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A bad day fishing is better than a good day working!!

November 18, 2003

The Old River Rat on the American River

I'm glad to be an American!!

God Bless the USA!!!

November 18 – Went out this morning for probably the last time this season. About 8 boats in the American and NO fish. I didn’t even make a fish. Guess it is time to switch to Stripers. Won’t be fishing for the next few days, my wife is having surgery and I must be the nurse. As she heals, I will start Striper fishing, unless someone tells me the Salmon are jumping in the boat. This was not one of my better years. Stripers were slow, no Sturgeon and now the Salmon season was not exciting at all. Hope the upcoming Striper/Sturgeon season is a good one. Will start a new page as soon as I get back on the water. Tight Lines and may all you fish be keepers.

November 17 – Well, today was the day I should have had my camera and it was on the counter at home. I went out early, waited for the Ranger to open the gate and then went up stream. Chuck and his son-in-law Scott were ahead of me and when I caught up to them up river, they had just landed the biggest fish I have seen in the American River all year. Scott landed a 49 pound buck that was in great shape. When I say 49 pounds, I mean 49 pounds. I watched as they weighted the fish and the scale recorded a true 49 pounds. GREAT JOB SCOTT!!!! In addition, Scott and Chuck landed three other fish and one other boat had two fish. I did not get a bite all morning. I guess that is what I get for catching fish on Friday. Not a lot of fish but there are still some around to be had.

November 14 – Even though I was feeling bad, I went out to see what was going on at the River. Got to the gate and Uncle Larry was waiting for the ranger to so he could get in. I was not there 5 minutes and the ranger pulled up and opened the gate. Went up river and had a really good morning. Not many fisherman, 5 boats total. I landed three fish from about 12 to 20 pounds. Two of them were really dark and I released them. Uncle Larry had four fish on and landed three, one of which was this beautiful 18 pound hen. The other boats didn’t do a thing while I was there but I left at about 8:00 and was home before 9:00. Hopefully I will get a report for some of them later on today. If so, I will update the site.

November 12 – Well THANKS Danny Layne and Fred Thomason we have a report for today and it was not a bad one. Below is Danny’s email to me:

Today I had the pleasure of fishing clients Marty Talley and Andrew Secock from Madera on Fred Thomason's "Last Cast Guide Service" boat. We started at the lower dredge with nothing going on, upon reaching the snags at the top of the hole we hit a double hook-up (not something you want to happen in the dark with one net?) Marty's fish seemed to be the bigger of the two or maybe just more fight as it headed for the middle of the river,( I thought I was at a Tennis match moving from one side of the boat to the other preparing to net whatever fish gave up first) after 10 or so minutes Andrew's fish gave up and came to the boat where I put it in the net and it began to thrash around. A nice bright 22 lb buck all messed up in the net. A Fire Drill if you have every seen one. Now back to Marty's fish, remember this was the first hook-up, this fish has been out to the middle of the river twice, under the boat both forward and aft and not getting hung up on the electric or kicker motors, how I don't know? Now as I get Andrews fish out of the net (remember him) and hand the net to Fred, Marty's fish makes a run at the north bank and gets around a snag and pops Fred’s 25lb test leader. Marty did a great job fighting this fish and during the "Fire Drill" no one got a look

to see how big it may have been? So 25 min. later we have one in the box and one in the bush, shit happens? Moved back into the trolling lane after all this and bingo a solid hook-up on a 18 lb hen that Marty subdued rather quickly.

John we had two more hits this a.m. on the American then moved out to the Sac. where it was to muddy for us but not a big Sea Lion who was getting his share.

Hope all is better now and will see all this Friday, three other boats working this a.m. My son Bobby landed a 20plus fish, Al (red hooded sweats) had a nice fish hanging and that was it till after daylite.

Tight Lines

Danny

November 11 – Didn’t fish today, I had a mild temperature and I have my Grandson with us for the next few days and he had a temperature of 104.2. No need to aggravate things. I haven’t got any reports either. Won’t be fishing tomorrow, so if you have a report, let me know. Thanks.

November 10 – Went out this morning and it was COLD. Thought the fish would be waiting but I was in for a rude awakening. I fished from 4:30 to a little after 8:00 and didn’t get a bite. There were 15 or more boats in the American River and I only saw or heard of two fish. The two Fred’s each had one. I talked to every boat I passed and the news was the same. NO FISH!!! Went down to the Sacramento, not many boats only three jiggers at the mouth and looked to be about 4 or 5 boats down stream. Seemed their luck was the same, no fish. Now, Fred Thomason of Last Cast Guide service said he had a good day on Friday. His client landed the most beautiful 38 pound buck he had ever seen. Fred sent me this picture of Mel and his BIG BUCK!! He is right, that is a beautiful fish.

November 7 – I didn’t got out today. I woke up about 3:00 and looked outside and it was pouring rain and just not a tolerable situation. I went back to bed. I did get a call from Roy and Jeannette. They got up at about 4:00 and decided not to got then but did leave their house about 7:00. They fished until 10:28am, waiting for the 10:30 bite (as yesterday). Roy told Jeannette “I should get a bite in two minutes” and sure enough he did. He landed a 25 pounder. To their knowledge, only one other fish was caught in the Sacramento. Thanks to Roy and Jeannette we have a report on the Sacramento today but nothing on the American.

November 6 – Well, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday 0 for 4, today 3 for 4. Went out this morning, new hooks on the getzits and flatfish. Got to the Lower Dredger and started a slow troll up stream. Got about half way through the first pass and here comes Joe DeFrisco. I can see his silhouette in the dark and I watched his glow in the dark lure as he put it into the water. He didn’t go 30 feet and he had one on. The first fish of the day went to Joe, a big red buck which he returned to the river. Then I went about another 20 yards and my rod loaded up. This fish was angry! He ran up and down stream a few times and I finally got him to the boat and in the net. A big red buck about 25 pounds. Back in the water with that guy quickly. Made another pass and got another take down and landed a nice clean buck about 14 pounds. Made a few more passes and hit another one, this time a Jack about 9 pounds. Then it got slow. The sun started to come up and I decided to change from my stocking cap to a baseball cap. When I did, I yelled at Danny Layne, “you have to change your look so the fish don’t know who you are”. Then we went back and forth for a minute or so and my rod loaded up again. I set the hook and he started to run and then slack line. That’s right a LONG LINE RELEASE! That was the action for me for the morning. The other fish I saw were Joe had 1, KC had 2 and one other boat had 1. I started to the dock about 8:30 and after taking the boat out, I talked to Joe and Fred who went to the Sacramento River to see what was going on. They did not see a fish caught and they just took a nice boat ride. Now for the rest of the story. Danny Layne and his client Glenn Wolff fished the American River like the rest of us but didn’t get a bite all morning. They also went to the Sacramento River when everybody else left the American. The only difference is, they stayed after Fred and Joe left. At about 10:30, the bite was on and Glenn landed two nice fish, on the right, then Danny and Glenn went home too. I guess sometimes you just have to wait for the bite.

November 5 – Went out this morning and thought I was going to have another great day. Guess I did BUT…..I could not land a fish. I hooked and fought 4 of them but didn’t land any. I guess it was Jack Bishop’s fault. If he would have been with me he could have handled the net and I would not have had to try to tire them out as much. Yes, it was Jacks fault. There were other fish caught. Uncle Larry landed 4, Chuck and Millie landed 4, Bud and his partner landed 4, Joe landed 1, Fred landed 1, Bear landed 1 and Danny Layne and his client Dan Virden landed 3. In fact, the picture on the left is of Danny and Dan Virden of Sonora, with one of his fish, about a 25 pound buck.

November 4 – As I said yesterday, today I was going out and the fish were going to be waiting for me. Well, I went out this morning and when I got on the river it was beginning to get foggy. The farther up river I went, the more fog. It was very low and I could see over it while standing in my boat but I could not see what was floating on the water. I made my way up river carefully and decided to start trolling lower in the river that usual. I made a complete pass through the Dredger and when I got up to the top, there were Chuck and Millie and they already had one fish. I made another full pass without a hit then I passed Millie again and they had two. I finally hooked up and landed a nice hen about 17 pounds. Then I landed a nice buck about 19 pounds and finally I landed another buck about 21 pounds and it was 7:01am. Chuck and Millie ended the day landing 5 and loosing 2. Danny Layne had 2 fish when I left and Danny Hayes also had two fish. There was one other boat in the area and they had none. About 7:30 or 8:00 more boats came into the area but the bite was over. Chuck and Millie left about 8:00 and I left shortly after. This evening I received an email from Danny Layne. He got two more fish in the Sacramento, a total of 4, which made Buzz Hogan and Jerry Gundlech, his clients VERY HAPPY. The picture on the right is of Buzz and Jerry with two of the four fish, a 26 pounder and a 28 pounder..

November 3 – Sorry but I got up at 3:00 and looked outside. It was raining and very windy so I closed the window, took off my slippers and went back to bed. Now, Danny Layne didn’t let a little rain stop him. He went out on the river and had the whole river to himself. He and Dean Ryan went out this morning and landed two and lost three. It is really a sorry situation when you loose more that than you land but sometimes that is the real story. To the left is a picture of Dean and his 16 pounder. In addition I got a report from Jeannette and Roy. They fished the Sacramento, didn’t get a fish but saw a lot of fish moving. Maybe the rain will get them going.

October 30 – Guess I missed a good one today. Received an email from Danny Layne and he said it was good in the American. In addition, Richard Rodness sent me an email and a picture of his 34.5 pounder. Below are their emails and the picture.

Hello, John

Hope this finds you improving?

