"Lower Sacramento Indicator Set-Up"

by Terry Jepsen

The following information and image are those of the proper indicator set-up for the Lower Sacramento River. The most difficult part of fishing the lower Sacramento is getting set-up with the correct gear. This river is stuffed with football shaped Rainbow Trout that have a wonderful food source. The only way to peak the interest of these fish is to make your fly seem as real as possible. Many of us think that our fly is doing exactly what its supposed to when it is underwater, but that isn't always the case. Much of the time the fly is either pushing or pulling the line through the water, causing the fly to look out of place. This, in turn, causes the fish to spook or move away from the feeding zone.

As you can see from the diagram, it is a must to have a good right angle from where your indicator attaches to the butt material and your tippet material begins. The best knot that we've found for tying your tippet to the butt material is with an improved clinch knot. If you would like to see how the clinch knot is tied, click over to Woody Woodland's The 3 Key Knots to Flyfishing Success."

Once you've gotten to this point the rest is really fairly easy. You will run 5-7 feet of 3X tippet from the butt material. Your next length of tippet will be 10-15 inches of 4X tippet. The two pieces of tippet should be tied together using the Double Surgeons knot. This is a very durable knot and will basically ensure that your two pieces of tippet stay together. At the bottom of the 4X tippet you will put on your first fly. This will be the larger of the flies that you are fishing, but if you are fishing emergers you will want your emerger in this position. You can then add your split shot you your tippet. The best way to do this is to attach the shot above the surgeons knot. This will prevent the split shot from sliding down and cutting you tippet. The sizes that we generally use are either AB or BB. You can add as many pieces as you like. I recommend that you use more weight than you think is necessary.

There is also the option of adding a second fly (dropper) to your set up. This is a very helpful technique when fishing our local waters. This second fly is usually a smaller sized fly than the first. You will want to add another piece of 4X or 5X tippet (15-18 inches) from the shank of the first fly (caddis pupa imitation) hook to the second fly. No additional weight is necessary between the two flies. A good choice in a dropper fly for the lower Sacramento would be a Mayfly nymph.