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 r 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 y wa Hig M ar cu Gard W. Ca tle tt R d 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 d 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