It’s been a salmon season like no other on the Sacramento River above Red Bluff and it’s definitely been one of the slowest in our area in many, many years. Restricted flows from Shasta Lake, warmer than normal water temps down river, and a ridiculous amount of floating debris/vegetation have all contributed to the late start we’ve seen since the season opened on July 16th.
Captain Jeff Brady with a fresh run King 250 on the Sacramento River miles from the saltwater.
We have remained optimistic for a big salmon run due to the amount of King salmon we have been seeing caught in the ocean all summer long. We’ve waited, and waited, and waited for these salmon to show up above Red bluff where water temps are favorable for salmon to hold in until the fall rains arrive in late October/November. We expect any day to see a big push of salmon into the Barge Hole but its clearly not happened yet. Average numbers of salmon caught in the Barge Hole every day has been 0-4 salmon. The funny thing is, we were catching more salmon in early August than we are now.
Early September King caught in the Barge Hole with Captain Kenny Turner.
No one technique we have been using has stood out as being the best bet making it difficult to pattern the effectiveness of one presentation over another. We typically fish with plugs in the morning and switch to roe when the sun comes up but we’ve been catching a few this year back trolling spinners early in the day as well. I’m sure that when the Barge Hole does fill with salmon any one of the techniques will catch salmon at some point in the day. Time will tell what is to be seen throughout the remainder of this years King salmon season but time isn’t on our side at this point. The fall run is generally over by the end of October and most all the King salmon will be stacked in Battle Creek nosed into the fish ladder at Coleman National Fish Hatchery.
9/17- This weeks forecast!
The weather forecast calls for rain this week and that could be the trigger we’ve been waiting for this season. Cooler water temps down river coupled with a shot of rainwater run off will surely get some of the salmon staged in SF Bay to make the run north. It is our hope that this will be what we needed and we can finish off our fall salmon season strong. We’ve made several last minute trip decisions and I really appreciate everyone that has worked with us through these cancellations, re schedules, and especially those who just came out and fished with us anyway. We have a special appreciation for our clients that come out to fish with us in good times and in the bad.
We’re predicting a strong late fall salmon season in November and December and we’ll have plenty of cool water downstream to get our late fall’s up here and on schedule. We’re already booking our late fall salmon trips and we don’t have a lot of dates left to schedule with interested clients. Smaller groups are actually encouraged for late falls and the trip is best for the hardcore fishermen due to the cold temps and in climate weather we encounter each late fall season.
