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ENLARGE
Denis Peirce
The biggest news in Northern California fishing has been the phenomenal run of steelhead that has returned to the Trinity River.
This year's run is headed toward eclipsing last year's record return of these sea-run rainbow trout. The weir counts at Willow Creek on the lower end of the river have been consistently over 1,000 fish per week. In contrast, I can remember years when the entire run was counted in hundreds for an entire season.
The combination of an excellent run on the Trinity and a dismal salmon run in the Sacramento Valley has put tremendous fishing pressure on the Trinity. The bulk of the Trinity steelhead have been holding, up and down river from Junction City.
The anglers figured this out and have been hammering the fish. The local boat shuttle service have been moving trailers for up to 32 boats per day in this area. In addition to the boat-based anglers there are plenty of shore-based fishermen pounding these same fish.
Since the rains of 10 days ago the river has receded to the clear modest flows. The schools of more than 100 fish were easily located and very vulnerable. There were reports of anglers catching and releasing more than 20 fish in a single run. These numbers are more in keeping with catching "truck trout" than pursuing steelhead. Steelhead fishing is usually a multi-day expedition in cold wet weather for at best a few fish.
The fish have responded in an unexpected way. They moved out of the area headed downstream. I have never heard of a steelhead run making a U turn before spawning time.
There are now schools of fish down river hiding in the deeper holes. Conventional wisdom would have the fish move up river but there is little evidence of that at this time.
What these fish really need is a "trash movin' gully washer" of a Pacific storm. High dirty water will scatter the fish, give them cover and access to the tributary streams that are off limits to fishing. At the end of this week there is a good chance for some wet weather moving in to the north end of the state.
In the Sacramento Valley the salmon fishing outlook has not changed. A few fish are being taken on the Feather River between the mouth of the Yuba and Shanghai Bend. This is not a high percentage endeavor.
What has taken a significant turn for the better is steelhead fishing on the Feather River in the Oroville area. I have reports a couple of fly fishing guide trips that did well drifting the river. The best flies this year are not the egg patterns due to the lack of salmon. The best flies tend to be sizes #14 through #18 nymphs in olive, such as Bird's Nest, Micro Mayflies and Fox Poopahs.
The trout fishing at Eagle Lake continues to be good. The thunder storms of a week ago moved the fish temporarily from the 4 to 6 foot depths out to the 10 to 12 foot depths. As the cloudy weather decreased, the available light brighter colors caught more fish. Keith Kerrigan of the Sierra Anglers Guide Service noted that very bright colored grubs were the most effective lures prior to the sun hitting the water. After that, tui chub trolling flies produced more fish for him. During the course of a day he was able to find water temps ranging from 44 to 48 degrees on the surface. This is prime time at Eagle Lake.
The water temps in the foothill lakes are dropping into the prime fall range. Collins Lake turned over last week. I received reports of schools of shad visible at the surface.
This is a predictable annual event and right on time. The young of the year shad are in the warm shallows during late summer and early fall. The warm water environment keeps them separated from the cool water predators. Now that the lake has turned over these shad scatter and the trout have a field day on them for a week or two. It is not until the trout and bass have significantly reduced the shad population that the angling gets good.
Some of the best lures imitate chrome bright baitfish about an inch long. I did get a good bass report of anglers taking limits at Collins using live crawdads in 10 to 15 feet of water.
Over on the coast range, the trout at Lake Sonoma are feeding in the top 15 feet, with a water temp of 60 degrees. South of us at New Melones the surface temp is still in the mid 60s and fishing has yet to pick up. Reports from Amador, near Ione, has the water at 60 and trout fishing is fair.
The delta striped bass fishing is fair. The water is still in the 60s. There are a lot of "schoolie" fish to be taken. Once the temps move into the 50s the bite will dramatically improve.
ooo
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.
This year's run is headed toward eclipsing last year's record return of these sea-run rainbow trout. The weir counts at Willow Creek on the lower end of the river have been consistently over 1,000 fish per week. In contrast, I can remember years when the entire run was counted in hundreds for an entire season.
The combination of an excellent run on the Trinity and a dismal salmon run in the Sacramento Valley has put tremendous fishing pressure on the Trinity. The bulk of the Trinity steelhead have been holding, up and down river from Junction City.
The anglers figured this out and have been hammering the fish. The local boat shuttle service have been moving trailers for up to 32 boats per day in this area. In addition to the boat-based anglers there are plenty of shore-based fishermen pounding these same fish.
Since the rains of 10 days ago the river has receded to the clear modest flows. The schools of more than 100 fish were easily located and very vulnerable. There were reports of anglers catching and releasing more than 20 fish in a single run. These numbers are more in keeping with catching "truck trout" than pursuing steelhead. Steelhead fishing is usually a multi-day expedition in cold wet weather for at best a few fish.
The fish have responded in an unexpected way. They moved out of the area headed downstream. I have never heard of a steelhead run making a U turn before spawning time.
There are now schools of fish down river hiding in the deeper holes. Conventional wisdom would have the fish move up river but there is little evidence of that at this time.
What these fish really need is a "trash movin' gully washer" of a Pacific storm. High dirty water will scatter the fish, give them cover and access to the tributary streams that are off limits to fishing. At the end of this week there is a good chance for some wet weather moving in to the north end of the state.
In the Sacramento Valley the salmon fishing outlook has not changed. A few fish are being taken on the Feather River between the mouth of the Yuba and Shanghai Bend. This is not a high percentage endeavor.
What has taken a significant turn for the better is steelhead fishing on the Feather River in the Oroville area. I have reports a couple of fly fishing guide trips that did well drifting the river. The best flies this year are not the egg patterns due to the lack of salmon. The best flies tend to be sizes #14 through #18 nymphs in olive, such as Bird's Nest, Micro Mayflies and Fox Poopahs.
The trout fishing at Eagle Lake continues to be good. The thunder storms of a week ago moved the fish temporarily from the 4 to 6 foot depths out to the 10 to 12 foot depths. As the cloudy weather decreased, the available light brighter colors caught more fish. Keith Kerrigan of the Sierra Anglers Guide Service noted that very bright colored grubs were the most effective lures prior to the sun hitting the water. After that, tui chub trolling flies produced more fish for him. During the course of a day he was able to find water temps ranging from 44 to 48 degrees on the surface. This is prime time at Eagle Lake.
The water temps in the foothill lakes are dropping into the prime fall range. Collins Lake turned over last week. I received reports of schools of shad visible at the surface.
This is a predictable annual event and right on time. The young of the year shad are in the warm shallows during late summer and early fall. The warm water environment keeps them separated from the cool water predators. Now that the lake has turned over these shad scatter and the trout have a field day on them for a week or two. It is not until the trout and bass have significantly reduced the shad population that the angling gets good.
Some of the best lures imitate chrome bright baitfish about an inch long. I did get a good bass report of anglers taking limits at Collins using live crawdads in 10 to 15 feet of water.
Over on the coast range, the trout at Lake Sonoma are feeding in the top 15 feet, with a water temp of 60 degrees. South of us at New Melones the surface temp is still in the mid 60s and fishing has yet to pick up. Reports from Amador, near Ione, has the water at 60 and trout fishing is fair.
The delta striped bass fishing is fair. The water is still in the 60s. There are a lot of "schoolie" fish to be taken. Once the temps move into the 50s the bite will dramatically improve.
ooo
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.
