Feather River- Sunday 10/8

Travis and I will be fishing for the elusive salmon, striper or smallie. Ie whatever is biting.  If anyone wants to catch a ride from Lodi with me up there, i have room for one extra yak.


Boyd's Pump Ramp and Shanghai Bend

It's maybe 30 miles north of Sacramento. Take I-5 North from Sacramento then 99/70 Yuba City/ Marysville north.
You will get off of Hwy 99/70 towards Yuba City on Hwy 99.
Follow that north,  after crossing the Feather river you will see a turnoff for the Garden Highway
towards the right. There will be a fruitstand on the right corner along with a nut drying facility.
Follow that road north past Messick Rd and on the right you will see a boatlaunch sign where the drive to the ramp turns off to the right.

If you miss the Garden Highway and see Messick Rd on the right, Turn there to end of road where it hits Garden Highway then left and a right.

-Brian G

Do you want to park a vehicle downriver and do a drift or just fish in one area of the river?  If you want to do a drift how many miles do you want to do?  I am checking out the launch ramp at Star Bend which is farther downriver after work today.  After that I will have this section of the river charted out pretty well then we can decide where to fish for sure.  I am guessing that from the Boyd's Pump ramp down to the mouth is maybee 20-25 miles and there are periodic launches along the way.

What is the flow speed through that area? If its moving 5 -6 mph then a 15-20 mile day wouldn't be so bad. Just depends on how long you want to be on the water. I'm up for whatever.

-Brian G

I did some more exploring today.  I propose to Drop off a vehicle at Beer Can Beach(1.5 miles south of the Highway 99 Bridge), stash carts in the bushes, Drive 14 miles upriver to the Star Bend launch ramp, launch the yaks there, do the drift to Beer Can Beach, cart the yaks 150 yards up the sandy/dirt path to the truck there, then drive back up to Star Bend Launch Ramp to get the truck there.  I figure the drift should be 12 miles max.  The drive from Star Bend to Beer Can Beach is 14 miles but you have to jog out to highway 70 to cross the Bear River, then back over to the Feather River.  The current looks to be moving at 1.5-2mph in my estimate.  It could be an all day thing.  Worst case scenario, if it starts getting late in the afternoon, and we are still a ways from Beer Can Beach, we can just book downstream.  Should be an adventure.  What do you think Brian?

Its a good from my end. What tackle do you advise?

-Brian G

We use light tackle with 6lb mono and throw small spinner baits, green rooster tails, rattle traps and just about anything for the smallies.  As for the stripers, I have heard that jumbo minnows in the deep holes or throwing bigass broken back rebels works well.  My dad used to use large yellow bucktail jigs to nail stripers in the springtime.  I don't know much about salmon fishing.  The only salmon I ever caught was in the feather using some sort of metal jig in a deep hole.  I was so little I don't remember exactly what I was using.  I was hoping you could chime in on the salmon tackle.    You seem to know a lot more about that than I do.  I recommend bringing your anchor in case we find some good holes to fish.

Sounds like fun, but that's too long of a day for me.
Hope you do well. I look forward to your reports.

Sounds like fun, but that's too long of a day for me.
Hope you do well. I look forward to your reports.

I am out.  I agree, that is a long day and I am afraid that the current pod of Feather Salmon have moved up to the closed sections of the river.

Good luck guys.  There should be a lot more salmon moving up the river soon and you could certainly be the guys to hit the next good catch.

Brian 3Dog

I am IN!!!
Wind made me cancel my plans to Ocean Cove so I will be solo.
Where and what time do we meet??????
I will send you, Travis and Brian G, a PM.

Awesome!  I am at work now, I will be in contact with you both when I get off work and give you directions.

Please post reports,  That sounds like a very kool trip. I would like to do something like that soon..Danglin

Please post reports, That sounds like a very kool trip.

That's right...with pictures, lots of pictures.

Please post reports, That sounds like a very kool trip.

That's right...with pictures, lots of pictures.

Hopefully with some video too.  This is my maiden voyage with my new Optio W20.

Leaving in 15 minutes....With Travis' new camera at hand I better shave before I go..........

Good luck guys, Whished I could have gone on this one. However I've been gone two week ends in a row, Double Haul and paddle fest. May another time , sounds like a great story. Brain & Tote will you be casting flies?
For smalles that could be Buggers in size 8 and olive or brown or both, as well as Clousers, same size same colors.
Brain.. whats with the rock?