Fished just a couple of hours in the Box Canyon section of the Upper Sacramento River, above Dunsmuir. The river is much smaller than further downstream and is in a scenic canyon. The fish unfortunately were smaller too.

As the evening progressed I started to see more and more adult October Caddis dapping the surface as they were laying eggs. They looked like large moths and were about size #6-8. Only saw one fish try to make a grab for one leaping out of the air trying to do so. It was in a calm pool section.

It was incredibly peaceful and serene in the canyon. 

Biggest fish was about 10". 

Never seen so many October Caddis fly about at once. Would have been nice if the fish were rising on the surface to try and eat them. 

The Upper Sacramento can be divided between the section upstream from Dunsmuir which has special regulations, and the section below Dunsmuir which does not. What is known as the Lower Sac is the river downstream from Redding, CA.

The Lower Sac is a completely different river than the lower than the Upper. The Upper resembles a small freestone stream in a mountain setting and has 8-14” rainbow trout. The Lower Sac is a large tailwater that flows a long way from Redding, CA to the Bay Area and has decent runs of salmon and steelhead, as well as an excellent population of large rainbows. There is also striped bass fishing in the river as you get closer to the delta near the city of Sacramento.

​It was late October and I had the river to myself this day and I was fishing the section between Lake Shasta to Dunsmuir.

​I was looking for October Caddis, but saw only a few flying about, as they are active towards the late evening and into the night. There were some Baetis here and there.

​Fishing was decent. Didn’t catch anything large, but the wild rainbows of the upper Sac are great fighters and have that classic “rainbow” look to them that is missing from the stocked rainbows that a lot of fly fishermen in the east gripe about, or even the wild rainbows of Montana, Idaho, ect.

​I think in general fishermen from the West Coast have a better appreciation for the rainbow than elsewhere. Maybe it is because this is their origin and because of their sea going cousins that many of us grew up fishing for. 

​I caught a few that had strange looking protruding bellies. I think it is all the Oct Caddis they were eating the night before. I have caught in the past rainbows on the Upper Sac with large cased caddis houses that they were in the process of painfully discharging halfway when they decided to strike my nymphs floating by. The Upper Sac and McCloud have some of the best Oct Caddis hatches around. On the Upper Sac you will encounter a lot more of them upstream from Dunsmuir, or at least that is what I have observed in the past.

Typical scene on the Upper Sac, with the Elephant Ear vegetation along the banks.

I have found that the best water on the upper sac are these type of sections, with medium depth pocketwater. The deep runs of the section below Sims/Pollard are tough to fish and seem to lacking in fish numbers.

As always, the rubber legs and frenchie combo worked all day (I am a lazy flytyer, LOL).

Some very promising water that didn’t give up any fish!

​I covered a lot of water and used the train pathway (not on the tracks) to walk back. Very dangerous to walk the tracks as sometimes there will be “silent”/ninja trains that do not have any cargo behind them. They will be almost gliding in a way, and are almost noiseless—they could easily sneak up on you and if the train engineer is not paying attention and doesn’t blow his horn, you are dead. I have seen them twice while fishing the Truckee east of Reno in the desert, and have been always been extra extra cautious when crossing or walking near the tracks because of it.

On the way back to my hotel I got an enormous meal at the Burger Barn in Dunsmuir. Two double burgers, fries & onion fries and a vanilla milkshake! Later wolfed it down while watching Boston vs NY in the playoffs. It is nice to go in there during the fall and not have to wait an hour for the food with all the summer crowds. The Dunsmuir Burger Barn is good, but not as good as the Burger Barn in Bishop or Walker Burger.