Fishing Report

JD Richey JD Richey

Great Striper Action Continues...

What a week of striper fishing! It's been awesome out there on the river and we have been seeing nice fish...and lots of them. A lot! 

We've been catching everything on light  gear and artificials and it's been a blast.!

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Really Awesome Fishing!

The striper bite was silly-good today up the river and we had fish on from start to finish pretty much the entire time. . Lots of schoolie sized fish, but some larger ones as well to maybe 14-16 pounds. 

Hopefully this bite will continue because it doesn't get any more fun than this!!!

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Striper Bite....HOT!!

Fishing was phenomenal today on the lower Feather River despite the fact that the water was off-color. Flows are coming down this week and that's going to make this thing really go crazy next week! There are a lot of school size males around, but some bigger fish in the mix as well. 

 

I also did a bait soaking trip on the Sac on Wednesday below Sacramento. There was a lot of action but the size just want there...

On a somber note, I attended the services for legendary Nor Cal guide -- and one of my favorite people on the river -- Jimmy Zanocco on Tuesday. The next day, we dedicated and released the first fish of the day in his honor...

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Striper Report

After a week of outstanding fishing, the water on Friday, April 14 came up dramatically on both the Feather and Sacramento rivers. Flows now are stable and starting to clear and I'd expect the fishing to be be back in full swing by mid-week. 

This is a late start to the hot fishing to be sure, but that just means we are going to fish stripes well into May this season -- and probably longer!

 

Father & son double headers...thats what it's all about!

Father & son double headers...thats what it's all about!

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JD Richey JD Richey

Striper Fishing Red Hot!

The striper bite in the rivers really busted loose this week, with big numbers of willing bass showing up. There are some nice fish in the 10-plus pound class in the mix and lots of shcoolie sized fish to pull your rod tip down! 

The Sac and Feather rivers are forecasted to rise this week with the storm but we should be in awesome shape by in a week or less. It's go time! 

Swimbiats and jigs have been the main baits we have been using lately...

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JD Richey JD Richey

Stripers Just Starting

With all the high water, the striper fishing is behind schedule at the moment. We should have been doing really well 2-3 weeks ago, but the fish are only now starting to show up. It's gaining momentum daily and we should be in full swing here very shortly.

So far, it's been the small males arriving early but they hens should be close behind...

This year, I think we're going to have fish well into May and probably June!

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JD Richey JD Richey

Just about time for stripers!

Well, it's been one looooooooooooong winter! But flows are coming down now and the sun's coming out and that means we should have some tremendous striper fishing happening very soon. I'm headed out on some exploratory missions this week so stay tuned. When it starts popping, the demand will be high so start thinking about dates now!

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JD Richey JD Richey

TIME FOR STURGEON!!

Well, as soon as I had a pattern going on the steelhead, the rains are coming again and the rivers will rise. So, it's officially all sturgeon, all the time from now until the end of February (at least). Fishing is solid already and is only going to get better! 

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Valley Steelies Perking Up, Sturgeon good too

With the water finally dropping in the Sac Valley rivers, we've seen a nice uptick in steelhead action. The fish are your typical Valley fish in the 2 to 5 pound class with a few larger ones mixed in. They are scrappy little guys full of fight! 

Also, the sturgeon fishing is heating up and should just get better as the month wears on!

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

High Water Everywhere...Time for Sturgeon!!

STEELHEAD FISHING IN THE SAC VALLEY IS WASHED OUT INDEFINITELY SO WE'RE MOVING ON TO STURGEON. WE'LL CHASE STURGEON ALL OF FEBRUARY AND THEN TRANSITION INTO STRIPERS IN MARCH-APRIL. IT SHOULD BE A GREAT SEASON FOR BOTH WITH ALL THIS WATER!

American  River off the Watt Ave Bridge...60,000 cfs!

American  River off the Watt Ave Bridge...60,000 cfs!

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JD Richey JD Richey

American Steelhead Opener Report

The much anticipated American River steelhead opener on Jan. 1 was largely a bust. We hooked one good fish early in the morning and then had a couple of other bites but only landed one halfpounder. I talked to a dozen or so other boats who didn't catch a fish either. 

