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Sacramento River steelhead fishing report 12/2/16.
The Sacramento River continues to produce some great steelhead fishing! We are seeing double digit days each time out and we are seeing some of the largest fish of the year right now. Its not every fish, but steelhead to 5 lbs are caught regularly. Todays trip was no exception, in fact, we landed two steelhead in the 5 lb class.
Rob Anderson with his best steelhead of the day!
I have been back trolling plugs for the most part, as that seems to get the most bite right now in the cool waters of the Sac in Redding, Ca. The flows have been sitting at 5070 cfs for a month now and there are no changes in the forecast. As long as we can keep fishing these flows, we will continue to be successful and catching some very nice Sac River steelhead.
Ralph caught his first ever steelhead after traveling all the way from Corona, Ca.
If you have yet to catch a wild California steelhead, now is the time! We are hooking over 10 fish per trip and the steelhead are arguably some of the most beautiful you will see anywhere. It is predominately a catch and release fishery, but we do catch hatchery origin steelhead on occasion. If you miss out on the winter steelhead action, be sure to book a trip the first two weeks in August when some of the best steelhead fishing of the year happens right here in Redding, Ca!
Sacramento River steelhead fishing report
This past week was once again, a wet one. I fished several days on the Sacramento River in Redding chasing steelhead. The egg bite continues to be slow, but there are still some fish to be had using a side drifted 8mm-10mm egg bead. Side drifting from our Willie Boat is easy and can be very productive, especially when fishing shallow sections of the river where these steelhead are holding. As long as there are spawning salmon in the system, egg pattern beads will remain effective.
Sacramento River steelhead caught by Brian Hales of Santa Cruz, Ca.
The river has cleared up a bit after recent rains and the floating grass also seems to have diminished a bit, although it is still a problem for the plug fishing. It has been my experience this past week that pulling size 3.0 Yakima Bait Co. Mag Lip plugs in dark or brass finishes have been very effective. The bites come a bit slower because the presentation time and the water coverage slows way down when pulling these plugs. Grass is still fouling the plugs and they must be checked and cleared often in order to keep your baits fishing. Adding scents to the plugs has also proven to be effective of late so be sure not to over look that step when fishing your plugs.
Clay Galassi of Santa Cruz, Ca. with a Sac River steelhead he caught on a 3.5 Mag Lip plug.
As the season continues, I will likely continue to concentrate my efforts on the steelhead plug bite while fishing in the Redding area. I would expect the good fishing to continue until the flows from Keswick Dam are ramped back down, leaving very little room to navigate my 24' jet boat. Until then, I'll be running steelhead and some King salmon trips well into the month of December.
Sacramento River fishing report 11/20.
A very wet system rolled into the Redding area on Saturday and persisted through mid day today. I fished two clients for steelhead on Saturday in Redding and had a very good good trip. Tim and Tyler hooked and landed numerous steelhead in the 3-4 pound range in spite of the horrible weather we endured all day long. Our most effective presentation was back trolling Mag Lip plugs, but we hooked some nice steelhead drifting egg beads as well.
Tim Duellman with the first steelhead of the day!
We started our day above the Posse Grounds boat launch and worked our way down as far as the Cypress Street bridge looking for steelhead. The most productive water was up high in the Posse Ground and Sundial section. I was very impressed with how good the bite was and as you can see by the pics I've attached to this report, all the fish we caught were very impressive. The darker colored Mag Lips were on fire, but we did pick up some steelhead on a brass colored plug as well.
Tyler with one of many beautiful Sacramento River steelhead he caught on 11/19.
Even with all the rain we received Saturday, when I started my two party trip today, I found the Sac to be in very good shape and I had high hopes for a repeat performance. Unfortunately, soon after we started fishing the clouds opened up and the rain came down in sheets for hours! We fished long and hard, but the bite shut down and we only managed about 4 bites, one nice steelhead caught and one lost soon after it was hooked. By 10:00 am, the Sac was clouding up and there was a ton of debris in the water making it very tough to fish plugs. We tried drifting beads and some other baits, but the trout just didn't respond.
Sacramento River flows by late afternoon.
At the time of this report, Sacramento River flows are over 20,000 cfs and it looks like the river is going to be un fishable for the foreseeable future. I will be looking ahead into early December now for future trips for late fall Kings and steelhead. On a positive note, this water will surely bring us some fresh salmon and hopefully they will be available in the Cottonwood area when the river drops back into shape. In the meantime, I'll be busy making bass and trout baits in preparation for some Shasta Lake fishing!
Sacramento River "late fall" salmon and steelhead fishing report.
