Drift fishing for king salmon

Angler from Nevada hooked up with a Sac River King salmon while drift fishing roe.

The 2017 Sacramento River King salmon season is underway and things are looking pretty good for this years return.  We heard all the doom and gloom from fisheries managers this spring and the general consensus was that we would see a smaller run than we did last year.  As this years ocean salmon season began, the charter boat fleet found themselves to be in one of the best ocean salmon seasons in years.  This came as a surprise to all Nor Cal salmon fans at first, but since very little science goes into predicting salmon returns, it wasn't much of a surprise to me.

One dynamic to this years salmon numbers has been the amount of 2 year old fish (Jacks) that are being caught both in the ocean and now in the Feather and Sacramento Rivers.  This is a very good sign that next years returns should be quite good.  These two year old fish are immature and will return to the ocean for another year before coming back to spawn as three year old salmon.  The abundance of Jack salmon this year should provide some excellent fishing opportunities as these fish are known to be good biters, especially with bait.

Freshly cured salmon roe.

Because I think we will see a lot of these smaller salmon this year, it seems to be the perfect time to share some information about how to effectively drift fish cured eggs, or roe for them.  This article won't contain much in the way of how to cure your own eggs, but if you look back in the My Outdoor Buddy archives, I'm pretty sure I've already covered that topic if you are interested in looking for it.  So assuming you can purchase some good commercial cured roe, or can bum some roe off of friends or family, I'll go ahead and talk a little bit on how I drift fish for King salmon.

The first thing you will need to get started is all the gear needed to effectively drift fish for salmon.  One of the most important pair of items you will need is a rod and reel suited for drift fishing.  I use G.Loomis STR 1145S two piece spinning rods.  These rods are 9'6" long spin rods that can handle up to 17 lb test line.  These rods are well suited for drifting for salmon and have proven themselves on my boat all of last season.  I've paired these rods with the Shimano Sahara 4000 series spinning reels which have large capacity spools and hold plenty of PLine CX 15 lb Premium line.

When guiding clients on the Sacramento River or just fishing with friends or family, its necessary to have plenty of leader spools filled with fresh leaders ready to go after you play a big salmon to the boat or if you break off on the bottom which will happen numerous times a day.  I use 15 lb. 4'foot PLine fluorocarbon leader and tie on a double hook rig with #2 Gamikatsu hooks.  Instead of using a fish pill that will likely come off during most drifts numerous times a day, I use a Mad River Mfg. hard pill and tie it in-between my two hooks.  Works just as good in my opinion and I have less down time pinning new fish pills on the hooks all day.  When adding an egg cluster to your double hook rig, the bait goes on the top hook.

For a drift weight to get your bait down into the strike zone (river bottom), I use a chunk of pencil lead, slinky, or a home made drift weight on a slider (snap swivel).  Just remember, if you're not feeling the tick, tick, tick of the bottom your weight is too light.  In contrast, if you are feeling every rock on the bottom, you have too much weight on.  Feeling the occasional tick of the bottom is perfect and you know you are fishing in the strike zone.  You can hard tie on the weight as well, I just like to have a sliding sinker.  It won't get stuck in the net, and I think it gives the angler more feel when getting a bite. 

My standard drift fishing set up.

I'm always drift fishing from my boat and will either boondoggle or side drift my baits over water holding salmon.  To boondoggle, start at the top of the drift and kick your boat sideways or perpendicular to the shore line or down stream current. When side drifting, you will face your boat with the bow pointed up stream and will control your drift speed through holding water with your kicker motor.  When boondoggling, I will have everyone in the boat cast upstream 60' feet or so and just let the baits settle to the bottom where the salmon are.  When we side drift, I'll have everyone cast off to one side of the boat slightly upstream at a 45 degree angle.  Side drifting is best suited for casting into shallow water or when the water clarity is such that your boat passing over the fish will likely spook them.

During either technique, most of your bites will start with what feels like a snag.  Often times I have clients try to break free when hooked up thinking they have hung up on the bottom.  Watch the tip of the rod and look for a pumping motion. If its doing anything but steadily peeling line off the reel, you're probably hooked up on a nice Sacramento River King.  Either way, throughout the day you will likely get some practice on the Squawfish and rainbows that will also bite your offerings during this technique.  Who knows, you might even get bit by a 6' foot Sturgeon like we did last salmon season.  Good luck out there this year, I think we're going to find plenty of salmon in our nets this season!

