Join the Bite

Northern California River Fishing Guide

Centrally located in Sacramento, Bob is able to take you to the Sacramento River, Sacramento Delta, American River, Feather River, Yuba River and many freshwater lakes including Folsom Lake, Lake Oroville, Lake Berryessa, Pardee Lake and many others.

Guiding since 1988, Bob is always striving to catch more fish than other guides with his innovative techniques, lure inventions and shear determination. The differences between a good trip and a GREAT trip are the small details that can get an extra 10-20 fish a day. Book with Captain Bob Sparre to experience the difference.

Call: (916) 826-3600

California Rivers & Tributaries

Areas We Fish

The American River is located in downtown Sacramento and is approximately 23 miles long. The best fisheries on the American River are salmon and shad. The American River also has some steelhead and stripers that you can catch, but it can take many hours to hook just one of these fish.
The salmon fishery is very special on the American. One unique quality of fishing on the American River is that I can take you on a night salmon trip. This is a trip that requires different methods of fishing from the day trips. For those of you that have mooched in the ocean, it is very similar. Another bonus this river offers is its size. Since the American River is short, it is easy to locate the schools of fish for a successful day on the water. The best time to fish this river for salmon is end of August through the end of November.

The shad fishing is also known as the poor man’s tarpon. These fish are fierce-fighting-fishing that don’t give up. This is one of the best trips to get kids hooked on fishing. Kids or not, if you want lots of action this is a sure bet. Shad start entering the river in April and usually head back to the ocean by the end of July. The best time to fish for shad is May through the middle of July.

For those of you wanting to catch a really big striper, this is where you have your best chance. The American River is known for big fish. My biggest striper on this river was 50 pounds and I saw a 55 pounder landed many years ago. The big ones take many hours if not days to get one chance, but if you want to catch a trophy, this is the place.

The steelhead in the last thirty years has declined to the point where the hatchery only gets back 1000-2000 a year. Steelhead in this river take a lot of patience to catch but once you have landed one you know the wait was worth it.

  • Year Round Guided Tips
  • 15min from downtown Sacramento
  • Rural and beautiful scenery
  • Quiet (regulated speed limits)
  • Unique and unexploited
  • Hotel Recommendations Available
  • Best Fish — Salmon | Steelhead | Shad | Trout

The Sacramento River is a year-round fishery. We have many fishing opportunities because it is such a diverse river as it expands well over a hundred miles. I fish for salmon, stripers, steelhead and sturgeon in the Sacramento river system. The timing to fish for these species varies a little bit from year to year. Striper fishing is year-round but definitely has its peak season being spring and fall. The salmon fishing season has varied in the last few years due to Fish and Game regulations but typically the season opens in mid July and closes in mid December. The steelhead fishing is usually best in September and October and the sturgeon fish is best after we start getting some big rain storms which is usually in the winter.

  • Year Round Guided Tips
  • Migration Hub
  • Big Fish–All species must come through this area before reaching tributaries
  • Very close to Sacramento River
  • Hotel Recommendations Available
  • Best Fish — Salmon | Steelhead | Shad | Trout

The Feather River can be an excellent river to fish in for salmon and stripers. Salmon season generally opens in mid July and goes through mid December. The middle of August through October is usually the time to fish this river for salmon because that’s when DWR starts releasing water for agriculture purposes. The key to this fishery is usually water flows. This river can get extremely low at times due to DWR holding back water with no indifference for the fishery. With that being said, when flows are right, the salmon fishing can be an experience that you will want to have year after year.

The striper fishery is also very water dependent. In years like 2011 the striper fishing was epic. I think just about every striper in the whole Delta system was sucked into the Feather River due to the extremely high flows from large volumes of snow melt. On the other hand, years when the water flows are low, a few resident stripers can be caught but usually not worth the effort. When that’s the condition water flows are better on the Sacramento or Delta.

The Yuba River is a place I like to take fly fishermen for shad. The gravel bars make this river ideal to wade, and with very limited public access, we usually have our pick of fish holding water. My twenty five foot jet boat can accommodate up to six fishermen on this trip.

  • Year Round Guided Tips
  • Private access (this great river is otherwise difficult to access)
  • All Native Fish (no hatchery breeding)
  • Fly Fishing Paradise
  • Great Shad Fishing
  • Approximately 45 minutes from Sacramento
  • Rural and beautiful scenery
  • Hotel Recommendations Available
  • Best Fish — Salmon | Steelhead | Shad | Trout

The California Delta covers thousands of miles of water ways. It is a unique fishery because there are so many areas that you can focus on to catch stripers and sturgeon. There are so many micro fisheries in the Delta. If one area is unfishable you can move as little as a couple of miles to find fishable water. Early spring and late fall is the best time to catch striper in this area. I’ve had many days in the delta where we have landed well over a hundred fish. Sturgeon fishing in the Delta usually starts around mid October and goes through the winter.

Recent Catch

Fishing Report

Centrally located in Sacramento, I am able to take you to the Sacramento River, Sacramento Delta, American River, Feather River, Yuba River and the Bay. I also fish freshwater lakes including Folsom Lake, Lake Berryessa, Pardee Lake and many others.