Salmon fishing in the Sacramento River and it’s tributaries, the American and Feather rivers, can require many different fishing techniques.
Guiding over twenty one years has help me successfully perfect using roe, trolling and jigging for the king of all freshwater fish, the Chinook salmon.
To successfully fish with roe you must start with good eggs. To get good eggs you must first catch a salmon or steelhead and bleed the fish to make sure the eggs don’t retain any blood. Then cure them with pro glow or pro cure for a few days. Once you have cured the eggs to your desired firmness you can now fish with the roe. My favorite way to fish with roe is to use a float or more commonly called a bobber.
It helps to have a long fishing rod when using a float for mending your fishing line, and it also helps when setting the hook. When using the float adjust the float so it is within 12″ of the bottom and hold on. The bite is usually very light and many times your float does not disappear under the water when the salmon is biting. When this happens lift up on your fishing rod and if you feel any resistance continue to set the hook. A couple of other methods I use when fishing roe is side drifting, boondoggling and back bouncing. I will use these methods in particular water conditions, such as when clear water or murky water conditions exist.
Trolling for king salmon is very effective when the salmon are spread out. The more fish that you can get your lure in front of the more you are going to catch. This technique is not only effective when the fish are spread out. I have had many days when a school of kings are schooled up and we are able to get two or three on at the same time. My favorite way to troll is down river and just off the bottom.
Trolling down river is the preferred method because you can cover more water. When trolling, I use either a spinner or a kwik fish to entice the salmon. As I’m trolling with clients I have them watch for the slightest change in how their lure is working because most hits while trolling down river are very light and if you don’t set the hook immediately after a slight change in your lures action the fish can let go of your lure.
Jigging for king salmon is very effective when the fish are schooled up. In order to get salmon to strike a jig you must get the jig to flutter. The flutter makes it look like a injured bait fish. This method takes practice to get the right action. In order for my clients to get the right action I have them start with their rod tip touching the water as they are letting the jig fall to the bottom.
Once the jig hits the bottom, I have them lift up the rod tip about two feet, now the tricky part is to drop the rod tip fast enough to have a little slack in their fishing line but not to fast or they will miss the bite. The fish always hit as the rod tip is dropping and the lure is fluttering back to the bottom. The hits are also light because you have a little slack in your fishing line as the lure is falling and the fish are coming from the bottom of the river to hit the lure as it is falling. You need to set the lure fast and hard because the salmon don’t hold onto a jig for very long.
If you would like catch some king salmon on the Sacramento River, Feather River or American River with some of these methods, give me a call to book a trip.
