NORTH COAST RIVERS

North Coast streams and rivers are regulated by low flow closures. Always call ahead to determine the condition of the river you want to fish. If not mentioned, the river is closed or no reports. The DFG’s Low Flow Closure Hotline for nortthcoast rivers is (707) 822-3164. For the Russian River and counties of Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin, call (707) 944-5533. South Central Coast streams number is (831) 649-2886. Many streams close, and others change to artificial/barbless only on, March 31 and others on April 25. Trouble identifying salmon or steelhead? Go to: http://www.swr.noaa.gov/fmd/identify.htm.

CHETCO RIVER, Ore.-The river opened to fishing on Saturday to low, clear conditions, but rain hit Saturday night and the river came up 4 feet overnight, allowing kings to push into the river. Anglers did well around midday when the river stabilized, but it’s expected to be back down to only 600 cfs by later in the week, almost undriftable. The fish are in the river, however, and future rains will make fishing great. The kings were moving fast and hard Sunday.

EEL RIVER, Main Stem-Not enough rain here to do anything at all, as the big part of the storm went north and south, and the ground soaked up what rain there was.

ELK, SIXES RIVERS, Port Orford, Ore.–The Chinook fishing at the mouth of the Elk River has been good on the days that the salmon are running in from the ocean, according to WON Field Reporter and guide Curtis Palmer of River Secrets Guide Service. Fly fisherman from around the country wait for this opportunity to catch a king salmon on there own handtied fly. Conventional anglers have been having the most luck casting Little Cleo lures. With Saturdays high winds and heavy rains, anglers are hoping that it will rise the Sixes River high enough to blow the sand spit at the mouth of the river open so that the waiting king salmon can push their way into the river. Sixes was fishing from Grange down to Hughes house at the mouth by 18 boats Sunday, and should fish Monday, but needs more rain.

ROGUE RIVER, Lower, Ore.-The river just started getting some rain during the last 48 hours as of our Sunday call, and everything is starting to rise.There should be some better fishing next few days, according to the Rogue Outdoor Store. It’s the tail end of the salmon run and this will move them up. There were some reports of early winter steelhead, and Thanksgiving is about the right time for them to get started.

ROGUE RIVER, Grant’s Pass-Last of the salmon are expected to move up the river with this last rain, and winter steelheading will begin to take off starting right about now in the lower river, and moving upstream.

RUSSIAN RIVER-The river didn’t come up much at all with the light rain, and in fact, with cutbacks of flows from Lake Mendocino, the rain just brought flows back to where they were a week ago or so. Still some halfpounder steelhead 1 to 3 pounds being caught, very few adults. There’s been reports of a few king salmon and coho, but neither may be targeted.

SILTCOOS LAKE, Florence, Ore–While the salmon fishing is resting between seasons in most areas, Siltcoos Lake is on fire for coho salmon now that the gates have been opened to allow more water to head downstream, so the fish can continue to race into the lake. “There were fewer than 20 boats last Sunday on the water and I can’t count all the boats this last week on the lake catching fish,” said WON Field Reporter and guide Curtis Palmer of River Secrets Guide Service.

SMITH RIVER-Reports from Andy Martin of Wild Rivers Fishing and Harvey Young of Fishawk River Company confirmed the river blew out and the kings moved in big time over the weekend, providing some good action on Sunday after the low flow closure was lifted. Kings were running hard upriver as of Sunday, and the river was stabilizing on Sunday midday, but should remain open for 5 or 6 days, with plenty of kings in the system.

TRINITY/KLAMATH RIVERS

TRINITY RIVER, Douglas City-The water came up a bit from the storm, but was still quite low and clear. In addition, the weather has turned cold getting down to freezing at night. Some salmon were still being caught, even an occasionally fairly bright fish, but almost all the action is on steelhead now. Steelhead are keying on Glo-Bugs drifted behind spawning salmon, and are also taking backtrolled plugs.

