The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

With all of the warm weather the north state is getting those fish on the Lower Sac are starting to look for caddis. I was on the river three times last week and each trip the hot fly of the day was some caddis variation. So this means that the caddis hatch is getting close. Each time on the river I would see a handful of caddis fluttering about but not anything a fly fisherman would call a hatch. All I can say is that you want to be on the Lower Sac when that hatch comes off. Last year it was arguably some of the best fishing during the entire year. When the fish start gorging themselves on caddis the fishing can get pretty silly on the river. Currently things are just getting going. Currently we are boating 25+ rainbows on the middle drifts of the river. But when that caddis hatch starts those numbers are going to go way up. The spring caddis hatch should last for about 3-4 weeks. So make sure you plan accordingly to get some time on the water.

The last couple of weeks on the middle part of the river, between Anderson and Jellys Ferry, we have been hooking a stray steelhead about every other day. Actually one of my clients had a treat last week when he hooked two adult steelies in the same day. This doesn't happen very often on the Sac. Especially in the middle of winter. But it looks like it is going to set up like last spring where we hook steelhead all the way through May. It is exciting when you have a chance of hooking a random steelie in the midst of a massive caddis hatch.

Fish Hard!

any fish rising to the few adults yet, or do they wait until they can pig out?

The Lower Sac doesn't get tons of rising fish. So far there hasn't been any rainbows feeding consistently on the top. It seems like to me the years when the water is lower the better the dry fly fishing becomes once the bugs decide to come off. Last spring offered some decent dry fly fishing for the spring caddis and even the PMD's. When I say decent though I am talking about a handful of spots where fish tend to rise. You can usually throw dries for about an hour in the spring time. I don't fish dries blind on the Lower Sac. The only time I will use a dry is if I have a pod of fish up working. The best dry fly spots tend to be big shallow flats with a little current and the tailouts of those flats.

If you are interested in some dry fly fishing then I would expect about 2-3 weeks with some decent fishing during the first part of March. That is all hatch based and water flow dependent of course.

Hope this helps.

Tight Lines!