OFF THE HOOK: Salmon fishing on Sacramento shifts into high gear

The fall chinook salmon run is in full swing on the Sacramento River and anglers from Anderson to Isleton are hooking up lots of beautiful fish while using a variety of methods.

Anglers are reporting the hotter fishing while back bouncing or boon doggling roe or back trolling plugs in the upper section of river from Woodson Bridge to Anderson. The fish are slowing down and holding in this section because the water temperatures are in the colder range that the salmon prefer and require for successful spawning.

In the lower river from Woodson Bridge to Isleton, the fish are moving through in schools and aren't holding, so the fishing can be hot one day and slow the next. Your success all depends on whether or not you pick a day when the fish are moving through in good numbers.

Most boaters in the lower stretch are trolling or anchor fishing with spinners, Kwikfish and Flatfish. Shore anglers are also nailing big numbers of salmon while tossing out Blue Fox, Mepps and other spinners.

Ernie Marlan, Fish Sniffer staffer, reported a great day of boon doggling salmon roe with Al Brown of Al Brown's Guide Service in the upper river in the Anderson area. In less than a couple of hours, Brown and Marlan caught their limits of hard-fighting kings.

"Once Brown and I launched into the water, we passed several groups of boats who all seemed to be on fish," Marlan said. "As we passed by, I noticed many of them hooked up and fighting fish with their nets ready to pull their catch into the boat. However, I always admire a fisherman that can leave the fleet of boats and find his own fish — that is exactly what Brown did."

Brown motored down river maybe a half mile away from a large group of boats and found a 3-400-yard area that mostly consisted of shallow water with a couple deeper holes. In these deep holes was where they found the fish completely stacked up.

Brown and Marlan both fished salmon roe on light tackle, 6-foot-6 spinning rods teamed up with 4000 series Shimano spinning reels spooled with 15-pound test line.

"Each time Brown and I cast our lines in the water, we waited patiently for the unmistakable feel of our sinkers bouncing on the river bottom," he said. "We would feel a constant tap, tap, tap and then we'd feel absolutely nothing at all as our sinkers and bait fell into the deeper water."

"Sure enough, all of my bites came when I was either in this hole or when my line was just coming out of it," Marlan said. "All four of our fish were cookie-cutter males from 9-10 pounds each."

For more information, contact Al Brown of Al Brown's Guide Service at 530-357-2667.

Both Marlan and I fished with Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob's Guide Service and Bob Boucke, the owner of Johnson's Bait and Tackle in Yuba City, out of Verona. While the fishing was very good on Marlan's trip, it was much slower the day I fished.

"As we reached our starting point in the river below the Verona Marina, we began trolling downstream" Marlan said. "After only a few moments, we hooked our first beautiful salmon, a 9-pound king.

They trolled with Kwikfish, including some rigged with sardine wrappers and others without wrappers, but scented with sardine scent Smelly Jelly.

"The key was a special modification that Rob Reimers does to his Kwikfish," noted Marlan. "Reimers adds beads and a spinner just above his Kwikfish to draw additional attention to his bait."

While the bite was not wide-open, the three anglers found a very consistent bite throughout the day. Reimers, Boucke and Marlan ended the day just after noon with five bright salmon.

The good action continued on Boucke's next couple of trips to Verona.

"We hooked eight fish and landed two fish to 20 pounds on Monday, Sept. 26 and hooked eight salmon and bagged five fish to 15 pounds the following day," Boucke said .

However, the bite slowed down dramatically on the following two trips. Boucke, Reimers and I ended up with one 8-pound bright chinook while trolling the same set-ups on a morning adventure on Wednesday, Sept. 28. The bite completely shut off the next trip to Verona by Reimers and Boucke on Sept. 30.

Fortunately, the salmon bite has rebounded since then. Boucke and Ron La Force of United Outdoorsmen caught two bright salmon weighing 14 pounds each on the Sacramento below Verona on Oct. 12.

For more information, call Reimers with Rustic Rob's Guide Service at 530-632-0051, or Boucke of Johnson's Bait and Tackle, at 530-674-1912.