Opening Day Try 2014

Been very excited for salmon season especially since I haven't been fishing much since shad season was a bust this year. Plan of attack for me was to stay

local this morning and toss spinners in the Basin on the AR in the morning then head up to the feather after if the AR wasn't successful for me in the morning.

Had a couple of friends and my step dad Scott join me in the morning and we got to the basin just before 0430. 0453 Started throwing spinners in hopes to get lucky enough to hook into one first day of the season. Throughout the morning we did see a few fish rolling, but not nearly as many as we normally see on openers in years past. Fish are here, but not as many as usual this time of year. Kept trying though keeping spirits up. About 0730 I feel a slight bump on my spinner and then just a bit of weight. Set the hook and nothing. I thought I had a quick strike that I missed, but it felt a lot more like I just came across the back or side of one. Felt bummed out I might have missed one, but nothing I can do about it.

Kept at it with high hopes. Saw the flossers up river of me hook up twice while I was there and saw one guy up river get a small jack on a spinner, but the whole morning that was the extent of the action I saw. Fished it from 0500-1000 for nothing hooked. Tossed spinners, kwikfish, and another fisherman next to me fished roe for a while for nothing. Went home to take a break, grab lunch and surf the web and do a bit of net working to find out who and where were the salmon being caught.

I received a text from a friend, of a friend, of a friend, that said there was a big school down in walnut grove.



I was talking to Ethan and we put some serious thought into dropping the boat in and trolling for the evening after Ethan got off of work, but Ethan ended up working late and it was still going to be cheaper for me to make the run to the Feather so I did that plus I had plans to meet someone up in Yuba City anyways.

Saw a posting on facebook a guy was selling self poured sinkers for cheap and I took him up on his offer and got enough cannon balls for drifting and trolling that should last me all season.

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100 ounces worth of lead for 20 bucks. Can't beat it. Left Yuba City and made my way up to live oak. Everything I heard about the Feather so far was not good, but its the opener I've got to try anyways. Got to my spot around 1600 and talked to one fisherman who was already there who said he hadn't had any luck, fish just aren't around. Hopped in the water, got balls deep in and started working the drift hoping to come across one.

No sign of fish rolling here except for the occasion sucker that would leap clear out of the water. The highlight of my evening was actually seeing a dead king float right past me and as it drifted by I looked down river and shouted to the few fisherman below me "FISH COMING DOWN!!!" Everyone's head turned quick hoping to see someone hooked up, but we all got a good laugh out of it when they saw the floater drift past them.

Kept at it till about 2000 before I called it a day. Spent a good 9 hours total on the water on two different rivers, can't say I didn't try. Through networking with friends via text, talking to fisherman around me who were texting their friends, and surfing the web seeing all of the opening day reports my outlook on the conditions of the opener are as follows:

-The American has fish in the basin, but not enough to produce any consistent catching for anyone and warm waters with low flows has lead to a lot of debries and foliage in the water making it hard to do any kind of drift fishing (roe, beads). Best chance is probably in the mornings surface activity was non existent after 0900.

-The Feather River has fish in it was well, but unless your a boater drifting roe at the outlet your chances are next to none to have any kind of luck. Also has lots of debries and foliage for the same reasons as the AR.

-The Sac has fish pushing through and there are occasional fish to be caught, heard of several caught opening day from jiggers from Disco all the way through Courtland, but chances are still slim.

Hopefully with a bigger school of fish pushing through the lower sac the action on the Feather might pick up within a week or two if the fish decided to run up that way. I remember doing really well last year on the feather early August so hopefully within 2-3 weeks we'll start seeing some consistent catching numbers. In the mean time I'll be hitting the Basin a few times here and there in the morning to try my luck. Going to stay close to home until I hear of a consistent bite else where. Good luck to all who try there are fish to be caught, but I say save the most of your energy till the weather cools down a little bit and fishing picks up.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

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