The water was high (4,500 cfs) which makes it kinda like a needle in a hay field (notice I didn't say haystack). With the big rains coming in Jan. 7-8, flows are headed for 15,000 cfs and likely more. We are on standby at this point...

On a positive note, I saw plenty of salmon still spawning which was cool. I just hope the redds don't get all scoured out by the rain. 

If you can't go fishing, you might as well read about it! Check out my latest eBook: The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing

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JD Richey JD Richey

HAPPY HOLIDAYS! AMERICAN STEELHEAD OPENER COMING JAN. 1!

Hope you and yours have a great Holiday Season!! I'm going to hang out with the family the next several days but will be back out striper fishing just before new years and then will be on the American for the steelhead opener on January 1. 

Flows on the American went to 35,000 cfs last week...and that should have brought some fish in!! Flows are dropping now and will be 6,000 cfs by New Years Day. The color is still off at the moment but we have a week for it to clear up. Could be a pretty cool opener!

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JD Richey JD Richey

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE!

Two big storms hit Nor Cal this week and they have effectively shut down fishing for the short-term. All this water is awesome in the big picture but we won't be fishing much until after Christmas at the earliest. Flows on the Sac and American rivers are raging and brown and that's pushing a lot of mud down into the Delta as well. 

So, fingers crossed that flows come down by the Jan. 1 opening of steelhead season on the American. 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Striper Bite Solid

We had a bunch of North wind late last week and that kept us off the water. It took a couple days for the fish to settle back in but we got back after it again on Saturday. Fishing from Sat-Tuesday has been solid, though yesterday we had to really look around until we found the Mother Lode. Once we got on em, it was red hot. Still plenty of smaller fish around but some nice ones mixed in too. 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Kings done but stripers going strong!

The king salmon action finally has petered out and now it's time for Delta stripers! We did the first official run of the season the day before Thanksgiving and found action all day long, including a very nice extended topwater session!  The fish weren't giants tho we did get one that was probably 13-14 pounds. The water temps are perfect and the river has a nice slight brownish color to it. In short...IT'S GO TIME!!!

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Still nice kings around on the Sac!

The Fat Lady hasn't sung yet...in fact, there have been some days of limit-style salmon fishing lately on the Sacramento River. And the fish are nice and fresh! I'll be heading for the Delta starting next week for stripers and that's going to be the main game for the next couple months.

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Chrome kings on tap on the Sac!

There aren't big numbers around, but we're managing some nice fish every outing...look how beautiful these fish from today's mission looked!

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JD Richey JD Richey

Still Catching Chome!

I just finished a couple weeks on the American River in the drift boat, where king fishing was, in a word, kinda weird. We had action every day, but the only thing consistent about it was it was inconsistent. Good one day, off the next etc. There were plenty of fish around, but they were just kinda moody. 

I have since moved to the Sac near downtown and every day we are finding some beautiful chrome kings with sea lice on them. There aren't tons of fish around but they are of a very good grade. Last season, the kings continued into early December so we should still have plenty of good days to come...

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Time for Sacramento & American River Salmon!!

I just got done with my annual month on the Klamath and Trinity rivers, and now it's time for Sacramento and American river salmon!

The action local has been solid and...and it's just going to keep on getting better! Check out this report from the Lovely Martha that fished outside the Golden Gate on Oct 18 and caught limits of big in-bound spawner kings! Those fish are headed for the Sac River!!!

I'll be running trips starting this week and going until at least Thanksgiving (last year we had fresh kings into December!). I'll also be doing some drift boat runs on the American and some night salmon trips as well. 

On the Klamath and Trinity,  the salmon fishing was as tough as we have ever seen it but we still managed some good fish. And, luckily, we had some nice steelhead around too! See pix below...

 

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JD Richey JD Richey

Salmon Finally Turning On

We have been waiting on the Kings to show...and they are finally making their first big push right now. About a month late, we were starting to think they weren't coming at all but fishing suddenly turned on the past several days!

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