KLAMATH RIVER, Klamath Glen—Salmon fishing improved a bit, but still was a challenge with good fishing one day, poor the next.  Anglers had to work hard to scratch out a limit of jacks and adults, and most were happy to catch a couple.  Anglers are covring a lot of water in search of biters.  Steelheading has picked up,though.

TRINITY RIVER, Junction City—Fishing for bright fall Chinook was very good again, but fishing pressure is very heavy all the way down to del Loma. Limits of bright fish are still common, but some are dark, so many anglers are settling for less than the four-fish limit, and picking only bright salmon to keep.  Fishing was best on back-trolled plugs for most of the week, but the roe bite picked up toward the weekend. Steelhead fishing was still slow.  A million smolts will be released to the Trinity around the 5^th of October, and fishing will be pretty much put on hold unless you use netting to wrap your roe the ravenous little beasts clear out by around the middle of October.

TRINITY RIVER, Willow Creek—Anglers are finding good action on steelhead around Salyer and Hawkins Bar.

BOCA LAKE—The lake is at 51-percent capacity.  What few anglers were fishing were catching planters near the boat ramp and at the east end of the dam on Power Bait and Kastmaster spoons.

CAPLES LAKE—The lake was planted this past week and EID host Ron Peterson reported that trollers were catching easy limits of 12- to 13-inch rainbows on flasher/worm combos.  Shore fishing was slower at the dam, spillway, and Wood’s Creek.

CARSON RIVER (East, West)—Alpine County planted 1800 pounds of 2- to 5-pound rainbows this past Tuesday and the DFG dumped in another 1000 pounds of catchable rainbows on Friday.  Todd Sodaro at the Carson River Resort reported that fishing was phenomenal with anglers catching all the fish they wanted on bait, lures, and flies.  Stay in the deeper holes for the best action.

DAVIS LAKE—The lake is at 68-percent capacity.  Ed Dillard at Dillard’s Guided Fishing reported that the trout were up near the surface feeding on insect hatches.  Trolling was good for limits of 16- to 18-inch rainbows using copper/red head Wee Dick Nite spoons run from the top down to 11 feet deep from the island to Mallard Point.  Fly fishermen were doing well on a cinnamon wiggle-tail or weighed nymph under an indicator near the island and up in Mosquito Slough.  Shore anglers were doing best using a bobber/worm rig to catch the fish that were up feeding on the hatching insects–bottom baits were not working very well.

DONNER LAKE—Bright kokanee were still hitting at 45 to 60 feet deep from China Cove to the east end of the lake.  Rainbows were hitting worms, salmon eggs, and Power Bait near the boat ramp and at the west end piers.

FEATHER RIVER CANYON—Mike Hanson at Caribou Crossroads Resort reported that two of the USFS campgrounds on Caribou Road on the North Fork were now open and being occupied by campers again.  The North Fork flows were now back to normal and anglers were catching a mix of holdover and native rainbows on worms.

FRENCHMAN LAKE—The lake is at 60-percent capacity.  Ed Dillard at Dillard’s Guided Fishing reported that some his USFS buddies were doing well from the shore at Lunker’s Point and Turkey Point for limits of 16-inch rainbows in the afternoons after work—early mornings should be even better.

GOLD LAKES BASIN—Gold Lake was planted by the DFG this past week.  Packer and Sardine were producing small planters for bait fishermen.

ICE HOUSE RESERVOIR—The lake is at 68-percent capacity and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week.  Trollers were catching multiple limits of planters on Sep’s brown grubs and threaded nightcrawlers in the top 15 feet, according to Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Fishing Service.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR—The unseasonably hot weather just keeps this place off the chart for anglers who prefer to fish the heavily planted Carson River.

JACKSON MEADOW RESERVOIR—The lake is scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week.  Mountain Hardware and Sports reported that the water level was very low and the islands were showing.  The few boats on the water were trolling over the channel in the main body of the lake.

JENKINSON LAKE (Sly Park)—Sly Park Resort reported that most of the action was up in the Narrows where one angler drifting nightcrawlers for bass caught a 16-inch holdover rainbow.  Other boaters were picking up some nice smallmouth bass on plastic worms, while float tube fly fishermen were doing well on sinking lines with nymphs for the smallies.

