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Flyguy
04-19-2005, 01:44 AM
I am from out of the area and recently fished the American from the Watt Ave bridge. I tried today for a couple of hours and had no luck. The weather was windy and the river seemed to be a little fast and high. I saw two other people fishing with no catches either. My question is, are there other access areas to try for better luck? And how would I get there?

I used an olive green caddis with an egg dropper about 10" apart with some weight and a strike indicator. Any suggestions on rigging for the American or other general tips would be greatly appreciated. :oops:

Darian
04-19-2005, 11:39 AM
One of the better ways to obtain info about the Anerican (access/fishing) is to visit or call Kiene's Fly Shop. They're loaded with local info/knowledge, friendlyand have all of the equipment, flies, etc. 8) 8)

The river is high right now due to releases from Folsom/Nimbus dams. The wind is due to die down tomorrow (4/20). Beyond that you can try Watt ave area, again, or go upstream from there to places like Goethe Park, Lower Rossmor Bar, Lower/upper Sunrise ave and Sailor Bar. All of these places hold Half Pounders, etc. :D

You'll need a local map to locate all of these places. 8) 8) If you're an Auto Club member, they have very good map of the Sacramento area that includes the river.

If you choose to fish nymph's, your rig is as good as any. You might want to consider changing from the egg as one of your flies. The spawn (other than for suckers) is over. A smolt pattern, leech or a wooly bugger may be a better choice. 8) 8) 8)

Good Luck :D :D :D :D

Flyguy
04-19-2005, 04:40 PM
Thanks Darian for the helpful tips. I will definately try out the locations you mentioned. Since I only started going to the river this year I will make the most of my trips by fishing at those locations.
:lol:

I will try the change to the nymph set up. Is thier a good dry fly season on the American? I cant wait to give that set up a try.

Thanks again I will make a stop at Kiene's to buy some gear before my next trip. :D

MSP
04-19-2005, 05:06 PM
Hi Flyguy, The dry fly season started a couple of weeks or so ago. Just carry some size 14 and 12 Elk Hair Caddis and watch for rising fish. The fish were starting to come up pretty good just before they raised the flows from 3500 to 4000 cfs. The fish seem to move around with the higher flows and the dry fly action has been hit or miss for me. Maybe someone on the board has located a spot that has been more consistant than I have. The only place I have located fish rising even sporadically has been in the Rossmoor area. Fished the Goethe Park area today and didn't see any rises. Did manage a smolt on a Fox Poopah ( woohoo!) I'm afraid with the level of Folsom Lake and the snow pack in the mountains it might make for a higher flow Spring. I hate it when that happens. :cry: You might want to try an a Caddis Emerger on your dropper also. The fish I've seen rise were definately chasing emergers right to the surface. The only fly I've seen eaten on top has been mine. All the naturals that I've watched drift down the river were only eaten by the Swallows after they took flight. Ok I've spilled my guts, that's all I know. Good Luck!

David Lee
04-19-2005, 06:10 PM
Flyguy -

Let us know when you're going out again (post on the board) , friendly locals :twisted: can be fooled into taking visitors out for an afternoon .

:mrgreen: David :mrgreen:

Flyguy
04-22-2005, 04:30 PM
Thanks for the invite David, I'm always up for fishing with others who are interested. Especially freindly locals! :lol:

I will post a day or two ahead of time for my next day out, perhaps in a week or so depending on the work schedule. :?

Keep an eye out Darian and Mike perhaps if your free I'll see ya guys out there. :mrgreen:

Bill Kiene semi-retired
04-22-2005, 11:12 PM
I think the river is about 4,000cfs which is a little high.

As soon as it comes down to 3,000 we should get more caddis hatches in the afternoons.

I would start at Sailor Bar (top of the lower river) and work my way down.

Try Rosemoore, Goethe, Gristmil............

Try to fish from 2pm till sunset.

steve sullivan
04-23-2005, 06:54 PM
I used an olive green caddis with an egg dropper about 10" apart with some weight and a strike indicator. Any suggestions on rigging for the American or other general tips would be greatly appreciated. :oops:

Hi "flyguy", a couple of suggestions:
1) did you have your indicator properly spaced from your weight? It should be anywhere from waters depth to twice the waters depth
2) did you have enough weight on? You should occassionally feel the bottom, if you arent on the bottom you dont have enough weight

3) what color egg were you using? Assuming the american is like the feather (which I am sure it is) there are NO steelhead or salmon eggs in the river, so dont use a orange or red egg. The steelhead *ARE* keying in on sucker eggs, which are VERY SMALL (about 2 mm??) and kind of a yellowish color? yellow (oregon cheese) tied over a very small brass bead (3/32 of a inch is good, 1/8 at the very biggest) will catch you alot of fish. On the feather at least, most of the fish are keying in on olive green caddis larva or pupae (like a fox pupa) and sucker eggs.

It is really hard to tie a egg pattern that is small enough for sucker eggs, I would say a glo bug in yellow would be very big. Sucker eggs look like corn.