American River shad report: 6-27-11

This last weekend they dropped the river to just a little under 8000 cfs. Much better flow over all than last weekends  13,ooo cfs – (last week, fishing was good if you had a boat, and a few hard working shad addicts did good from the bank.). The fishing was excellent in the upper river. Spey rods were working  during the bright hours if you had a 15 ft, t-14 or 17 tip off of a Shagit Short, and if you could handle a longer one you could catch more fish.  My 9 ft.  2 pc #8 Temple Fork worked great with a Rio Short, # 6 sink tip and I would have hooked more if I went to my  28 ft. leadcore or t-14 heads. Lighter tips worked well in the evening as the shad moved higher up in the water column to intercept caddis. A floater or intermediate can be used the last 30 minutes of the evening as the thick caddis hatches filled the air. My best flies have been the nitro caddis and once again, the good old standard prince nymph in 12 and 14. The nymphs have been out-fishing the standard pink and white fly. I like to combine them. I do not know if they will ramp up the flows for the middle of this week ; no matter, I am looking forward to the fishing. Thanks for coming to my blog.