Date: Sunday, December 23, 2001 at 07:59:13
Current Report:
AmericanRiver
The water in the American is running at 1500 CFS and green in color. The steelhead in the river are quite spooky. Use caution when entering the waters edge and don't walk in teir spawning beds (the light colored areas of the riffles), they're pretty close to the bank. The lures of choice are wiggle warts, wee warts, spinners, glowbugs, puffballs, corkies and flies. The baits you'll want to try are roe, nightcrawlers and single eggs. To catch a steelhead you'll have to find a spot where there's no pressure on riffle because they have to come through the area to get to the hatchery. Be sure to release all native fish and you can keep one hatchery fish. There's steelhead in the entire length of the American.
Delta
The fishing in the Delta is fair to good when you find the fish in a feeding mood. It's fair to slow if there's a drop in the barometor or if a weather front moves in over night. You'll want to use live bait such as minnows and bullhead and cut bait such as sardines, shad and anchovies. If your trolling, you'll have to work for your fish some days and not work so hard on other days. Lures of choice are rebels, bombers and jigs (1/2 oz to 2 oz) and bright colors will help. The best time to fish is 1 1/2 hours before the outgoing tide or 1 1/2 hours before the incoming tide. We are starting to see some sturgeon making their annual run. You'll want to be fishing in water that is 8 to 25 feet deep, close to the edges and drop offs and near humps. Use eel, shrimp baits like grass, ghost and mud with 4/0 to 10/0 hooks. Sardines and shad work too but you might get a striper or two in the process. Keep a tight line!
Captain Rene'
Date: Sunday, November 11, 2001 at 18:54:11
Current Report: Sacramento River
Winter run salmon and steelhead are in the river now. You'll want to use flatfish, spinners and roe to catch them both. We expect a very good steelhead run this year so book early for the best dates for steelhead and salmon.
American River
The steelhead will be arriving in the upcoming months. Don't forget to book your trips for the January 1, 2002, opener.... it promises to be a good one!
Delta
It's striper season! We've caught stripers to 26 lbs. This season is a banner year so far in the early stages. We're using shad and sardines for bait and trolling rebels and bombers. You might also want to try some bucktail jigs. We've been having good luck with the out-going tide using bait and trolling the slack tides. The prehistoric sturgeon will be turning on as soon as we get more run-off. The rain we're having as I write this, will stir the bottom of the river up and get them more active. Keep at tight line!
Catch ya later,
Captain Rene'
Date: Thursday, September 6, 2001 at 17:36:11
Current Report: Sacramento River (Corning Area)
The salmon are running and we're catching them in the Sacramento River by Woodson Bridge. They're hitting roe and flatfish. The fish that are coming up are fall run... so book early for the best dates. This is the best run ever!
American River
The fall run salmon will be in the American River late September to October/November. This will be a good salmon run. Flatfish and spinners are best to use.
Delta
Striped Bass will turn on this September. We'll be bait fishing and trolling from Sacramento to Sherman Island.
Date: Sunday, August 12, 2001 at 14:12:46
Current Report: Delta
There are stripers to be caught in the Delta but be sure to bring alot of bait such as sardines and anchovies. You'll catch alot of catfish while trying to catch a keeper size striper. The catfish are 1 lb to 9 lbs and they're alot of fun to catch too! As the salmon run builds in the Delta, we will be trolling for stripers and salmon in the weeks to come. We're looking forward to a very good salmon and striper run this year.... so book early for your salmon/striper combination trips.
Sacramento River
The salmon are starting to stack up in the Sacramento River from Chico to Woodson Bridge. We're using flatfish in the morning and switching over to roe in the mid-day. They're running bigger than normal and are silver dollar bright this year.
Feather River
The big, big kings are here! A fifty pounder was caught last week. We were using light line and had to switch back to heavier line after we lost two heavy weights (over 40 lbs). The flow is running at 2400 cfs and is green and clear. Please use caution when approaching the holes so you don't spook the fish. We're having good luck using silver/green flatfish or backbouncing roe.
Date: Monday, July 2, 2001 at 19:36:04
Current Report: Delta
Stripers are biting sardines, anchovies and trolled rebels. You'll want to start fishing one hour before the high tide and one hour after the bottom of the low tide... seems to be the best bite. If your trolling, you have to search for the fish, but when you do find them they're good size fish. It's almost time for the salmon opener.. July 16th. We're looking forward to a very good run this year.