LAKE TAHOE—Guides on both ends of the lake were doing well on macks—the kokanee bite is done for the year.  Mike Nielsen at Tahoe Topliners reported catching limits of 4 to 6 pounders jigging 180 to 200 feet deep with minnow tipped Williamson Benthos jigs off South Shore, Rubicon Bay, and Meeks Bay in 1 to 1 1/2 hours then toplining for rainbows.  Similarly on the North Shore, Chuck Self at Chuck’s Charter Fishing was limiting out on 4- to 7-pound macks at 140 to 350 feet deep by 7:30 and then trolling for rainbows in shallower water.  Mickey Daniels at Big Mack Charters was landing up 7 or 8 macks and losing 3 or 4 more trolling 160 to 400 feet deep with dodger/minnow or hoochies combos off Kings Beach and Tahoe Vista.

LOON LAKE—The lake is at 53-percent capacity and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week.  According to Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Fishing Service, the bite here is wide-open with the water temp at 58 degrees, but, and this is a big but, the USFS employee at the lake on Sunday September 30 said the gate to the boat ramp would be locked by October 9.  The dirt/gravel ramp between the two dams will remain open, but 4-wheel drive is recommended.

PROSSER LAKE—The lake is at 43-percent capacity.   Mountain Hardware and Sports said that the best action was at the inlet of Prosser Creek for rainbows.

PYRAMID LAKE—Joe Mendes at Eagle Eye Charters reported that schools of bait could be seen near the surface of the lake and expected a great opener.  Toplining flashy spoons or plugs in the top 20 feet, or jigging with marabou jigs on bait schools in the backs of coves for cutthroats would be productive with the current weather pattern.

RED LAKE—Caples Lake EID host Ron Peterson reported that the lake was still “pretty green” from the algae but beginning to get a little clearer.  He said that fishing wasn’t very good based on what he had heard.

SILVER LAKE—The lake was planted by the DFG this past week and trollers were doing well for stocker-sized rainbows.  Shore fishing near the boat ramp was productive.   The lake is so low that boats must launch off the gravel below the concrete ramp.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR—The lake is at 76-percent capacity.  The kokanee bite was done for the season—the salmon were starting to run up the Little Truckee where the DFG had placed weirs for collecting eggs for propagation.  The lake was planted by the DFG this past week, so rainbow fishing was good around the boat ramp and the points near the dam.

TRUCKEE RIVER—Fly fishing was good from Floriston to the border according to Mountain Hardware and Sports.  October caddis, big dark stones, and large Stimi’s (size 6 and 8) were all working.

UNION VALLEY RESERVOIR—The lake is at 63-percent capacity and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week.  Fishing should be good around the boat ramp after the plant.  Trollers should be picking up plenty of fish on dodger/worm combos, grubs, and threaded nightcrawlers.  As the water cools, the macks should get more active in deeper water over the mid-lake humps.  According to Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Fishing Service, a USFS employee he spoke to on September 30 said the gate to the Sunset boat ramp would be locked by October 9.  Daneman said the lake was too low for the ramp at the dam to be useable right now.

WEST WALKER RIVER—With the river flows as low as they are, the fishing was pretty well done for the season unless the area gets some rain.  Look for holdover trout in the deepest holes you can find in the canyon south of Walker.

AMERICAN RIVER—Salmon fishing picked up significantly—finally—joined by good fishing for half-pounder steelhead.  The salmon are newly-arrived and mostly in beautiful   shape.  They are being caught backtrolling Kwikfish by boaters fishing from Sailor Bar to Grist Mill, and by waders drifting roe and beads.  Steelhead from 12 to 20 inches were being caught mostly from Sailor Bar to Rossmoor Bar, though some are being caught down to Watt Ave.  Small caddis nymph patterns dead-drifted under indicators on floating lines are working for fly fishers.  There’s also a bit of dry fly fishing in the evening.  Spin fishermen are drifting nightcrawlers and swinging spoons and spinners.  Flows are still at 1,800 cfs.