Our boat is back from Willie Boats and our new windshield is awesome! We fished in the rain yesterday and my clients enjoyed the added comfort and protection from the wind and rain while running the Sacramento River. Our new Mr. Heater helped with the cold as well, but it is really just there to take the edge off in the chilly weather.
The new windshield turned out great!
We were targeting steelhead all day, but did see some signs of new salmon in the "Barge Hole" and two of the three boats fishing for salmon reported a salmon each. The Cottonwood area is pretty much void of spawning fall Kings so the steelhead trout fishing was a little slow. Fishing in the Redding area is still my preferred location for steelhead right now, but that could change when the bulk of the late fall Kings arrive in the next four weeks before the river closes to salmon fishing on Dec 16th.
Chris Dugger with a nice Sac River trout!
Double digit catch rates for steelhead trout are still common, but the bigger fish are still in the Redding area. The egg bite is still happening, but throwing Dick Nite spoons is catching fish and back trolling plugs is always productive for the bigger steelhead on the Sac River year round.
Wild Sacramento River rainbow trout.
I have some salmon trips booked this weekend so I'll have a better idea of just how many fresh Kings we will be fishing over in the near future. Its still early and I've seen some pretty promising salmon fishing reports from down river indicating that we have good numbers of fresh salmon on their way! As long as the water conditions hold, I anticipate some good salmon fishing ahead, especially in the month of December. If you are interested in booking a "late fall" salmon fishing trip, please remember we are fishing for a prized strain of salmon and although fishing can be slow, the quality of the Kings we will have a chance of catching will certainly be worth the wait. We will be back trolling plugs for this run of salmon targeting the largest fish of the season! Check out http://www.jeffgoodwinfishing.com/sacramento-river-fishing/ for more information on the Sacramento River!
Sacramento River steelhead fishing report!
Sacramento River steelhead!!
The Sacramento River has seen a considerable amount of rainfall this past week with a series of storms that passed through the Redding area this last week. The skies have now cleared and although we did see get quite a bit of rain, the Sacramento has not seen a big rise. Flows from Keswick Dam are dropping to 5,000 cfs tomorrow and the river above Bend Bridge is only running at around 7,000 cfs. Cow Creek and Cottonwood Creek are still running dirty, but they should clear up quickly with the dry weather we are now experiencing. When the water does clear up in the Cottonwood area, King salmon and steelhead fishing should be good below Battle Creek and in sections of the river above Red Bluff. I will be sampling the action this week and will hopefully have good news for my clients scheduled to fish with me beginning mid month. This will be the start of our "late fall" salmon/steelhead season and all indictors point to some productive days ahead on the water. As long as we don't see a big rise and dirty water from the tributaries, we should see solid fishing through mid December when the Sac closes to salmon fishing until next July. On a side note, the rainbow trout trips are still a lot of fun and double digit days are common while fishing egg patterns below spawning fall salmon in the shallows. These trout are a blast to catch on our light action G.Loomis/Shimano rods and reels making for a very fun and exciting day on the river. Please feel free to give me a call anytime and I will be happy to give you a fresh report or just answer any questions you might have about fishing in the Redding area during this time of the year!
Sacramento River steelhead run arrives in Cottonwood!
Fall is a special time for steelhead anglers on the Sacramento River. This is the time of year when the hatchery run of Coleman reared steelhead return as 2 year olds and we even see some returning 3-4 year fish. Coleman has already seen its steelhead returning to the ladder this season, and thats a good sign for this years run! Its a great fishery and the scenery below Battle Creek is simply stunning this time of year. Boat pressure is light so its not uncommon to pretty much have this section of the river to ourselves for most of the day. This season has already seen its challenges with all the wet weather, but its pulling up fresh steelhead and salmon with every storm we see. We will continue to pursue these bright steelhead through Devember. As always, we will also be fishing for the prized late fall salmon as well.
Fred Barrett with a Sac River hatchery steelhead.
NOW BOOKING!!! Late fall run King salmon...
Sacramento River "late fall" King salmon can often exceed 35-45+ pounds!
I am now accepting reservations for the Sacramento River "late fall" King salmon season beginning in mid November. Because I only offer these trips for a short period of time due to the Sacramento salmon season closing on December 16th, and because some dates are booked a year in advance, I will generally fill up quickly. This smaller run of king salmon makes up for their lower numbers in both their size and quality. Because these salmon enter the system later in the season, they are typically larger than the early fall salmon because they spend a longer period of time in the ocean feeding on protein rich bait fish. In fact, some of the largest salmon of the year that we have access to on the Sacramento River are "late fall" salmon. The days can be chilly, and the bite can be slow, but this run of Sacramento River salmon can produce a fish of a lifetime! If you have the patience and can endure a cold/wet day on the river, this just might be the one trip you will never forget....
early Fall salmon season finale!
