Stanislaus River 9/26 & 10/19

I figured it was time to start posting about my trips down the Stanislaus River. Don't get many other posting about this river or any of the others close by. Either they aren't getting fished much, or no ones reporting. Well I have fished several times over the last few months from Knights Ferry down to Oakdale, and today I decided to try from Oakdale down to Riverbank. Put at 8:00am and didn't pull out until 2:00pm. Long day, but wanted to scope out the area. The wind blowing me upriver and every other direction didn't help. Very little action for most of the day until midway. Caught 3 fish in all (10" smallmouth, 15" trout, and striper). Only got a picture of the striper. I do not have a GoPro, but you would have enjoyed watching me reel this fish in. Caught it on a Panther Martin on 6lb test. Fish ran every direction and then went down stream in an area with a fast current. Here come the tree/bushes!
Anyways got him. Had a few other hits, but not a whole lot. This is a nice section of the river because there is little access along this section. No homes, just farm land. I only saw 1 person shore fishing the whole day. So no fishing pressure.
Has anyone else been along here and had success. I here about bass fishing, but not much happening. If someone can figure out how to catch carp on this river they would have a heyday!

Welcome aboard and to the madness.  Thanks for the report and picture Jonathan.

Thanks for the report. I'm close to Jacob Myer park in Riverbank.
From The Oakdale Rec. area there are some good ponds to fish.
Big stripers and other bass.


Tim

Congrats on the fish, and welcoem to the madness.  GF and I have wanted to do those stretches.  Looks nice and productive!

Great report. I have fished for stripers in the spring on the Stan, but never in the fall. Good to know they are there.

Nice report! I gotta do that float sometime.

Anyone know how the trout fishing has been above recently, goodwin to 2 mile bar? Should be fishing, 250CFS on orange blossom gauge. I gotta go to the valley and I might try and beat some people in there tomorrow morning if I can get up. Gotta do something since I'm stuck here and my metalhead buds are  going to the Klamath. The biggest fish I have caught in there have been this time of year.

Nice report! I gotta do that float sometime.

Anyone know how the trout fishing has been above recently, goodwin to 2 mile bar? Should be fishing, 250CFS on orange blossom gauge. I gotta go to the valley and I might try and beat some people in there tomorrow morning if I can get up. Gotta do something since I'm stuck here and my metalhead buds are  going to the Klamath. The biggest fish I have caught in there have been this time of year.

I heard there's not many fish in Klamath anymore, I wouldn't worry too much about your metalhead buds Golfish.

I heard there's many fish in Klamath anymore, I wouldn't worry too much about your metalhead buds Golfish.

LOL, I was really considering being irresponsible and going with them, they were headed to the Deschutes but it's blown out. 2K CFS and 56 deg water at Orleans on the drop after that big rain, can't get much f-ing better...the 19th can't get here fast enough for me.

Are you launching from Oakdale or from Riverbank?  I presume Jacob Myers park would the option from Riverbank, but what about from Oakdale?  Any action from the Oakdale Slew?

I live in Valley Home and just bought my first fishing kayak. Any pointers on fishing that stretch of river? I've rafted it a dozen times but never have fished it.

I have fished the river from Knights Ferry down to Riverbank.
Basically figure on doing sections from Knights Ferry to Orange Blossom, Orange Blossom to Oakdale, and Oakdale to Jacob Meyers in Riverbank. There is also fishing below Riverbank that I hear is good for bass/stripers, but I have not done it. Each time I have fished any one of these sections it has taken about 4-6 hours. So don't plan on doing to much at once. Also I have found that starting early in the morning is best, especially on the start at Knights Ferry due to all the rafters that can be on the water later in the day. Basically I fish Panther Martin spinners and Kastmaster lures. I cast upstream and real at a slow/moderate retrieve. I have caught stripers, trout, and squawfish using this technique. My last trip down to Riverbank I threw a 4" worm w/curl tail and caught all my fish on that. I am still figuring out all the fishing on the river, but half the fun is just kayaking down the river. Don't forget that above the 120 bridge it is catch/release except for stripers, artificial lures only, and crimped barbs. Also the river is going to start having large water releases over the next few weeks to help start drawing up the salmon, so river levels will be changing a lot. There are CARP everywhere on the river. Some are huge. Eventually I am going to figure out on how to catch them. Not interested in eating them, just want to catch a supposed good fighting fish.

Thanks for the info. I headed up to two mile bar this AM, but due to the government shut down, the gate was closed as was knights ferry and all of the army corps of  engineers parking lots along the river. I parked on the side of the road just west of the orange blossom bridge and did some fly fishing. I hooked one  but lost him. Looking forward to kayaking the river and trying to catch some fish. Im gonna have to put the fly rod down and switch to the spinner bait. Thanks again.

I headed up to two mile bar this AM, but due to the government shut down, the gate was closed as was knights ferry and all of the army corps of  engineers parking lots along the river.

Just read this, thanks for the heads up, I was going to check out 2 mile bar access this weekend. Didn't even dawn on me that USACE would have it shut down. Where is the gate located, right near 120? Probably to far to hike in. I don't think it's worth the drive to get in the areas I can get into, downstream at 2 mile is good if you're willing to be a mountain goat.

  I need to hit you up when I head over there.  The in-laws live on orange blossom and I usually hit up the river while we are visiting.  I caught this little guy a couple weeks ago across from olive rd. in that big hole.

Be the first one to the holes below the dam and you're guaranteed some fish. If you're crazy like me you can hike/crawl/stumble over moss covered rocks and/or down a cliff and fish right below the dam. This time of year you will see fish jumping in the over flow trying to go up the dam, LOL. I fly fish with small attractor nymphs under the indibobber or swing softhackles, biggest fish I got out of there is 22", technically a steelhead but probably a resident. PM me if you need more info, there are no secrets though, fun during the week with little crowds, just be careful, I almost slid off a 20' cliff one time.

Can't really use a SOT kayak in the upper reaches near the dam, I walk/wade.