Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3813 June 7-21 2019 | Page 19
MAP FEATURE
FISHING NOTES
• Striped Bass are found in the Feather River year
round, but the best time to catch them is during the
spring spawning run from March through early
June.Trolling with Rebels and wormtail jigs, drifting live
minnows and bait fishing with sardines are most
productive during the spring. Early and late in the day
during the summer and fall, anglers can nail stripers in
the lower Feather around Shanghai and Star Bend on
Zara Spooks, Pencil Poppers and other top water lures.
Jigging with Horizon Pirk Minnows and Gibbs Minnows
can also produce striped bass when the fish are
concentrated.
• King Salmon offer excellent fishing in the summer and
fall. Anglers can keep 2 chinooks per day, with four in
possession, from July 16 through December 16 in the
section from 200 yards above the Live Oak boat ramp
to the mouth at Verona. Back bouncing and side
drifting salmon roe and back trolling and anchor
fishing with plugs is the top method for boaters, while
shore anglers experience the top action tossing out
spinners and drifting salmon roe.
tte
Su
er
ath
Fe
ay
w
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ve
Ri
Yuba City
Boat Dock
Rd
Shanghai
Bend
Oswald
Yuba
County
Airport
Rd
Olivehurst
er
Riv
ba
Yu
Yuba City
Airport
Arboga
East
Arboga
Bend
Tudor Star
County Park
O’Conner
Lake
Bear
en
To Sacramento
River
Rio Oso
East
Nicolaus Nicolaus
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Hig
M
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were only allowed a one fish bag limit
with two fish in possession.
The Feather River contributes a large
percentage of the salmon that return to
the Sacramento River Basin. In 2018, the
Feather River Basin, including the Yuba
River, supplied 52 percent - 76,209 - of
the total fall run chinooks returning to the
Sacramento River, including 48,882 to
natural area fish and 27,327 hatchery fish.
The 76,209 included 61,783 adults and
14,426 jacks (two-year olds).
Reimers and other guides will be fishing
the Feather River on the opener on July
16. “Last year my clients caught 120 fish
during the season,” he said. “I concen-
trated on the stretch below the Afterbay
early in the season and then focused on
fishing the Yuba City areas later in the
season.”
Some years the fishing is so good on
the Feather River that the guides will
do afternoon trips for salmon also. For
example, after five anglers and I limited
Ev
erg
lad
e R
d
h
Verona
Ramp & Marina
Fremont
Landing
Ob
an
ion
Marysville
Landing
Strp
m
Str
ipl
in
Rd
Rd
ss
pa
y
r B
gh
Sac
ra
Riv mento
er
rry
Hu
tch
iso
n R
d
Feather River
al
n
Ca
Hi
This angler caught and released this big striper while fishing with Brett Brady of Bare Bones
Guide Service on the Feather River this spring.
Photo courtesy of BARE BONES GUIDE SERVICE.
slows down, anglers will have another
species to fish for on the Feather River
– the prized chinook salmon. Anglers
can look to a much-improved Central
Valley season this year due to the higher
numbers of fish projected in the Feather,
Sacramento, American and Mokelumne
rivers.
The California Fish and Game
Commission voted to approve salmon
seasons and bag and possession limits on
the Sacramento and Klamath/Trinity river
systems at its teleconference meeting in
Sacramento.
A projected return of 379,600 spawning
Sacramento River fall-run Chinook
Salmon to Central Valley rivers has
allowed fishery managers to return to a
two salmon daily limit with four salmon
in possession, according to the Cali-
fornia Department of Fish and Wildlife
(CDFW). Last year, due to forecasted
lower salmon returns, anglers fishing the
Feather, American and Sacramento rivers
st
Ea
Ba
Rd
d
Rd
ald
e R
rt
w
ke
ac
Os
Tu
do
r R
d
Yuba City
gu
gh
Slou
Jack
Ha
dd
oc
k R
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N
Bo
Va
rn
ey
Rd
Beckwourth
Riverfront
Park
Location: The lower Feather River, the principal
tributary of the Sacramento River, runs from
below Oroville Dam to its junction with the Feather
River at Verona. The river’s main stem is about 71
miles long. This river from Yuba City/Marysville to
Verona is characterized by riffles, sandbars, long
flats and some deep holes.