Shasta and Whiskeytown Lakes are fishing great!

Shasta Lake jumbo rainbows are biting!

Shasta county lakes are fishing as good as it gets right now.  Whether you head to Whiskeytown Lake for Kokanee salmon or to Shasta Lake for big rainbows and browns, your chances of having a successful day on the water is very likely right now.  I've been guiding on both lakes almost daily and my clients are reaping the rewards of fishing with a guide who has spent most of the summer staying on top of these two fisheries.  Every season has its trends and fishing often will help identify them, allowing us to make the necessary adjustments to remain successful on the water.  With the in river Sacramento River King salmon season off to a slow start, having access to the great fishing on Shasta and Whiskeytown Lakes has filled the gap and has been keeping my clients satisfied with their fishing experience while on my boat.  

Shasta Lake has been incredible most days and many of the people who have been fishing with me have been going home with limits of big fillets.  The bigger fish are peeling off line and making big jumps at the surface, making for some really great displays behind the boat.  I saw the trout bite drop over 30'-40' last week from 65' to as much as 110'.  Trout can still be caught up higher, but your big numbers are going to come down deep now.  I've been using a variety of baits to attract these trout, but I'm finding that the Mack's Lure Humdingers run behind a UV sling blade about 3' feet is scoring me the most bites.  Our largest fish of the season have come from that set up for sure.  Trolling a little on the slow side has been productive and most of my bites are coming at the 1.7 mph to 1.9 mph mark.  To summarize the tactics for Shasta Lake, troll slow, troll deep, and use Mack's Lure sling blade dodgers and a Humdinger spoon trailing 3' feet behind.  

Our clients are catching big brown trout at Shasta Lake!

On Whiskeytown Lake, I'm finding a steady bite and my last trip yielded limits of good sized Kokanee for three clients before noon.  The quality of the Kokanee is still outstanding, and although I think we have a smaller population of fish than we did last year, the over all population seems to be quite abundant.  All the usual places are holding fish, but I'm seeing more and more Kokanee inside the Whiskey Creek arm of late.  I caught a few Kokanee at 45' to start the day, but in the deeper water, try the 65' line for your best fishing.  The best tackle to use is anyones guess still because it changes daily.  Just start with some top producers and keep rotating baits until you find one or two rigs the Kokanee are keying in on.  Don't forget to use some shoe peg corn marinated in garlic scents and make sure your leader lengths are giving your baits some good action.  I really hope everyone can get out to experience Whiskeytown Lake this season.  The Kokanee are as good as I've ever seen them and they are pure fun to catch.

Both lakes should hold up quite well through September for anyone who is interested in getting into some quality fishing.  I have some dates that are still available in September.  If you are interested in learning, first hand, how to catch these great fish, please do not hesitate to give me call to set up your next Shasta or Whiskeytown Lake fishing trip!

Whiskeytown Lake Kokanee salmon are beautiful this year!

Fishing for Shasta Lake rainbow trout.

Father son double hook up on Shasta Lake!

Its no secret that Shasta Lake holds some of the biggest populations of rainbow trout in Northern California.  Not only are the trout populations abundant, but the average size of these feisty rainbows is above average for any lake in this part of the state.  Shasta Lake provides ample habitat and a food source for wild populations of trout and the tributaries continue to support natural spawning habitat which undoubtedly contributes to the health of this fishery.  Those factors alone would keep the population of trout in Shasta Lake healthy, but the populations are also augmented by annual plants of hatchery trout that number in the thousands.

Now Shasta Lake is no small body of water and with its 365 miles of shoreline, it is understandable that a lot of anglers find this body of water to be intimidating.  Every year I fish clients who book trips with me just to get some idea of where to begin when it comes to fishing Shasta Lake for trout.  I'm happy to report that most of my clients that spend a day or two on Shasta Lake with me often find success on their own after applying the techniques they learn during their day of fishing with me when fishing Shasta Lake.  It is a big body of water, but finding success on Shasta Lake, especially during the summer months, does not have to be an overwhelming experience.  

Shasta Lake rainbow trout caught on a small spoon trailing a 4" UV dodger.

