The Colman National Fish Hatchery  http://www.fws.gov/coleman/ located on Battle Creek near Cottonwood, Ca, has completed their annual release of hatchery reared juvenile steelhead. Which was all a waist of tax payers dollars in my opinion. The 8”-12” juvenile steelhead (approximately 1 year old) were released at the Red Bluff, Ca Diversion Dam Boat Launch Facility. Over a period of several weeks. From the very first day of the release, the striped bass have gorged on them. The waiting school of trophy sized striped bass had gathered to lay and wait, at one of their favorite ambush spot on the Sacramento River. Only eight or nine miles south of the dumping location. It was here that the stripers started the feeding frenzy on the juvenile steelhead as they arrived. This large school of oversized striped bass were gobbling up tax payer dollars and steelhead fishermen’s dreams every few seconds. As the out-migration ( the movement down river toward the Pacific Ocean where the juveniles will grow to adults) of juveniles made their way rapidly down river, the feeding frenzy continued as the mass of bait and the oversized stripers moved down river at a pace of seven to ten miles a day. “We had to move south every morning to a new boat launch to keep up with the school of monster striped bass”, reports SalmonSacRiver.com fishing charter owner Mike Rasmussen. Rasmussen followed the feeding frenzy for a five day period. Ending up in Colusa, Ca. before the school of bass scattered throughout the sixty miles of river they had just come down. Some of these stripers headed all the way back up to the dumping point they had left only days prior. Waiting for the next offload of tax payer dollars. Widespread in the Northern Sacramento River the bigs girls/boys found their favorite spots and gathered in “wolf packs” ( smaller groups of the giant stripers). Methodically and almost systematically these genius fish find their prey, establish their hunting grounds, exploit their preys weaknesses, and relentlessly devour their prey until the prey are eliminated or gone! The striped bass are a increasingly intelligent species. Meaning they never stop adapting, learning, or searching for new food sources and ideal conditions. At the same time stripers are always willing to step out of their comfort zones for a free meal. Much like feral hogs if you will. So targeting striped bass can at times be frustrating, to say the least. Although fairly predictable, they can flip the script and be gone in a flash, if something better comes along. Leaving anglers scratching their heads when the trophy’s have seemingly disappeared.

With the stripers scattered and hunting in wolf packs as opposed to a mega school. The frenzy style feeding of the juvenile steelhead has stopped for the most part. Becoming more of an underwater assault on the remaining juveniles that now trickle down the Sacramento River in far less numbers then the mass of juveniles that initially come through. Making the trophy stripers easy targets for anglers who had started to catch wind of the few fishing guides and bait makers who reaped havoc on the initial feeding frenzy. Keeping it very quiet for the first week following the initial release. Local angler who have been at this trophy striper fishery for a few years now, and up on game, took their turn at the onslaught. Catching their share of trophy class fish at many of the boat launch facilities scatter along the upper river. With the word out, boating and fishing pressure didn’t take long to put a end to the “easy fishing”.

With the striped bass being “splash shy” (wise to the sound of the big glidebaits and swimbaits hitting the surface) and motor shy, they primarily fed at night because their food source, the juvenile steelhead instinctively use the cover of darkness to out-migrate. The big line sided bass became very difficult to catch. Making for some long days and even longer faces. The best thing possible that could have happened to improve the striped bass fishing..happened. Northern California got drenched by a pacific rain storm over the weekend and it put the river out of commission for the time being. Two localized, seasonal, creeks that puke pure concentrated mud into the Sacramento River, when they receive substantial rainfall, started to run for the first time all winter. Blowing the upper Sacramento River completely out for anglers for a number of days. It’s still yet to be determined as to when the river will be clear enough to fish again. Providing rainfall stays to a minimum, the river should be fishable by the weekend or early next week at the latest. Only time will tell!

The three fishing guide and fishing charter services operating on the Sacramento River, for these “holdover stripers” (stripers bass that have arrived months early in preparation for the spring spawn) are all primarily finding their success throwing the popular G-Ratt’s glide bait called “sneaky pete”! Johnny Eller of Johnny Eller’s Guide Service https://www.facebook.com/johnny.eller.12, Robert Petty NorthStateSalmon.com, and Mike Rasmussen SalmonSacRiver.com all agree on a few things when it comes to choosing Sneaky Pete over any other bait. 1) They are easy to use! Any angler of any skill level can use them successfully.

2) Sneaky Pete is easy to get your hands on, readily available through many sporting goods stores. Kittle’s Outdoor & Sports http://www.kittlesoutdoor.com/ in Colusa, Ca, Johnson’s Bait & Tackle  http://www.johnsonsbaitonline.com/ in Yuba City, Ca, Tackle Warehouse https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/

3) They are affordable! Retailing for under $40.00. 4) They “match the hatch”! Meaning they resemble very closely the juvenile steelheads shape, profile, and size!

5) Sneaky’s work! Period! Plain and simple they get the job done over and over and over and …… At the end of the day that’s what matters most! This is not to say other baits don’t bring in the big ones. “A-Rigs get bit, but often tore apart. Larger much more expensive baits also get bit. But Why? Why work harder, and spend more for less results.” Fishing guide Mike Rasmussen theorized.

The Northern section of the Sacramento River where most of this trophy striped bass fishery exists. Is extremely shallow, the river is hard to read, and to be frank, it is dangerous! Navigation in this stretch of river is nothing to play with or a place to learn on your own for the first time! It is recommended to take a guide or someone with extensive knowledge of the upper river system at this time of year. River flows are at the lowest level legally allowed. Safe boating and tight lines to all of you who will make it out on the river for these fish of a lifetime.

Be sure to check out our YouTube https://youtube.com/channel/UCp-gWCbV6KEM5cEWdkfjm0w channel for these trophy striped bass fishing videos and many, many more fishing videos centered around Northern California’s great outdoors.