Russian River Mouth

Some of the rivers of coastal northern california will turn a greenish color in wintertime when clearing. That is considered to be a prime time to fish. Sometimes if the water is very clear or ( Gin Clear ) fish may be spooky and not willing to bite but that isnt always the case. Once I hooked 12 adult fish in a single hole in clearwater conditions. Sadly I have never had a day that good since and probly never will again. But 1 Steelhead this year will be enough to make me happy.

Can someone explain what you guys are talking about? Are you waiting for conditions to get good for steelhead? Has the RR not been good for steelhead/salmon recently?

After a big rain the rivers will turn to mud.  Much too dirty to work bait or lures.  It normally takes a few days on no rain to clear the rivers a bit so the fish can locate bait/lures.  Some rivers clear much faster than others.  Like the Smith will clear fast due to its abundant gravel/rock bottom.  The Russian collects water from a lot of agricultural land that contains a bunch of silt.  This in turn ends up in the river making the river very cloudy. 

I'm heading up to Sonoma lake dam to see if the fish ladder is busy.
Tom

Report back on the hatchery if you have time. I go several times a year and after hearing about it, a group of my friends really want to go and see what its all about. I want to wait and take them up there when the place is in full swing and there are fish everywhere.

Another one for my bucket list sloppy... Let me know im ready!

It was coffee with cream in Alexander Valley on Wednesday.   This section can clear up faster.   I'll check it tomorrow. 

Can someone explain what you guys are talking about? Are you waiting for conditions to get good for steelhead? Has the RR not been good for steelhead/salmon recently?

After a big rain the rivers will turn to mud.  Much too dirty to work bait or lures.  It normally takes a few days on no rain to clear the rivers a bit so the fish can locate bait/lures.  Some rivers clear much faster than others.  Like the Smith will clear fast due to its abundant gravel/rock bottom.  The Russian collects water from a lot of agricultural land that contains a bunch of silt.  This in turn ends up in the river making the river very cloudy. 

I'm heading up to Sonoma lake dam to see if the fish ladder is busy.
Tom

Report back on the hatchery if you have time. I go several times a year and after hearing about it, a group of my friends really want to go and see what its all about. I want to wait and take them up there when the place is in full swing and there are fish everywhere.

Hello all.  Sorry for the late post about the Warm Springs ladder.  I did go today and there were a few fish in every step of the ladder.  Also, the pool under the bridge to the staff housing had a few nice big fish cruising back and forth.  It would be a nice place to go tomorrow (Sunday) to kill a bit of time.  The water was plenty clear coming from the hatchery down the ladder.  My buddy had asked me to go pig hunt his place at the Rock Pile ranch and I passed it up to take company to the ladder.  The weather was so nice today I was sorry I missed the hunt, but I can hunt that ranch for pigs anytime, so it was good for our visitors.

Waterline Tom