Good bite this a.m. Uncle Larry thought that there were at least 9 taken in the dark. Al Coleman had Three hanging, Uncle Larry hooked four, landing three, Casey had a large fish, Larry Harlan fishing with two others from Sonora landed a nice bright 20lb hen, I landed a small female down by the bamboo. There seem to be a good bite out on the Sac after daylite,

Kenny landed two off the mouth of the American, Joe DeFrisco. landed two south of the mouth towards the Ark, and Casey was doing battle when I called it a day at 0900.

Tight lines

Danny

Hope all is going well for ya. Update from 10/30/03 caught this big fella at
the upper hole pulling along a spinner. Not too many fish on the graph but
one in the boat.

Tight Lines.

Richard

October 29 – Guess I didn’t miss much this morning. With the exception of Chuck and Millie, fishing was somewhat slow. I go this email from Danny Layne, summing up the morning bite. THANKS DANNY!!!

Hello, John

Was a hit and miss morning? Some boats got hits and fish, lots of them, Chuck and Millie ( six ), Fred from Last Cast ( 2) the fellow from UPS (one) Tom Jones (white North River) two and a couple of other boats had fish hanging. The rest of us got bit but brought no fish to net, Joe lost one and myself had two hook-ups with quick long line releases.

Hope this finds you and your health returning? See you on the river with your POLE in hand.

Tight Lines

Danny

October 27 – This morning I was asked if this was the end of the run. I told the guy “I don’t know, did the run start”? Not much happened this morning. Greg Dixon got one. Danny Layne got one, Danny Hayes got one and Cliff got two. The sun came up an hour earlier and screwed up that extra hour of fishing delight. I left at 8:30 and as stated above will be off the river for a while. Let me know if you get anything.

October 24 – Almost didn’t go out because the weather forecast called for 20 mph winds. Got up about 3:30 and checked outside and it was beautiful, no wind at all. Hooked up the boat and was off to the river. Made a few passes before anything happened and finally got a hit, hooked the fish and landed a nice 8 pound Jack. For me that was it for the day. Now, there were other fish caught. Joe DeFrisco was the big winner. He landed 4 fish all Jacks. Al Coleman landed at least 3 and I believe they were all Jacks as well. Danny Layne landed at least two and I know one was over 15 pounds. There were at least another 4 or 5 fish landed in the American and a few in the Sacramento. I left at 8:30 so there could have been many more landed in the Sacramento.

October 23 – Today was a repeat of yesterday. The only difference was I went out alone and still didn’t get a bit. I only saw 4 or 5 fish that were caught and everybody was still singing the blues. KC and his clan, two boats, were the winners. One boat had two fish and the other boat, KC’s naturally, had a beautiful Buck. Probably the best looking Buck I have seen in about three weeks. Tony landed this fish in the American and as you can see, it is silver bright with not a spot of red and goes 30+ pounds.. The jaw is starting to hook but it is a nice fat fish. Great Job Tony.

October 22 – Boy did I screw up!!!! I called a friend from San Jose and told him to come up. He did and we got on the water about 4:45. I won’t go into the boring details but we fished the American and the Sacramento until 9:00 sharp and didn’t get a bite. No, nothing, nada! Fishing was slow for most everyone. I don’t know if it is because of the weather change or for some other reason. We only saw a few fish caught and everyone was singing the blues. Don & Gary were the big hitters today. They got 4 nice fish. Al Coleman got 2. Danny Layne and his clients got 1. That was it for both the American and the Sacramento. I sure hope this is not a sign of the times. I sure would like to see good numbers of fish even it is only for a week. This has not been a good year but I am confident it will get BETTER!!!

October 21 – Another great day on the river. Yesterday, Joe DeFrisco gave me a secret lure (Double Glow Getzit) and I put it on first thing this morning. I got to the hole, got my rod ready, put on the secret lure and put in the water. Then I put the rod in the holder and leaned over to switch batteries. I looked at the rod and it had a big bend in it. I had a fish already!!! After a few minutes, I landed a beautiful 15+ pound hen. I made a full pass and was on my way down stream and I got another hit. This time a 19 pound Buck. Made a few more passes and got another fish on. This time it was a real hot fish. He ran me around the boat, jumped three or four times and finally got to the boat. It was about the same size as the hen, 15+ pounds. Before I could get the net, It went back down, then under the boat and some how made it through my Jet Pump Protector. I tried to get it out but lost the fish in the process but did not loose my lucky secret lure. Then, just before sun up, I hooked and landed another nice hen, about 12 pounds and that was it for the day. I started down river about 8:00 having landed three nice fish and loosing one. JD land three nice fish. Danny Layne and his clients, Pete Bierini and Joe Perry had two, pictures on the left. Fred Drees and his Mom, Donna also did well. Fred took his Mom out and she out fished him. She landed two and when I left, he had only landed one. I took the picture on the right to show his Mom’s fish. Great JOB Donna!!!! Keep it up. Now for the Sacramento River. Apparently a number of fish were caught this morning, or maybe not. It just depended on who you talked to. I got reports saying it was good and reports saying it was bad. For sure, Jack Bishop was happy with his catch. He got these two Bucks anchored just above the I Street Bridge fishing with Flatfish. One was 24 pounds and the other 15 pounds.

October 20 – Went back to Discovery Park this morning and went up stream. When I got to the Lower Dredger there were three boats leisurely trolling my favorite spot. I got things ready and joined them. I made two passes without any luck. In that period of time four more boats came up. Finally on my third pass, I hooked and landed a nice 22.2# Buck. When I started my next pass, each boat I passed had at least one fish with the exception of Bear. Time passed slow for all of us but a fish was caught here and there. As the sun was coming up, Ernie and Joe came by and I said here is how you do it and before I could complete the sentence my rod loaded up and I had a nice 8.6 pound buck on the end of the line and eventually in the boat. For me, two hits, two fish and that was it. Don and Gary had one, Al Coleman had one, Joe had one and just about everyone had something. Now, one of Danny Layne’s clients hooked a nice one but it took him into the snags and before you could say Jack Robinson, it was tangled and off. Danny’s boat did land another one and as I was on my way home Danny called me and said that were getting a good number of fish in the Sacramento. He wanted to be sure I knew just in case I wanted to make a few passes before going home, too late! Guess the Sacramento had a good day, I will know for sure later when I get Danny’s sarcastic email. He had three in the boat and was waiting for the next fish to fill out his limit.

Got the email but no sarcasm. The picture to the right is of Matt and Norm Foust of Columbia with their limit of Kings ranging from 17# to 28#.

October 17 – Well, guess one good day does not a run make. Went out this morning expecting to find fish again, that is not to say, “like yesterday” but fish never the less. Got to the gate before it was opened and waited for the Park Ranger to unlock the gate so about 10 of us could get in. Once the gate was opened, I got the boat ready and was off to catch a fish or two. Unfortunately, the only fish I saw caught was caught by good old Uncle Larry. He landed three nice fish and the only fish I saw. I talked to Chuck and his wife and they had one. KC and the gang also had one and as far as I can tell, that was it. I didn’t get a bite and fished every hole again this morning, using Getzits, Spinners and Flatfish. Boy, what a change from yesterday. Now I am questioning weather we are in the middle of the run or if the run is over. The Sac has dried up and the American is not consistent but there are lots of fish at the Hatchery. Don’t know what to tell you other than “this is the strangest year I have seen in the 15 years I have been fishing this area”. Hope something changes soon or the run will be over and we will still be looking for it.

October 16 – Had another great morning. Went to the American and started fishing about 4:45. I made one pass up stream and nothing. Then I went down stream and nothing. Thinking I should move and go farther up river but decided not to move at that point, GOOG THING. Started up stream again and got a nice hit, landed a 12 pound Buck. Turned around and started back up stream and it happened again. This time a 24 pound Buck. Turned around again and went about 300 yards and it happened again, this time I had a fight on my hands. I got the fish to the boat 3 times, only to have him make another run. On the fourth trip to the boat, he mad it into my net. A nice 27 pound Buck. I kept him in the net and removed the hook, then put him on a stringer. As I pulled him up and over the net, I hit me rod and it fell into the water. As I said “SHIT”, I watched my rod slip into the water and go under the surface. Then, like magic, the butt rose to the top. I lifted the fish on the stringer, threw him over the butt and pulled the rod back to a point where I could lean over the side of the boat and grab the rod. Everything worked and I saved my favorite Intrepid rod. I put things in order, hung the fish on the side of the boat and took a deep breath. Now, it was 5:45 and I knew it was going to be a great day, it already was!!!! I made a few more passes without any action and just about sun up, I got another hit and landed an 8 pound Jack. That was it for the day. I never left the first hole. Don Christensen and Gray Rowett also had a good day they also landed 4 fish. That is them on the right. In addition, JD got two, Al got one, Cliff got one and there were about three or four others that I know of but don’t have an exact count. It appeared to be a good day all the way around. On the way back to the dock, I say Joe DeFrisco and Kenny. Neither of them had a fish. They were fishing the Sac and said it was slow all morning. Thanks to Gary, the picture on the left shows the two fish I kept.

October 15 – Well, I finally figured it out. It is not that I can only get one hit a day, it is I can only get one fish a day. Today I went back to my old haunt and proceeded to hook a nice fish. I think. I didn’t see the fish because it was in the dark and I didn’t get it all the way up to the boat. I did fight it for about 3 or 4 minutes and it came unpinned. This was the first bite I had since the beginning of the season, where I did not land the fish. Strange but true! Anyway, I got another chance and landed the nice 15 pounder on the right. That was the action for me for the day. Now, Breadstick got a nice one, as you can tell, on the left, it appeared to be about the same size as mine. Al had one, Morgan had one and lost one, Danny Layne had two nice ones in his boat. Mark Stenholm got a 31# Buck and Dave Gibson got an 18# Hen. I would say 8 to 10 fish were caught in the American before the exodus to the Sac took place about 8:30. I went down to the Sacramento and it seems the bite was pretty slow there. I heard there was a good bite at the Pioneer Bridge but I didn’t get any numbers.

