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Saturday marks the opening of the Sierra stream trout season. It is a spring ritual that marks the end of the ski season and the start of the fishing season. Many of the Sierra lakes are open year-round and have been fishing quite well recently. But the "opener" is the kickoff in many peoples minds.
The normal scenario is that stream flows are moderate but fishable, with cold water until the end of April. Then the days warm up and the snow melt gets going in earnest by the first week of May. The weather is predicted to be warming significantly by Saturday and the river flows will be rising pretty much on schedule.
The early season fishing is characterized by cold water which slows the fish down. But every year, in the early season, there are some big trout taken. The North Yuba near Downieville produces a few of the largest fish of the year during the first few weeks of the season. These fish are taken with minnow imitating diving plugs or with bait like night crawlers and stone fly nymphs.
If you want to fish high-altitude flowing water this weekend, here are some hints. You want to find moderate flows and "warm" water. Warm is a relative term. A couple of degrees can attract fish and get them feeding. Moderate flows can be found most years below dams. But this year, many of the Sierra lakes are close to being full and flows below dams maybe high. The best bet for the Truckee area maybe the river close to Tahoe City. Water is being held in Lake Tahoe and the river flows are less than 100 cubic feet per second coming from the lake. As you go down river, the flow increases and gets cooler as snow melt is added. The water coming off the surface of Tahoe is marginally warmer than the river farther down.
Lakes that have spilled can produce good fishing in the creeks below. In 1997, Last Chance Creek below Frenchman Lake was loaded with trout for the first weeks of the season. These trout came out of the lake with the high water in January 1997.
The best options around Truckee will be the lakes. Stampede Reservoir came alive late last week with good results for anglers targeting mackinaw, rainbows and kokanee. Donner Lake produced a 39-inch mackinaw last Friday for guide Keith Kerrigan. He did not weigh the fish in order to release it back into the lake quickly.
On our side of the Sierra, the best stream trout fishing will be at low elevations. Our local creeks around Grass Valley have some nice trout without much of a drive.
The best fishing options will be for bass. Local angler Ed Everhart fished Scotts Flat last week and did well on small mouth bass. All of his fish came from the shore out to 8-foot depths. He caught them on a variety of crank baits, soft plastics and spinner baits. The fish were not selective. Expect the spotted bass and the largemouth to move up shallow in the near future.
Lake Oroville continues to have an excellent bass bite. The lake level continues to rise which is good for fishing and the water temps have moved up to the low 50s. It is not quite "as good as it gets" yet. This next full moon should be the peak for this spring.
Down on the Feather River, the striper fishing is good. The Yuba is now clearing and not putting the cloudy water into the Feather. The best fishing has been from Yuba City downriver. The problem has been the quantity of boats on this stretch of river. The wait at some launch ramps has been considerable. I heard estimates of more than 100 boats between Yuba City and Nicholas. The water is slowly warming through the low 50 degree range. Bait continues to be the best producer. Look for lure fishing to pick up in the near future.
The striper bite on the Sacramento River has yet to take off. The water is up to the 50-degree range, but the flows are just a bit too high. At Colusa, the river height dropped below 62 feet on Monday and continues to fall. At 60 feet, the fishing will be good and when the river gets the 58 feet, the fishing should be terrific. You can follow the numbers at the web site: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/rivcond.html.
<I>Denis Peirce writes a weekly column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com</I>
The normal scenario is that stream flows are moderate but fishable, with cold water until the end of April. Then the days warm up and the snow melt gets going in earnest by the first week of May. The weather is predicted to be warming significantly by Saturday and the river flows will be rising pretty much on schedule.
The early season fishing is characterized by cold water which slows the fish down. But every year, in the early season, there are some big trout taken. The North Yuba near Downieville produces a few of the largest fish of the year during the first few weeks of the season. These fish are taken with minnow imitating diving plugs or with bait like night crawlers and stone fly nymphs.
If you want to fish high-altitude flowing water this weekend, here are some hints. You want to find moderate flows and "warm" water. Warm is a relative term. A couple of degrees can attract fish and get them feeding. Moderate flows can be found most years below dams. But this year, many of the Sierra lakes are close to being full and flows below dams maybe high. The best bet for the Truckee area maybe the river close to Tahoe City. Water is being held in Lake Tahoe and the river flows are less than 100 cubic feet per second coming from the lake. As you go down river, the flow increases and gets cooler as snow melt is added. The water coming off the surface of Tahoe is marginally warmer than the river farther down.
Lakes that have spilled can produce good fishing in the creeks below. In 1997, Last Chance Creek below Frenchman Lake was loaded with trout for the first weeks of the season. These trout came out of the lake with the high water in January 1997.
The best options around Truckee will be the lakes. Stampede Reservoir came alive late last week with good results for anglers targeting mackinaw, rainbows and kokanee. Donner Lake produced a 39-inch mackinaw last Friday for guide Keith Kerrigan. He did not weigh the fish in order to release it back into the lake quickly.
On our side of the Sierra, the best stream trout fishing will be at low elevations. Our local creeks around Grass Valley have some nice trout without much of a drive.
The best fishing options will be for bass. Local angler Ed Everhart fished Scotts Flat last week and did well on small mouth bass. All of his fish came from the shore out to 8-foot depths. He caught them on a variety of crank baits, soft plastics and spinner baits. The fish were not selective. Expect the spotted bass and the largemouth to move up shallow in the near future.
Lake Oroville continues to have an excellent bass bite. The lake level continues to rise which is good for fishing and the water temps have moved up to the low 50s. It is not quite "as good as it gets" yet. This next full moon should be the peak for this spring.
Down on the Feather River, the striper fishing is good. The Yuba is now clearing and not putting the cloudy water into the Feather. The best fishing has been from Yuba City downriver. The problem has been the quantity of boats on this stretch of river. The wait at some launch ramps has been considerable. I heard estimates of more than 100 boats between Yuba City and Nicholas. The water is slowly warming through the low 50 degree range. Bait continues to be the best producer. Look for lure fishing to pick up in the near future.
The striper bite on the Sacramento River has yet to take off. The water is up to the 50-degree range, but the flows are just a bit too high. At Colusa, the river height dropped below 62 feet on Monday and continues to fall. At 60 feet, the fishing will be good and when the river gets the 58 feet, the fishing should be terrific. You can follow the numbers at the web site: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/river/rivcond.html.
<I>Denis Peirce writes a weekly column for The Union and is host of "The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report," which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. He may be reached via e-mail at denisp@theunion.com</I>
