american salmon

[Ed Wahl]

the big push has finally arrived, salmon moving through at goethe park fairly regularly now. if you've never hooked one on a fly rod you really must come down and check it out. be prepared, it gets kinda crowded but normally a good bunch of people. yeehaw. chasing them down the rapids is such a rush. :D

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Ed.

They are really late this Fall. October is usually our big month.

Be sure to fish somewhere below Ancil Hoffman Park on the lower Americanriver becuase the upper part is closed till Jan 1st.

I think the river has plenty of Salmon and Steelhead in it right now.

If you want to see some fresh Salmon caught go to the Goethe park Bridge and take a look. Like Ed says it is a little crowded but exciting to see.

[Adam Grace]

This salmon season is weird. I heard that people are still pulling'em out of the bay! Go figure!

Good luck with those American River Salmon!

[mike N]

Hey Ed,

It was nice fishing next to you this afternoon.

Shall our rods be returned promplty.

Miken

[Ed Wahl]

It's nice to put a face to a name. with any luck the fish gods are appeased. for the benefit of everyone else, our rods were'nt confiscated or stolen, they were broken. met miken yesterday evening on the river while salmon fishing.turns out we're both using back up rods and we broke our main rods at the same spot doing the same boneheaded thing.gotta cut mike some slack, but i broke one there before and should have known better. i gotta keep reciting my mantra, don't treat it like a trout, don't treat it like a trout. hah, fun stuff.

[Jgoding]

Hey Ed,

What flies do you use for salmon on the American??

thanks,

Jeff

[Ed Wahl]

he jeff, i use a simple egg size bead melted onto the shank of a hook. if you fish at goethe park you'll lose a lot of flies so the cheaper the flie the better. i've lost over a dozen a day several times. there's a lot of large cement chunks in the run but most of our snags are on lost mono & gear from the spin fishermen. you going down there? ed

[Jgoding]

Hi Ed,

I usually fish about a mile down from the bridge or so. A couple of nice runs and rapids down there but I was thinking about trying for some Salmon as I've seen them coming through. I will be out there today around 4pm hopefully. Probably go for steelies but I might throw an egg pattern around, but I only have my 6wt.... my 8wt, I only have a shooting head but I guess I could throw an ESL.

Jeff

[Ed Wahl]

an 8 wt. and shooting head is all you need. fish the top of the arden rapids, right at the top. the salmon coming up the rapids will often stop at the top and hold there for a little while. if i can get off work a little early i'll shoot down there. good luck. ed

[Jgoding]

Arden Rapids... is that where all the bait guys line up?? Right below the bridge?? I went a bit lower, about 12 guys down there in my second favorite run right before some rapids. I see the two same guys there each time I go out throwing spinners or something at fish shooting up some shallow rapids.... A bunch of guys below them and a bunch above, no one caught anything as far as I could see. Saw a few skunks swimming around and shooting up the rapids too. One scared the Sh$% out of me as it was getting dark and all of a sudden I see a big white "stick" brushing by my leg... well it wasn't no stick but a big ol skunky male I think with all that white stuff growing on his back... poor guy...

I think I know where to fish but it's hard with all the bait/gear guys who camp the damn runs all day... it's like they aren't even catching anything but they setup so no one else can work the area...

Personally, i think it's fun to watch the fish though so it's still a fun trip.

[Ed Wahl]

Yep, right below the bridge, though those guys aren't slinging bait.We'er all fishing pretty much the same way just using different delivery systems.It works out well with the spin fishermen working the deep run on the upstream end and the fly guys fishing close to the rapids.When the fish are moving through we get first crack at 'em. Most times the fish caught there will turn and run back down the rapids. Everyone who's done it will tell you that that's the most exciting part, you have to hold the rod as high as you can and chase the fish down the rapid, then off the rapid through the current downstream a ways to get to shore, then you play the fish to shore in the calm water. I had kayaks going under my line last week while fighting a fish and wading downstream. Could use a couple more flyfishers down there to help offset all the gear guys crowding in on us. Just show up, walk to the rapids end of the line, anyone there will help you get started if you've never done it. Believe it or not, if there's no flyfishers there the gear guys will help you out, it's normally a very friendly crowd. My first time it was the gear guys that got me started. If you really want to look down your nose at the spin fishermen it's probably not a good place to be. Ed

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

For some it might be exciting to go there and watch the action from the Goethe Park walk over bridge in the morning?

I guess a trip to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery would be exciting now too. I am sure the place is loaded with King Salmon now.

[smokeater]

Bill, I took my kids in there the other day. It was packed full, they had all the gates down holding the fish back from the ladder........but some of these guys were so acrobatic they were going over the gate and right on up the ladder. The kids had a great time.....all my 3 year old talks about is going back, because she wants to feed the fish (there wasn't any feeding going on while we were there). It's not that often that they get to see fish that are bigger than they are. And the visitor center is pretty good too. Great place to take the kids, and then you get to see some good fish too.

[Jgoding]

Hey Ed,

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind the gear guys. I just hate that they will stand right in the best spots of the run chasing skunky old salmon while I could be catching steelies... LOL j/k. All the guys I've seen out there and talked too are good guys. I think I sill hit the rapids then but I know how to get to the bottom of them on that middle island so I'll try down there....

Jeff

[Ed Wahl]

Sorry Jeff, don't take it personally, I've been running into a few richards out there who just happen to fly fish. My nose is still a little out of joint. As happens every year the grave robbers are starting to show, chasing after fish that are mostly dead in the shallow water. I know that these fish are dying anyway but that knowledge doesn't make it any less rupugnant. Another couple of weeks and there will be thousands of these poor misguided souls up and down the river throwing giant bass lures loaded with treble hooks at the backs of spawning or spawned out salmon. Last year I hooked into a big buck out in the run, played it through all the snaggers to the shore where there were some kids with snag rods. That's how they were taught to fish by their dad. I let them examine that fish for a while and had one of them help revive and release it. I don't think dad was too happy with me but hopefully a seed was planted. I think most of the grave robbers have never seen a fresh strong salmon still on it's way up.Oh yeah, Mike, I didn't mean you. Stay calm, take a deep breath. ed

[Nip Hadlock]

I'm thinking about hitting Goethe for the last couple hours of light.
Is it all Salmon or are there Steelies around?
I'll probably just toss an egg pattern around if the run is not too crowded...
Has anyone been up to the Upper Sunrise area lately?

[Darian]

Hi Nip,.... I believe the American, above the power line crossing in Ancil Hoffman Park, is closed until January 1st. Upper Sunrise is off limits until then..... :( :(

[Nip Hadlock]

ooops! forgot about the closure... :oops: guess I'll go take a number at Goethe :roll:

[Nip Hadlock]

Got in at Watt around 3:30 PM yesterday...
Not much happening...missed one take while day dreaming a bit. :o
Talked to a game warden for a while...she claims the Steelies are hit and miss but "it's crazy" down at Goethe with the Salmon run... :roll:
Talked to one drift boat on the way by that claimed one Steelhead and one Striper for the day... :?

[Ed Wahl]

Nip, Nip, Nip, you should have come up to Goethe. Around that time a school moved into the rapids where they were accessable to fly rods only. Miken showed up and we both had some of the fastest action yet this year. It was a hook-up almost every other cast and lasted a couple hours. It was nice, my buddies with the spin gear had been catching all day while it was slow going for me, then the tables completely turned, the fish stayed in the whitewater till dark. A hot salmon in the rapids, that's what it's all about. I don't think it gets any better than that. Ed