With a low pressure system moving into the Redding area tomorrow night, today will mark the end of my regular fall salmon season. I enjoyed another great day on the water with the Bonetto boys who came up on a father/son salmon fishing trip. We covered lots of water, lost lots of gear, and disposed of a lot of bait trying to fill our limits. As it turned out, they went home with two fine King salmon, making all the hard work on the water worthwhile. I'm still looking forward to doing some more salmon fishing for "late fall Kings", but that will certainly depend on what kind of return we see in November. I would like to extend a huge thanks to all of my clients, new and old, who fished with me this year. I truly value your support and great fellowship on the water.
Justin Bonetto with a Sacramento River King salmon he caught in the "Barge Hole".
Whiskeytown Lake Kokanee salmon!
Whiskeytwon Lake fishing remains very good and we are seeing easy daily limits. There are still Kokanee all over the lake and most of the techniques we deploy are still very effective. A good place to start the day is in front of the Whiskey Creek Bridge (SR 299) at 45-55'. Dodgers in front of pink, orange, or blue baits seem to be doing the trick still, but orange is definitely a favorite. We caught fish at the mentioned depths today pretty much everywhere we fished. There are still some good numbers of fish at the cold water curtain, but the schools are definitely thinning. Look for the Kokanee to push up into the creek arms this week with the rains. The lake temp is down to 66 deg's so I'd look for the Kokanee to be swimming a little higher to the surface by weeks end. Tight lines!!
Whiskeytown Lake Kokanee salmon fishing remains strong with easy limits for this father/daughter team today!
Sacramento River salmon fishing was good today!
Today started out like just about every other day on the Sacramento River this salmon season. We skipped the Barge Hole crowd and ran down river to find some light pressure in some of our favorite holes. Well, that didn't happen and we ended up sharing a hole with three other boats that were back bouncing plugs making it tough to side drift roe. Not too long after we started fishing, we hooked and landed a nice 18 pound King salmon. Not long after that, the Barge Hole boats started coming down to fish in the "Old Mouth" hole. We left the crowd and ran down into the canyon hoping to run into a pod of salmon. We found some good trout fishing and hooked into a 6 foot sturgeon that provided an epic battle before we released it beside the boat. A few more empty holes and a trip down to "Big Rock" remained fruitless so we headed back to the top of where we started the day. We Immediately caught two nice hens to go along with our big buck, and subsequently called it a day. All in all, it was a great day of salmon fishing and a great day to be an egg fisherman...
Nicholas and Matthew with their Sacramento River King salmon!
Salmon fishing on the Sac still available
Sacramento River steelhead fishing report!
It's fall here in Shasta county and that means it's time to start chasing steelhead trout! As the king salmon enter the upper reaches of the Sacramento River, the steelhead are never far behind. We have been catching steelhead on a regular basis already, and catch rates should remain solid through early winter. Our primary techniques for catching these awesome fish has been to drift natural cured roe, egg imitation beads, or back troll Mag Lip 3.0 plugs. Keep checking our website for some great steelhead pics in the weeks to come!
Mel Ewing from Auburn, Ca. With a great Sacramento River steelhead.
Sacramento River salmon trip yields three salmon hooked!
I had a King salmon trip on the Sac River today with three clients. We started in the Barge Hole at first light and fished until sun up. The bite was slow so we moved down river so we could side drift some roe. We didn't get bit until about 11:00, but by 2:00 my clients had hooked three fish. All three came to the side of the boat, but for one reason or another, we only got one in the net. Tough day to say the least, but that's what we've been seeing all season long. Look for a lot more salmon updates the next two weeks!
9/30/16- Larry Lange of Bayside, Ca. with a 17 lb Sacramento River King salmon!
Whiskeytown Lake Kokanee fishing report
Today I fished Whiskeytown Lake for Kokanee salmon with two clients. We started out at Whiskey Creek and trolled to the 299 bridge without a bite. Once we hit the area around the bridge we started catching Kokanee at 45-60'. Trolling Dick Nite Dodgers and PLine Sunrise Squid in blue, orange, or pink did the trick! We had 3 easy limits within 2 hrs of fishing. Some of the Kokanee are taking on their spawning colors, but most are still very bright. Look for these Kokanee to fish well into October before they start to ready themselves for the spawn in November.
Sacramento River King salmon fishing
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