FEATHER RIVER—Salmon fishing was great again below the Outlet, but the fish are almost all dark.  Fewer but brighter fish were being caught around Yuba City.  Be aware that the river closes to fishing from the unimproved boat ramp above the Outlet down to a point 200 yards above the Live Oak Boat Ramp on October 15.  The rest of the main stem of the Feather will remain open to salmon fishing until Dec. 16.  Steelhead fishing was very good around Gridley and in the Low Flow Section.  Fly fishers are dead-drifting caddis nymphs and egg flies under indicators.  Spin fishermen are drifting nightcrawlers, Glo-Bugs, and swinging spinners.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Sacramento—Salmon fishing broke wide open last week with both bankies and boater doing very well.  Freeport was one of the better spots, but pressure has been very heavy.  The Yacht Club, Miller Park, Discovery Park, are just some of the spots where salmon fishermen were doing well.  The Mepps Flying C has been the lure of choice for bankies.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Red Bluff—Limits of salmon were common last week, and the river around Balls Ferry was loaded with fish, and limits were easy to come by. However, most were well past their prime.  However, waves of fresher fish were coming through the river around Chico. Limits were possible, but it was important to be patient and move around if there was no action.  Be careful when boating, as the river is low, and there are lots of barely submerged obstructions.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Dunsmuir—Trout fishing has been picking up with longer and cooler nights.  Fishing is good for smaller fish and planters around Dunsmuir, but some larger fish are starting to move up from the lake.

YUBA RIVER—Trout fishing continued to be pretty good on hoppers and caddis dry flies below the Highway 20 Bridge.  The river is closed to fishing above the bridge.

CLEAR LAKE—Warm weather and water has the bass waiting for cooler waters to signal that “it’s time to feed” mode. So in the meantime, try LV500, deep diving crankbaits, wakebaits and topwater baits.

LAKE BERRYESSA—Reaction baits such as LV500s, square-billed crankbaits, ripbaits, Blade Runners or spinnerbaits are ideal choices to get your bass fishing day started. Look for birds, bait and smaller creek channels or bays that bass can use to corral bait into.

LAKE SONOMA—For steelies, troll from the dam to the no ski buoys or from the dam to the highway bridge in the main lake from 45 to 70 feet deep. No bass report this week.

LAKE ALMANOR—The Hamilton Branch and Big Springs areas have been producing fish, and spring fed area will continue to hold fish this fall. Jigging, trolling and baitfishing are all working. Salmon, brown and rainbow trout are all on a tear!

BATTLE CREEK RESERVOIR—Rim Rock Ranch reports no anglers at this time.

BAUM LAKE—Waiting on cooler weather and water to get the bite going here.

CASSEL FOREBAY–Closed until further notice for repairs. All water has been drained into the natural creek channel that flows into Baum Lake in order to work on structure repairs in the canal. The section above the canal near the post office is fishing well but does not accommodate a lot of fishermen. There’s been no indication as to when repairs may be completed or when the fore bay may reopen.

FALL RIVER–The Fly Shop reported fishing picked up a bit with morning hatches of BWOs, Baetis and a few PMDs for topwater feeding. In the afternoon, try nymphing for hog rainbows.

HAT CREEK, UPPER–Rim Rock Ranch reports fishing remains good and plants continue once a week for now. Expect fish plants to end soon but fishing should remain decent with much fewer fishermen and a good number of hold over fish. Worms and salmon eggs are working well with good numbers of pan-sized fish coming in. A few 3- to 4-pound fish are still showing up so you can never tell when you might catch a real trophy.

MCCLOUD RIVER—Closed due to the Bagley Fire clean up but hopefully the roads will be open again soon.

PIT RIVER—The Pitt has been fishing well, especially 3 and 4 and there are some hatches going off.

SHASTA LAKE—No changes here, which is a good thing. You’ll find short but chunky trout and salmon in the Dry Creek arm early in the day. The salmon have been hitting rolled anchovies from 85 to 100 feet, while the trout were hitting Apexs and Wiggle Hoochies behind UV Sling Blades at 55 to 70 feet. For bass, now chasing baitfish into coves and arms, try plastics or topwater gear.

