Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3718 Aug 17-31 | Page 18

18 Aug 17 - 31, 2018 MAP FEATURE VOL.37 • ISS. 18 The mouth of the American River at Discovery Park is one of the most popular spots for anglers to target king salmon, striped bass and shad in the Sacramento Metropolitan Region. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. T Salmon Fishing in The Shadow of The Capitol he city of Sacramento plays host to a large fall run of Chi- nook salmon every year when the fish move through the State Capitol on their way to the spawning grounds on the upper section of the Sacramento River near Redding, the American River, the Feather River and other tributaries. The fishing on this salmon opener on July 16 was surprisingly good at two spots on the river – the Sacramento River below Red Bluff and the mouth of the Amer- ican River at Discovery Park right here in Sacramen- to. As was the case last year, the cooler water coming down the American caused the fish to hold at the mouth. In fact, a number of guides from out of town, including Kirk Portocarrero of sacriverguide.com decided to try fishing the river out of the Discovery Park ramp on the opener, along with the local an- glers who converged on the river. Portocarrero reported excellent fishing on opening day out of Discov- ery Park. The four anglers fishing with Portocarrero landed 4 salmon ranging from 12 to 18 pounds while trolling Silvertron spinners below the mouth of the American. Since opening week, the fishing has slowed down as it normally does this time of year, but anglers are still catching some bright, quality fish as they move through. Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service, after fishing the Feather River on opening week, decided to try fishing out of Discovery Park On his first trip on July 24, he landed an 18 lb. salmon below the mouth of the American on a Blue Fox spin- ner. However, the next two trips he made didn’t yield any fish. Kirk Portocarrero of sacriverguide.com shows off a beautiful Chinook caught below the mouth of the American on July 16. Photo courtesy of sacriverguide.com, Redding. Dennis Pfanner at Sacramento Pro Tackle confirmed the slowdown in fishing. “Since the opening week of salmon sea- son, the fleet at the mouth has caught zero to three fish per day,” he stated. “These are the mid-June to mid-July fish that we have been seeing for years,” Pfanner said. “After mid-July, the num- bers usually begin to slow down. We don’t see the bigger numbers of fish until mid-September when the American River fish move into the system.” The fishing could be very good in the Sacramento this fall, based on the stellar fishing trollers are currently experienc- ing on the ocean from Half Moon Bay to Bodega Bay, with the most consistent action at press time taking place right now outside of the Golden Gate along the Marin County coast. The actual abundance of Sacramento River fall run salmon on the ocean appears to vary greatly from the less-than-stellar forecast. Even though 2017 Sacramento River adult spawning escapement was only 44,574 adults, the jack Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service counts were above nor- landed this bright Chinook salmon on the mal. A total of 24,375 Sacramento River at Discovery Park on July jacks returned to the 24. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. Upper Sacramento, Feather River and American River Basins in 2017 The jack counts are employed to model the ocean abundance forecasts for the year. Forecasts by Dr. Michael O’Far- rell of NOAA Fisheries presented at the CDFW meeting on March 1 in Santa Rosa suggest there are 229,400 Sacramento River fall Chinook adults in the ocean this year, but the actual number appears to be much larger, based on the current fishing. The CDFW noted that returns for Sacramento River fall run Chinook – the main stock of salmon supporting Cali- fornia’s ocean and Central Valley river fisheries – have been low for the third consecutive year, pushing them into ‘overfished’ status. In order to meet con- servation goals for Sacramento River fall run Chinook, some ocean salmon seasons have been shortened and the daily bag and possession limits for Central Valley river fisheries have been reduced.” “The goal is to get even more fish back to the spawning grounds this fall than would be required in a normal year,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Fisheries Branch Chief Kevin Shaffer in April. That goal appears to be something well within reach, based on the current