Shasta Lake can be broken down into 4 main sections.  Those four sections contain the main body, the Sac Arm, Pit Arm, and McCloud Arm.  When I talk to anglers about fishing Shasta, I tell them to start with one section and learn it intimately.  Forget about the rest of the lake until you can consistently find success where you start your Shasta Lake fishing education.  Theres no need to chase fishing reports or run to the spot a buddy caught fish one day.  Its just too big of a lake to do such things and you'll stunt your Shasta Lake fishing growth.  The truth is, every part of Shasta will produce some good fish, you just have to know how and where to fish that section of the lake on any given day.  Once you become familiar with a section and learn the terrain and the feeding habits of the fish that live there, you will become more and more successful fishing that section of the lake.

The very most important piece of your fishing success on Shasta Lake will undoubtedly come down to your ability to determine how deep to set your presentations.  This can be kind of tricky, but with some good sonar equipment, you will be well on your way to finding the fish.  Something you must adhere to is the fact that the Shasta Lake rainbows are going to have a depth that they will consistently bite at.  More importantly, you must understand that this depth range will change throughout the year.  As water temperatures rise and fall, so will the rainbow trout.  In the spring, the trout are typically found in the top 20' feet of the water column, but as summer arrives and surface water temps increase, the trout will go deeper into the lake along with the cooler water.  If you really want to increase your fish catching abilities in Shasta Lake, buy a Fish Hawk water temperature sensor.  These handy little devices are the very best way to determine water temperature at different depths.  You simply attach the Fish Hawk to your down rigger ball and send it down to the maximum depth you think you will be fishing.  The device will measure and record water temp every 5' feet on the way down.  When you bring the device back to the surface, you simply scroll through the depth readings and note the corresponding water temps.  Trout and salmon will favor 48-54 degrees.  Now that just saved you a lot of time finding the cool water these fish will hang out in.

These Shasta Lake rainbow trout are a ton of fun to catch and on most days will bite very good!

Now that you have found the optimal water temps in the lake, you must determine what depth these fish will be active in.  I will typically start above the depth with the cold water and stagger my downrigger depths until I find some biters.  Lets say for example I have lines down at 45', 50', 55', and 60'.  I know the water temps are favorable in those depths because I sent down my Fish Hawk to record this temps.  I've got my sonar dialed in and I'm seeing fish throughout that water column that may be biters.  Now I'm running my presentations through those areas to see which one gets the attention.  So lets say for example that my 45' rod and my 50' rod gets bit.  Well thats great and now the 55'-60' lines are coming up!  You've found the fish and you've found the depth that they will take your offerings.  Chances are, you've nailed it and very little is going to get in the way of your success for the morning.  The only thing to consider now is, at some point in the day, the light penetration may push these same fish down a bit and that adjustment should always be considered.

The trout will undoubtedly move around throughout the day due to fishing pressure or to follow their for source.  If you are fishing an area and things just drop off for you, push into deeper water, push into shallower water, or even look for some structure along the bank or out on a big point.  Chances are, you'll find some trout again that are ready to eat what you have for them.  I rarely need to travel far when I fish for Shasta Lake trout, but I do have to travel throughout the day.  Its just how these fish work.  I won't go into any great detail about what kind of baits, dodgers, flashers, or hardware to use because there are just too many things that will work to catch these fish.  When I recommend trolling gear to people, I just say a few things.  Use something to attract these fish, like a dodger or a flasher and make sure it has some sort of UV finish or tape on it, especially when trolling deep.  When selecting a spoon or a soft bait like a hoochie skirt, consider that the bait (shad/smelt) these trout are feeding on usually are found in the 1.5"-2.0" range. You can't go wrong with baits or hardware in that size range.  Thats not to say the trout won't go after a bigger bait like a Trinidad Optimizer spoon, its just a good high percentage size to start with.  Trolling speeds vary with trout and often times its the type of gear you are trolling that determines how fast or slow you troll.  Trout like a variety of speeds so match your trolling speed to your gear and you'll do fine.

Another father son Shasta Lake double!

I hope some of the things I've mentioned in this short article will help with providing a starting point for anglers out there who have wanted to tackle fishing for Shasta Lake trout, but have found it to be a bit overwhelming to consider.  Take some or all of these tactics I've mentioned here and give them a try.  I think the basics are covered here and if you can apply them, you will be well on your way to finding success when fishing Shasta Lake for big rainbow trout.  Thanks for taking the time to read this piece I've written and good luck out on the water!