We got a wild hair last week and decided to spend the first part of Labor Day weekend fishing the Lower Sacramento River in Redding, CA!
Our adventure started Friday night…we flew the coop as soon as we could detach ourselves from work – around 5pm. We got on the road from Sacramento, Northbound on I-5. Hungry as hell, we stopped at this place called Granzella’s in Williams. We thought it was a glorified truck stop, but were shocked at just what a neat place it was! There was an amazing deli, gelato bar, and restaurant. We shared a pesto veggie pizza in the restaurant. Highly recommend it if you are passing though that area…
We arrived in Redding at the Red Lyon Inn around 9pm. Nick jumped out of bed the next morning around 7:00am! We went to the nearby Safeway to stock up on sunblock, snacks, and most importantly – coffee and donuts (who are we kidding here!!). Ironically enough, we spotted our soon-to-be guide, Larry Lewis, in the Safeway parking lot…
We arrived at The Fly Shop in Redding around 8:30am, absolutely chomping at the bit to get on the water. We had been told the fish do not start biting until late morning, and it is the strongest through the middle of the day – but we were excited nonetheless. We spent a few minutes shooting the breeze with Justin Miller, another fly shop guide, and stocking up on nymphs.
After what seemed like an eternity, Larry rolled up, approved our fly selections for the day, and we followed him to the lanuch at the Sacramento River RV Park. We rigged our gear and finally got the boat in the water…Nick then shuttled Larry’s truck to the take out at Balls Ferry.
We cast our first lines around 10:30am. We were rigged with Rubber Legs, and a Super Flash Pheasant Tail dropper. In addition to the thick cloud cover, there had been a full moon the night before. We had a couple nibbles, but not much action until after lunch. Luckily, our guide Larry was not short on stories, and kept us reasonably entertained despite the lack of take downs.
After lunch, we could not keep the fish off our flies. They were really biting on the Super Flash Pheasant Tail. While Nick landed the most fish, Erin landed the lunker of the day – a 22-inch rainbow trout.
Nick & Erin's Fishing Adventures 