BERKELEY—Albacore boats found success 15 to 20 nm outside the Farallon Islands. Salmon action picked back up with solid action from the Channel Buoys, Muir Beach and Rocky Point. Rockfish and lingcod bit steadily all week at the islands and also along the Marin coast.

BODEGA BAY—Albacore to 40 pounds were caught from 30 to 45 miles off of Bodega Head for the Reel-lentless and the New Sea Angler. Salmon and white seabass bit slowly for patient anglers between Elephant Rock and Bird Rock. Point Reyes area rockfish and lingcod were ready to chew the paint off the bottoms of visiting fishing boats.

DILLON BEACH—A solid albacore run this week resulted in boats catching from 1 to 50 fish per day. Salmon were still present off of Ten Mile Beach but required noticeably more effort to catch than they did earlier in the year. Rockfishing seemed slow to decent depending on location and current.  Halibut were slow to bite all week.

EMERYVILLE—Whether it was albacore, rockfish or salmon, Emeryville boats did a little of everything and it all seemed to work. On Thursday the New Huck Finn caught full limits of rockfish plus 20 lingcod to 18 pounds at the Farallones. On Friday the C-Gull II had 11 passengers who caught 22 salmon to 24 pounds, the Sundance saw 6 folks get 12 salmon to 28 pounds and the New Salmon Queen took 10 fishers out to catch 78 albacore to 30 pounds 15nm outside of the Farallones.

EUREKA— It was a tough week here due to oceanic conditions driven by storms out of Alaska. On Thursday Capt. Tim Klassen on the Reel Steel fished Cape Mendocino for 36 quality snappers and 6 lingcod before they had to leave to get back before the tide change. Also on Thursday there were 4 small Pacific halibut caught out of Eureka, one boat got a 20 pounder and the other boat had 3, all chickens with the biggest weighing in at 18 pounds. Fishing off the local piers and jetties turned out consistent catches of rockfish and cabezon.

FORT BRAGG—Inshore waters were rough but doable. Local spearfishers scored well on big black rockfish and large cabezon plus a few keeper lingcod. The semi-protected waters of Van Damm State Park served as the safe and sane place to dive for fish and collect good numbers of abalone even with large swells running.

HALF MOON BAY/PACIFICA—Rockfish action remained steady for boats out of Half Moon Bay. Albacore were caught within 30 miles of the harbor. Surf fishers found surf perch hungry for pile worms. Jetty and breakwater fishers caught rockfish and just a few lingcod. Pier fishers at Pacifica continued to haul salmon up the pier.

MARTINEZ—Strong tides brought great striped bass fishing. The hot ticket was a live bullhead fished on an outgoing tide. One boat caught 20 stripers, releasing most of them. A 51 pound sturgeon was caught from a private boat at Buoy 2.

OAKLAND—Boats out of Oakland spread out to comb the entire Bay. Stripers proved active in San Pablo Bay, at Point Pinole and Richmond. Sturgeon bit in the Carquinez Straights. Perch chewed baits at the Richmond Bridge and large sharks prowled the South Bay.

OYSTER POINT—A 23 inch striped bass was caught from the pier here on Friday and a couple of halibut were taken by private boaters just outside the channel marker about 500 yards off of Oyster Point Bait and Tackle. Otherwise, fishing action consisted of perch, sharks and rays from the pier.

SAN FRANCISCO—Fishing video artist Steve Gutierrez of San Francisco found fact-paced action on rockfish and lingcod in extreme shallow water at Angel Island. Party boats and charter boats enjoyed improved salmon action near the Channel Buoys, Muir Beach and Rocky Point.

TRINIDAD—Pacific halibut bit in 250 to 300 feet of water off of Trinidad for boaters using B2 Squid and salmon bellies. Huge swells kept many anglers off the beach but protected rocky and jetty areas gave up good number of rockfish. Abalone gathering was reported to be very good on extreme low tides.

AMERICAN RIVER—The Georgetown Ranger Station reported that some of the local anglers hiked down to the Middle Fork west of Cache Rock and caught several 16- to 18-inch rainbows in the deeper pools on worms.

