September = Halfpounders

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Put your equipment in your vehicle so you can go out any evening after work and in some cases any morning on the Lower American River for Halfpounder Steelhead in September while we still have daylight savings time.

Have some waders, a hat, long sleeve shirt and Polarized glasses.

Most use a 9' or longer rod in #5, 6 or 7 weight line size.

We mostly use a floaing line in the AM and PM to swing wet flies in the surface. Fish for the grab!

You can get deeper three ways for Halfpounders when the sun is higher mid-day.

1) Use a long leader (12-15' to 2x) on a floating line with a larger (#8-12) weighted wet fly.

2) Use a sinktip with a shorter (4'-7.5') leader and weighted wet fly to get down.

3) Use an indicator system on a floating line with multiple nymphs and shot to get down.

In the Fall we fish any where from River Park down by Paradise Beach all the way upstream to Sailor Bar. Any place on the river where there is a riffle which is caused by a sudden drop in elevation will hold the smaller Steelhead.

Halfpounders in the Fall usually average 16" with some under and some up to 22" and even bigger.

The local caddis activity seems to be a big part of the Halfpounders diet.

This will be going on in many other Valley Rivers.

We fish barbless for these fish and naturally release them all.

Jeff Putnam has special Halfpounder Steelhead classes on the river to get people jump started.

Half Pound Steelhead

Thursdays /4pm – Dark

August 25

September 8, 22

$50 per person

phone (916)502-2037, email: jeff@jpflyfishing.com



photo by MSP

[Jasonh]

Good info Bill. For those who have never fished for half pounders, you should get out and give it a try. It's a lot of fun and you might be suprised at the size of some of the fish you might catch. This is one of my favorite times to fish the american.

Jason Hartwick

[BigBuddha]

Are there salmon in the American at this time as well? Are they there in fishable numbers? It looks like I might be able to get out Wednesday evening and I am trying to decide.

[flygolf]

Hey bigbuddah, there are some salmon in the river right now but not in any numbers (except up at nimbus) to have much success with. There are however still lots of stripers throughout the river and they are hungry! I've been going out almost everynight and have only come back on three occasions without having caught one. I caught three last night one went 15 lbs. lots of fun!

[Jasonh]

I have to agree with flygolf. there are porbably salmon in the river but not in fishable numbers and i think the same goes for steelhead/half pounders. Your best bet right now would be to target strippers.

Jason Hartwick

[Darian]

Years ago, when I was fishing for Salmon, I always started in my pram at the hole under the old Fair Oaks foot Bridge on August 15th. There were always a few Salmon and a number of Stripers that were cooperative. Always caught 'em on the same fly. Fish very early or very late and always quit when the sun was on the water.

Once took a friend who was a non-believer (and gear guy) out for an evening and rowed him around. He caught two bright 20 lber's in 30 minutes around the 20th of the month on a very hot day....

That particular hole is now filled with trollers and agressive, beer swilling bankies. Not worth the hassles.....

[BigBuddha]

Thanks folks. Actually I have never tried fishing for stripers with a fly rod, but bought the video "Stripping for Stripers" and purchased a new 8 wt. Sage this year intending to try it anyway. Sounds like tying a few Clousers and going that route may be the thing to do. This is going to be fun.

[Gregg Machel]

BigBuddha, if you have the chance book a trip with a guide, they will train you on how to fish for Stripers and get you productive really fast. I went out with Kevin Doran fishing stripers on the Delta for the first time, used my own clousers, and we hit up about a dozen and a half that day. The best part of it was that I learned how to fish for them properly the first time and seriously reduced my learning curve. The biggest one was about 8 pounds, and most were 6-7. I hear the guys in the Kiene's shop talk about them all the time too, I know Andy G. is big into stripers.

I still haven't fished for stripers while wading, perhaps this year I will venture there. I would assume it's the same as in a boat, but just a lot less mobile.

[Rlynch]

Excellent Half Pounder info Bill! Exactly what I was looking for. I know its probably a little early from the sound of it but I think I may go out tomorrow morning and give it a shot. If nothing else I'll get a little practice and a feel for the river. I live litteraly 5 minutes walking distance from the Watt Ave. Access yet, never fish the river. Pretty sad. I'm hoping to change that though!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Hi Robert,

My favorite water on the river is the all the water right above the Watt Avenue Bridge for a couple of hundred yards.

I remember one year, maybe 15 years ago, when I took two "new to Halfpounders guys" down to Watt Avenue one morning.

We dropped in at the end of the road on the south side of the river and started there and fished down to the bridge.

Jeff Blunden was just above the bridge and was really into them.

I was helping these two new people get inot a few giving them my basic, simple drill for catching Halfpounders.

Then Joe Shirshac showed up and came down from above us casting all the way across to the far side of the river and really catching them. Joe waded out to the top of his waders as usual. This way he was swinging his fly out over fish that had not yet been abused.

It was a September morning above Watt and we were all using a floating line and some #12 wet fly of your choice. We all cast and then stepped down a few feet which is the standard way to work the water while swinging for Steelhead.

We all ended up at the bridge by 10:00am and between the 5 of us we had landed 27 Halfpounders from 15 to 22 inches. This was a big morning for us.

Some years there are more fish and some there are less.

Try to get out as many mornings and evenings as you can in September. October is good too.