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Last week, volunteers from the California Inland Fisheries Association and Kokanee Power teamed up with the Department of Fish & Game to capture and spawn out kokanee on the Little Truckee River above Stampede Reservoir. This was the second trip to the Little Truckee to take eggs for next year's kokanee plant. The two egg gathering expeditions took in close to one million fertilized eggs that were transported to the hatchery.
These will be raised until next year when they will be planted.
The egg-taking process involves placing a weir in the river to stop the upstream migration of the kokanee (sockeye salmon). The DF&G monitors the weir and when enough "ripe" fish are present the volunteers are contacted and a date is set. Another barrier is placed below the first weir and then the penned fish are netted. The fish are sorted and the prime fish are spawned out.
The majority of the spawning fish were 16 to 18 inches with a few going to 20 inches. The most notable non salmon caught between the barriers were brown trout. Browns do spawn in the late fall, but these fish were there to eat kokanee eggs. The browns were netted and placed downstream. For those of you who are curious, yes, there is an egg bite in the Sierra as well as down in the valley rivers. Kokanee eggs are a bright orange color similar to a bright tangerine. The egg size is close to the diameter of a "BB". Most lakes with a kokanee population will have spawning runs of fish in feeder streams.
These will be raised until next year when they will be planted.
The egg-taking process involves placing a weir in the river to stop the upstream migration of the kokanee (sockeye salmon). The DF&G monitors the weir and when enough "ripe" fish are present the volunteers are contacted and a date is set. Another barrier is placed below the first weir and then the penned fish are netted. The fish are sorted and the prime fish are spawned out.
The majority of the spawning fish were 16 to 18 inches with a few going to 20 inches. The most notable non salmon caught between the barriers were brown trout. Browns do spawn in the late fall, but these fish were there to eat kokanee eggs. The browns were netted and placed downstream. For those of you who are curious, yes, there is an egg bite in the Sierra as well as down in the valley rivers. Kokanee eggs are a bright orange color similar to a bright tangerine. The egg size is close to the diameter of a "BB". Most lakes with a kokanee population will have spawning runs of fish in feeder streams.
Donner Lake is in the final stages of the annual draw down. I have heard reports of anglers taking kokanee 12 to 14 inches near the west end. These are next year's fish and the size at this time bodes well for next year's fishing. The mackinaw are spawning and they are tough to catch when their interest is not in dining. The post-spawn bite is usually good from late November through Christmas. If you go by the Donner boat launch, look off the end of the ramp where there has been a lot of gravel placed to extend the launch surface. There are macs attempting to use this gravel as a spawning area.
For the valley salmon angler, the best bet remains the Sacramento River, from Colusa down the Knights Landing. There are still some fish being taken. My report from a day last week was nine fish for seven boats launched at Grimes. The good news is that all of these fish were bright and the largest was close to 50 pounds. Up the river at Woodson Bridge most of the fish are turning color.
On the Feather River, my sources say that most of the salmon taken are turning color. The best bet is from Shanghai to the mouth of the Yuba. Near Oroville there are some steelhead behind the salmon but the action is below what we would expect for this date. Another Feather River option is to fish below Shanghai for salmon during the day and throw top water plugs for stripers as the shadows move onto the water. Every year the salmon are followed by steelhead, which are followed by stripers. These are not the numbers seen in the winter-spring run but a few are occasionally caught in the fall. The best spots are the edges of sand bars on the inside of river bends.
Closer to home another source has been doing well trout fishing in the upper reaches of Englebright. The water temps have dropped to the high 40s at the top of the lake and the fish have moved down to the "No Ski" buoys where the surface temp is in the high 50s. The best fishing has been 15 to 20 feet down where the temps are in the low 50s.
For the valley salmon angler, the best bet remains the Sacramento River, from Colusa down the Knights Landing. There are still some fish being taken. My report from a day last week was nine fish for seven boats launched at Grimes. The good news is that all of these fish were bright and the largest was close to 50 pounds. Up the river at Woodson Bridge most of the fish are turning color.
On the Feather River, my sources say that most of the salmon taken are turning color. The best bet is from Shanghai to the mouth of the Yuba. Near Oroville there are some steelhead behind the salmon but the action is below what we would expect for this date. Another Feather River option is to fish below Shanghai for salmon during the day and throw top water plugs for stripers as the shadows move onto the water. Every year the salmon are followed by steelhead, which are followed by stripers. These are not the numbers seen in the winter-spring run but a few are occasionally caught in the fall. The best spots are the edges of sand bars on the inside of river bends.
Closer to home another source has been doing well trout fishing in the upper reaches of Englebright. The water temps have dropped to the high 40s at the top of the lake and the fish have moved down to the "No Ski" buoys where the surface temp is in the high 50s. The best fishing has been 15 to 20 feet down where the temps are in the low 50s.
An interesting side note is that all of the trout he has taken have been browns. He has not caught a rainbow there in three weeks. The browns have been in the 12-inch range.
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SYRCL will be offering raft trips on the Lower Yuba to view the salmon spawn. If you have never seen a salmon as long as your leg up close, these trips will be interesting. They will be held on the next two weekends. For more info call 265-5961.
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SYRCL will be offering raft trips on the Lower Yuba to view the salmon spawn. If you have never seen a salmon as long as your leg up close, these trips will be interesting. They will be held on the next two weekends. For more info call 265-5961.
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Right now is the perfect time to get out to see the fall colors in the Sierra.
I went down the east side as far as Bishop on Highway 395 last week. At the low elevations around 4,000 feet, half of the trees were still green and half were in their fall colors. Up at the 9,000-feet elevations, half of the foliage was gone and the remaining leaves were at their peak. The storm that came through a week ago brought a dusting of snow and the promise of winter to the high desert.
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Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing 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 went down the east side as far as Bishop on Highway 395 last week. At the low elevations around 4,000 feet, half of the trees were still green and half were in their fall colors. Up at the 9,000-feet elevations, half of the foliage was gone and the remaining leaves were at their peak. The storm that came through a week ago brought a dusting of snow and the promise of winter to the high desert.
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Denis Peirce writes a weekly fishing 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.
