NORCAL FRESH REPORTS

Published: Aug 31, 2010 RIVERS UPDATE: Two Seasons For Salmon Open Saturday

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NORCAL FRESH RIVER REPORTS First of Sacramento River salmon seasons opens Saturday, Sept. 4 By Jim Jones/WON Staff Writer SACRAMENTO — The “early” salmon season on the Sacramento River will be the day after this issue of WON hits the newsstands and mailboxes on Friday, so it’s a guess as to whether the opener is a good one or not. Striped bass fishing above Knight’s Landing might be a better bet. As was mentioned last week, the number of salmon passing through the Red Bluff Diversion Dam is low, so expectations should be held in check. However, John Myer of Verona Marina at the mouth of the Feather River reported that some salmon were being caught just into the mouth of the Feather River, so, presumably, there should be at least some fish concentrating on the Sacramento River side of the mouth of the Feather when the season opens. As for other species, around Sacramento virtually all the striped bass being caught were too small to keep (under 18 inches), according to Larry Barnes of Elkhorn Outdoor Sports. He did say some catfish were being caught in Sacramento Slough, though. Lisbon Slough and the Port were also producing some catfish. However, the usual stinkbaits, chicken livers, mackerel were not working nearly as well as minnows and bluegill according to Barnes. There were some reports of larger stripers being caught farther upstream. For example, clients fishing with Scott Feist of Feisty Fish Guide Service caught limits of striped bass to 12 pounds on minnows above Colusa, along with the usual shakers. Jim May and a friend threw Clouser minnow streamers toward the banks south of Ward’s Landing to catch legal-sized stripers to 6 pounds. And, Barnes said that 2 different anglers drifted and worked Hair Raiser jigs around Tisdale for stripers weighing 25,28, and 33 pounds. Klamath River producing mix of adult and jack salmon, plus adult steelhead By Jim Jones/WON Staff Writer KLAMATH GLEN  — Anglers had some very good days for salmon and steelhead on the Klamath River last week, but there were some off days, too. “Fishing picked up this week from Monday morning on,” said Dave Jacobs of Professional Guide Service last Sunday evening. I’ve been fishing the same stretch of river from Klamath Glen to about 10 miles upstream and catching adult and jack salmon, and adult steelhead. We’ve been getting some big fish, too, up to 35 pounds.” Jacobs’ clients caught 10 salmon and 2 steelhead, both wild fish, on Saturday’s outing, which included a trip into the mouth of the Klamath just upstream from crashing waves. He said that there is more room to fish in the estuary since the Indian nets apparently now start farther upstream than in the past. “There are plenty of fish getting by the nets, and I’m having more problems from boaters driving their boats crazy than from the nets,” Jacobs said. Charley Karftens caught a 35.25-pound Chinook salmon at the Cleveland Hole, and Bob Baker also caught a 35 pounder. Both fish were taken on drifted roe. Clients fishing with Steve Huber of Steve Huber’s Guide Service also did well on salmon and steelhead last week fishing the same general area. One of the nicer catches was a chrome-bright 21-pound Chinook pounder caught by Lon Brewton Sr. while boondoggling roe. Small window opens for Delta king salmon Sept. 4 By Robin Wade/WON Staff Writer RIO VISTA  — Anglers are pulling out their Wiggle Warts and hunting down anchovies in anticipation of this year’s salmon season in the lower Delta, beginning Sept. 4 and running through Oct. 3. Although it’s not really a “season,” from September 4 through Oct. 3, the lower Delta will be open to salmon fishing with a bag limit of two chinook salmon from the Highway 113 Bridge to the Carquinez Bridge. Changes in the DFG regulations will include a harvest target of 3,600 fish this year here, offering a limited fishing season for the area. “I haven’t seen any salmon nor have I heard of any trollers accidentally picking any up yet,” said Capt. Mike Gravert of Intimidator Sportfishing. “But there will be a lot of boats, at least for the first few days, and on the weekends for sure. I would start out in the lower Sac around Viera’s and troll Silvertons and Wiggle Warts. Also out around the Garcia Bend area trolling FlatFish and Silvertons. At least that is what we did back in the good old days,” Gravert said. Meanwhile, the striper schools were back on summer break due to hot weather and water this past week. Capt. Gravert reported the fish that were in the system were nowhere to be found. “The extreme warm weather we had (107 and 108 degrees) has