October 14 – What a difference a day makes!! Went through the same routine today but without any fish. I fished until about 8:30 but didn’t get a bite, guess I need Jack with me. Now, there were fish caught but it was not red hot by any means. Uncle Larry got three, Joe DeFrisco had one and there were a few other fish landed. It just was not a good day except for Larry. Jack went down to the I Street Bridge and he only saw one fish caught and it was not put in his boat. The trollers in the Sac didn’t do very well either. Guess I will have to wait for all the reports to get in but at this point, not so hot today.

October 13 – OK, Folks!!!! Today was the day I was waiting for. Jack Bishop and I went out this morning and What a morning it was. We started out at the Lower Dredger and before Jack could get his line in the water, I was asking him to get a net because I had a fish. At first he didn’t believe me but when he saw my rod, he got the net. A nice jack, about 8 pounds. Then we both got into the water and before we cold complete the first up stream pass, I had another fish. This time an 18 pound buck. Next it was Jack’s turn. We started down stream and he hooked a nice 10 pounder. We started to make another pass in the same area and he got another one, this time a 25 pound buck. Now, it was 5:30 and we had 4, yes four fish. We made another pass with no luck and the boats were moving in, so we went up stream. We fished for about another hour and on a downstream pass, I hooked another fish. This time a 15 pound hen. Now all we needed was one more fish to fill out our limit. After about another hour or so, with no action we started down stream for home. When we got o the middle of the Lower Dredger, Jack hooked another one. He fought the fish and got it to the boat twice. We could see that the fish had all three hooks in his jaw and we knew he could not loose it. So we thought. The fish came to the surface and all of a sudden it was gone. When he got his line in, the Spinner Wire had broken, because it was rusted. Now, this was a special spinner. Joe DeFrisco gave it to me last year and it had caught many fish. Unfortunately, Joe must not have used Stainless Steel because it rusted and broke right on the corroded area. THANKS JOE, have to blame someone, don’t I? Anyway, that was the action for the day. Now, we went to the Sacramento and Danny Layne had Ray Eagleton with him and Ray had landed a nice 20+ pound buck. Then we say Roy and Jeannette and they had two nice fish. Looks like it was not a bad day all the way around. What will tomorrow bring?

October 10 – Went down to the river this morning and it was WINDY! Since I was there, I put the boat in and went up to the Lower Dredger. I attempted to make a few passes but it was just too windy. I couldn’t keep the boat going in any one direction. I moved up stream to the Trailer Park and it was the same there. Then I moved up to the Dock and it was also windy there. Finally, I got up to the Island and it was calm and the water was like glass. The only problem was there were no fish in the area. Finally after about an hour and a half, I moved down to the Dock and attempted to make a few passes. Up stream was OK because it was with the wind. Down stream it was not possible to keep the boat in a line. After fighting it for a while I decided to go home. On the way down stream I met AL and he actually had landed three fish. In addition, Morgan had one. Then after I got home, Jeannette sent me a picture of her catch for the day. All of them caught at the Lower Dredger. When I got to the ramp, Kenny was pulling his boat out and he had been fishing the Sacramento. He did not have any fish and he said he did not see a net go up all morning. Guess because of the wind the bite was off. Surprisingly, when I pulled out of the parking lot, I found that the main lot was full, the lot in front of the rest rooms was full and people were parking under I5. Guess the wind didn’t bother anyone but Kenny and I. By the way, the radio on the way home said the wind was 20 MPH sustained and gusts to almost 30 MPH. Monday starts another week.

To add insult to injury, Danny Layne sent me this email late this evening.

Hello, again

Todays clients, Dave Scheller from Jamestown and Bill Brink holding up their catch from the American River, the fish weighted in at 17, 10, and 6. We fished the lower American till 0800 catching the 6 and 10 and then moved out to the Sac only to find the wind blowing way to hard to troll, we made one pass down to I street and halfway back up the river before going back up the American to the upper Dredger were Bill hooked the 17lb hen at the top of the hole, we fished up to the Island and back before calling it a day. The "fish Gods" were smiling on us today the way the wind was blowing for us to get 3 salmon.

Thanks

Danny

October 9 – Well, talk about screwing up!!!!! This morning I went up the American River. When I got to the Lower Dredger, there were four boats already there. I said SELF, don’t stay here go up river. So, I did. I went to the Clay Banks and there were two boats there. I said SELF, don’t stay here go up river. Went up to the Dock and no one there but thought I should go up to the Island first. Fished the Island from 4:30 to about 6:30 and nothing. Went down to the Dock and fished it from 6:30 until about 8:00 before I saw another boat. JD came up and he already had two fish and said two others were caught at the Lower Dredger this morning. Then Al came up and he had not got a fish yet. I fished about another 15 minutes, then started down stream. Trolled all the way down to the bottom of the Lower Dredger and not a tough. Picked things up and started home. When I got to the Sac, I met Joe DeFrisco. Asked him if he had anything and he said no, so for a minute I didn’t feel too bad. Then he completed his sentence, “but everyone else has fish”. He proceeded to tell me that they knocked the SH—out of the fish in the Sac this morning. Danny Layne had 2, Uncle Larry had 2, Al Coleman had 2, and so on. Guess I should have fished the Sac. Then to add insult to injury, as I was cleaning up my boat, Cliff came in. He proceeded to tell me that he had hooked three fish but only landed one. Where? At the Lower Dredger. That is right, the place I passed up because there were too many people. Guess you never know. At any rate, fish are showing in better numbers but it is still not what I would consider HOT. Maybe it is just starting?

October 8 – I didn’t get to go to the river today but I did get a report from Breadstick (Jim Howes). He and his buddy went out this morning and went directly up the American River. I was on my way to breakfast at 6:45am when my cell phone rang. It was Breadstick letting me know they had just landed a nice, clean 15 pounder. Apparently they did it again later but this time it was about 8 pounds. A nice two fish day. He also went down to the Sacramento to see what was going on down there and found a number of fish had been caught. He didn’t know who had caught the fish but he did know Danny Layne had boated at lease one. Then when I checked out my email I had a message from Mark Hammonds letting me know he and the group from the Washington Boat Club had been getting fish in the Clarksburg area. He said they were getting fish up to and past Garcia Bend. He sent me this picture of Bob Terrell and his 17 pounder. Did get the picture to the right of Vincent Margo and the 18 pounder he caught while fishing with Danny Layne (just can’t understand why Danny tried to chop off his head).

October 7 – Well, I have to tell you, this has been the worst Salmon Season I have had in 15 years. The fish just don’t seem to be coming up. Gene and John have been getting some fish in the Clarksburg area. There have been some good days and some bad ones on the Sacramento River around Discovery Park. There are a few fish in the American. The upper Sacramento has been very slow. The only warm spot has been the Feather River at Verona. I went back up the American today and didn’t get a bite. On my way back to the dock I checked the Sacramento and didn’t see anything going on there. Then I met JD at the ramp and he had been fishing the Sacramento all morning. He didn’t get a bite. He did say that Danny had one, Uncle Larry had two and he saw one other fish but that was it. He was asking me where the fish were and I had the same question for him. Either the run is very late or we missed it completely. Hope it is not the latter.

October 6 – Went back to my old haunt this morning and tried again. This time I had a secret weapon. Got up to the Dredger at Dark O’Clock and put on the secret weapon but wasn’t marking any fish. After a few passes I moved up stream and after a few more passes, moved up stream again. Finally at the very top, using a Gitzit, I hooked and landed a 5 to 7 pound Jack. As usual, only one hit a day for me, so that was it. On the other hand, Cliff got one about 20 pounds and Morgan got two about the same size as mine. On my way out I went to the Sacramento and no one that I knew had any fish and they had not seen but one fish caught by trollers. There were 6 fish caught at the I Street Bridge and a few caught at the Pioneer Bridge. Really not much action but it has to get better. I am looking forward to the day I can say it is HOT but that day was not today.

October 3 – I’ll bet you thought I was going to say, “went to Discovery Park this morning”, but NO, I have another story. This morning I met a good friend, Tom Frieholtz and along with hid Drift Boat we went to Rossmore. We got there while it was still dark and rowed up river to one of Tom’s favorite holes. We back trolled the entire area for about flow hours but didn’t get a bite. We did see a few fish jumping but the appeared to be very dark and probably only good for pet food. There were two other boats in the area and they had the same luck, not quite. Then we dropped the anchor to tie some sardines on Kwikfish and when we went to lift the anchor, it was stuck. After fighting with it for about 40 minutes and getting help from one of the other boats, we had to cut the rope. Now, there is another anchor and rope to get hung up on at Rossmore. Today our only luck was bad. I don’t know what went on at Discovery Park but if I hear, I will surly let you know.

4:30pm Just got some information on Discovery. Some fish were caught in the Sacramento but most were small, 8 to 10 pounds.

October 2 – Went out this morning early. Fished the American with no luck until about 8:00 then went down to the Sacramento. When I got there, there were only a few fish caught. I mad a few passes and saw two fish hooked and thought it was time to leave. Danny Layne of Fish’n Dan’s Guide Service tried to get me to stay longer but I would not hear of it. I left about 9:00 against everything Danny tried to do. I came home, cleaned my rig, had lunch, picked up my Grandson, took him to his football game, they won 32-0, and came home to this obnoxious email and picture. Guess the bite happened just as I was leaving. If he would have told me that the bite was going to happen in the next few minutes, I would have stayed.