TRINITY RIVER, Willow Creek-The river below Willow Creek and down toward Hoopa went up a bit from the last storm, but not many fish were moving through the area, and fishing was slow. Fly fishermen could still catch lots of small smolts on flies and spinners but not many adults.

KLAMATH RIVER, Iron Gate Dam-There were still a few dark salmon hanging around, according to Scott Caldwell of SC Guide Service, but almost all of the action has turned to steelhead, which are biting pretty good. It’s turned to winter. Temperatures have swung from below freezing to 50 degrees. Just about everything was working from flies to bait are doing well on steelies and it’s possible to catch up to a couple dozen trout and steelhead from 12 inches to 6 pounds. The river went up over the weekend

KLAMATH RIVER, Klamath Glen-The water went up a bit last week, but not much, and there were a few steelhead taken around Blue Creek and Johnson’s Riffle, but fishing pressure was almost non-existent.

NORTH SALTWATER

BERKELEY-Great action on the first crab combo trips of the season promising for a super late fall of bottomfish and crab combos. On the Happy Hooker on Saturday, 42 anglers caught rockfish limits on the Marin Coast, plus limits of crabs. On Sunday, 25 anglers had rockfish limits, crab limits and a 14-pound lingcod.

BODEGA BAY- Crab combos originated here, and the opening weekend boats had plenty of action and plenty of interest with 49 anglers on the New Sea Angler on Saturday, and 39 on Sunday. They all caught limits of crabs, but the weather came up and made fishing a little tough, so not quite limits of rockfish. “We had a half dozen lings on Sunday,” said Captain Rick Powers. On Reel-lentless, Captain Bob Monckton said most of his pots averaged 20-plus crabs, and while Saturday’s rockfish action was challenging, Sunday’s fish were back on the bite, and the boat was at the docks by 11 a.m. for a second run of crab only.

CROCKETT-“The stripers are everywhere,” said Captain Gordon Hough on the Morning Star. “We’ve had striper limits the last five or six trips in a row!” He said while pulling the boat back in towards port, even the shore anglers were proudly showing off their bass. His two trips on Friday and Saturday produced easy limits, and some quality fish to nearly 16 pounds. Even better, the Morning Star’s first keeper sturgeon of the year hit the deck on Sunday.

EMERYVILLE-“Our first crab combos of the year produced limits of crabs, no problem,” said Frank Salazar at Emeryville Sportfishing. “We’ve seen excellent signs of a good season.” The New Huck Finn had 24 anglers who caught rockfish limits, 2 lings, and crab limits on Saturday, while the New Seeker had 21 anglers who caught crab limits and 5 striped bass. On Sunday, the boats had a combined 43 limits of crabs and rockfish from the Farallones.

EUREKA-Fishing options are narrowed down, but the charter boats are offering crab trips. On Saturday’s opener, the Shellback had limits for six anglers and the crew. “Saturday’s ocean wasn’t very good,” said WON field reporter Lonnie Dollarhide. “The sport guys didn’t run.”

FORT BRAGG-Captain Randy Thornton on the Telstar repored excellent crabbing for the opener, with the second day of opening weekend tied up with an offshore birding trip. On Saturday, his crew ran out at 5 a.m. and dropped the pots in time to turn around and pick up 22 opening day passengers. They pulled a few of the shallow pots with light numbers, then deeper ones that were stuffed, best count 23 in one pot.

HALF MOON BAY-While a big swell hampered the fishing action, the opening weekend of crab season found good numbers of crabs on a short soak for anglers on the Huli Cat. Sunday offered much better conditions, and 29 anglers had limits of crabs and most also caught rockfish limits. There were also several lings caught on Sunday.

POINT SAN PABLO-Stripers are the name of the game, and Captain Frank Miller pulled a checkmate on both Monday and Sunday trips with limits for 4 anglers on Monday, and limits for 3, big fish 10 pounds on Sunday. The action came drifting live bait near Point Pinole.

