There are few better ways to beat the Redding summer heat than to spend an early morning floating the Lower Sacramento River in search of rainbow trout.  A push off at dawn in the morning from the Posse Grounds and an easy float to the Highway 44 bridge put us on prime fishing waters in short order. With Captain “Big Water” on the oars and his son Ethan, a grizzled veteran angler at the age of 7 alongside, we decided to pull Mag lip 2.5 plugs as the reported bite had been tough in recent days. The hot daytime triple digit temperatures, monsoonal pressures coupled with a recent rise of river releases to 13,000 CFS had thrown the bite off.

Just a couple of lure slaps to begin the morning confirmed that the bite was indeed tough, with little evidence of any substantial insect hatches coming off the water. A very brief sparse Caddis appearance about 9:00 a.m. gave us some encouragement, but in about 5 minutes time they all but disappeared, with no sign of interest from the trout below.

Cruising below the Cypress Bridge, things picked up ever so briefly as in the span of about 15 minutes a couple of the bright and hearty rainbows, for which the Lower Sac is known, took an interest in the plugs.  First, Ethan was slammed by a strong fish which took numerous drag squealing runs. Ethan, who had recently landed a 7 pound steelhead, showed his skills working his 5 pound rainbow to the net. Having been shown the way, I was able to bring a nice 22- 23 inch rainbow to the net shortly afterward.

We did get a couple more slaps at the lures and one more fish on that threw the hook after a nice aerial display, but the two trout were it for the net this day.

Once the river levels stabilize there may be an egg bite for fly anglers as numerous spawning pairs of salmon have been spotted on redds. But for this day, good friends, cool air coming off the water on a hot day, and a couple of trout to the net provided a great morning I'd take any day.