BULLARDS BAR—The lake is at 65-percent capacity.  Emerald Cove Marina reported that fishing pressure was very light this past week.  The previous week, a marina employee caught a 9 1/2-pound spotted bass on a swimbait at the mouth of Willow Creek, so there are still some big bass around.  As the water temp drops, the fishing should improve on all fronts.

CAMP FAR WEST—North Shore Resort reported that bass fishing was wide-open.  Anglers were catching 20 to 30 fish per day on plastic worms and Senkos fished on the steeper banks all around the lake.   The hot weather brought out the recreational boaters this past week, so fishing was best in the early morning.  One boat came in with 25 bluegill, plus a few catfish and bass which were all taken on nightcrawlers fished in the Rock Creek arm.

COLLINS LAKE—Kathy Hess at the resort reported that trout were moving shallower and shore anglers were doing well at the dam for limits of rainbows using Power Bait.  Trollers were also catching limits of trout and bass on spoons run 20 feet deep near the dam.  Some big catfish were caught on chicken livers—father/son Dave and Mark Zaski of Reno landed 11 and 12 pounders this past week.

ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIR—The lake is at 93-percent capacity.  Lisa Rogers at Skippers Cove Marinas reported that fishing was very slow due to the hot weather.

FRENCH MEADOWS RESERVOIR—The lake is at 59-percent capacity and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week.  The Foresthill Ranger Station is only open Monday through Friday for the rest of the fall and winter—no weekend staffing.

HELL HOLE RESERVOIR—The lake is at 51-percent capacity.  The Georgetown Ranger Station reported that no fishermen were seen all this past week since the campgrounds were all closed.  Big Meadows campground is now closed, but the Hell Hole Campground camp should reopen soon after the water system repairs are completed—call the Ranger Station for the latest update on the campground opening at 530-333-4312.

LAKE OROVILLE—The lake is at 56-percent capacity—down 120 feet.  Guide Ron Gandolfi reported that bass fishing was great with 50 to 75 fish days common.  The bait was schooled up on the surface and the fish were really working over pond smelt, especially in the West Branch out in the middle of the houseboats.  Small spinnerbaits and topwater baits were working very well for lots of the smaller slot fish.    Gandolfi rated the topwater bite as “incredible” on Pop-R’s and Spooks near the bait balls in the early morning though the bite could last longer depending on the bait activity.  Drop-shotting shad pattern worms from shallow to deep brought guaranteed action. The bigger fish to 3 pounds were hitting jigs and dart-head rigged Senkos on the banks near the bait at 25 to 30 feet deep.   Mike Hanson of Oroville reported a good buzzbait bite in the later afternoon along shady banks in the Slot for bass running 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 pounds.  Worms fished down to 20 feet deep in the same areas produced consistently bigger fish.

ROLLINS LAKE—Casey Reynolds of Auburn reported that big schools of bass were cruising along the dam and fish from 2 to 4 1/2 pounds were hitting small nickel blade spinnerbaits.  Bass fishing was also good in the ‘no-wake’ coves with downed trees providing ambush spots.  Bluegill were also seen in large numbers—great action for the kids and great eating too!

SCOTT’S FLAT LAKE—Jim Caldwell at the resort reported that fishing was pretty slow this past week.  There was still a lot of recreational boat traffic on the lake with the hot weather.   Trout were still being caught in deep water at the dam in the early morning, but bass fishing had dropped way off from the bite seen a couple of weeks ago.

SUGAR PINE RESERVOIR—There was little to report from here.  As the weather cools and the water temp drops, the holdover trout in the lake should get more active.  All the campgrounds will be closed by October 21.

STUMPY MEADOWS RESERVOIR—The Georgetown Ranger Station reported that very few campers and/or anglers visited the lake this past week.  There should be some holdover rainbows hitting flasher/worm combos in deeper water up near the inlet.

THERMOLITO AFTERBAY—The lake was at 134-foot elevation at press time—85-percent capacity.  Guide Ron Gandolfi reported that there was a good frog bite in the late afternoon along the tule banks in the backs of the shallower coves.