Hello, John

I don't like to be the one who said I told you, but you were still in sight when the first fish of the day hit, and in the next hour and a half we had five, FIVE hook-ups land these nice bright hens 18#, 17# and 15# also John the clients had at least 3 or more hits in this time frame.

John your lovely wife does not need you home under her feet at 1030, stay out on the river, hang with the boys, and maybe, just maybe the fish Gods will shine on you?

Thanks, see you on Tuesday.

Tight lines

Danny

October 1 – Another morning on the river and not a bad one at that. Although I cannot get that second fish, it seems I can get the first one. I wonder what would happen if I caught the second one first? I fished everything from Discovery Park up to the Business 80 Bridge without getting a touch. Then on the way back down, I saw John and then Breadstick and his wife. After exchanging hellos, I hooked this beautiful 19.5 pounder. Again today it was the Uncle Larry’s Spinner that did the trick. Boy the fish are beautiful. They have all been just silver bright and firm. On the way out, I talked to Joe DeFrisco. He fished the Sacramento and hooked and landed three fish today. The biggest being about 35#. In addition, yesterday he landed one and lost three. Uncle Larry landed two and there were another 10 or so fish caught in the Sacramento this morning before I left at 9:30. Then late this afternoon I received the picture on the left of Mark Stenholm and Steve McGarvey, with a 19 and 16 pounder respectively. They were fishing with Fish’n Dan’s Guide Service on the Sacramento and caught both fish on Blue/Green Uncle Larry’s Spinners Looks like things are starting. I just can’t wait for the morning when I get more that one bite. When that happens I will consider the run in full swing.

September 30 – Went back to my old haunt this morning but had to work much harder that I would have liked. I started about 5:00 and fished all the way up the river and when the sun came up and I didn’t have a bite yet, I started back down. When I got to the dock, I finally marked a few fish so I made a few extra passed. Then on the flat below the dock I finally got my hit for the day. I landed a small Jack, about 8 or 9 pounds and that was it for the morning. Caught him on an Uncle Larry’s Green and Yellow Spinner. He was so small, he didn’t deserve to be displayed so I didn’t even take his picture. That will teach them! If they want their moment of fame, that have to be bigger than a Jack. Now, on the other hand, Jack, Jim and Dick went to Verona and had a great day. They landed three fish and lost three fish. They landed a 16#, a 21# and a 27#. Jack took the picture at the right of two of the three fish. They only saw one other fish caught but they sure did not lack for action!!!

September 29 – Well, I thought I would try to pickup where I left off, so I went back to the American River. When I got to the Lower Dredger, there were already 4 boats fishing the lower part of the hole so I went up to the top. I made 4 quick passes with not luck. In talking to the other guys, they had nothing either. Then Cliff came down from up river and he also had nothing. The wind was terrible, I just could not keep the boat on a line and I considered leaving. I decided to go to the Upper Dredger and see if the wind was any calmer up there. I went up and sure enough, it was better. After about 3 passes, I hooked what I thought at first was a Jack but when I got it up close to the boat, I could see it was a nice fish. That is to say, it was clean, bright and about 20 pounds but it had a mind of it’s own. Every time I got it close to the boat it decided to evacuate the area. After about three runs, I finally got her in the net. The sun came up and I marked a few fish in the flat below the dock but couldn’t get them to bite. I truly lost track of the time and about 8:30 I finally started down stream. Didn’t get another thing. Today was just like the last week, one bite, one fish.

September 26 – Ok, someone is tricking me!!! Everyday I go back to try to do better and everyday I come back with the same results and it really doesn’t matter what I try to do. Today I got on the river just before 5:00am. I went up the American and hit every hole I knew and mad at least two passes in each spot. In addition, I tried everything in my bag and today the Green Hoochy with a sardine tip did not work. Today it was a Glow in the Dark Gitzit (I think that is how you spell it). Another small fish, 13.7 pounds. This is beginning to get frustrating. Is there a limit on the number of hits you can get a day? For me it sure seems like it, I can get no more than one hit a day but the good news is, when I have had a hit, I landed a fish, no exceptions. I haven’t even had to practice my long line release yet this year but I am sure the time will come. It always does. Anyway, the score today was one River Rat and 0 Salmon. I did talk to Larry on the way out and he had been fishing the Sacramento. It was not red hot either. He said Danny Layne had one, Bear had one and Ron had two. That was all he saw. In addition, Jeannette sent me this picture of the two fish she and Roy got today. After publishing this page, Danny Layne sent me this picture of Matt and Gregg Jones with their catch for today. Guess more fish were caught that I thought. Maybe next week will be the week.

September 25 – Went back out this morning. It was a little chilly and I actually had to cover up. I got up to the Dredger and made one pass up stream and on the way back down, hooked this 12.2 pound hen. She was one of the meanest fish I have caught this year and she was one of the smallest. The tally for the week is, four trips, landed three fish and used a different lure each time. Tuesday it was a Glow in the Dark Spinner, Wednesday it was a Gold body, Green Lip Flat Fish and today it was a Green Hoochy (surprising isn’t it?). When times get tough, I try everything in my box to catch a fish and today it paid off.

September 24 – I received this report from Richard Rodness on 9/25, so I thought I would add it to the ongoing saga. Richard sent me an email a while back asking for information on the American River. I sent him an email and this was his response.

Just wanted to drop you a line and photo of my catches from yesterday. Both
caught while trolling through the upper hole. 1st one caught at or around
8:40am and the second at around 9:50!!! Not bad for just over an hour. So
your the whistler huh? A while back my friend and I were out on the American
and some guy passes us whistling his heart out! After yesterday I now know
that someone was you, as you passed us yesterday morning. Next time I'll say
hello. Thanks again for you input and FISH-ON!!

Great Job Richard!! Now, just keep it up!!!

September 24 – OK, now this is much better. Went back to the American River this morning and started at the Lower Dredger. After making two passes and didn’t mark a fish, I decided to go up stream and try the Upper Dredger. Fished it for about 45 minutes and my rod loaded up. It was in the rod holder so I didn’t feel the strike but the fish was taking out line like there was no tomorrow. By the time I got the rod out of the holder, the fish was almost to the other side of the river. I played around for about 10 minutes and fimally got her up to the boat. Then she decided she didn’t want any part of getting out of the water, so she took off again. The next time I got her to the boat, she went into the net an she was mine, a nice silver bright 17.3 pound hen. I fished until about 8:15 without another touch, then went down stream, checked in at the Sacramento and went home. While at the Sac, I talked to JD and he hadn’t seen a fish caught by a troller but did say the jiggers got a few. In addition, Ray Eagleton, fishing with Danny Layne of Fish’n Dan’s Guide Service got the beauty on the left, a 19 pounder. He got it trolling an Uncle Larry’s spinner in the Sacramento just above the I Street Bridge. Great job Ray!!

September 19 to September 23 – Don Wyman and friends went to the Klamath River for an extended trip. Apparently the fished, hooked, fought and landed a good number of fish. Below is his email to me and three of the pictures he sent. Left is Denny, middle is Don and right is Claude. Not a bad trip at all!!!

Fishing was pretty good with fish running anywhere from 5# to 35# although most were in the 10-15# range. All the fish we got was on roe and spinners. The entire trip we saw only one Steelhead brought in from the shore. On Friday, Sept 19^th with three of us on my boat we caught 9 fish having to throw some back because there is a 22” per person-per day size limit. Anyway, the weather was great until the smoke from a couple of forest fires got in the way….. nearly thick enough to cut with a knife. The folks in the pictures are Denny Allen (big bear with the beard), myself, and a guy we met there from Sonoma County his name is Claude Rosenthal.

September 23 – Decided to go back to Discovery Park this morning. Got at the ramp at about 5:00 and was at the lower Dredger about 20 minutes later. Put on a glow in the dark spinner and started my first troll. On my first pass, I hooked and landed this beautiful 15.4 pounder. I thought this was going to be my day. Fished that area for another hour with no luck and then went up river to the Upper Dredger. Fished it until 8:00 and started home. Didn’t get another bite. Don’t know for sure but I was told I got the only fish from that area. There were fish caught in the Sacramento. The guys who anchor at the I Street Bridge got at least 4 fish and I was told other fish were caught by trollers. Now for the bad news. TWO SEALS WERE WORKING THE AREA JUST ABOVE THE I STREET BRIDGE. I was also told they were working the Mouth of the American in the dark. Now for some good news. Jack Bishop called me while I was on the river. He was fishing Verona and at about 8:00 they had landed two fish, one over 20 pounds and the other over 30 pounds. Sound like the fish are coming.

September 22 – OK, someone is playing tricks on me. Over the weekend, I got reports that fishing had picked up at Discovery Park and fish were on their way up river. I cannot verify the report but I heard 30 Salmon were weighed in at Vierra’s on Saturday. Today, because of the reports over the weekend, I got up early, real early and made it down to Discovery Park. I was at the gate at 4:00am but the gate was not ready for me. When I got there, the gate was locked and there were 3 vehicles already waiting for the Ranger to open the gate. We waited until about 4:45, now there were about 10 vehicles waiting, and finally the gate was opened. We went down to the ramp and put the boats in the water. I went to fish the mouth of the American, some boats went down the Sacramento and about 4 boats went up the American. I fished the mouth for about an hour and then decided to go down the Sacramento. I fished until 8:30 and did not see a fish hooked, checked at the mouth of the American and even the jiggers had hooked NONE!!!. Finally, as I was pulling my boat out of the water, Cliff came in. He was up the American and he did not see a fish either. Guess we should have been there over the weekend. The fish have to come in, I just hope it is not a short run and I miss it.

