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Outdoors
ENLARGE
This year is the first near-normal salmon season in a few years. The salmon ocean abundance projections looked good last winter, and the proof is soon to be arriving in the valley rivers.
Although the Sacramento River has four distinct runs of salmon, most rivers have two — the spring and fall runs. The spring run can start as early as March and is over by July. The fall run starts in August and goes through late fall with the peak salmon spawn occurring at Halloween.
We are currently in the early stages of the fall run, and I am expecting a surge of fresh fish to arrive this week. There is a phenomenon associated with the full moon regarding salmon moving into freshwater from the salt. The theory is many salmon rivers can have sand bars across their mouths.
Often, the river will flow through the sand bar to the ocean. The sweet water will attract the salmon, but they cannot pass over the bar. The extreme high and low tides that occur near the full moon and the dark of the moon are the highest probability for the bar to be breached, if only temporarily.
Thus twice per month, a surge of salmon will move up river with the full moon being the best bet. Even though there is no bar at the Golden Gate or the Columbia River, the salmon numbers increase with the highest tides. This past Saturday was the full moon for August.
The full moon and “X” number of days afterward is the best recommendation I have for planning a freshwater salmon trip well in advance. The number of days depends on the distance you plan to fish from the mouth of the river.
The best river for gauging the real-time salmon run is the Klamath at the top of the state. There is good access to the river at the mouth with daily fishing results being the topic of conversation in the area. There has not been a sand bar at the mouth of the Klamath this summer.
About two weeks ago near the new moon, the “jack salmon” started running up the Klamath. In the three days prior to the full moon, good numbers of adult salmon were being caught in the estuary as well as adult steelhead. This is seasonally appropriate timing.
The fishing is only rated fair at the moment due to the water temperatures of 69 degrees at first light and 73 degrees in the evening. These are fish that just left the ocean with temps in the low 50s.
Fishing pressure from rod-and-reel anglers is very low. Many mornings there are only a couple anglers on “Blake's Riffle,” which is the lowest one on the Klamath River.
Much of the fish moving information comes from the netting operations near the mouth. I checked the jack salmon info with Trinity Outdoors in Weaverville, which confirmed that a lot of jacks had recently arrived in the Upper Trinity River.
For the Sacramento Valley rivers, the signs look hopeful. In the salt water, there have been good salmon catches off of Monterey Bay as well as north of the Golden Gate near Bodega Bay and farther up the coast.
In the rivers themselves, there are good numbers of salmon present in selected locations. These concentrations of fish tend to be associated with cool water.
For instance, on the Feather River, there are thousands of salmon in the low flow section above the Afterbay Hole. These are a mix of spring and fall fish. The low flow is closed to all salmon fishing. There is no catch-and-release pursuit of salmon allowed. Low flow temps range from 61 in the morning to 66 degrees in the evening.
In the Yuba City area, the river above town is running at 70 degrees and the river below the mouth of the Yuba is in the low 60s. The salmon bite has not been good even in the cooler water. The best results have come between the mouth of the Yuba and the Shanghai Rapids. The deep holes in this zone hold a lot of salmon. It is not unusual to see dozens of salmon rolling on the surface during the day.
The best technique has been to jig with Gibb's Minnows. I consider this to be a quasi-legal method. To be legal, the fish must take the lure in the mouth. This is most likely to happen as the Gibb's Minnow is “fluttering” on the fall. These lures snag fish on the side quite frequently on the lift, which is not a legal method of salmon fishing.
Other things to try are the “Kwik Fish” with a sardine wrap. Anchoring your boat with these has not produced as well as trolling them up or down the river. Spinners can work if you find water flowing fast enough the make the blades work. Casting spinners is also worth a try. Fishing with roe is better above Gridley nearer to the spawning grounds.
I have not had many comments on the salmon fishing on the Sacramento River. The numbers listed on the side bar tell the story. Ten days ago, fewer than 50 fish per day were counted climbing the Red Bluff fish ladder. Five to 10 days is a good estimate for fish to travel from the bay to Red Bluff. I expect a dramatic increase of salmon climbing the fish ladder by next weekend.
The grass hoppers came out last week on the North Yuba as well as the streams near Lake Almanor. Jim Johnson also reports a caddis hatch in sizes #14-#16 near “Camp Yuba” above Downievile.