Seasons: The salmon season is open from July
16 through Oct. 31 in the Feather River from the
unimproved boat ramp above the Thermalito
Afterbay Outfall to 200 yards above the Live Oak
boat ramp. The section from 200 yards above the
Live Oak boat ramp to the mouth is open from
July 16 through Dec. 16. For purposes of this
regulation, the lower boundary is defined as a
straight line drawn from the peninsula point on the
west bank to the Verona Marine boat ramp. More
information: https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.
ashx?DocumentID=169262&inline
Boat ramps: Public launching is available at the
Yuba City boat ramp, Riverfront Park in Marysville,
Star Bend in Marysville, Boyd’s Pump and the
Verona Marina. For more information about boat
launching or camping at the Verona Marina, call
916-927-8387.
Fishing Guides: Guides are available for king
salmon, striped bass, steelhead and shad fishing
during the different seasons. Guides include
Rustic Rob of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service, 530-632-
0051; Robert Weese of Northern California Guide
Service, 530-755 7196; Bret Brady of Bare Bones
Guide Service 530-272-7137 or 530-263-4451,
Manuel Saldana, Jr. of MSJ Fishing Guide Service,
530-301-7455, James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide
Service, 888-975-0990; and Kevin Brock of Kevin
Brock’s Guide Service 800-995-5543.
Bait and Tackle Stores: Johnson’s Bait and
Tackle, Yuba City, 530-674-1912; North Valley
Tackle and Pro Shop, Oroville, 530-712-9356; and
Elkhorn Outdoors, Rio Linda, 916-991-5298.
17
June 7 - 21, 2019
Lower Feather River
Marysville to Verona
Feather River Facts
VOL.38 • ISS. 13
FISHING NOTES... cont.
• Shad begin showing at Verona by April 15 most years, but
the peak fishing throughout the lower river is from mid-May through
early July. Fish shad jigs and flies in a variety of bright colors.
• Steelhead offer solid sport from late September through April. Fish
Glo Bugs, nightcrawlers, salmon roe, spinners and nymphs in the
riffles and runs. Feather steelhead average 2 to 5 pounds, but fish in
the 5 to 15 pound class are taken also.
• Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass are found throughout the river.
Fish crawdad crankbaits and Senkos off rip-rap and rocky banks for
the bronzebacks. Toss out spinnerbaits, plastic worms and swimbaits
around brush and trees in the slower-moving sections of river for
largemouths. Spring, summer and fall yield the most consistent action.
• Channel and white catfish frequent the holes of the river. Fish
mackerel strips, sardines, clams and live crayfish for the cats in the
summer and fall.
hatchery also released steelhead kelts
out while fishing the Feather below the
(spawned out adult males) into the Sacra-
Thermalito Aftrebay outlet with Robert
mento at Verona and into the Thermalito
Weese of Northern California Guide
Afterbay, with 50 percent of the fish going
Service in a trip in 2016, we got in before
into each spot.
noon with limits of good-sized salmon
But stripers, salmon and steelhead are
and two anglers went out on an afternoon
trip with Weese. The couple limited out on not the only fish found in the Feather. The
river also hosts smallmouth bass, spotted
salmon also.
bass (we caught one during our recent
Boaters use an array of techiniques on
striper trip, channel catfish, American
the Feather, including side drifting with
shad, and in high water years, white
roe, boon doggling with roe and anchor
sturgeon. The Feather is truly a world
fishing and back trolling with Brad’s
class fishery.
Killer Fish, Brad’s Cut Plugs, Flatfish and
other lures. Other anglers jig with Gibbs
Minnows, P-Line
Lazer Minnows and
other spoons.
Shore anglers find
the best action while
tossing out Mepps
Flying C and Blue
Fox spinners, casting
spoons and drifting
salmon roe.
In addition to
salmon, the Feather
also has a great
steelhead popula-
tion. The hatchery
trapped a total of
1,049 males and
839 females this
year, 1988 steelhead
total. The total eggs
they collected is
1.1 million, more
than enough to meet
their production of
450,000 steelhead
smolts for the
Feather River. They
also had enough
eggs to stock the
Thermalito Afterbay
Andrew Marlan shows off the hard-fighting striper that he landed on
with over 10,000
a minnow drifting adventure with Captain Reimers on the Feather
steelhead.
River on April 18
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
In addition, the