SIERRA LAKES/RIVERS

BOCA LAKE-The lake is at 67-percent capacity. The flows have been increased and the inlet was fishing very well for browns, rainbows and some large macks. Access could be a problem with the snow that fell this past week-4×4’s are recommended by Mountain Hardware and Sports.

CAPLES LAKE-The gate to the EID boat launching facility closed on Nov. 1, so there’s nowhere to launch a boat now. The latest storm dumped at least a foot of snow at the lake this past weekend and more is in the forecast.

CARSON RIVER (East, West)-Todd Sodaro reported that Alpine County made the last 1800-pound plant of trophy fish this past week primarily in the East Fork. Carson River Resort clients reported spectacular fishing with one family catching 14 trout from 4 to 7 1/2 pounds. DFG planters are providing 30 to 50 fish days. Stream trout season closes Nov. 15.

DAVIS LAKE-The lake is at 76-percent capacity. Shore fishing has been good at Mallard for rainbows running 15 to 18 inches. Power Bait has been outfishing nightcrawlers by a large margin. Boat launching could be dangerous due to snow and cold weather icing up the ramp. Fly fishermen were still picking up some nice fish at Mosquito Slough and Cow Creek on red midges, copper Johns, and snails on an intermediate sinker. The dock at Honker could be pulled out of the water soon. Call J&J’s Grizzly Store at 530-832-0270 or Ed Dillard, Dillard’s Guided Fishing at 530-966-5500 for the latest launching conditions.

DONNER LAKE-Some “next year” kokanee were being caught, according to Brian Nylund at Mountain Hardware and Sports, on dodger/hoochies combos. There was some sporadic action for macks being caught from shore while casting for cruising fish. The rainbow trout action has been fair at the State Park.

FEATHER RIVER CANYON-Fly casters and lure fishermen have been picking up some rainbows and browns to 18 inches from the deeper pools on the main river along Hwy 70, according to Mike Hanson at the Caribou Crossroads Resort. Lure fishermen did well with a Krocodile spoon. Caribou Crossroads Resort will be operating on a winter schedule-Fri-Mon, closed Tue-Thurs. Call them at 530-283-1384 for the latest river flow and fishing update.

FRENCHMAN LAKE-The lake is at 79-percent capacity. The shore fishing was excellent at Nightcrawler Bay, according to Wiggins Trading Post. Trollers did well at Big Cove and by the dam on silver spoons.

GOLD LAKES BASIN-The recent snowstorms pretty much shut off vehicle access to all the lakes in the basin-bring your snowshoes and be prepared to walk in order to fish, according to Mark Tieslau at Mountain Hardware and Sports in Blairsden.

ICE HOUSE RESERVOIR-The lake is at 68-percent capacity. Trollers were still having 30 to 50 fish days using toplined dodger or flasher/worm combos. The recent snowstorm could have made access more difficult and the boat ramp icy-use 4×4 and lots of caution.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR-According to Todd Sodaro at the Carson River Resort, the road to the lake was snowed over and generally is not plowed by the county.

JACKSON MEADOW RESERVOIR-According to Mountain Hardware and Sports in Truckee, access could be a big problem due to the recent snows-4×4 only, at best.

JENKINSON LAKE (Sly Park)-The lake is scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week. Rain and snow reduced fishing pressure to zero according to Sly Park Resort.

LAKE TAHOE-COLD AND SNOWY! When the winds were calm, Big Mack Charters did well, on windy days not so much. Mickey Daniels was trolling 240 to 300 feet deep with Sling Blade/Koke-a-nut or minnow combos for a fish per person or better.

LOON LAKE-The lake is at 61-percent capacity. Snowed in this past week-this could be it for the season.

PROSSER LAKE-The lake is at 32-percent capacity. The lake is very low and the best fishing was at the dam where using a white Kastmaster was working well. Dress warm-it has been very cold here!!

