Sacramento River King Salmon Fishing Report June 22, 2016

Here we go!!! The countdown has started people. And it's official.  Mike Rasmussen of SalmonSacRiver.com has been branded for the 2016 salmon season on the Sacramento River.

    With roughly three and a half weeks until the 2016 King Salmon season opens on the Sacramento River, the anticipation builds. The Sacramento River from Colusa, Ca to Red Bluff, Ca has been fairly quiet since the big spring spawn of the striped bass migration up the river. With only the "die hards" and the "weekend warriors"  being the only source of activity on the Sacramento River in its northern section. That's all about to change on July 16, 2016. An armada of big aluminum jet boats and smaller private vessels are going to be occupying the river in its extremities on a six month pursuit of the migrating Chinook (King) Salmon. "With the outlook of our current reservoir storage and the overall water abundance we have in Northern California, we can expect a packed and very busy salmon season on the Sacramento River. Chinook Salmon abundance reports from state and federal agencies are lower than we expected. But in the same respect they changed their formula of prediction this year before the counts were done," reports Mike Rasmussen of SalmonSacRiver.com. The bottom line Mike continues to explain is that the Sacramento River system has water. This is something the fishermen have struggled with the past two seasons. The general outlook from the majority of senior guides on the river is a positive one. With some salmon already being seen in the system and the big run of fish this full moon cycle will push up the river, we can finally again expect an opening day to celebrate. 

Fishing report for the Sacramento River June 7, 2016

Another A-Rig fish held up by Damion Lyman of Redding, Ca who fished on June 5, 2016 with SalmonSacRiver.com fishing guide Mike Rasmussen.

     "A-Rig." Says Mike Rasmussen. A Northern California salmon fishing guide on the Sacramento River. The striped bass has turned up a few notches in the past few days, as Keswick damn upped the release flows from Lake Shasta. Thus bringing more stripers to the upper Sacramento River where SalmonSacRiver.com fishing guide Mike Rasmussen has been targeting them. The number of fish during the morning and late afternoon topwater bite has doubled the last few days as the stripers have started to keg up in the rivers narrowest pinch points. Switching half his anglers in the boat to A-Rigs has put some very nice schoolie size keepers striped bass in the box this week. Using small 3 inch ki-tech and reaction inovation swim baits on "the rig" has been working the best for Mike. John Pearl also with SalmonSacRiver.com who specializes in all the baits used by Mike and himself for the striped bass. Would like to make note of California's three hook rule. So no A-Rig can have more then three hooks per rig. If you are casting a rig that has three wire legs, then you are legal. If u are using a rig that has five or more legs, you must use dummy baits on the remaining legs once you have three hooked swim baits connected to it.  John also says. Using on off color swim bait on the rig is a good idea, for the fact that it usually be the one who gets hit. Johns knowledge of the all the tackle comes from his life long large mouth bass fishing at Clearlake. 

     The American Shad numbers in the upper river have also climbed dramatically with this water rise. The hatches of mayflies on the river every morning have made the shad very visible and easy to locate as they take the bugs of the surface of the river.  

     A few Sacramento River King Salmon have been spotted rolling by Mike the last few days. Keep in mind to book now for the best dates available  from SalmonSacRiver.com. Book on line now at the website or call 530 722 8876.   

Summer is coming!!

The upper Sacramento River between Hamilton City and the Red Bluff Diversion Dam in the city of Red Bluff is host to the American shad and the striped bass, two anadromous fish species that arrive in early summer. Mike Rasmussen of SalmonSacRiver.com is reporting excellent shad fishing between Hamilton City and Tehema. The American shad (poor man's steelhead) is pound for pound the hardest fighting fish in the Sacramento River. We are catching an average of 20 to 30 of these fish per rod this week.

Also making their appearance on the upper Sacramento River are the striped bass, providing a great combo opportunity while on one of our guided American shad trips. The last two nights have had explosive top water action, with Mike spotting keeper sized striped bass on his return up river. These "boils" where feeding Striped Bass are devouring the Sacramento River's baby salmon are very visible. Mike prefers small top water baits but almost anything you throw at these post spawn fish will work.

The rainbow trout bite between the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and the Sundial Bridge in downtown Redding is always consistent, with lots of action and beautiful rainbow trout weighing up to 3 pounds. We saw the most action while drifting small shots of roe naturally -- no puff ball or glo bugs needed! John Pearl reports that his bigger fish came during the mid-morning while trolling down river in the deeper runs using small wee warts and hot shots and adding light weight when necessary. Call 530 722 8876 or click to book with John or Mike today.