Russian River Fishing Report

Report UpdatedMay 17, 2012

SHAD ARE HERE!

The shad are here…and here in fishable numbers! The mornings and evenings have been best at places like Cassini’s, Monte Rio, Steelhead Beach and, of course, Johnson’s. The fishing isn’t wide open, but you can catch decent numbers of them on pink or chartreuse grubs and flies.

About the Russian River

Okay, so with the derelict car bodies along the banks and the plastic from the vineyards hanging from the trees, you’re not going to mistake the Russian for the Babine, but scenery aside, the river still produces some excellent steelie fishing in the winter months. In particular, the stretch immediately below the mouth of Dry Creek (near Healdsburg) holds a lot of hatchery steelies as they wait to run up the tributary and into the fish ladder.

But you don’t have to fish with the masses. There’s plenty of water upstream through the Alexander Valley to explore. Up or down river, the biggest problem here is that when it rains, the river can be a muddy and unfishable for weeks.

In the spring months, you’ll find a modest American shad run below Johnson’s and Memorial dams in the lower river. The overgrown herring can arrive as early as Easter and run into early June and produce spurts of good action for fly and spin anglers alike. Come summer, the river is overtaken by innertubes, canoes and swimmers but there’s a pretty solid smallmouth bass fishery throughout the drainage if you don’t mind trading quality for quantity.

Stupid Boat Tricks on the Russian!
Shad Fishing 101