PYRAMID LAKE-Joe Mendes at Eagle Eye Charters reported good fishing while trolling 6 feet deep at the North Nets in 11 to 18 feet of water. There was a good action on 18 to 22 inchers caught this past week on three trips-27, 33, and 31 fish. The bronze, frog, rainbow trout, and blood frog U-20 Flatfish all worked. Fly fishermen have been doing fairly well, 6 to 10 fish, at Rawhide, Sand Hole, Wino Beach, and Indian Head Beach-fishing should bust wide open around Thanksgiving.

RED LAKE-Snow made for difficult access.

SILVER LAKE-The lake is too low to launch anything but a cartopper boat. The area received at least a foot of snow this past week and conditions were poor for fishing with more weather in the forecast.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR-The lake is at 88-percent capacity. Some big macks should begin to cruise the area around the dam, especially on overcast or stormy days. Casting a big Krocodile or Rapala could draw a strike.

TRUCKEE RIVER-Fishing well with small flies-sizes 16 to 20-BWO’s, baetis, and copper Johns. Dark stones were working well also, according to Mountain Hardware and Sports. After Nov. 15, the regulated section from Trout Creek to the Nev. border will be open for artificial barbless lure, catch-and-release fishing only. The Little Truckee from Boca to Stampede will be open after Nov. 15, also, with the same restrictions. The Little Truckee has been fishing well with size 18 to 22 WD 40’s, baetis, and BWO emergers -stay away from the trout on redds!

UNION VALLEY RESERVOIR-The lake is at 59-percent capacity. Little traffic due to the snow.

WEST WALKER RIVER-Sonora, Monitor, and Tioga Passes were all closed due to snow, so fishing pressure was non-existent this past weekend. Lots of fish still in the river, just no fishermen, according to Pam Hamic at the West Walker Motel.

NORTH COAST LAKES

CLEAR LAKE-The fishing pressure is virtually non-existent here now that the tourney season is over and anglers have switched for the winter to live bait. Typical winter areas are the Redbud arm including Jago Bay, No Name Reef, Luebow Point and The Boat Works. Glen Haven Reef, Windflower Point, the Narrows, and Shag Rock have all been producing action for both largemouth and catfish.

LAKE BERRYESSA-Fish are feeding up for the winter. For bass try Blade Runner’s Duh spoons in morning dawn and shad and look for massive bait schools in some of the bigger coves in the main body. If you want to add a few trout to your catch; grab some spoons and find the bait balls in 25 to 40 feet of water.

UPPER BLUE LAKE-Cooler water temperatures as well as DFG’s plant last week have the trout biting on the surface. Both bank anglers and trollers are doing well and finding limits. Bass fishing has also been good here early and late for the few focused on them.

NORTHEASTERN AREA

LAKE ALMANOR-Big winds continued and the area’s first snow came early this past week. Time to bring out the dodgers and flashers and drag some nightcrawlers around. Areas to try will be Big Springs, A-Frame, Geritol Cove, Rec. 2 and deep holes along the east shore. Suspended baits off the bottom are great ways to catch fish. And if you’re gong to baitfish, practice jigging.

BAUM LAKE-Vaughn’s Sporting Goods in Burney reports fly fishermen are having great days on midges and BWO’s. Nightcrawlers and floating baits are still doing well, as are lures. Nymphs of choice have been copper Johns in red or pt’s.

BRITTON LAKE-According to Vaughn’s Sporting Goods, the weather has definitely put the fish down and fishing is about over for this year.

BURNEY CREEK–Vaughn’s Sporting Goods reports no changes in technique here all season. There’s good nymphing at the base of the falls with green copper Johns and bait and lure anglers are catching trout above the falls.

CASSEL FOREBAY-With the cooler weather and water moving, fishing has picked up.

EAGLE LAKE-Flying Eagle Guide Service reports that the fish have been moving around a lot as the weather cools down; the area had snow this past weekend as well so it took a little longer to get limits but there were still plenty of trailers in the parking lot at Spalding. The south end Emergency Ramp Project, at Gallatin Marina has the large cement ramp pieces in place on the lower part of the ramp down into the water and it looks like they are ready to pour cement on the remainder soon, good news!

