook salmon spawning in the upper reaches. This means an egg pattern is very much a valid option when fished near spawning salmon. The August 1st (above highway 44) opener was reportedly fantastic, with lots of big fish and consistent action through the top stretch in both the morning and afternoon on a huge smorgasbord of flies as the fish have been unpressured since April 1st. We are also getting reports that the river below Anderson is fishing fantastic as well, especially in the morning. Overall, it seems like the river is healthier than it has been over the past two years and is trending more positively each day.

Trinity River

The Trinity recently got a flow increase up to 1,500 cfs which has greatly increased the number of fish pushing into it’s upper reaches. Right now it’s hovering around 680 cfs in Douglas City which is prime flows. With this flow bump, the summer steelhead fishing has been nothing short of fantastic. More and more, the Trinity is becoming recognized for it’s amazing early season fishing. It hasn’t been crowded, and there have been plenty of white-hot summer steelhead and half pounders around. The fish haven’t been picky with this higher water, so fishing with what you have confidence in should work great. Rubber-legs, egg patterns, copper johns, etc. it’s all on the menu with the right drift. Don’t wait until November to experience this.

Upper Sac

The Upper Sac has been a great wet wading option lately to get out of the heat. The water below Simms has been a bit too warm, so we are focusing our efforts above that point. The dry-dropper fishing has still been very consistent. The mornings and evenings have as usual been best for the dry fly fishing, and mid-day is mostly nymphing and a bit slower. Perdigon style nymphs and Two Bits are a very safe bet underneath a chubby chernobyl or small indicator. With this warmer water, the fast water pockets with foam on top have been the key producers. August is a very fun time to wade the Upper Sac.

McCloud

Following a brief blowout due to a thunderstorm and landslide, the McCloud is back in good shape and fishing well. In the coming weeks, we expect this to continue. Our guide Travis reported catching some very nice browns and solid rainbows over the past few days. Water temperatures on the McCloud are much cooler coming out of McCloud Reservoir, so this stream can be fished from Ash Camp all the way to the bottom of the Conservancy with no worries about water being too warm. Much like all the walk n wade streams right now, oxygenated pocket water is the ticket. The McCloud has lots of shade, so the bite window in the morning and evening is more extended than that of other rivers. Think Perdigons and other basic Jigged attractors like Duracels and blow torches. There are still some fish eating the chubby chernobyl dry fly as well. We are right around the corner from the Mega-Sized October Caddis appearing, but until then it seems the fish will not be going hungry as they are already feeding on their Larva, and some mop flies have been getting bit. 

Pit River

We haven’t had many reports from the Pit lately, but we can assume that it’s famous slippery pocket water is fishing just as good if not better than the Upper Sac and Mccloud. Summer on the Pit is always fun because wet wading makes it a little more fun if you fall in. 

Fall River

Our latest report from the Fall River is that the grass die-off has increased making fishing challenging due to constantly needing to clear the hooks from grass. Fish are still being caught, but the grass maintenance has been a lot to keep up with when there are so many other great venues to fish right now. Once we start seeing some cooler weather in September a few weeks from now, this should subside. Until then, we recommend focusing on the Sac or Trinity because they have been outshining the Fall as of lately.

Lake Shasta

The water is WARM in Lake Shasta right now with surface temps in the 80s and 70s up the river arms. The fish have pushed deep during the day, and are accessible in the mornings / evenings when they chase huge schools of Shad. Overall, this fishery needs a few weeks to cool down and will fish much better in September / October as the weather cools just a little. There are still fish getting caught here, but in our opinion the Lower Sac, Trinity, Upper Sac, and McCloud are all likely better options right now.