The Lower Sac Rainbow that keeps you coming back

Had a great day on the Lower Sacramento River fly fishing with an old friend from Fish Camp.    Evan and Jack were great learners picking up the drift boat fly fishing thing very quickly.

We enjoyed great Redding California sunshine (it was only 90 degrees on the water), landed some nice quality rainbow trout and connected with a fish we’ll tell stories about for a long time.

After a beautiful cast and even better hook set, Evan watched the fish shoot under the boat (he told me later “I thought we were just gonna net him right up”).   Well, the fish had another idea as he made a quick right turn ripping line as he headed out to main channel (all of this happened in about :03-:04 seconds).    Amazingly, Evan managed to keep the line tight and untangled and I thought “we’re gonna have a chance”.    The speed by which Evan managed his line was no less impressive than the speed the fish traveled to the deeper faster water (all that training from Fish Camp paid off).   Once the fish settled in the fast current, Evan held him steady for a moment… we (Grandpa Jack and I) were amazed Evan still had the fish on.    As fast as we reflected with appreciation, the fish gave another burst and he was gone.   We gasped, laughed, cried, smiled and collectively said “WOW”!

In our lifetime, we’ll land a lot of fish and get refused by even more but every once in while we get an experience that is hard to forget.   I’m thrilled to have shared that experience with Evan and his grandpa, Jack.   Evan is 15 now and I know he’ll land many more fish in his lifetime but he may also look back and remember that trip with grandpa and that first “hot” fish on the Lower Sacramento River in Redding California.