by JD on October 13, 2011
The grin says it all!
Just a short while before Matt Dwillis caught this big American River king, he had landed the first salmon of his life, a nice 9 pounder. Good thing he had a little practice…this jumbo Chinook gave him a battle royale on 12-pound flouro leader and a light spinning stick. In all my years of guiding, I have never seen someone have so much fun landing a fish. Matt grinned and laughed all the way through the fight…Guys like him help me remember why I love my job…
Matt’s second-ever king turned out to be the largest fish of his life and therefore needs to be entered into the October Hawg of the Month Contest. At the end of the month, you guys will get to vote for Matt (or any of his fellow entrants) and winner gets some headgear from
Pautzke and then is also entered into the Hawg Bowl Playoffs, coming in December. Hawg Bowl winners get a free fishing trip for two with
Bill Swanny Swann, one of the Northwest’s premier guides.
The first of many!
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the biggest king ever caught on the American River, but it was 12-year-old Kyle’s first-ever and he was super stoked! He hooked the fish on a MagLip plug and is now entered into our October 2011 Hawg of the Month Contest in which he’ll have a shot at a
Pautzke’s hat and, if he moves on to the finals at the end of the year, a chance at a free fishing trip for two with guide Bill Swann of
Swanny’s Fishing.
Nice work, kid!
Hey, that's a weird-looking boluder...oh, wait a second...
So, there’s some new striper habitat in the American River…
Fortunately, nobody was inside the vehicle…it was stolen and then driven into the river around the beginning of the month. Flows were so raging that it traveled a few miles downstream from Rosssmoor Bar to its current “parking spot” near Ancil Hoffman Park. Park rangers have been waiting for the flows to drop to facilitate a safe removal of the vehicle.
Salmon Season opens July 16!
With the salmon opener on California’s American, Sacramento and Feather rivers coming up on July 16, I figured it might be time to help you guys shake some of the rust off from all those years of closures! Below, you’ll find some links to several how-to tips and techniques that will get ya back in the game. Good luck out there this season!
• BASIC SARDINE WRAPS A step-by-step guide to wrapping up your plugs.
• PLUG WRAP VIDEO Instructional video with cheesy host!
• DIVER & BAIT FOR KINGS How to get your eggs down to where the fish are!
• SLACKWATER TROLLING How to pull spinners and plugs in those slow water spots…
May is already shaping up to be the toughest-ever round of the Hawg of the Month Contest…and it’s not getting any easier thanks to Dale Milam and his 40-pound striper that he caught while fishing with me on the American River. The big beast took a plastic eel at 2 p.m. on a bright sunny day (go figure!) and put up a battle that we won’t soon forget.
Milam did the honorable thing and released this big female and is getting a fiberglass replica made. He’s also entered into the Hawg of the Month Contest in which he’ll have a shot at the monthly prize, some Pautzke’s headgear, and if he advances, a chance to win a free fishing trip with guide Bill “Swanny” Swann of Swanny’s Fishing.
To enter your fish in the contest, send us an email and we’ll let ya know how to submit it.
The Howe Ave. parking lot on the American River underwater
The calendar says “spring” but Northern California has been getting hammered by a series of huge winter storms all week which have delivered serious amounts of rain to the lower elevations and many feet of snow to the high country…the likes of which we haven’t seen since I was a kid.
Of course, all that weather isn’t without complications. Most Nor Cal rivers are raging and the reservoirs are full. The Sacramento River is currently running around 100,000 cfs and getting very close to flood stage. With all the snow in the high country, let’s keep our fingers crossed that there are no Pineapple Express-style warm storms heading this way! On a positive note, we should have plenty of water this year!
See more pix here 
Doesn't get much better....
Yesterday was a good day on the American River…warm sun, some willing biters, good conversation…and then, the grand finale.
by JD on February 26, 2011
Like most fish that have to swim through the CA Delta, shad numbers are on the decline
This round of Ask JD comes to us from Dave E., who’s obviously got spring on the mind. His question pertains to American shad and it’s relative health in the rivers of Northern California.
JD, How healthy is the shad fishery in Northern California? I fished for shad a good bit 15 to 20 years ago and remember great runs. Has the shad fishery suffered like the salmon collapse? Thanks, Dave
Dave,
Well, I assume you’re talking about the rivers of the Central Valley — the Sacramento, American, Yuba and Feather, right? While there are mini runs in the Klamath and Eel rivers and a remnant population in the San Joaquin River, most of California’s shad come from those listed above. [click to continue…]
