On Friday 11-13 Mike Searcy of Star Bait reported things in the area have been pretty slow with the exception of an occasional striper landed on top water at Shanghai Bend on the Feather. Steelhead fishing on the Feather has been "pretty slow". He will be going out for the abbreviated salmon season on Monday with Nemos Guide Service, and he hopes to tie into some salmon. He added that Collins Lake has turned over, and area fishermen have been avoiding the river and taking the short drive to Collins.

Sacramento River salmon season opens Monday
by Steve Carson
The remnant of the once-popular Sacramento River salmon fishing season will arrive this coming Monday [Nov. 16], and will run for 46 days until Dec. 31 in the stretch of river between Knights Landing and Red Bluff. Daily bag and possession limit is one salmon. "The salmon opener should be pretty interesting", said Richard Peeples at The Tackle Box in Chico. "We have been seeing a lot of salmon up in the shallows. The water level is low, so caution is needed on the boat ramps. It looks like quite a few people are going to be on the river for opening day. Peeples tipped, "If you are fishing above Hamilton City, use cured roe for bait. Below Hamilton City, the best bet will be a chartreuse/silver Luhr Jensen K16 Kwikfish with a sardine wrapper."
The DFG says that this fishery provides very limited access to late-fall run Chinook, which are presently not listed as threatened or endangered. The rest of the Central Valley basin, including the Sacramento, Feather, American and San Joaquin rivers will remain closed to salmon fishing. Wardens will be out in force, strictly enforcing the regulations.

Central Valley Rivers:
On Wednesday 11-11 Bob Bradbury of Johnson's Outdoors in Yuba City said things have been pretty slow in the area with the exception of some decent steelhead up in the Sacramento River past Butte City. Scott Feist of Feisty Guide Service has been catching and releasing steelhead in the area. Striper fishing has been slow with the exception of an 11-pounder landed at Shanghai Bend on a top water lure.
Sport fishing for late-fall run salmon on the Sacramento River between Highway 113 at Knight's Landing to the Lower Sycamore Boat Ramp in Red Bluff opens November 16th. The limit is one fish per day. Back bounced roe and kwikfish will account for most of the action. Anglers many only fish this section of the Sac and all other rivers remain closed to salmon fishing. There are some opportunities for steelies on the Feather and lower American rivers and fishing for metalheads will only improve during the coming winter months.
 

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Waterfowl Limits Liberalized
It's time to start looking ahead to the Central Valley waterfowl season. Being an avid "quack addict" I can't wait for the duck season to begin! The 2009 /10 waterfowl regs have just being released and California hunters will see an increase in bag limits for pintails to two birds per day (about time), canvasbacks are back on the menu and even goose limits could be higher.
One of the best if not "THE BEST" properties in the Central Valley is the Richmond Hunting Club. The "RHC" is a not for profit member owned cooperative with over 18,000 acres of leased and owned land in the Colusa, Delevan and Sac triangle angle. I have been a member since 1997 and have enjoyed some of my best waterfowl and upland game hunting EVER on the RHC properties during this time.
Family memberships are just $500. per year and all members have access to not only all 18K areas but four clubhouses that have bunkhouses, showers and RV parking with full hookups. Water blinds (not open to general members) are just $1700 making the RHC not only one of the best but the most affordable clubs in the Valley. They have been around for over 4 decades and being a not for profit club is the reason they can offer their members such  affordable prices.
If you are interested in a tour of the club, available water blinds  other properties please call 707 451-1690. Be sure to mention USAFishing to save $50 on your first year of membership.

We here at USAFishing strongly support fishery conservation, unfortunately we can't say the same of most California anglers. We are at a crossroads and unless anglers support conservation groups (that our currently waging a losing battle against the multi- million $ lobby) we will lose every key fishery that is connected to the delta.
The state water projects are being consolidated and the governor is looking to toss the only Bay-Delta protections we have and ship water from Shasta and Oroville directly to LA swimming pools and subsidized cotton farmers in Westland's. If these water projects go through you can kiss goodbye (as in forever) our salmon, striper and sturgeon fisheries. We don't have a salmon season this year or last because of too much water being pumped from the delta. If these water projects get passed we will have no salmon seasons in the future. At no time in the past has it been so critical that our readers understand these issues and support the work that the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance  is doing.
Bottom line..... It's time to get off your butt and support our fisheries or in a few short years there will be NO salmon, striper and sturgeon fisheries and they won't ever recover. No group has done more over the past two decades to protect fisheries than CSPA. In the past two months USAFishing readers have raised nearly $10,000 for the CSPA but much much more is needed.
Become part of the solution!
Mike Aughney