OROVILLE — Anglers were out early on Saturday for the start of steelhead fishing season on the Feather River in Oroville. Despite the river filled with eager fishermen, Saturday morning’s gloomy skies brought a slow start to the season.
Steelhead trout are fish that often act similar to salmon. They migrate to the ocean, get larger, before returning to freshwater to spawn. They are found in fast-flowing, gravel-bottomed streams having different “runs” along the river throughout the year.
This year’s steelhead opening day brought a mix of new and experienced fishermen to the a stretch of the river along Highway 70 in Oroville.
Some were standing in shoulder-length waders in the middle of the stream casting their fly-fishing rods, while others stood dry at shore casting their lines.
Just before 8 a.m., one angler arrived and made his way to the middle of the river. Just as he began to walk towards the middle he had a fish hooked on his line, and the fish immediately began to swim downstream. It chased the fisherman under several other lines and into a group wading in the middle downstream. The fisherman’s line had gotten tied around another angler’s, the fish was on momentarily, the tied up angler tried to net the fish but it got away.
“Thanks for sending that fish down our way! We needed it,” yelled the tied-up angler.
The group spotted several other fish in the waters and announced their sightings, however none were able to hook a fish.
These were two of the closest instances in the steelhead chase Saturday morning in that area.
While many fishermen waded into the middle of the stream, some fishermen like Miguel Aguilar and Zariel Torres chose to find a spot and fish from the shore. For Aguilar and Torres, fishing has been apart of their childhood, however the two have never fished for steelhead before this year and were on the lookout Saturday.
Aguilar said the two normally fish for bass and other trout along portions of the Sacramento River near Red Bluff.
However Torres recently became interested in the steelhead and began doing research on the different times and places of the fish runs. He learned the steelhead come through the Trinity River in November before hitting the Feather River in January.
Aguilar and Torres tried once in November at Trinity but came up short. Saturday, they were at it once again casting their reels in hopes of reeling in the steelhead.
“We tried fishing Trinity but we didn’t have any luck, so we’re going to try here,” Torres said as he was setting up his lines Saturday morning. “Fishing is a big part of our life. We’ve fished since we were kids, 5-years old. Its part of our family.”
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