The upper region of the Sacramento River from Ord Ferry, Ca to Red Bluff, Ca has remained very tough salmon fishing to say the least. With very little pressure by salmon fishing anglers on the Sacramento River, due to the very poor reports from opening day, only a handful of Sacramento River salmon fishing guides remain on the river currently. Success has been limited to a scarce report of a salmon being caught randomly. Mike Rasmussen of SalmonSacRiver.com simply summed it up by saying, "they just aren't here yet." When asked why the salmon have not come into the Sacramento River like in previous years with an abundance of water flowing down its banks Mike replied, "I asked myself the same question. And it took me driving down river on Monday July 18, 2016 and fishing out of the Tisdale, Ca area as well as Verona, Ca area to realize that the answer was plain as day to figure out." Mike explains. He continues his explanation by saying even with the abundant water being seen up river at his house in Red Bluff, Ca and the flows being reported to the public on several websites, the general consensus by the public is that there is plenty of water being pushed down to the Delta and Pacific Ocean to bring the salmon up the Sacramento River without impediment. "This is deception in its finest form." Mike continues to report. He described the water conditions from Tisdale, Ca down to the confluence of the Feather River in Verona, Ca, are far from ideal. In fact, more likely detrimental to the overall health of the Sacramento River King Salmon. Mike Rasmussen said water conditions around Knights Landing, Ca reached 77 degrees in the daytime and although unknown exactly what the flows were, they were described by Mike to be "non existent," blaming the four major pumping stations up the Sacramento River for sucking the life and water right out of the river. "My boat would barely float down the current when left adrift." Mike says. He also noted that the Feather River in Verona, Ca where it meets the Sacramento River, has a much more sustained flow and water temperatures only reaching 68 degrees in the peak heat of the afternoon. Much more suitable for the Chinook Salmon migration. So again, we as anglers are left waiting for a change to take place before we can benefit from our rivers bounty; the Sacramento River King Salmon.

SalmonSacRiver.com fishing guides Mike Rasmussen and John Pearl continue to have great success fishing for Striped Bass around the Red Bluff, Ca area of the Sacramento River. Several fish in the 20 to 30 pound class have been caught this week by the pair of guides, who are thankful to have a species to fish for while the poor salmon fishing continues to hang around. Some American Shad and really nice quality Rainbow Trout are also around for the anglers who just need to get a line wet. Contact Mike Rasmussen at salmonsacriver@gmail.com or by calling 530 722 8876 or to speak with John Pearl he can be directly reached at 707 536 3984. Call now to reserve any remaining prime time dates left for our peak salmon run in September and October.