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Dave Jacobs of Professional Guide Service reaches out to net a late-fall king salmon during the 2008 special salmon season.
Fishing for late-fall king salmon will run through Dec. 31. The stretch of river open to fishing extends from 150 feet below the Lower Red Bluff (Sycamore) Boat Ramp to the Highway 113 bridge at Knights Landing.
But why make this exemption for the second year in a row when there's been a general two-year ban on river and ocean fishing? Why this stretch of river? Why this specific time frame?
Well, one salmon population – the late-fall run – has remained healthy even as the early fall, spring and winter runs have collapsed amid drastic modifications to their Delta and river environments. This stretch of river was chosen because the California Department of Fish and Game is confident that the salmon here will be from the late-fall run.
Officials studied more than 1,000 marked fish here during this period last year and found only one that was not from the late fall run.
If you go out, don't expect fast fishing. While the run is stable and healthy, anglers are targeting a population of fish less than one-tenth the size of the fall king salmon run – at least in the not-so-long-ago "good old days."
Bob Boucke, owner of Johnson's Bait and Tackle in Yuba City, points out that late-fall salmon are fast- moving, seldom settling into one spot for very long.
"We have to sit there until more fish come through," he said. "Fishing one day might be fabulous and the next be lousy. We're at their mercy."
About 200 salmon had entered the holding pond at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery by late Monday morning, according to DFG spokesman Harry Morse. The first egg take was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. today.
Morse said that reports from hatcheries on the Feather and Mokelumne rivers suggest that while salmon numbers are not back to normal, they appear to be sufficient for egg quotas to be met.
The daily bag and possession limit is one salmon. Anglers may practice catch-and-release up until the point that they keep a salmon. They may not continue to fish for salmon after taking their daily limit.
Further, anglers may not fillet their catch before returning to the boat ramp so that DFG has the opportunity to collect data and look for wire-coded tags.
A favored strategy is anchoring in a slot with a sardine-wrapped Kwikfish or FlatFish or a large spinner like a No. 6 Mepps Silvertron or Blue Fox spinner working in the current behind the boat, held close to the bottom by a weight attached to a spreader.
While late-fall salmon don't linger in any one spot for very long, they do tend to tarry toward one side of the river or the other in deep depressions.
Other anglers choose to work slowly upstream or downstream using the same kind of lure and weight setup at the business end as when anchoring. They cover more water that way and allow more anglers to have a shot at prime spots.
Even though fishing for late-fall kings is often best at midday or in the afternoon, it's become increasingly important to get on the water early.
Being stealthy is key to success.
"Fish smart, fish quiet, and keep fresh meat on the lure," is how longtime guide Dave Jacobs of Professional Guide Service puts it. "If you are not quiet, you are not going to catch fish."
He cautioned against running over one hole after another looking for fish using electronics, as he's seen many anglers do. Flows in the Sacramento River are typically low this time of year, and the fish are spooky.
Instead, he recommends finding what he calls a runway – a deep run with shallower water at both ends. He moves very slowly downstream using the kicker motor with a sardine-wrapped Kwikfish or FlatFish.
The days of having long stretches of river to yourself during late fall are gone. This is one of the few shots that California anglers have at catching a salmon these days. The Trinity and Klamath river runs to the north are four to eight hours away and are about finished.
Expect heavy crowds, particularly around Knights Landing, Tisdale and Hamilton City near boat ramps.
Late-fall kings are coveted for their qualities as willing biters, hard fighters and prime table fare. These fish often are barely distinguishable from ocean-caught salmon, mirror-bright with rich, deep orange meat.
They can get big, too, such as the giant 56-pounder caught by Bill Patterson last season a short distance downstream from Grimes Boat Landing. More typically, late-fall kings range from 15 to 25 pounds.
Salmon are most easily caught from a boat, because anglers can keep their lures right in front of a fish's nose, whereas the lure presented by an angler casting from shore appears only momentarily within the strike zone. And when a strike does occasionally occur, the shore angler must carry on the fight from a single spot.
For those who don't have access to a boat and cannot afford a guide (highly recommended for both bankies and boaters just learning the ropes), Boucke suggests that anglers might have a shot at hooking a salmon from the bank between Grimes and the new Tisdale Boat Ramp by casting a heavy No. 6 Mepps or Blue Fox spinner and letting it swing deeply through a run.
Boaters aren't home free, though. Navigating the Sacramento River can be hazardous in the typically low flows this time of year.
Guide Dave Jacobs holds a typical late-fall king salmon taken in 2008 by writer Jim Jones.
Salmon fishermen who are after fall-run salmon on the Sacramento River have a better chance from a boat than angling from the bank.
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