Okay, so it’s still hard for some folks to believe but the Sacramento River near Redding, CA is one of the best rainbow trout fisheries you’ll ever run across. I know, I know…it sounds kinda bizarre, but this tailrace fishery below Shasta Dam is as good as just about anything you’ll find in Alaska in terms of numbers of fish.
When the Sac is really going, fly and spin anglers can catch as many as 100 rainbows from 12 inches to 3 plus pounds (most are closer to 3 pounds than they are a foot!) per day. And this is a year-round fishery, too, with the trout biting winter, spring, summer and fall!
Team FishWithJD hit the water recently with guide Gary Manies of Stricty Fishin’ Guide & Tackle in Redding for a quickie 2-hour stop to sample the fishing. Well, all I can say is that, due to schedule issues on our end, we hit it dead wrong — 1 p.m. on a 94-degree day…and we still caught a bunch of trout. That’s just how good the Sac is! [click to continue…]
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Okay, so maybe the comparison to the Kenai is a bit much, but the Sacramento River in Redding, CA is one of the best trout fishing destinations this side of Alaska. While the rainbows here don’t reach the epic proportions their cousins to the north do, they are chunky, solid fish that provide some superb year-round angling.