The king salmon runs in Northern California peak in September and continues strong into October. Currently the Sacramento and Feather Rivers have good water flows and fresh fish..
The Feather was flowing at 8900 cfs a month ago and has gradually declined to 7,000 cfs currently. At these relatively high flows, bank access in the Oroville Wildlife Area can be a problem with the water up into the riverside brush. I have heard rumors that the river will be declining through this month. Lake Oroville water level has dropped 40′ feet in the last month to 778′ this week. The lake level usually bottoms out after Thanksgiving at under 700′. Water temperatures near Gridley go from 60 to 63 degrees over the course of the day, good temps for salmon.
The Sacramento River at Tisdale ramp is flowing at 6400 cfs, a good flow for boat fishing. The water temps there range from 65 to 67 degrees.
For local anglers the Feather is a better bet due to drive time as well as good water flows and temps. The lower river below Yuba City has been producing some fish. The problem is the depth. The river is shallow after having been heavily silted during the Oroville Dam incident. Guide Justin Leonard has been fishing above Gridley but well below the Afterbay Hole. He has been trolling in the mornings then switching to dragging roe after 10:00 am.
The salmon fishing from Knight’s Landing down through Verona and towards the Sac Metro area has been producing fish. The bite has not been red hot but anglers are catching salmon. The combined rivers below Verona are flowing at 17,300 cfs. These conditions are good for anchor fishing with spinners or a sardine wrapped flatfish. When the water cools based on the weather, the fishing will pick up in this area.
The ocean salmon reports from the Bay Area boats are excellent right now. Limits are common outside the Golden Gate. This is a good sign for fresh fish heading for the rivers.
Another north state alternative is the Trinity River. There have been salmon in the upper Trinity since early August. Through the summer the upper river has been about 500 cfs. On August 29 the river was raised to 1100 cfs. These higher flows have a cooling effect on the lower Klamath River which is bringing more salmon into that system.
Guide Tim Fox has been guiding the Trinity for summer run steelhead. This summer has been good. He relates a good half-pounder steelhead run to good water flows. In drought years the runs do not come up the top of the Trinity. If you are looking for good shore access salmon fishing, the Trinity is worth consideration.
If you want to travel for a day in each direction the Rogue River is having a good year. Prior to last week’s rain storm the salmon were confined to the cool water in the estuary. The storm brought 5” of rain to the Gold Beach area in 2 days. The river temps declined from 70 to 63 degrees with the weather and it prompted a mass movement of the fish up river. But there continues to be fresh fish moving in from the ocean.
The cold front that brought us rain cooled off the top of Eagle Lake. The lake temperature profile had 70+ degree water down to 50 feet. The cool weather dropped the top 5 feet of the lake about 3 degrees and brought the trout to the surface. Val Aubrey has been trolling both spoons and Jay Fair flies just below the surface on the east side and doing well. She believes that peak summer temps are behind us and the fishing will continue to improve as we head into the fall.
Last Friday Val gave a seminar at the Marina Store. She was going to live stream it on her face book page. But technical problems caused the live stream to be carried on the store’s page instead. If you want to watch the event there is a link at the top of my site’s home page: www.trollingflies.com . There is a lot of good information on fall fishing as well as the food chain and lake conditions. If you fish Eagle Lake, it is worth your time to watch it.
Another result of the recent rain storm is the water temps at Lake Almanor, which have dropped 10 degrees in the last two weeks from 74 down to 64 degrees. The area received over an inch of rain. Guide Mark Pilgrim reports the September/October top water bass bite has begun. As the waters cool the pond smelt move up from the depths and head towards shore. With a little more cooling they will be in water 5 to 6′ deep. Storm fronts can get them to back off to the 10 to 15 foot range. Trout follow the bait toward shore and will cut through a school of smelt hitting many minnows. The wounded ones will end up at the surface where the fish will come through and eat them off the top. The birds will also show up to feed.
Mark’s favorite top water plug is the Pop-R. He casts it out and “dead sticks it”. The majority of his larger bass hit the plug as it lies motionless after the cast.
Fall fishing is upon us. The fall equinox is only 10 days away. You have a short window of time to finish your fire wood and prepare for winter. Then it will be time to get out for some of the best fishing of the year.
Denis Peirce writes a fishing column for The Union’s Outdoors section 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 his website at http://www.trollingflies.com.