September 19 – I didn’t go out this morning but Jeannette and Roy Kline did. They went to Discovery Park and trolled the Sacramento River. They trolled Spinners and did very well. Roy landed two and lost one and Jeannette landed one. The fish were 15#, 20# and 35#. A three fish day is a great day in any ones book. They said there were other fish caught so maybe this is the beginning of the local run. Great Job!!!! Roy and Jeannette.

September 18 – Since I didn’t do well yesterday, I decided to go to Verona this morning. I got there about 5:15am and there were already a number of cars in the lot. I put the boat in and went up stream, dropped an anchor, wrapped a few Flat Fish and was ready to fish. About 5:55 I dropped my line in the water. Then after about an hour I changed to another Flat Fish and this went on all morning without a hit. For me it was nor runs, no hits, no nets and no releases. I did see one fish caught and upon leaving I took a tour down stream to see what went on down there. I was told that one fish was caught and one was lost and that was it all morning. In the process of talking to a number of people to determine what had happened, I got one with the same old story, SHOULD HAVE BEEN HERE YESTERDAY. A guy and his wife had been out all night and told me that last evening, about 5:30 the bite came on and within about 30 minutes 7 or 8 fish were landed and a number of others lost. Guess I am always in the wrong place at the wrong time!!!!

September 17 – Received the email and picture from Danny yesterday so, today I went to Discovery Park. To quote Danny, “its starting”. Got there at dark o’clock, 4:00am, and made about 5 passes at the mouth of the American and nothing. The only fish when I left the mouth was Uncle Larry’s. He got a nice one but he was the only one with anything. I went up to the Dredger and tried a few passes up there but left just after sunup. When I got back to the Sacramento, JD had a nice fish that he had caught at the mouth of the American after I left. I made a short pass in the Sacramento but it was just too windy for me so I packed up and started back to the ramp. I saw one other fish on the hook and the Hippies had one. That was it for the day. At the left is JD and his catch.

September 16 – I didn’t go fishing to day but Danny Layne and Ron Tesome of LaGrand (right) went out and Ron did real well. First he lost one then that would have gone over 20 pounds and about 30 minutes later landed this nice 18 pounder. At least someone is doing something. Guess I will go out tomorrow and see what I can do. The only problem is, do I go to Discovery or to Verona? Take a look tomorrow and find out where the damage was done.

September 15 – After all the talk about Verona, I finally decided to give it another try. Jack Bishop, Jim Siemens and I took my boat and went to Verona this morning. We got there about 5:00am and fished until about 9:15am. Today was one of those days. We got to the river and started to get the boat ready and other fishermen started coming in behind us. While we took of the canvas, unhooked the trolling motor and the like, 3 more vehicles with boats pulled into the parking lot. We put the boat in the water and started up stream and the throttle cable broke. Fortunately it was in the idle position. We got to our spot and dropped the anchor and then noticed that we had anchored right in the muddy Sacramento. We pulled anchor and moved out of the Sacramento water and into the Feather water. Then it was a waiting game. Finally, shortly after sunup, Jim’s rod went off. He fought the fish for about 15 or 20 minutes and landed a nice 29 pound buck. Then we put the lines back in the water and again waited. Jack’s rod went off. At first we thought it was a big fish but very quickly we determined it as a jack. Then it was the waiting game again. The next rod to go off was in the boat parked next to us. After a few minutes, he landed a nice 24 pounder. That was the action for the morning. Again, I didn’t get a bite but the fish keep coming closer and closer.

September 14 – Larry and his fishing partners went to Meridian today. All though we haven’t been doing too well locally, they scored big. The picture on the left is Larry and his buddies with their catch, a 16 pounder, a 20 pounder, a 31 pounder and a 40 pounder. They were all caught in the Meridian area and as you can see they went out of Lovies. Great job Larry!! Now all we need is for some catches like this locally.

September 12 – Went to Discovery Park this morning but the action was the same. I didn’t see a fish caught and I fished the Mouth of the American, both Dredger Holes and up the American almost to Paradise Park. On the way back down, I talked to Danny, who had been fishing the Sacramento and he said he had not seen a fair hooked fish caught all day. They have to come sometime but today was NOT the day. There were a number of boats on the river, I would guess at least 30+. Not a good report but that is the way it was.

September 10 – Talked to Jim Siemens last night and he got a nice 27 pounder at Verona yesterday. Although he had some luck there, I had that feeling, fish were going to be at Discovery, so guess what? I went to Discovery Park. I should have known something was wrong when I arrived and there were NO cars in the lot. I put my boat in and made 5 passes at the mouth before another boat came in sight. It was JD and he was going up the American. I followed and made about 5 passes up there and NO fish. Didn’t mark but a few fish and they could have been Stripers. When I got back to the mouth, I talked to the guys there and they said, SEALS had invaded the Sacramento yesterday. There were two of them working the mouth and below. Guess that is why the fishing was light this morning. I was told that the jiggers had caught three fish and the trollers were blanked this morning. Everyone was asking the same questions, “What happened to the fish this year?” Nobody seems to know but they surly have not arrived.

September 8 – Went to Discovery Park this morning. Got there at Dark O’clock and fished the mouth for about 30 minutes. About that time some boats started to pull in and anchor so I went up the American again. This time there was life to be seen. Danny Layne and Mike were behind me and Mike hooked up but lost the fish at the boat. They said it was a bright 10 to 12 pounder. I saw lots of fish jumping but could not get them to bite. Maybe the time is coming, I hope so!!!!!! On my way back, I took a run down the Sacramento to see if anyone had fish. The only boat with a fish was Dave. He had a nice on about 20 pounds. Took this picture as I went by. No fishing tomorrow but will get out on Wednesday.

September 5 – Went to Discovery Park this morning and had my usual luck, NONE!!! Didn’t see but one fish caught and there were too many people anchored in the mouth of the American to troll so I went up stream. Nothing up there either. For a while I thought someone was playing a joke on me because the whole place was lifeless. Finally I say one fish jump, so there really was life in the area. Hope they would get here.

September 3 – Jack Bishop and I went to Verona this morning. He was going to show me how it was done and he did. We fished from about 5:15am until just after 6:00 without a bump. Then as we were not paying attention, he road loaded up and he had a nice fish on. At first I thought it was going to be a Jack but when it got closer, I could see it was a beautiful chrome, scaled hen. She was a bit wild but Jack handled her beautifully. The got her up to the boat, took his time, told me she was ready and lead her to the net. One swipe and she was all but in the frying pan. We put her in the cooler and continue to fish until about 10:00 but no other action. We didn’t see another fish caught but John Gibbs did land one earlier. That was it, just Jack’s 25 pound hen.

September 2 – Guess I’m just not holding my mouth right or something. Friday as I was getting SKUNKED, Jack Bishop went to Verona and got this nice 31 pounder. Then today as I was getting SKUNKRD, Jack and Dick go back to Verona and Dick gets two fish on two drops. As the story goes, they were fishing and Dick pulled up to check his Flatfish. As he was putting the Flatfish back in the water, dropping it back, he got a hit and landed fish one. Then after getting the Flatfish out of the net, bonking the fish and changing the Flatfish, he started to drop it back again and as luck would have it, he got the second one. Bet you can’t guess where I’m going tomorrow.

August 29 – Didn’t plan to go fishing this morning due to the anticipated crowds. Woke up at 4:20 and thought I better go fishing, that would be better than staying in bed and tossing and turning. Hooked up the boat and I was on the road at 4:45. Had the boat in the water at 5:15 and was fishing. The group was Uncle Larry, Danny Layne, Joe DeFrisco and I. Four boats trolling the mouth of the American River. No one had a hit until about 6:15 and Uncle Larry got the first fish. The rest of us just looked on. About ten minutes later the boats started to engulf the mouth of the American and I decided to leave and go up stream to the Dredger Hole, fished it for about an hour. No sign of life. Pulled in my gear and left for the Holiday. The other guys can have the River until Tuesday. Talked to Danny on the way out and he said he hadn’t seen any other fish caught all morning.

August 28 – Well, went to Discovery Park this morning and tried again. This time my luck was not as bad as it has been. I got there about 5:00 and fished until about 5:45 before I finally got my first bit of the year. At first I thought it was going to be a good one but in just a few moments I knew it was going to be a Jack. Right after I landed the fish, JD got one on and his was also a Jack. Then One of the other boats got one on. It was about 15 pounds. Then I got another Jack and released it. Almost immediately, JD got a nice one. He played around with it for a while and finally landed a nice bright 20+ pounder. Needless to say, JD went home. Yes, it was only abut 6:40. I fished for about another hour and during that time, one other fish was caught. Finally about 7:30, my rod loaded up and I had a real fight on my hands. I played around with this fish for about 20 minutes before finally landing him. A nice 23.6 pound Buck. Then, it was my turn to go home. When I left, about 8:00 there were 5 boats on the river and we landed 8 fish. This was the best morning I have seen all year and today I got my first bite of the season and had a great day landing 3 fish.

August 27 – Got the information below from Danny Layne. Damn, he likes to put salt in the wound.

Hello, John

Was out on the river this a.m. not to much pressure so we made a couple of passes up the American at the mouth and at 0605 on our second pass Peter Pierini from Sonora hooked up on this nice bright 16 lb hen. The fish got all over a T-4 glow Flatfish. One of the jiggers had a foul-hookup and releases it and Casey had a hookup trolling the Sac. but it became unbuttoned.

