Smallmouth on the Lower Feather River?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I might have to get up there and check it out.

August through October is supposed to be good.

Flow is down to 1,750 cfs so it should be warming up some.

[Hogan Brown]

It can be good...if you still have your boat you should come up and check it out.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

If I go I will report here.....good or bad.

[Tony Buzolich]

Bill there are good numbers of smallmouth in both the Feather and the Yuba. We take them regularly when targeting stripers. They seem to like the same flies though smaller baitfish or crayfish patterns would be more effective if I was to target them specifically.

Some of the best smallmouth water up here is between Live Oak and the Shanghai Bend falls or between Shad Pad trussel and the mouth on the Yuba. Both of these areas have a lot more submurged trees and structure than below the falls.

The real hot spot for smallies though is the Umpqua. Bill Siler just got back today from fishing the Roseberg area and took over a hundred in two days of fishing. I'm sure he'll post a report and some pictures in a day or so.

Besides true smallmouth here in the Feather we also have quite a few ??? spotted bass??? or some kind of bass with very red eyes and looks sort of like a smallie. Once in a while we even pick up a largemouth too.
TONY

[jcsesica]

Back in the 60's up to the late 70's we used to catch them all the way up the Yuba, from the Daguerre to Engelbright. I never knew that they a were a specific species until years later. You can Google them, though Wikipedia doesn't mention them in CA, they are referenced in several DFG articles. Feisty little b#stards!

[Tony Buzolich]

JC ?
I don't know if they are a true Redeye bass or some kind of hybrid but they definitely have red eyes. Darn if I can find a picture of one in my files either. :) Good excuse to go chase something and get out of the house.
TONY

[BillB]

Likely a spotted bass. Here is a link, http://www.outdooralabama.com/fishing/freshwater/fish/bassblack/spotted/ Many spots we catch in the south valley have red or red tinged eyes. They are certainly a hoot to catch. Millerton once had a healthy supply of the critters, maybe JM can chime in. My brother once held, briefly, the Pine Flat record for a spot that came in at just over 7# (a lond time ago!). That record has since been eclipsed by more than three pounds! A real monster!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I think some of these bass are cross breeding?

Shasta Lake was famous for it's Smallmouth fishery some years ago but a bass tourney guy told me that the 'spots' have taken over Shasta?

[BillB]

That's the word on Pine Flat as well Bill. Pine Flat used to be quite a small mouth fishery, but the spots seemed to have taken over.

[jcsesica]

See following link:

http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/factsheet.aspx?SpeciesID=395