FALL RIVER-According to Vaughn’s Sporting Goods in Burney, anglers are mainly nymphing. BWOs should be a good choice with the weather change. Otherwise, PT’s and woolly buggers seemed to work consistently.

UPPER HAT CREEK-Anglers using nightcrawlers seem to be having the best luck, but lures can also produce here. Brookies seem to be the major focus here right now with some nice-sized fish being caught by the few anglers here.

HAT CREEK (wild trout section)-Vaughn’s Sporting Goods reports nymphing was best with anglers doing okay on the stretch just below the powerhouse. Anglers found good results with pt’s and copper Johns. Watch for BWOs on cloudy days.

MCCLOUD RIVER-The Fly Shop reports insect hatches of small green mayflies like blue wing olives, pale evening duns, small tan sedges and October caddis in the early evenings have bumped the fishing up from fair to good.

PIT RIVER-According to The Fly Shop, insect hatches now are comprised of small dark or tan caddis, a few October caddis and mayflies that are No. 16-18 and olive in color (that would be baetis). Nymphing is always the dominant technique here; however, an orange stimulator suspending a No. 16-18 pheasant tail nymph should break up the fishing and add some different flavor. Be extremely careful on the slippery rocks here and wear your PFDs. There is road work along the Pit River with road closures of two plus hours possible between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The road will be open over Veterans Day weekend.

SHASTA LAKE-Troll shallow points from the surface to 10 feet down. The trout are all over the lake and averaging 2 pounds with an occasional 3 to 4 pounder. Shad patterned lures will be the way to go, after you have located the bait. Bass fishing is improving for larger fish now that the water has some color to it and has cooled just a bit so you can throw reaction baits all day long.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY

AMERICAN RIVER-Some nice salmon continued to be caught downstream of the now-closed salmon spawning area demarcation at the power lines crossing the river at Ancil Hoffman Park, by backtrolling Kwikfish. Night fishing for salmon has produced some fish on glow-in-the-dark Gitzits and Kwikfish. There wasn’t much action on steelhead last week. Nimbus Hatchery was loaded with salmon, but very few steelhead were observed in the holding pond at the top of the fish ladder.

FEATHER RIVER- “Very slow.” That was the word on the salmon fishing last week with anglers and fish stymied by skimpy flows of 2,200 cfs. There were some nice steelhead being caught, however, in the Low Flow Section. Drifting Glo-Bugs on the riffles around Palm Ave. offered one of the better chances at some strikes.

FOLSOM LAKE-Trout fishing has really picked up. They are being caught 40 to 50 feet deep on the main body. Hoochies and Needlefish tipped with corn have been doing the trick on rainbows between 12 and 14 inches. Bass fishing has picked up a bit, but it’s still a slow and deep bite. Fish are still suspended in deeper water in the main body over the edges of underwater channels.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Sacramento–Salmon fishing was spotty for many folks, but some nice salmon were picked up around Garcia Bend on Kwikfish and on jigs between the Yacht Club and Miller Park. Some striped bass were being caught in the Deep Water Channel, and a few sturgeon are starting to show.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Chico-Good and patient anglers were catching some newly-arrived salmon weighing between 20 and 30 pounds. It’s not fast fishing, but the salmon being caught are straight out of the ocean and hard fighters. It’s exclusively a plug bite.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Redding-Trout fishing continued to be very good for fly fishers and spin fishermen drifting Glo-Bugs and egg patterns behind spawning salmon.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Upper- Trout fishing continued to be very good both on bait lures and flies in the stretch of river running through the town of Dunsmuir, as well as in the lower river as trout come out of Lake Shasta to feed. Drift Mayfly, caddis, and prince nymphs under indicators.