Feather
The Feather River is running quite low and difficult to navigate.. be careful! The salmon and steelhead are in the river. We've caught salmon up to 26 lbs. and steelhead up to 4 lbs. We're backtrolling flatfish and back bouncing roe. The salmon are very fresh and full of fight! The steelhead are acrobatic and have lots of energy. Looking forward to the July 16th opener in the Chico area/upper Sacramento River. We expect a good return of huge salmon this season. Book early for the best dates.
Date: Sunday, May 20, 2001 at 07:52:16
Current Report: Feather/American Rivers
The shad...."mini tarpins" have arrived. You can catch them on flies and jigs. They're acrobatic and full of energy! Alot of fun to catch! We've seen some salmon jumping too, as we were fishing for shad. That's a good indication that the summer run salmon are starting to come up the river. According to the fish and game reports.. this summer/fall run of salmon should be the best ever! Now's the time to start thinking about getting your family and freinds together to book a trip for salmon fishing as our calandar fills
quickly.
Delta
The stripers are still in the river, fresh run and down streamers. We catch them mostly on bait now using live minnows, sardines and anchovies. The best time bait fish is the out-going tide. Troll on the incoming and/or slack tide. When trolling, I use rebels and bombers with a jig to keep the lures down. We've caught alot of schoolies, but also got some big ones up to 21 lbs..
Date: Sunday, April 29, 2001 at 07:55:42
Current Report: Delta
The stripers are biting real well right now while we're trolling lures. We're using 1/2 oz to 1 1/2 oz rebels, bombers, jigs and sassy shads. We're trolling by Decker Island and the San Joaquin River during the slack tide and bait fishing with sardines, anchovies and shrimp on the out-going tide. The females are in now and we're catching them on a regular basis. We're also catching lots of males. The weather has been great so it's a good time to book a trip.
American River
The cottonwood is flying...a good indication the shad are here. We'll be flyfishing and using ultralight fishing gear to hook the hickory shad. (I supply all the tackle) They average about 2 to 4 lbs... and lots of fun to catch. We'll be offering 1/2 and full day trips. Check out the scenic American River Parkway and all it's wildlife and waterfowl. It's such a beautiful place to visit. Now's a good time to make your reservations.
Date: Sunday, March 25, 2001 at 08:15:50
Current Report: Delta
The spring striper run is here in force! We're catching fish from the Antioch Bridge to the mouth of the Feather River. Saturday, we limited out on stripers from 20" to 25" (three people on the boat, and the captain kept one too!). The best baits right now are shad, shrimp, anchovies, sardines, pile worms and eel. We had a blast! The fish were hitting so hard...we had triples on at one point and netted two out of the three...what a thrill that was! As soon as the water clears the trolling will get better. For trolling, I like to use a rebel or bomber with a plastic worm trailer. The Delta is really turning on and this should be an excellent striper season. Don't forget the sturgeon either. The prehistorics are getting larger and larger. They're much more of a challange to catch, but the possibility is right here in the Delta. The best baits for sturgeon are mud, grass and shrimp baits.
American River
The spring run steelhead are in the river up to 7.5 lbs. We're back trolling wiggle worts, hot shots and jet planers with roe. They also hit nightcrawlers. Dan Bacher, editor of the Fish Sniffer paper, had a great day catching and releasing steelhead from 2lbs to 7.5 lbs. Check out the pictures in the next edition of the Fish Sniffer. In addition to the great steelhead fishing, the American River Parkway is a beautiful place to visit. There's so much wildlife....turkeys, deer, beavers too name a few and so many species of birds. If you have the opportunity to visit Sacramento, don't miss the American River.
Date: Saturday, February 3, 2001 at 11:02:36
Current Report: Delta
Sturgeon, sturgeon and more sturgeon are pouring in. It happens every year at this time when the water muddies up. Your best baits would be ghost, grass and mud shrimps. You want to use shad for the stripers. Outgoing tide seems to be the best for stripers and sturgeon. Look for the edge of the channels and drop offs as they seem to be the best places to find the sturgeon and stripers.
American River
There's been a very good return of steelhead this year. It's reported that 1,900 adult steelhead are in the hatchery. The flows are running 1,500 cfs and are low and clear. Be very cautious entering the water because the fish spook easily. I've seen people wading right out in the middle of the river right on top of the spawning beds. "Hello"..... Do you think you'll catch a steelhead this way? It's more fun to catch the steelhead than to spot them. It's important for us to let the steelhead spawn naturally so we can have another good return next year and future years for our kids and grandkids. Please don't forget the regulation regarding you can only keep one hatchery fish per day. We're using hot shots, nightcrawlers and roe from the hatchery down to the Howe Avenue Bridge.
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