Memorial Day is a traditional time for local anglers to get out on the Sacramento River in pursuit of shad, and things are looking good according to Phil Peeples at The Tackle Box in Chico. "The shad bite has been pretty good over by Scotty's", noted Peeples. "The boat anglers have an advantage when it comes to locating schools of fish. We saw the largest shad in many years recently; it was well over six pounds.

"Best lure colors have been chartreuse sparkle tail with a red head. Fly casters have been having trouble with the wind, but using a shad fly and split-shot with spinning gear is working well."

Trout fishing in the stretch of the Sacramento River between Redding and Anderson is as good as it gets, reports local guide Kevin Brock. "We released over 40 beautiful wild rainbow trout on Tuesday", said Brock. "Most were in the 16 to 20-inch range, and the largest was well over five pounds and over 23 inches long. Pretty much every day we average over 10 fish per angler.

"All of our fish are being caught side drifting with crickets, cured roe, or glo-bugs. The river is not crowded at all; we see one or two power boats and a handful of drift boats for the entire day. This excellent action should continue for at least another two weeks."