YUBA RIVER-Steelhead fishing continued to be good downriver near Marysville, while both trout and steelhead were being caught up to the point the river is closed to fishing at the Highway 20 Bridge. Dead-drifting caddis and Mayfly nymphs, as well as rubber legs under indicators has been effective on both trout and steelhead, while swinging streamer patterns has been attracting hard hits from steelhead.

NORTHERN FOOTHILLS

AMERICAN RIVER-With the poor weather this past week, the Georgetown Ranger Station reported very little fishing pressure on the Middle Fork.

BULLARDS BAR-The lake is at 71-percent capacity. According to Emerald Cove Marina, there was only one boat out all weekend and they didn’t do well enough to report back about any fishing success. Poor weather this past week and in the forecast will keep fishing pressure very light.

CAMP FAR WEST-Bass fishing was good before the storms hit. Most anglers were reporting good action up in the Rock Creek area on worms and jigs. The poor weather this past week slowed fishing pressure to a crawl.

COLLINS LAKE-Catfish and trout action was good this past week despite the rainy weather. Catfish of 8 1/2 and 5 3/4 pounds were caught at the dam this past week by Roseville anglers while drifting bait and trolling. Lots of limits of small trout were caught this past week by shore anglers using Power Bait and worms. By Collins Lake standards, small trout still weigh 1 to 1 1/2 pounds!!

ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIR-The lake is at 94-percent capacity. Dillon Davis at Skippers Cove Marina reported excellent trout action in the Black’s Ravine to Boston Bar area for 7- to 10-inch planters. Most anglers are catching-and-releasing the smaller fish. Fishing worms on the bottom or trolling a blue/silver Kastmaster tipped with a worm were both productive.

FRENCH MEADOWS RESERVOIR-The Foresthill Ranger Station said that the company doing the construction on the dam would be moving heavy equipment down Mosquito Ridge Road over the next couple of weeks, so drivers need to use caution. The recent storms dumped up to 1-foot of snow in the area making access questionable or unwise at best. Call the Foresthill Ranger Station for road conditions at 530-367-2224.

HELL HOLE RESERVOIR-The Georgetown Ranger Station reported that no one was at the lake this past weekend. Several inches of snow on the road and more in the forecast will probably spell the end of the season here until spring. Call the Georgetown Ranger Station for the latest road conditions before making a trip here at 530-333-4312.

LAKE OROVILLE-The lake is at 82-percent capacity. Guide Ron Gandolfi fished a team tournament here this past weekend that was won by Western bass fishing guru Gary Dobyns with over 15 pounds. There was a good topwater bite that accounted for most of the bigger fish weighed in during the event. Jigs fished down to 30 feet on the main points and adjacent walls produced better fish than drop-shotting-most anglers reported being plagued by small bass. The DFG planted a bunch of 7- to 8-inch coho recently and the bass are feeding on them with abandon-could explain the good topwater bite using Spooks.

ROLLINS LAKE-Casey Reynolds at Long Ravine Resort reported good catfishing near the boat ramp-he picked up several cats running 5 to 10 pounds on a nightcrawler/cheese combo. Reynolds said he’s been broken off several times by some BIG FISH. Trout were planted this past week and most anglers were trolling at the dam for rainbows using flasher/worm combos.

SCOTT’S FLAT LAKE-Jim Caldwell at Scott’s Flat Lake Resort reported some trout fishing success for trollers working the dam before the weather set in this past week. Some snow and rain still in the forecast.

SUGAR PINE RESERVOIR-Very little pressure here this past week with the poor weather.

STUMPY MEADOWS RESERVOIR-The Georgetown Ranger Station reported 5 to 6 inches of snow on road to the lake but that there were still shore fishermen making it up. Planters were still being caught, but with more weather in the forecast visitors should call the Ranger Station for the latest road conditions at 530-333-4312.

THERMOLITO AFTERBAY-The lake is at 73-percent capacity-132.3-foot elevation at press time. Cooler weather should move the bass tighter to the tules where a jig, Senko, or creature bait will work.