driven the water temperatures back up to 75 degrees and higher in most locations,” he said. “We did three recon trips both early morning and evening trips with little success. We trolled, we drifted both bluegill and bait minnows for a total of 1 keeper and a half dozen stripers. It’s still summer and there was heavy boat traffic and small fish in the system.” Klamath River producing mix of adult and jack salmon, plus adult steelhead By Jim Jones/WON Staff Writer KLAMATH GLEN   — Anglers had some very good days for salmon and steelhead on the Klamath River last week, but there were some off days, too. “Fishing picked up this week from Monday morning on,” said Dave Jacobs of Professional Guide Service last Sunday evening. I’ve been fishing the same stretch of river from Klamath Glen to about 10 miles upstream and catching adult and jack salmon, and adult steelhead. We’ve been getting some big fish, too, up to 35 pounds.” Jacobs’ clients caught 10 salmon and 2 steelhead, both wild fish, on Saturday’s outing, which included a trip into the mouth of the Klamath just upstream from crashing waves. He said that there is more room to fish in the estuary since the Indian nets apparently now start farther upstream than in the past. “There are plenty of fish getting by the nets, and I’m having more problems from boaters driving their boats crazy than from the nets,” Jacobs said. Charley Karftens caught a 35.25-pound Chinook salmon at the Cleveland Hole, and Bob Baker also caught a 35 pounder. Both fish were taken on drifted roe. Clients fishing with Steve Huber of Steve Huber’s Guide Service also did well on salmon and steelhead last week fishing the same general area. One of the nicer catches was a chrome-bright 21-pound Chinook pounder caught by Lon Brewton Sr. while boondoggling roe. Rogue rundown, top to bottom By Bill Karr/WON Staff Writer GOLD BEACH, Ore.    — The Rogue River in Oregon now has springer salmon in the upper stretches and middle river, staging fall salmon in the estuary, and summer steelhead stretched out the entire length of the river. The lower river estuary still is seeing lots of fall fish staging, and some even moving up the river holding in the deeper slots where there cooler temperatures and more oxygen, according to WON Field Reporter and Chetco Outdoor Store manager Dave Pitts, but the bite is still somewhere between poor and very poor, with an average of about 20 fish per 100 boats. But it will get better, probably as the water cools. Summer steelhead are available. In the middle Rogue, the summer steelhead action is okay for those throwing Mepps spinners and enticers, and there’s still some springers moving through, too, but the water is warm at 64 degrees, with flows at 1,830 cfs, and it’s a tough bite. In the upper river, summer steelhead provide a good diversion from the old springers. Anglers note that the river is open between Gold Ray Dam and Dodge Bridge, but it’s closed between Dodge Bridge and Cole River Hatchery. The river is closed from a point 1,000 feet above Gold Ray Dam to a point 500 feet blow the dam to allow for dam removal. “The stretch of river above Lost Creek Reservoir is renowned for its trout fishery,” said Pitts, “and this section of the river will be stocked weekly with rainbow trout through Labor Day. Most campgrounds and high use public access sites are stocked, and a map of stocking sites is available.“Anglers wanting more seclusion should look towards the South Fork and Middle Fork of the Rogue where scrappy brook trout are throughout the system, along with some rainbow and browns,” he said. “This is where fly anglers will find fish ready to take a dry or wet fly.” Feather River salmon season ends with fresh salmon still entering the river By Jim Jones/WON Staff Writer YUBA CITY   —  Salmon fishing on the Feather River didn’t end exactly with a bang last Sunday, but neither did it go out with a whimper, according to Bob Bradbury of Johnson’s Bait and Tackle. “It was a pretty good season overall,” he said. “We had some nice fish brought in today, and some boats had 2 or 3 fish while others got none. I’d say the average was around a fish for every two boats. They’ve been real pretty, real nice silvery fish, too.” It appeared that many of the fish that were weighed in at Johnson’s were coming from right above the Shanghai rapids. Tim Ryan weighed in a limit of 12- and 14-pound king salmon, and George Pappas caught a 14 pounder there, as well. Bradbury said that he had gotten no reports of striped bass being caught last week, but given that stripers are being caught on the American and Sacramento rivers, it’s likely that the lack of reports has more to do with the lack of effort than the lack of fish.