So if I want to fish for a salmon on the Feather River...

[John Sv]

Where do I park? Where do I stand? Where in the water column am I fishing? What fly? If I'm a somewhat crappy spey caster will I be "that guy" in the way of everyone else?
Thanks!

[Darian]

Since you're going to be wading, that limits to the places and opportunity to get at bright fish. In general, Fish that recently arrive in a river are generally brighter than those that have been there for a while and congregate in the pools . Bright fish tend to ride in the upper part of the water column while darker fish tend to settle deeper. This would apply more to the section below the outlet. In the low-flow section of the Feather, it's almost too shallow for this separation but Salmon will move onto the riffles and spawn when ready. Altho these're just generalizations they will help you understand "where to stand" and what line to choose. The next step is for you to explore and find out access points for the best fishing, etc.

I wouldn't bother trying to fish at the outlet with all of the gear fishers. I'm sure they'd see a fly guy without a lot of experience in casting a spey outfit as a nuisance (at the least).

Maybe Tony Buzolich will offer some advice. He lives up there and knows the rivers very well. :cool:

[Tony Buzolich]

John,

First off, get a Streamtime map of the river and learn where the outlet is at Thermolito. You may NOT fish for salmon upstream of the outlet. (tempting as it may be).

Below the outlet most of the river is fairly strong water which is best accessed by boat. As for wading, there are a couple of areas that you can get to by foot. Off Hwy.70 you can get to the Palermo Riffle by way of the lower entrance of the Oroville Wildlife Area. Lots of slippery round rocks here so be advised "Take a Friend". If you slip or need help there's not much below the island that you can crawl out on.

On the other side of the river off Larkin Rd. you can wade several spots from Vance Ave. down to Palm Ave. Not quite as swift here and a bit more gradual at Vance. Palm has some fast water next to a great riffle but it goes right into a very deep hole at the bottom. Loose your footing here and you'll end up in that hole for sure.

The other worry are the boats going by. If you wade too deep, the boat's wake will rock you for sure. All of the guys up here use jets and there's no such thing as going slow when they go upstream.

Not being familiar with spey rods I can only refer from experience with single hand shooting lines. I wouldn't use LC-13 but I would want a line that gets down quickly. A type IV head would work fine. No need for long leaders either, the water isn't that clear. I'd use 2' of 40# butt looped to 2' or 3' of straight 20# and then to the fly.

As for flies, I've always used standard steelhead patterns in size 6. Polar Shrimp, Comets, Popscicles, even bright shad flies work. If you know there's a run with fish holding in one spot, go a little bigger with a #2 or #4 and use a lot of flashabou. Fresh fish will hit flashy flies just like they were chasing bait out in the ocean. We've taken quite a few even while striper fishing and they'll hit the flash-tail of the clouser.

Here's a couple taken from the Feather a while back.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/Sept2640lb-closeupemail.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/Sept2640lb-closeupemail.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/Tony-salmon2email.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/Tony-salmon2email.jpg.html)

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/tonyssalmon.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/tonyssalmon.jpg.html)

Hope this helps a little but I can't stress enough about fishing alone. There's a lot of slippery fast water up there if you loose footing.

Good luck, Tony