Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3607 March 17 -31, 2017 | Page 18
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MARCH 17 - 31, 2017
MAP FEATURE
VOL. 36 • ISS. 07
The primary spillway at Orovile Dam with 100,000 cfs going into the Feather River.
Photo courtesy of CA. DEPARTMENT OF WATER RESOURCES, Oroville.
The Feather: A Tale Of Two Rivers
T
here couldn’t be more of a contrast
between the Feather River last fall
during the salmon season and the
same river this winter since the Oroville
Dam emergency.
In October, the Feather from the
Thermalito Afterbay Outlet to the mouth
at Verona was the idyllic scene of the best
salmon action of the season, with many
anglers catching limits of the hard-fighting
fish, in spite of the tough fishing for most
on the Sacramento and American rivers.
On a beautiful day in early October, I
fished the clear, rushing waters of the river
below the Thermalito Afterbay outlet with
Robert Weese of Northern California
Guide Service and a family of four,
including Jeff Bosshard, his wife Regina,
12-year-old Greyson and 10-year-old
Vivica, for one of the top salmon fishing
trips I’ve been on anywhere in recent years.
The four clients, Robert and I put our
full limits — 12 fish ranging from 7 to
over 25 pounds — in the fish box by 9:37
a.m. We also lost another half dozen fish.
Then there’s the Feather River of
this winter, a focus of national and
international media attention when nearly
200,000 people in Oroville, Marysville