A guided day on the Upper Sacramento

Anglers usually meet their guides at The Fly Shop early in the morning. Sometimes our guides will meet clients at Ammirati's Market/Chevron Station at the Castella off-ramp on I-5, if this is arranged prior to your trip, or they can pick you up at your hotel, campgrounds, or other convenient meeting site.

Depending on the time of year, we vary the meet times to put you on the water during the most productive times of the day.

When you meet your guide at The Fly Shop, they'll check your licenses and ask to see your fly boxes. Most likely, they'll make some recommendations based on what's been working for them lately. They don't want to load you down with flies you already have or don't need, but they will want to make sure that you have enough of whatever's working.

If you are scheduled to meet your guide anywhere other than at The Fly Shop, please check our general on-line trip equipment and fly checklist or give us a call at 800-669-3474 to get the latest reports and fly suggestions.

A full day walk and wade trip on the Upper Sac will be about eight or nine hours long. Guides will likely take you to several different access spots along the 40 miles of fishable river, and you may want to be prepared to do a little hiking. Any trekking is usually easy, following the railroad tracks to areas where you can take trails down the canyon and into the river. We also offer half-day wade trips on the Upper Sac, which are four to five hours on the water.

During the long days of summer, our guides can fish either morning through afternoon, or afternoon through evening. Unfortunately, the days are simply too long to fish from dawn to dusk, as the guides are on the water every day. Based on your preferences (Mornings fish best with nymphs in the pocket water, but evenings can provide some exciting dry fly action), we’ll arrange the meet times to have you on the water during the best times of day.

All of the guided trips with The Fly Shop are fly fishing and catch-and-release only.

• Lunch is provided on all our full day trips. If you have any special dietary needs, you'll need to let us know in advance and, of course you are free to bring your own food, snacks, or beverages.

• We also offer half day trips that average four or five hours on the river. Lunch is not provided on half-day trips, but the guides will have a water and soft drinks. The half day trips are a great way to begin an angling holiday and initiate you to the river, and are particularly popular in the mid-summer when dry fly action can be red-hot in the later part of the day.

• Our guide team is on the Upper Sacramento throughout the season. They are the unqualified experts. They know best what's working and what's not, and the list of flies that you'll need is usually very precise and accurate, and sometimes different for each guide. While trout can be finicky creatures, and their diets frequently change from day to day; our guides work as a team and their intimate knowledge of the river and the current feeding habits make it an easy job to choose the effective fly patterns that will help make every day on the water productive.

• It's usually best to purchase flies the guide picks out on the morning of the trip. Guides don't provide the tippet and flies for your trip, and since most local trips begin with an early rendezvous at The Fly Shop, you can pick up whatever terminal tackle and flies you might need for the day before you hit the road. These guys aren't just trying to sell you stuff; they're trying to make sure that you have the right tackle and flies to make sure that your day is as successful as possible.

• Consider our "Package Deals" if you are just getting started in the sport. We'll match you up with the correct rod, reel, line, and all the flies, tippet, leaders, and terminal tackle you'll need for an extra $50 a day. The only things not included in that package are licenses or waders.

• The majority of our walk and wade trips are designed for one or two anglers sharing the guide for the day. Though we do occasionally accommodate three anglers (there is an additional fee for a third angler), we strongly advise against more than two fly rodders sharing a guide in most situations. Our guides have a lot of great information to share, but with three anglers they are really spread too thin on the rough terrain of the mountain streams to effectively help more than two anglers at a time.

• Guides will either drive you to the river accesses in their vehicle, or have you follow them in yours. Though many of the commonly used access along the Upper Sacramento River is easy to get to, a few of the lesser-known spots do require 4 wheel drive vehicles. If you don't think your car will make it, you're welcome to ride with the guide; to keep your gear close at hand, or have the ability to stay on the river fishing after your guided trip is over, you may want to drive separately and follow the guide.

• Every angler needs to have a current California fishing license.

If you prefer to correspond on-line simply e-mail us at info@adventuresinflyfishing.com and we will respond promptly.