See you maybe on Friday?

Tight Lines

Danny

August 25 – Went back to Discovery Park because my good friend Danny Layne told me there were fish in the area. Got there about 5:00 and left about 8:30. There were 5 boats jigging at the mouth and 4 boats trolling. In addition, there were 4 boats trolling the Sacramento and about another 4 or 5 anchored. I talked to each of them before leaving and NOT ONE BITE was had by anyone. Not even me. Now, this is a real conundrum. This is the latest I haven’t had a fish in the boat in about 10 years. I will get one tomorrow!

August 20 – Yesterday Jim Siemens went to Verona and got a nice 20 pounder. So, guess where I went today? Right, to Verona. I got there at about 5:05am and sun up was at 5:23. I put the boat in the water and was fishing at 5:23. Fished until 9:30 and only saw one fish caught and it was snagged by a jigger. Didn’t even get a bite. Now, this is getting serious. I have not had a Salmon look at my flatfish since the beginning on the season. Someday one of those underwater creatures is going to surprise me and I just might put him in the boat. Unfortunately, today was not the day. I went down river and talked to about 8 or 9 other boats and they hadn’t seen a fish either, so I don’t feel too bad. Just have to wait for another day.

August 19 – While I was thinking about going fishing, Danny Layne went. As you can tell from the picture, he did well. He landed this 20# Chrome Bright Salmon at Discovery Park. Now, why can he catch them and I can’t? He says he has a secret.

August 18 – Went to Discovery Park again this morning. Got there about 4:30am and fished the mouth of the American until sun up. Nothing caught at the Mouth, not even a bite. There were 5 boats and NOTHING. Then I went down to the I Street Bridge, dropped an anchor and fished until about 8:30am and pulled the plug. Joe DeFrisco fished the mouth and instead of anchoring up, he trolled down to the I Street Bridge and back. As far as I could tell, NO fish were caught by the time I left. No fishing tomorrow but maybe Wednesday.

August 15 – Went to Discovery Park this morning after reading Danny’s email. Should have stayed home! Didn’t see a fish caught. Didn’t talk to anyone who had a bite and it was a little windy. Guess my fish is on it’s way up and will be here next week.

August 14 – Got this email and the attached pictures form Danny Layne of Fish’n Dan’s Guide Service (209) 586-2383. The picture on the left is Danny and the picture on the right is Uncle Larry with one of his fish in the net.

Hello, John

Looked for you on the water this a.m. but I guess you had a better offer? Here are some photos taken this morning, Uncle Larry hooked 3, landing two. I had one hit and the result was this 20 lb hen, Larry's fish went 16# and 22#.

John there were 3 boats trolling and 5 jiggers and I think I saw 5 hook-ups from the jiggers but don't think they landed

any. As it looks now I should be back on the 19 and 21 of Aug.

Tight Lines

Danny

August 12 – Jim Siemens and Dick went to Verona this morning and Jim landed his first Salmon of the year. A beautiful, silver bright 12 pounder. To their knowledge, that was the only fish caught.

August 8 – Jack and I went to Verona with another friend. We fished from about 5:30am until noon and only had one bite and it did not hookup. There were twelve boats that we could see and only one of them hooked up and lost the fish at that. Not a good report but, it really should get better.

August 1 – Went to Discovery Park this morning and fished the Mouth of the American and the Sacramento River down to the I Street Bridge. There were a total of 8 boats in that area and only two fish caught, both by jiggers at the Mouth. I did mark some fish on my finder just off the sand bar but who know what they were. Talked to Kenny and he said he had caught three fish so far, all in the area inside the color line at the mouth on spinners. Hope the Salmon pick up soon. Sure would like to catch some fish at home.

July 30 – Just returned from our annual Baja Trip. Had a great time. Want to take a look? Click Here

July 18 – Went to Discovery Park this morning and fished the mouth of the American River and the Sacramento. Got there about 4:15 and fished until about 8:45. Didn’t see a fish caught but did see one fish that was hooked in the belly. The guy fought it from the mouth of the American all the way down to the I Street Bridge. He got it up to the boat and I could see his jig in the fish’s stomach but he would not break the line. Really don’t know if he landed it or not. Also got a report for the last two days. On the opener, there were 7 fish caught and yesterday one was caught. Time will make it better!!!!!

July 16 – Went to Verona for opening day of Salmon in the Sacramento River. Got there at 4:00am and waited until 5:00 to wet a line. Fished until about 9:30 and didn’t get a bite. There were about 14 boats in my view and only one fish was caught and one other person had a good take down. In addition, there were 15 to 20 boats at or below the Verona Dock system. I was told that only one fish was caught in that area making a total of 2 for the day. Will try again tomorrow but this time at the Mouth of the American.

July 3 – Went down to the Sacramento River below Discovery Park this morning and fished for about 4 hours. Got lots of 9” to 15” Stripers but NO keepers.

July 1 – Got out this morning early and fished the area just above the steps on the Sacramento River. Landed about 15 Stripers, all between 15” and 20”. Had a good time but sure wish something worth keeping would have come by. Will try again before the end of the week.

June 27 – Jack Bishop went up to the Columbia River for a day of fishing for Sturgeon. He got back yesterday and sent me the email below. I have to tell you, I am ready to go to the Columbia NOW!! He and his buddy Danny Burch hooked up with Kyle Hall (360-834-0776… kylehalloutdoors@aol.com ) and Erik Linde (360-607-6421… eplinde@attbi.com ), local guides and just had a ball. Fished for Salmon early and then fished for Sturgeon. This is a trip I am going to make. He starts his email out with, “Wish you had been with me”, now wouldn’t that piss you off!!!

Wish you had been with me. We started out for Salmon and I got a 23.7lb beauty. Dan had one break off and then we went and caught a bunch of Shad for bait. We had just put the 1st bait in and it sat there about 3 min. before it went off!

He ended up wrapping me in some rocks and broke off. We went back up and hooked to the anchor and put the eel out. As he was tiring the Shad on the other rod the eel went off and the battle was on! It took almost 45 min. to get it in. Man my arms and back were about done but there was no way I was going to hand off that rod.

Give a call when you get a moment...Jack

Top left is the American Shad used for bait. Top middle is a Lamprey Eel used for bait. Top right is the Sturgeon on the hook. Bottom left is the sturgeon at the boat with the Eel bait still on the line and bottom right is grabbing the fish so the hook can be removed..

June 26 – Wasn’t going to go fishing today but I woke up at 4:00am and couldn’t go back to sleep so I hooked the boat up and went to Discovery Park, thinking I would leave about 9:00am. I got on the water about 5:15am and thought I would go up the American. I stopped at the Lower Dredger and the Upper Dredger to throw top water plugs because fish were rising, but I didn’t have any luck. Then I went all the way up past the Business 80 Bridge, almost to Paradise Park and tried some bait. Moved 4 times and not even a hit. On the way up and while I was bait fishing, I saw a couple of fish jump that I would swear were Salmon so, I wrapped a flatfish and started down river. I trolled from the black railroad bridge to the bottom of the Lower Dredger with no luck so I picked up and went on down to the Sacramento. It was just about 9:00am but I found a shady spot just above the steps and dropped anchor. Had a couple of good hits, then there was a monster hit, a suicidal fish!! He felt bigger than he really was, when I got him to the boat he was only 19”, put him back. Then had a few more good hits but nothing stuck and the sun was starting to get on me so I moved closer to shore. The first cast, I landed a 23 incher and put him into the box. Had a few more hits but nothing stuck and I packed it in. Those were the first decent fish I have got in a long time, hope I have broke the ice.

June 18 – Jack Bishop and I went to Discovery Park and intended to troll the American River for Stripers. We did but no luck. We trolled from the mouth up to the railroad bridge just below Business 80. We didn’t get a bite. Then we went down to the area in the Sacramento, just above the steps and soaked some bait for an hour or so. No luck there either. Got a number of fish between 8 inches and about 16 inches but no legal fish. We saw two other boats. One fishing the American for Shad, they didn’t get any! The other fishing the Sacramento for Stripers and they had landed some small ones just like us but nothing to keep.

June 16 – Went to Discovery Park and tried soaking some bait. Got about 10 fish between 6 inches and 15 inches but nothing to bring home. Only three other boats on the river that I saw and they didn’t have anything either.

May 31 – Jack Bishop took his Grandson Brandon and his buddy Nat down to the San Joaquin River on Friday to do some Striper fishing. They fished Friday evening and Saturday morning and did a great job. Grandpa put them on the fish and the kids had no problem catching them. The final counts was a total of 32 Stripers, with Brandon getting the biggest one. They had a great time, spent the night on the boat and caught some fish to boot. Looks like Grandpa will have to do this again and probably more sooner than later. Great job Brandon and Nat!!!

May 29 – Jack Bishop and I went to Verona this morning. Thought we would try for a Salmon just inside the Feather River and if that did not work, then we would fish for Stripers, at least until it started to get hot. Got on the river about 5:15am and fished for Salmon until about 7:00am. Not a touch!!! Then we changed to bait and there were lots of fish around. Most of them small but some were of legal size. We got about 15 small stripers and 5 fish between 18 and 20 inches. Not a great day but we did get something which is better than I have been doing. Not a lot of boats on the river either. From the mouth of the Feather to the dock there were only about 4 boats plus us. Water temperature was 64 degrees and the water was relatively clear.

May 28 – Went back to Discovery Park this morning and tried to get some real fishing done. Got to the ramp about 5:45am and was fishing about 6:00am. Fished the area just below the construction and got one 18 ½ inches, one just over 20 inches and a number of real small guys. In fact, I got so many small ones that I changed to larger hooks so that they didn’t get hooked so easily. It started to get hop so I left about 10:00am and was I glad I did. The temperature broke 100 degrees for the first time this year.

