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Winter weather is closing in this week and the fishing is changing. The best news is the opener of salmon fishing on the Sacramento River.
This year, the season opens two weeks later than the 2008 season. The intent is to ensure that all of the fall run fish have moved up to the spawning grounds. This season is meant to target the late fall salmon which is a distinct run that has not been in severe decline like the fall run. The abbreviated salmon season on the Sacramento River opened Monday and continues until the last day of December.
Salmon angling is allowed from Knight's Landing up to Red Bluff. Be sure to check the regulations before you go. The Department of Fish & Game has staff at all of the ramps to keep accurate records on the catch and the number of angler hours.
The reports I heard, spoke of very crowded conditions. The launch ramps from Knights Landing up to Woodson Bridge had full parking lots and lines to launch boats. Many of the most popular holes had crowds of boats. Hopefully the crowds will moderate this week. There were fish checked in at all of the launch ramps.
The rains predicted for this week will have an influence on the fishing. Currently, the river is low and clear making the fish spooky. An increase in flow and a little color would provide perfect conditions bringing more fish up river. During the 2008 season, the most successful fishing days occurred as the river rose moderately in November. Heavy runoff and lots of mud could make things worse.
Up on the north coast, the Smith River received rain last week and the fishing turned on. As the rains came in the river began to rise. This moved the estuary salmon up into the mountain area above the coastal plain and brought in fresh fish from the salt. The storm systems this week will keep the river rising and draw many of the salmon upriver and into the spawning tributaries. Along with the salmon there were also steelhead in evidence.
Craig Bentley, from Huntington's in Oroville, fished five days on the Smith and reported good numbers of fish hooked and landed in the several miles of estuary that winds through the coastal plain below the mountains. The most effective rig was the combination of a small shrimp and a bit of salmon roe for conventional tackle anglers.
There is a contingent of fly anglers that fish salmon in the estuary. Quite a few of these were very successful at the end of last week. The most successful of them had the depth of the holes wired. The key to hooking salmon on the fly is to present the fly at the depth that the salmon are holding. I suspect that many of these fish are lined.
Fishing the Smith is very dependent on current conditions that can change rapidly with heavy rains raising the river or a low snow elevation keeping the river flow low. Thanksgiving traditionally is the best salmon time on the Smith and Chetco rivers. There will be steelhead in with them but the best steelhead fishing comes with the turn of the year.
Closer to home, I fished Collins Lake last Thursday with Ed Everhart. We did not do well, in fact we were skunked. On Monday, Ed fished it again and landed only one bass for 6 hours of fishing. The water temp was 59 and 58 degrees on the respective days. The lake appears to have turned over.
On Sunday, my son and I towed my boat up to Little Grass Valley Reservoir. I had a report that the browns were on a bite. What I failed to ask was the conditions for launching. I reached the lake and found all of the ramps well out of the water with soft mud between the concrete and the water. No other boats were on the lake. Rather than chance getting stuck we drove home and stopped at Englebright on the way. Anglers coming off the water had a bad day there also.
The best lake fishing reports came from Eagle Lake and Donner. Eagle is fishing well at the north end. The best launching is at Spaulding now that the dredging has been completed. Donner Lake ramp is tricky but launchable. There are good numbers of both rainbows and mackinaw holding in the shallows.
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. Contact him via e-mail at dpeirce@theunion.com.
This year, the season opens two weeks later than the 2008 season. The intent is to ensure that all of the fall run fish have moved up to the spawning grounds. This season is meant to target the late fall salmon which is a distinct run that has not been in severe decline like the fall run. The abbreviated salmon season on the Sacramento River opened Monday and continues until the last day of December.
Salmon angling is allowed from Knight's Landing up to Red Bluff. Be sure to check the regulations before you go. The Department of Fish & Game has staff at all of the ramps to keep accurate records on the catch and the number of angler hours.
The reports I heard, spoke of very crowded conditions. The launch ramps from Knights Landing up to Woodson Bridge had full parking lots and lines to launch boats. Many of the most popular holes had crowds of boats. Hopefully the crowds will moderate this week. There were fish checked in at all of the launch ramps.
The rains predicted for this week will have an influence on the fishing. Currently, the river is low and clear making the fish spooky. An increase in flow and a little color would provide perfect conditions bringing more fish up river. During the 2008 season, the most successful fishing days occurred as the river rose moderately in November. Heavy runoff and lots of mud could make things worse.
Up on the north coast, the Smith River received rain last week and the fishing turned on. As the rains came in the river began to rise. This moved the estuary salmon up into the mountain area above the coastal plain and brought in fresh fish from the salt. The storm systems this week will keep the river rising and draw many of the salmon upriver and into the spawning tributaries. Along with the salmon there were also steelhead in evidence.
Craig Bentley, from Huntington's in Oroville, fished five days on the Smith and reported good numbers of fish hooked and landed in the several miles of estuary that winds through the coastal plain below the mountains. The most effective rig was the combination of a small shrimp and a bit of salmon roe for conventional tackle anglers.
There is a contingent of fly anglers that fish salmon in the estuary. Quite a few of these were very successful at the end of last week. The most successful of them had the depth of the holes wired. The key to hooking salmon on the fly is to present the fly at the depth that the salmon are holding. I suspect that many of these fish are lined.
Fishing the Smith is very dependent on current conditions that can change rapidly with heavy rains raising the river or a low snow elevation keeping the river flow low. Thanksgiving traditionally is the best salmon time on the Smith and Chetco rivers. There will be steelhead in with them but the best steelhead fishing comes with the turn of the year.
Closer to home, I fished Collins Lake last Thursday with Ed Everhart. We did not do well, in fact we were skunked. On Monday, Ed fished it again and landed only one bass for 6 hours of fishing. The water temp was 59 and 58 degrees on the respective days. The lake appears to have turned over.
On Sunday, my son and I towed my boat up to Little Grass Valley Reservoir. I had a report that the browns were on a bite. What I failed to ask was the conditions for launching. I reached the lake and found all of the ramps well out of the water with soft mud between the concrete and the water. No other boats were on the lake. Rather than chance getting stuck we drove home and stopped at Englebright on the way. Anglers coming off the water had a bad day there also.
The best lake fishing reports came from Eagle Lake and Donner. Eagle is fishing well at the north end. The best launching is at Spaulding now that the dredging has been completed. Donner Lake ramp is tricky but launchable. There are good numbers of both rainbows and mackinaw holding in the shallows.
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. Contact him via e-mail at dpeirce@theunion.com.
