Fish Sniffer Magazine Volume 41 Issue 13 | Page 11

VOL . 41 • ISS . 13

August 5 , 2022

11

Fishing Notes

• Striped Bass offer the most consistent

fishing during March , April and early May ,

but they can be caught in the Sacramento

River year round . Fish sardines , pileworms

and jumbo minnows . When the water is relatively clear , boaters can troll with

99

Rapalas , Rebels and Bombers on spreaders with wormtail jigs . The Port of

160

Sacramento and Sacramento Deep Water

channel offer a unique striper fishery in the late fall and winter months . Bank

160

Parkway

fishermen drift live minnows and toss out wormtail jigs and plugs for the stripers .

Meadowview Rd

• American Shad follow the striped bass in

April , May and June . Hot spots for shad

include Discovery Park , Miller Park , the

Minnow Hole and the Freeport area .

Lots of bank fishing access can be found

on the Sacramento County side of the

Freeport

river .

• King Salmon Season begins on July 16 ,

but the peak of the run is from

September through mid-December . The stretch from Garcia Bend to Clarksburg

84

Clarksburg Rd

160

can be particularly productive for trollers

using Kwikfish , Flatfish and spinners .

Shore fishermen find success with Mepps

# 5 , Blue Fox and homemade spinners .

• White Sturgeon offer decent action

Clarksburg

Laguna

West

from Freeport to Courtland in the winter

and early spring , both shore and boat

fishing are productive . The best baits are ghost shrimp , eel and pileworms .

Central Av

• White and Channel Catfish provide the

Hamilton Rd top sport in the summer and fall when water temperatures are at their warmest

Greendale .

Fishing from a boat is most productive ,

N . Stone

Lake

Hood

Franklin

since you can fish the deep holes that

catfish like to hold in . Mackerel , anchovies ,

sardines , crawdads and chicken livers are

all good baits .

• Smallmouth Bass can

Courtland be found Rdalong the

rip-rap of this entire section of river . Toss

out plastic worms and crankbaits in crawdad patterns during the spring and

160

S . Stone

Lake

summer .

Courtland

Lambert

California Guide Service and his clients switched over to trout fishing above Red Bluff . “ We caught and released around 30 wild rainbows while using Hot Shots and Mag Lips lures between the Bend Bridge and the Barge Hole . The fish ranged from 1 to 3 pounds ,” said Weese . Information : ( 530 ) 755-7196 . The section of the Sacramento River from the Deschutes Road bridge to the Red Bluff Diversion Dam will open to salmon fishing on August 1 . Anglers are hoping for better fishing when the section above the diversion dam opens : Information : https :// wildlife . ca . gov / Fishing / Inland

Salmon fishing on the Feather River below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet was slow on opening day , although a few kings were caught . The water temperature came up from 63 degrees to 68 degrees in just two days , so the fish were sluggish from the water temperature rising so quickly , according to Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob ’ s Guide Service . Twelve-year-old Brian landed one salmon weighing 16 pounds , 4 ounces while fishing with a Rob ’ s Dragon Glow # 16 Brad ’ s Kilerfish with Reimers on the opener . His four anglers also experienced one other hook-up . Information : ( 530 ) 632-0051 .

The fishing throughout the Sacramento River system is expected to improve when large numbers of salmon now being caught on the ocean by recreational and commercial fishermen start coming into the river on their spawning journey . “ This year ’ s ocean salmon fishing season is one of the best we ’ ve seen in a long time , reflected both in the sport and commercial ocean fishery ,” said John McManus , President of the Golden State Salmon Association . McManus thinks the improved overall fishing this year is a combination of a better juvenile salmon ( smolt ) release strategy and good ocean forage

and water conditions . The 2022 ocean abundance projection for Sacramento River fall Chinook , the driver of West Coast salmon fisheries , is estimated at 396,500 adult salmon , compared to the revised 2022 forecast of 322,137 fish , according to Jeromy Jording of the National Marine Fisheries Service . The abundance estimate for Sacramento fall Chinook swimming in the ocean is based largely on the return of two-year-old “ jacks ” to hatcheries and natural spawning areas last fall . Over 17,000 jacks returned to the river last year , compared to 14,000 the previous year .