May 21 – Jim Howes and I thought we were going to go out and get some real fishing in this morning. We took off at 5:30am and were on the river fishing by about 6:10am. Our first stop was at the TeePee, water was 14 feet deep, temp was 56 and the color was green. We fished for about 30 minutes and had nothing but some little nibbles, so we moved. We went down to the area around the Steps. We anchored in 12 feet of water and again fished for about 30 or 40 minutes with no luck at all. Then we moved to the area just above the Pioneer Bridge. Now our luck changed. I caught a little guy, about 6 inches and Jim got one just over 19 inches. He threw the 19 incher back and we continued to fish. Should have taken a picture of the 19” fish before he put it back. Then he got a nice 5 incher. As indicated on the right, it was just a little guy but still a fish and naturally he put it back. We continued to fish and were waiting for that big one but we just kept feeding the little guys. As we talked about the fish we took the picture of, I could see Jim was in good fishing spirits because now it was 8” and it went to 14 inches after about a half hour. As we discussed this fish, he just kept getting bigger. Take a look at the left, much bigger but still not a keeper. The picture on the left is the fish after an hour. We decided to keep fishing until about 10:30am and we tried everything. There were fish in the area but only the little guys were cooperating. We landed a few more small guys but nothing to compare to the fish we took the picture of. As we were getting ready to leave, it seemed the fish was the biggest of the day. It must have been 8 or 10 pounds and we really should have kept it. Was it? Keep what? How big? Guess all fisherman exaggerate a little!

May 16 – Went to Verona this morning. I had heard that there were a number of fish caught in the last few days on minnows, so I thought I would take my chances. Anyway, if there were no Stripers, the should be Shad. Got to Verona right at sun up. Got on the river and there were already about 5 boats anchored. The good Shad spots were already taken. I picked a spot on the color line and put out bait for Stripers. Got a few small fish but no keepers, so I moved. I did this 3 more times until I ended up parked next to Bill Adleman and his fishing partner, a lady. They had not got anything yet but were trying for Shad. Right after I got there, Bill landed a Shad and then his lady friend landed another one. The must have got 10 to 15 Shad while I was fishing for Stripers. Then his lady friend got something BIG! She fought it and fought it and finally got it to the boat. About that time it came out of the water, a nice silver bright Salmon about 25 pounds. She did a great job fighting the fish but only had a number 6 Fly Rod. The Salmon hit a Shad Fly and was going crazy. She got it to the boat one more time and it took off this time not stopping. Bill started to pull the anchor but it was too late and the fish broke the leader, took one more jump and was gone. It sure was fun to watch her try to land that thing on such light gear. All the boats on the inside track were getting Shad. Not in great numbers but enough to keep everyone busy. The Striper action was slow and I didn’t see one keeper caught. Water temperature was 61 degrees and the water in the Feather was clear but the Sacramento was MUDDY.

May 15 – Jack Bishop and I finally got out for a morning of fishing. We had a good report from a reliable source so we went to Hog Back and went down Steam Boat to Cache Slough. The wind was terrible, even had white caps but we stuck it out and tried. No luck in Cache so we went back to Steam Boat and trolled all our favorite places. Finally, at the lower end of Snug Harbor, Jack’s rod went wild. I fought the wind and Jack fought the fish. Jack won, he got the fish to the boat and I had the pleasure of netting it. A nice female about 10 pounds. She was so fat and pretty, we put her back so she could spawn and grow a little bigger. We fished another hour or so but nothing else, so we packed up and left. Actually fished from about 7am until 11am and only had one bite and one fish. Nice job Jack.

May 6 – Finally the weather cooperated and I was able to get on the river this morning. Went to Verona with Jack Bishop to fish for Stripers and Shad. Jack fished for Stripers and I fished for Shad. There were a number of Shad caught, by other people and a number of Stripers caught, by other people as well. I landed one Shad and Jack landed one small Striper. Most Stripers were caught drifting minnows or jigging. The Shad were caught mostly on flies. Not a very exciting morning but, we did get out and it looks like today was the last chance for the week. Another storm is on its way in.

April 23 – Went to Lake Allatoona to try for some Hybrids. For those of you who are not familiar with

Hybrids, they are a cross between a Striper and a White Bass. They are great fighting fish but are not very large. They range from about 3 pounds to a maximum of about 12 -14 pounds. They are schooling fish and provide a great fight. We got on the lake about 6:30 am and went directly to one of the input streams. We pulled up to shore and tied the boat up to some willows. Fred rigged one rod and within minutes, even before we could get another line in the water, Ron had one on. The first fish was actually a Striper not a Hybrid. For the next few hours, we were getting a fish about every 10 minutes. We got some nice Hybrids, one Strper and some nice Spotted Bass. About 10 am the bite slacked off and by about 11 am it was over. We landed about 23 fish which ranged from abut 3 pounds to about 6 pounds. That was the kind of day we had dreamed of on Lanier but as luck would have it, the weather did not cooperate. Maybe next time!! Fred started to clean our fish about 11 am and actually cleaned the last fish about 12 noon. Had a great time and most importantly shared it with my brothers Ron and Andy. Just wait until next year!!

April 22 – Still at Lake Lanier, no rain but the wind is terrible, appears to be blowing 15 to 25 miles an hour. Came all this way so no turning back now. Had to give it a try even though the wind was making the day almost unbearable. We started to troll in one area and it was just too bad so we moved. Got to an area where the lake record was caught and started to troll again. This time as we were coming in toward shore we heard a big splash and could see one of our Shad going crazy. Then a big Striper took one of the baits and started to run but didn’t hold on. Just as quick as he let go, something hit one of the other baits. With that, I had my first fish of the trip. After a few minutes, I landed a nice Striper about 15 pounds. As we started to make a turn to go back to the same area, and were in the process of putting the lines back out, there was a big splash. I thought it was a big fish but Ron let us know quickly that it was a rod that had fell overboard and it was my Intrepid, not one of the guides rods. The but of the rod was bobbing on the top of the water so we turned quickly and were able to grab it before it sank. We made a few more passes and had a few fish chase our baits but noting serious and we ended the day with only one fish.

April 21 – At Lanier but the weather is threatening. Got out on the Lake and fished for about an hour before getting a good hit. We were trolling very slowly, using Gizzard Shad. The two lines to the sides were rigged with a hook about size 2 on the end of the line, no weight and about 50 feet of line out. The line out the back was rigged the same but about 5 feet up the line from the hook, a balloon was tied on. This line was about 75 feet behind the boat. Anyway, when we finally got a fish on, naturally our heart rates raised and we were ready for a great day of fishing. We found the fish so now it was just a case of pulling the Shad in front of them and getting them to hit. My Brother Ron was up for the first fish and he landed a nice Striper about 10 to 12 pounds. Then the weather changed dramatically. The wind started to blow and the sky got dark. It started to sprinkle and we could hear thunder, then came the lightning. It rained like there was someone above us with a bucket and the thunder and lightning got closer and closer. We finally decided to go for cover. We found a covered private dock that was not in use and pulled the boat in and waited for the storm to go by. Finally after about a half hour we thought we could go back out. We made a few passes over some structure and Andy, my other brother, had a nice one on. This time it was a 17 lb Striper. The weather got worse and we again went for cover. Now it was my turn. I had about 6 fish either chase or take my Shad but I could not get the hook set. Finally our guide, Fred Duncan, Big Lanier Stripers Guide Service, was going to show me how it was done but he did no better. The storm kept getting worse and the rain just would not let up so about 1:30 we got off the lake. Only two fish today.

April 19 – Left for Atlanta, Georgia. Plan was to fish Lake Lanier on the 21 and 22^nd, then fish Lake Allatoona on the 23^rd. Spend the 24^th in Atlanta and then fish West Point Lake on the 25^th, returning on the 26^th.

April 9 – Got up this morning, met Breadstick and went to Discovery Park. This time we went up the Sacramento River to see if that would change our luck. We went up to Three Houses and fished there for about two hours with no luck. Then down to the I 80 Bridge with the same luck. Then to the Ski Beach and again got nothing. Finally we went down to the Virgin Sturgeon and as luck would have it, we had none. Jack Bishop was also on the Water and he made a number of moves but didn’t find the fish either. Talked to every boat that came by and none of them had fish. Something is drastically wrong. We should be getting some nice fish in this part of the river but for some reason, we are not getting anything. Even the little guys are not biting. We should go through 3 or 4 pounds of bait and we could bet by easily with one pound. Guess we just have to wait.

April 8 – Again!!!! After I got home, put the boat away, had some lunch and updated the web site, I got an email from Jack Bishop. Boy, he really knows how to put salt into a wound. As you can see, he sent this picture of him and his 8 pound striper, caught after Jim and I left the river. At least someone got one. (does it look like 8 pounds to you?)

April 8 – Jim Siemens and I went down to Discovery Park this morning and went down stream to the Pioneer Bridge. There we met up with Joe DeFrisco, Dennis DeVargas and Jack Bishop. We anchored above the bridge and soaked Sardines for over two hours and collectively got only one 19” Striper and two Stripers under 18”. Jim and I moved over to the south bank and fished for about another hour with no luck, then went up to the steps and still no luck, so we went home. Talked to Jack and he didn’t get anything and Joe didn’t get anything either. There was one nice fish caught almost directly across from the water fall. It appeared to be about 10 to 12 pounds. That was the only thing we saw all morning. We got off the river at about 11:00am.

