10 August 5 , 2022 MAP FEATURE
VOL . 41 • ISS . 13
The mouth of the American River at Discovery Park is one of the most popular spots for anglers to fish for salmon in the Sacramento area .
Photo by Dan Bacher
Big Chinooks Surprise Boaters at Mouth of American
SACRAMENTO – If you wanted to hook a king salmon on the opening day of salmon season on the Sacramento and American rivers on July 16 , the river below the mouth of the American at Discovery Park was the place to be . Austin Wilson , a manager at Fisherman ’ s Warehouse in Sacramento , was fishing in his boat at the mouth of the American when he and his fishing buddy , Kyle Keith , hooked four and landed two salmon weighing 23 and 13 pounds while anchor fishing with K-16 Kwikfish on the opening day of salmon season . “ It was really good for an opening day with Sacramento River water temperatures as warm as they were - 71 to 74 degrees ,” said Wilson . “ I was assuming American River water was cooler , enough to keep the fish there . We were off the water with our fish by 9:30 a . m .” “ We hooked our two fish between 6:30 and 6:45 a . m ,” said Wilson . “ I saw roughly 20 salmon landed on opening day . I saw people catching fish while trolling with Silverton spinners and jigging with P-Line Laser minnows around me . On the following day , Kyle Keith reported two take-downs , but didn ’ t land any fish at the mouth . He did see several fish caught around him , noted Wilson . Many other anglers were surprised by the solid fishing on the opening day of the salmon season on the Sacramento River in the metropolitan area at Discovery Park on Saturday , July 16 , when they caught good numbers of bright kings , but there is a reason why the fishing was so much better there than it was
elsewhere up and down the river . Cold water releases of 4,480 cubic feet per second ( cfs ) from Nimbus Dam on the American River had apparently caused the salmon to pause at the mouth of their journey up the Sacramento River . Bank anglers fishing spinners found slow salmon fishing at Sand Cove Park above Discovery Park on the opener , according to Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacramento Pro Tackle . However , bank fishermen did report hooking some Chinooks on spinners below Freeport . Information : ( 916 ) 925-0529 . Although he didn ’ t hear of any salmon success on opening day , Tim Boggs of Elkhorn Outdoors in Rio Linda said one customer and his buddy did report catching two kings weighing 12 and 18 pounds below the Elkhorn boat ramp at the Airport Hole on Sunday . They were trolling a Silverton spinner and K-14 Kwikfish with a sardine wrapper , injected with sardine oil . Boggs
Kyle Keith of Sacramento proudly displays a 22-pound Chinook salmon caught on the Sacramento River below the mouth of the American River at Discovery Park on July 16 .
Photo courtesy of Austin Wilson noted that the Verona boat ramp is out of the water and anglers are putting their boats in at the Elkhorn or Knights Landing ramps . Information : ( 916 ) 991-5298 . Since the opener , the salmon fishing has tapered in the Sacramento area , but anglers are still picking up bright fish most days while trolling spinners , anchoring up with plugs and spinners and jigging with spoons . “ There are tons of salmon in the river rolling every day near the mouth of the American ,” reported Alan Fong of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse . “ A lot of fish are going up the American . There is a big bunch of fish in the system .“ “ Quite a few fish are being caught every day by the 20 to 30 boats fishing down from the mouth . At least 10 fish are being hooked every day . Anglers are catching them on Silverton spinners , Kwikfish and spoons ,” said Fong . Fong went out himself recently in his boat with Bob Prinzo and Denise Loo , hooking 3 and landing one salmon weighing . 20 pounds while spooning with 3 ounce P-Line and Blade Runner spoons outfitted with single hooks from the Interstate 80 Bridge north . Fong noted that anglers wanting to fish in the mouth of the American itself are not allowed to anchor up there , according to Coast Guard regulations . However , they can anchor up and fish spinners and plugs downriver at the Water Tower in 18 to 20 feet of water . Most of the anglers fishing at the colorline between the two rivers are drifting and fishing with spoons . Justin Leonard of Outcast Guide Service confirmed the surprisingly decent salmon action at the mouth of the American River since the opening weekend . On the same day
Fong fished , he reported losing one salmon and two other grabs . “ I saw about a dozen salmon landed by the boats while I was there ,” said Leonard . “ I saw two fish caught on plugs and the rest on jigs . The fish I saw landed ranged from about 10 to
25 pounds .” Elsewhere on the Sacramento River , the salmon fishing was very slow from Red Bluff to Woodson Bridge on July 16 , with no salmon reported caught . Although the kings had been showing in the river before the opener , they apparently didn ’ t want to bite . After fishing for salmon in the morning , Robert Weese of Northern