First Spring Stripers

[OceanSunfish]

Hey guys,

Ive been thinking of hitting the feather for some years now and I think i might finally do it next weekend.

I have a raft with oar rig setup to float, and a 17' Boston Whaler Montauk. Which would be more appropriate, in your opinion?

Thanks! and Im happy to bring someone along with me who knows what the heck they're doing as far as access, places to go, etc. (because I sure dont).

Wow!

Not long ago you would be trailering your Montauk down to Moss Landing/Santa Cruz/Monterey right now for salmon when the chinnook season used to open in Monterey Bay in February. It was a beautiful thing back in those days when skiffs just like yours were the norm out at sea right now....... Sad.

Now, you have to consider risking the Montauk in the Feather River..... Not that there is anything wrong with that.....

Sign of our times.

[Tony Buzolich]

Everything "City" said is pretty much true. The river is full of snags and a raft would only add to the rest of the schredded plastic and debris.

As for putting in and taking out in the lower part of the river, you have a dam at Live Oak and a set of falls at Shanghai Bend with no easy access to portage around.

Below Boyd's Pump you only have Star Bend ramp and then Verona for take outs. You DON'T want to park ANY vehicle at Star Bend, and the rest are bad enough.

We were on the river again today and it has come up over a foot, while at the same time visibilty has dgone down to less than a foot. At a gravel bar below the falls we drifted over water only a foot deep and couldn't see the bottom. Other times of year it's possible to see 4'-6' deep but not now.

Now that duck season is over a lot of the rice growers are draining their fields getting ready to plow. During this time the Sac and the Feather get a ton of muddy waste water from them that adds to the already high conditions really limiting visibility for a while.
TONY

[jjjewett]

thanks for the tips guys!

the area sounds sketchy!

the raft is a hyside made of hypalon and is pretty tough, but I sure dont want to tear it on some sharp steel or something like that.

Im also not interested in banging up the hull of my Montauk.

maybe to the delta for me?

[Tracy Chimenti]

If you've never boated the river before, you should be fine until the water hits about 22-feet at Nicholaus (CDEC). Avoid the raft with oars-- slow river- would take forever. I have a 19-foot prop-drive and can run the lower river to Shanghai in water to 20-feet (nicholaus CDEC). I have to drive in the grooves, know the river well for that time, and keep it on plane (at that level)... and then sometimes I do ground it, and what an issue that can be. Fortunately, due to the primarily sand bottom out there, a stainless prop and the skeg will only get polished and not chewed up (unless you ground it above Star Bend-- then there gets to be some light gravel. You should be good for another week with the Montauk if it has a stainless prop and will plane. Suggest putting in at Verona and going up. Then if the ___ hits the fan and things go badly, you can drift back down to the launch.

Oh... read the water and watch for logs.

[jjjewett]

good stuff.

The river is looking like its coming down quick.

Is lauching my raft upstream of rt20 an option? do the stripers go up that far?
70 to Gridley a good float?

[Tracy Chimenti]

Tony? Seems if there are fish in the Yuba, there might be a few above town. Tricky running though. I haven't been on the river as long as the master, but I would think you would want to stay below the Yuba.

[Tony Buzolich]

Tracy,
One of the best striper spots on the river is the "rock dam" at Live Oak. I'm sure the water went over it a few weeks ago so there's no telling how far up they've gone.

Another popular spot is the "salmon hole" at the end of Palm Ave. I've taken a few up there too.

A little farther, you'll find them at the Thermolito outlet eating shad in the spring.

Keep going up river and you can find stripers all the way in to Oroville at River Front Park. The water above the Hwy.162 bridge is like a lake and perfect striper holding water.

A good friend who has been around the area a lot longer than me even said he used to fish for them in the afterbay above Thermolito. They would have had to been planted there but it sure would be a great spot for them.
TONY