Lower Sacramento River
Trout and More Trout!
The Lower Sacramento River below Shasta Lake is among the most prolific wild rainbow trout tailwater fisheries in the country. It is one of the most popular rivers in California with fly anglers. The river is open to fishing all year around and due to its low elevation and temperate climate – the Lower Sac can offer fantastic fishing each month of the year!
The river flows right through the City of Redding on it’s 160-mile journey south into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and eventually into San Francisco Bay.
The Lower Sac is well known for its impressive number of large, wild, rainbow trout along with seasonal runs of steelhead and Chinook (king) salmon. The lower portions of the river - further south of Redding - also see runs of American shad, several species of sturgeon and support a very good striped bass fishery. Further, there are many tributary creeks and ponds connected to the riparian zone that support a large number of smallmouth bass and largemouth bass. While the wild rainbow trout get a lot of attention in the Redding area, these bass opportunities should not be overlooked.
Historically, the river saw one of the largest runs of Chinook salmon in north America. It remains the only river in the world known to have 4 distinct runs of Chinook salmon each year. Though the salmon and steelhead numbers are just a sliver of what they once were, these fish still return in respectable numbers each season providing awesome opportunities for sport fishing and add a unique element to the productive trout fishery.
Before the construction of Shasta Dam, the Lower Sac was an enormous free-flowing freestone drainage as the confluence of several large riversheds (Pit River, McCloud River and Upper Sac rivers) along with dozens of smaller tributaries further up the drainage (Fall River, Hat Creek, Burney Creek, etc,) join forces to form the mighty Sacramento River system.
Upon the completion of Shasta Dam, the river is now a very large tailwater fishery created below the enormous Shasta Lake and smaller Keswick Reservoir. The Shasta Dam backs up the largest reservoir in California with over 130 miles of shoreline, and is the 8th tallest concrete dam in the United States. These two dams began the slow demise of the great salmon and steelhead fishery that once existed throughout the Sacramento drainage.
In the late 1990’s a Temperature Control Device (TCD) was installed on Shasta Dam. The TCD retrofitting was put in place in order to improve habitat and mitigate damages resulting from the two dams (Shasta and Keswick) blocking upstream migration of native anadromous fish species. This adjustable release modification allows water to be drawn at various depths in the lake ensuring consistent cold water averaging 55 degrees. Despite Redding’s very hot and dry summers, the river remains cold and clean for many more miles downriver – further improving and expanding the world-class trout fishery.
Depending on the time of year and reservoir level flows can be as low as 3,000cfs to upwards of 18,000cfs or more. We primarily fish this river from drift boats in order to access the prime areas and cover many miles of river. We often get out of the boat and wade shallow riffles when conditions are suitable. Although mostly a nymph fishing river, excellent dry fly fishing opportunities do happen under certain conditions at various times of the year.
I recommend staying in Redding or nearby Anderson when booking trips on the Lower Sac; however, it’s possible to travel from other destinations nearby. For more info call or email me. Local fly shop is The Fly Shop, close to the river off Churn Creek Rd & Bonneyview Rd in Redding.