Although the Sacramento River has four distinct runs of salmon, most rivers have two — the spring and fall runs. The spring run can start as early as March and is over by July. The fall run starts in August and goes through late fall with the peak salmon spawn occurring at Halloween.
We are currently in the early stages of the fall run, and I am expecting a surge of fresh fish to arrive this week. There is a phenomenon associated with the full moon regarding salmon moving into freshwater from the salt. The theory is many salmon rivers can have sand bars across their mouths.
Often, the river will flow through the sand bar to the ocean. The sweet water will attract the salmon, but they cannot pass over the bar. The extreme high and low tides that occur near the full moon and the dark of the moon are the highest probability for the bar to be breached, if only temporarily.
Thus twice per month, a surge of salmon will move up river with the full moon being the best bet. Even though there is no bar at the Golden Gate or the Columbia River, the salmon numbers increase with the highest tides. This past Saturday was the full moon for August.
The full moon and “X” number of days afterward is the best recommendation I have for planning a freshwater salmon trip well in advance. The number of days depends on the distance you plan to fish from the mouth of the river.
The best river for gauging the real-time salmon run is the Klamath at the top of the state. There is good access to the river at the mouth with daily fishing results being the topic of conversation in the area. There has not been a sand bar at the mouth of the Klamath this summer.
About two weeks ago near the new moon, the “jack salmon” started running up the Klamath. In the three days prior to the full moon, good numbers of adult salmon were being caught in the estuary as well as adult steelhead. This is seasonally appropriate timing.
The fishing is only rated fair at the moment due to the water temperatures of 69 degrees at first light and 73 degrees in the evening. These are fish that just left the ocean with temps in the low 50s.
Fishing pressure from rod-and-reel anglers is very low. Many mornings there are only a couple anglers on “Blake's Riffle,” which is the lowest one on the Klamath River.
Much of the fish moving information comes from the netting operations near the mouth. I checked the jack salmon info with Trinity Outdoors in Weaverville, which confirmed that a lot of jacks had recently arrived in the Upper Trinity River.
For the Sacramento Valley rivers, the signs look hopeful. In the salt water, there have been good salmon catches off of Monterey Bay as well as north of the Golden Gate near Bodega Bay and farther up the coast.
In the rivers themselves, there are good numbers of salmon present in selected locations. These concentrations of fish tend to be associated with cool water.
For instance, on the Feather River, there are thousands of salmon in the low flow section above the Afterbay Hole. These are a mix of spring and fall fish. The low flow is closed to all salmon fishing. There is no catch-and-release pursuit of salmon allowed. Low flow temps range from 61 in the morning to 66 degrees in the evening.
In the Yuba City area, the river above town is running at 70 degrees and the river below the mouth of the Yuba is in the low 60s. The salmon bite has not been good even in the cooler water. The best results have come between the mouth of the Yuba and the Shanghai Rapids. The deep holes in this zone hold a lot of salmon. It is not unusual to see dozens of salmon rolling on the surface during the day.
The best technique has been to jig with Gibb's Minnows. I consider this to be a quasi-legal method. To be legal, the fish must take the lure in the mouth. This is most likely to happen as the Gibb's Minnow is “fluttering” on the fall. These lures snag fish on the side quite frequently on the lift, which is not a legal method of salmon fishing.
Other things to try are the “Kwik Fish” with a sardine wrap. Anchoring your boat with these has not produced as well as trolling them up or down the river. Spinners can work if you find water flowing fast enough the make the blades work. Casting spinners is also worth a try. Fishing with roe is better above Gridley nearer to the spawning grounds.
I have not had many comments on the salmon fishing on the Sacramento River. The numbers listed on the side bar tell the story. Ten days ago, fewer than 50 fish per day were counted climbing the Red Bluff fish ladder. Five to 10 days is a good estimate for fish to travel from the bay to Red Bluff. I expect a dramatic increase of salmon climbing the fish ladder by next weekend.
The grass hoppers came out last week on the North Yuba as well as the streams near Lake Almanor. Jim Johnson also reports a caddis hatch in sizes #14-#16 near “Camp Yuba” above Downievile.
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.
