Lower Sac

An angler with a wild trout caught near the Sundial Bridge

Guided Float Trips

Full Days: $600 for 1-2 Anglers or $650 including hotel pickup and shuttle

Half Days: $450 for 1-2 Anglers or $500 including hotel pickup and shuttle

Year-round
Drift Boat Trips

The Lower Sacramento River between Redding and Red Bluff is California´s premier wild trout fishery. It is one of the few destinations where anglers can expect to hook into 18+" fish on a regular basis. Clear, cold, consistent flows coming out of Lake Shasta provide excellent conditions for the aquatic insects that trout eat. The Lower Sac is open to fishing year round. The Confluence Outfitters guide team can get you hooked up with quality wild trout on the Lower Sac at any time of year!

Lower Sac guide trips usually start between 7am and 9am depending on arrangements made with your guide. Most of our Lower Sac guide trips are drift boat trips, although we also do a lot of jet boat trips for folks who want to use Trout Spey techniques. Most of our guests opt for the shuttle-included rate, which means your guide can pick you up at your hotel and then drop you off again at the end of the day. If you opt to not include a shuttle, then plan on following your guide to the river in your own vehicle and assisting with shuttling the guide's vehicle to the take-out. You can hop into the boat in regular street clothes most days - waders are only necessary in inclement weather. Our guides can put more fish in the net by keeping their guests in the boat all day, but will definitely accommodate you if you want to do some wade fishing. Most days we fish nymphs and indicators all day long. Lunch is served on the river and trips usually wrap up by 5:30pm. On any given day you could be on one of six full-day floats - well over 60 miles of river. If fishing is red-hot in one area, our guides will sometimes do the same short float twice in one day.

Dry fly fishing can be very good almost any time of year. Our guides are always on the lookout for splashy rises in shallow riffles and stealthy risers in the flats. The best time for dry fly fishing is usually after lunch when water temperatures are warmer and there is more bug activity. If you have an interest in dry fly fishing please let your guide know so he can plan the day accordingly. The fish don't rise everywhere - you really have to be in the right place at the right time.

Lower Sac Guide Team

Our Lower Sac guide team includes Andrew Harris, Brian Kohlman, Kevin Kay, Luke Geraty, Ben Thompson, Peter Santley, Colin Coogan, Mike Wright, Scott Saiki, Mat Squillante, and Andreas Fuhrmann.

Recent Lower Sac Fishing Reports

April 25, 2025

Lower Sac Report by Peter Santley

Friday was my first Lower Sac trip of the season! It felt great to be back on the river with the father/Son combo of Rick and Rick from thr RRFF ! We had a good day of playing with rainbows! Some nice fish caught and good times were had! We were using eggs and pmd nymphs and the fish were cooperating! This is a good time to get out and play! I am trying to fill a few dates if you are interested May 13th, 14th, 16th, and 19th! Book a day and let's go fishing! This time of year has several options and we have the guides to get you on the water!Thanks and good fishing!Peter Santley

March 25, 2025

Lower Sac Report by Kevin Kay

You may have noticed a lack of Lower Sac reports recently. That's because there hasn't been much to report! Similar to last year we've had lots of rain and some big flow changes. In February the flows went up to 60,000 CFS to make room in Lake Shasta for more rain. That blew the river out and it resembled the Mississippi more than our trusty Lower Sac. Flows came down pretty quickly to around 6000 CFS. I was ready to give it a try last week and overnight the flows jumped to 16,000 CFS. Jeez. Now they're coming down again, targeted to be 6,500 CFS by the 28th. I went out today to check it out and although the visibility is only 2-3 feet I caught some nice rainbows in a few hours of solo fishing. More rain is forecast but the totals don't look to be massive. Things should settle down pretty quickly so probably a good time to get a trip on the books!

August 21, 2024

Lower Sac Report by Luke Geraty

Well it's been awhile since I wrote a river report, so here's a quick update. First, the flows are still BIG but the river's been slowly creeping down. I think we're just around 11,600cfs. The fishing has been all over the map, from really tough to really good. When it's good, it's GREAT. When it's tough, you just got to work hard and be creative and hope things line up. The last two weeks have been more consistent and better, so it's starting to feel a bit more connsistent. The mornings have had some pretty big midge and small mayfly hatches. The afternoons and evenings may or may not have some caddis. Today was pretty consistent until around 1:30pm... then it slowed down. However, Chuck hooked all of the BIGGER fish in the last hour and a half, so I guess it was still successful. And actually... he landed 87.5% of his fish today, ha ha! Yes... we kept track in order to compare it to the previous day... which we wan't talk about :) Anyway, the weather is starting to cool down and the fishing is improving. I've got a bit of September dates available, in October, and then the steelhead season on the Trinity takes over. Give us a call at Confluence if you wanna get out! We've got plenty of guides to get you out for a fun day! NOTHING

Lower Sac Hatch Chart

Mayflies
March Browns
Baetis
PMD
Callibaetis
Caddisflies
Brachycentrus
Rhyacophila
Hydropsyche
Stoneflies
Golden Stones
Giant Stoneflies
Little Yellow Stones
Other
Salmon Eggs
Steelhead Present

Jan		Feb		Mar		Apr		May		Jun		Jul		Aug		Sep		Oct		Nov		Dec

Lodging Recommendations

The Lower Sac runs right through Redding and Red Bluff. Please visit our Redding Info Page and Red Bluff Info Page for ideas on lodging, logistics, and other activities in the area.