As we enter the final month of winter, the air temps have come more in line with what I expect from winter, frosty mornings and a fire all day. The weather forecast for March looks promising with a number of rain storms forecast.
There are fish being caught for those hearty enough to get out on the water. The best results continue to come in from fly anglers on the Lower Yuba. I spoke with guide Tom Page, on a recent trip there were a pair of adult steelhead landed that were close to the two foot mark. Beside these larger pre-spawn fish he did well on the 14 to 16 inch resident fish.
Tom’s best techniques have been fishing small jig style nymphs suspended from a large dry fly or a float. In the deeper slower pools Tom uses a skwala stonefly pattern as a float on the chance someone would be interested in a surface bug. He will hang a small weighted baetis nymph three to five feet down. When he is fishing faster shallow riffles he suspends a more heavily weighted nymph below a float. The larger fish have been hooked in the deeper pools. The resident fish have hit in both water types. The skwala hatch has been light this winter. There are some of these one inch bugs around but not enough for the fish to focus on them.
The sturgeon are running on the Sacramento River. Normally the river is high and muddy in February so it is hard to compare this year’s run in low water to other years. There have been sturgeon caught from Rio Vista up through Colusa. Justin Leonard (Out Cast Guide Service) has been hooking fish most days. When he locates a school of sturgeon he tries to follow them up river on a day to day basis. Locating traveling fish is the difficult part of the game.
The numbers of fish caught are modest. Normally March is a much better time frame for catching sturgeon. The most available baits have been ghost shrimp and sardines. If you can locate eel or salmon roe, they are very effective. There has been an occasional striper landed incidental to sturgeon fishing.
Bass anglers have been experiencing typical winter conditions. On Lake Oroville these fish are from the 15 feet down to 35 feet. They will hit a slowly presented bait. A pond smelt imitation is a good place to start. The water surface temps are in the low 50’s. At Bullard’s Bar the bass fishing has been slower than Oroville. Sandy bottoms in the 15 feet to 25 feet depth range have been the most productive. Tom Page, Reel Angler’s Fly Shop, has fished Bullard’s Bar frequently over the years. Based on the photos in his phone, his largest bass have been caught between March 5 and the 15 in recent years.
For kokanee anglers Bullard’s Bar is the closest option. For a few guides there has been an OK bite. For the casual angler the bite can be tough. One tip I heard is to concentrate on shaded water where you can find it.
The best kokanee reports within a day’s round trip have come from WhiskeyTown Reservoir west of Redding. Early in the morning these fish are at the top of the water column. There have been times when they have been jumping clear of the water. Are they feeding or being chased? It is hard to know the motivation. Once the sun gets fully on the water the kokanee are to be found in the 20 feet to 30 feet range. Allegedly there are kokanee up to the 15 inches in size. That sounds a bit big for mid-winter fish but it does indicate larger fish than we can find at Bullard’s Bar. The drive is a good three-plus hours each way pulling a boat. I have done it, round trip, in a day. With two drivers it is not too bad. If you are a serious kokanee angler, be sure to put a trip to WhiskeyTown on your “To do” list for 2022.
Another fishery that will be coming on in the near future is Pyramid Lake, Nevada. The worst conditions are dead calm air and a glassy surface to the lake. During the past month there have been some tough days for shore anglers in these conditions. The big cutthroats are heading into spawning season and March hopefully will bring them within casting distance from shore. An onshore breeze is ideal.
For hearty anglers immune to cold, Lake Almanor has been fishing well. The rainbows and browns are feeding on the smelt at the top of the water column. The water is in the high 30’s and the air is colder than that early in the morning. Trolling flies in white have been among the productive lures. I will not be headed there in February but mid to late March begins prime time on Lake Almanor.
Denis Peirce writes a fishing column for The Union’s Outdoors section and is host of “The KNCO Fishing & Outdoor Report,” which airs 6-7 p.m. Fridays and 5-6 a.m. Saturdays on 830-AM radio. Contact him via his website at http://www.trollingflies.com
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