March 31 – Took two boats down to the Pocket Road boat ramp and went down river. Stopped just below the Freeport Bridge, dropped anchor and proceeded to watch the rod tips for a little over an hour without any action. There were 4 or 5 other boats in the immediate area and we didn’t see any of them set a hook let alone go for the net. Then we moved down river to the upper part of the Clarksburg Flats, just above the Merrit Landing ramp. Fished there until well after 11:00 am and landed two fish, one about 18” and the other about 22”. Jack and Kenny were with us all the way and when we left, they had landed a couple shakers but they also didn’t have a nice fish. At the flats, there were 12 boats down stream and 4 or 5 up stream and not one of the boats had a fish as far as we could tell. Guess this was just a nice boat ride.

March 25 – Got up this morning and decided to go to the River. Went to Discovery Park and as I was putting my boat in Gene Marzolf was taking his boat out. He had fished the mouth of the American jigging and got nothing. I went down to the steps and soaked some bait. As I was approaching the steps there was another boat and he had a nice fish hanging, probably about 10 lbs. I dropped my anchor and fished right at the steps for over an hour with no action. I moved down about half way between the steps and the bridge and almost immediately had something playing with my bait. Then, the rod went down, I set the hook and I had a fish on. It was about 17 inches. Rebaited and waited for about 15 minutes and had another one playing with my bait. Again, the rod went level and I set the hook. Fish on again. This time one about 24 inches. Had a few more bites but nothing serious. Then I say Joe DeFrisco coming up the river. He had been fishing down river and had landed 7 or 8 keepers, the biggest being about 8 pounds. One of the males he landed put sperm all over his boat. He also told me two other guys down river had fish as well. Looks like the fish are finally starting their spawning run. It should get nothing but better!!!

March 21 – Since fishing was not so hot around here, Jack, Dick, John and Jim went to the Rogue to try for some Steelhead. They fished for two days and landed over 30 fish. The size of the fish ranged from about 6 pounds to about 16 pounds. The had made arrangements with two of the best guides on the River Donny and Vernon Grieves. These guys have fished the rogue since they were in diapers and catch fish when no one else is even getting a bite. They sure did get this group into the fish. The fished the Rogue around Grants Pass and as you can see by the picture of John and Jim, the weather was not all bright and sunny. Anyway, they all had a great time and landed some beautiful Steelhead.

March 10 – Went to the Port this morning. Was the first boat out at 6:30am and fished until just about 1:00pm. Now, during the course of the almost 7 hours I was on the water, I saw and talked to about 8 other people in other boats. Not one of us had a real fish on and naturally if that is the case, no one had a fish. In fact, I didn’t talk to anyone who even had a real take down. It appears that the score was NO runs, NO hits and no FISH!!! By the way, even John Cullen was skunked, at least until 1:00pm. Now, there were about another 5 boats on the water when I left and I didn’t talk to them so, they may have had fish but I don’t think so because the last thing I did before leaving the Port was to ask the guard at the gate what was happening and he said he had not seen or heard of a fish all morning. Guess I need to do something different.

March 8 – Guess I should start going out with John Cullen. He and his buddy Hiro went to the Port this morning, put in about 10:00am. Guess it was quite foggy and cold but the water conditions were OK. They tried jigging at all their favorite spots in the Port and down the Deep Water Channel. Then decided to put on Rebels and troll back. About that time, Hiro’s rod went off and he landed a nice 10 pounder. That was the beginning of a great day! When they left, they had landed 7 fish and kept the two you see on this page. The largest being the 10 pounder and the other is about 9. Great job guys!!!

March 7 – Went to Discovery Park this morning. Keep trying something different looking for the magic potion that is going to make the fish jump into the boat. Someone was fishing at the mouth and had nothing. Someone was fishing across the river at the Sandy Beach and had nothing. Thought I should try another location so I went down the Steps. Fished there for about an hour with no luck so I moved to the big snag between the steps and the bridge. Still no luck! Moved back up river to the mouth and at about 9:30am packed everything in and went back to the dock. Water temperature was 51 degrees and the water was in good condition. By the time I started into the dock area I had talked to about 8 different people in 8 different boats and NO fish were caught. Hope next week is different. I am starting to smell like a skunk.

March 5 – Went back to the Port this morning and thought we were going to have a dynamite day. When we got to the gate, the guard proceeded to show us a picture of a 27 lb Striper caught in the Port yesterday by someone named Frank. He didn’t know Frank’s last name. This really built the enthusiasm. We put the boat in the water, made a couple of passes around the Port and started down the Deep Water Channel. Fished until about 11:00am and didn’t get a bite. On our way back to the dock, we talked to or motioned to about 10 boats and only one of them had a fish and it was about 10 pounds. That was the only fish we saw all morning. Water Temperature was 54 degrees, not a breeze and the water was clear. Guess it just was not our day. Should nave been there yesterday.

March 3 – Went to the Port with jack Bishop and Jim Siemens. Got there about 7:00am and fished until 11:00am. We trolled around the Port and then down the Deep Water Channel all the way to marker 69. Jack hooked and landed two fish, on about 4 pounds and the other just a keeper. Jim and I watched all morning. There were a number of other boats on the water and the good news is just about every boat had fish hanging. Nothing big but at least keepers. This was the best showing I have seen all year. Hope this is the beginning of the run. Now, Joe Vargas was just coming to the dock when we were getting ready to leave. He had landed 5 fish, kept two and was a very happy camper. Great job Joe!!!!!

February 22 – Today, Saturday John Cullen and his buddy Hiro went out to the Port to try for some Stripers. Now, he sent me this picture, notice Hiro is no where to be found. He is holding 4 fish and says he released another keeper. Where did he catch them? I don’t know. What was he using? I don’t know. He was fishing somewhere in the Port or Deep Water Channel and they did catch fish. Sorry for the lack of details but some people just don’t want to let out their secrets.

February 17 – Woke up this morning, checked the weather and decided to take a run to the Port to see if anything was happening. Made some coffee, hooked up the boat and was out of here at 5:10am. Got to the Port, put the boat in the water and started fishing about 10 minutes after High Tide. Made three passes around the dock and out to the Tugs and landed two little guys about 14 inches. Then made a big loop up to the bridge and back to the power wires and not even a hit. Keep going down the deep water channel. Landed two more little guys and finally when I reached the Palm Tree, I pulled in my gear and started back for the Dock at about 10:30am. There were a lot of boats but it seemed that everyone had the same luck as I had. I didn’t find anyone with a keeper. Weather was clear, water temperature was 50 degrees and visibility was over three feet.

February 9 – My buddy Jack took his friend Bev fishing at Rio Vista. She had never caught a fish before so it was a completely new experience for her. For a first timer, she did real well. She landed a total of 6 keeper stripers, returning all but two naturally. The largest was just over 9 pounds. This is Bev with her FIRST fish ever!!!

February 7 – Went to Discovery Park to fish the Sacramento River for some Stripers this morning. Got on the river at about 7:00am and went directly to the area just below the Teepee. Fished it fro about an hour but didn’t get a nibble. Then I moved to the Steps. Fished there for about an hour and not a nibble. Moved up to the mouth of the American River and again not a nibble. Moved across the river and fished the sandy beach and again nothing. Fished for a little over three hours and didn’t have my rod bounce once. Could have done just as good in my living room. Saw about 5 other boats and their luck was about the same. No one had a fish. Water in the Sac was cloudy but very fishable and 47 degrees. The temperature could have had a lot to do with it. The American was running clear and 48 degrees. Guess I need to put in my time and find where they are hiding.

February 6 - Went to Folsom Lake this morning. Put in at Dyke 8 and trolled the triangle for over 4 hours. We landed 1 small, 10” trout, and had two or three other hits. There were a lot of boats on the water but it appeared that everyone was doing about the same. Fishing was slow but the weather was nice. Just glad I could be on the water.

January 13 - Haven't been fishing for over a month and it looks like I will be able to get out in the next few days. I am starting to get cabin fever and need to get out. Will try to go to the Delta on Wednesday and am hoping to land at least one nice fish. I understand the fishing has been slow and the water high, fast and dirty. At any rate, will keep you posted on my activities as they develop.

December 11 - Went to the Port of Sacramento today with Jack and Jim. When we left my house, it was clear but by the time we got to the Port, it was foggy and the fog didn't lift all morning. We trolled around the turning basin for about an hour and a half but only got one take down. Then we trolled from the main part of the Port down the Deep Water Channel all the way to buoy 73. We got one hit and landed one Striper about 4 pounds. Jack got one hit on the way back to the dock but it didn't stick and that was it. We saw one other fish caught and counted 8 trailers in the parking lot. Water temperature was 52 degrees.

December 4 - Went to Verona this morning with Jack Bishop to try for some stripers. We fished from about 7:00am until about 10:30am and didn't get a bite. We also didn't see another boat come out of the dock area until about 10:00am, that should tell you something. The water was very cool, 49 degrees, very clear and very very low. About half way to the mouth of the feather we touched bottom, so we turned around and fished below the dock at the wing dams.

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Some of my favorite fishing sites

Fish'n Dan's Guide Service Last Cast Guide Uncle Larry’s Lures	http://www.fishndans.com/ http://www.lastcastguide.com/ http://www.unclelarryslures.com/index.htm
California Data Exchange (Water Flows)	http://cdec.water.ca.gov/
Sacramento River System Flows	http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/iodir?s=page1
Steve's SF Bay Fishing	http://www.launet.com/fishing.page.shtml
The Fish Sniffer	http://www.fishsniffer.com/cover.html
Sacramento River System Flows	http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/iodir?s=page1
Steve's SF Bay Fishing	http://www.launet.com/fishing.page.shtml

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