After last
week’s heat wave, my guests and I switched gears and concentrated on the upper
watershed again. Last weekend the bite was on fire, the best I have seen it
since the second week of July. To put it plainly, one guest said he had never
caught and released so many trout in his lifetime. Flows are still low but have
stabilized, and those springs just keep pumping cold water into the system.
Water temps at 8am were 54 degrees, rising to 61 by 2pm. Fishing pressure has
been heavy on the weekends between Downieville and Sierra City. On my beats, we
have yet to run into another angler, and that says much after 36 trips since
July 7th. The further one hikes into the abyss, the least likely
you’ll encounter company.
The tiny BWO
spinner fall is short lived with the warmer air temperatures, it’s over before
you know it. Terrestrials still dominate the menu, ants and hoppers are
plentiful. I did find a large burnt yellow mayfly which I have yet to identify.
The occasional Golden stone fly has been seen as well. There has been a few
false October caddis (aka The Cinnamon caddis) ovipositing on the water, but no
trout have been keying in on them for now. The False October caddis is much
smaller than Dicosmoecus, and hatches
out before the real big bug of fall does. Conditions will be changing quickly
in the weeks to come, so if you want in on this fun fishery, get it now.
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