Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3813 June 7-21 2019 | Page 18
16
June 7 - 21, 2019
MAP FEATURE
VOL.38 • ISS. 13
The Feather River at Boyd’s Pump is a popular area for anglers to target stripers and king salmon.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Stripers Still Biting as Anglers Get Ready for Salmon on Feather River
T
his year has been a memorable
one for striped bass on the Feather
River – and veteran guides and anglers
are expecting the fishing to continue until
at least mid-June because of the high
flows on the river that have drawn large
numbers of striped bass into the system,
along with the American shad.
“This has been a fantastic striper
season on the Feather,” said Rob
Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide
Service. “Every trip on the river
except for one produced limits of
stripers after I started booking
trips on March 31. With the
fishing the way it is now, I
don’t see any reason why
it shouldn’t continue into
mid-June.”
The striped
bass
fishing is
still
going strong on the Feather River, since
the high flows have kept the striped bass,
including some large ones, in the system.
“On my latest trip, Dr. Maqsd Dean
had to be at the hospital, but we did catch
him and his six-year-old son their limits
before he had to go,” said Rob Reimers of
Rustic Rob’s Guide Service.
“They landed stripers in
the 19 to 22-inch range
while fishing extra-
large minnows out
of Boyd’s Pump. “
The anglers also
released a 14 lb.
king salmon
that put up a
great fight
before
they got
the
hook
out
of
it.
On
a previous trip, Dan Instrom and
Tom Muller of Woodland caught
and released two stripers h in
the 12 to 15-pound range. “The
three of us kept our limits of 19
to 24-inch fish while drifting
minnows out of Boyd’s Pump.
Altogether, including shakers, we
must have caught over 22 fish.”
Another trip made by Reimers
and his friend Bob produced limits
of stripers in the 20 to 26-inch
range. They also released two 10
lb. stripers on the Feather.
The striped bass, known for its
willingness to take a wide array of
baits, lures and flies and its hard,
dogged battle, is one of my favorite
fish to pursue. I can attest to the
fine fishing on the river, having hit
the river with Ernie Marlan, Fish
Sniffer staffer, his 17-year-old
son, Andrew, daughter, 13-year-
old Abby, out of Boyd’s Pump in
Yuba City with Rob Reimers in
mid-April.
On the day before, Reimers and
two anglers reported limits of fish
weighing up to 8 pounds. “We
caught our fish, but we had to go
through a lot of shakers to do it and
we were done around 1 p.m.,” he Captain Rob Reimers successfully battled this
bright Chinook salmon last season on the Feather
said.
River. Salmon season will begin on July 16.
The action was even better on
Photo courtesy of RUSTIC ROB’S GUIDE SERVICE.
the morning we fished. After we
arrived in the boat at Star Bend,
converged at the spot, spooking the fish
Reimers told us each to a grab a minnow
and making the bite much tougher.
from the bucket, put the hook through its
Rob drove the boat downriver, ending
“nose,” and to let out the line out so the
up below the Nicolas Bridge. “We didn’t
minnow and sinker would gently tap the
get a lot of fish down here yesterday, but
bottom.
the fish we landed were quality ones,”
The day started off with plenty of action, he stated.
with Ernie’s two children successfully
We went upriver to the Star Bend area,
batting several legal-sized stripers.
- and that’s where Andrew landed the
We hit one spot where the fish were
biggest fish of the day, a 9-pound male.
absolutely stacked on the fish finder.
All of the fish we landed were males,
Unfortunately, once we started hooking
typical for this time of year.
up one fish after another, other boats
The five of us were limited out with
Abby Marlan of Elk Grove caught this scrappy striped bass
while drifting a live jumbo minnow on the Feather River with
Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
our ten stripers by 10 a.m. We released
at least a dozen shakers and lost some
fish also.
After the striped bass and shad fishing