Oroville Area Fishing and Outdoor Report 09 / 28 / 2016 By Craig Bentley 2016 Bass and King salmon continue on fall bite up at Lake Oroville while Salmon fishing on the Feather River below Oroville produces limits for guides and knowledgeable anglers. Lake Oroville The Lake surface elevation is 745 feet and continues to drop about six inches a day. The surface temperature is 71 degrees. The main body is clear green. Mudlines form off of main body points when there is significant wind. The lower concrete launch ramps at Bidwell Canyon, Lime Saddle Marina and the Spillway are open. The Car-top boat access points are now closed to launching, including; Dark Canyon, Enterprise, Foreman Creek, Loafer Creek, Nelson Bar, Stringtown and Vinton Gulch. Boater's may call the lake's Visitor Center at (530) 538-2219, to check the daily status of launch ramps prior to making a trip up to the lake. Sunny and warm this week with mostly clear skies. A Cold front will bring cooler temperatures toward the end of the week, with a slight chance of rain on next Monday. High temperatures will be from 73 to 93, with lows from 50 to 60 degrees. Winds will be from the south to 10 mph, starting Wednesday afternoon on through the weekend. Bass have been reported to be in a Fall pattern, with a decent bite last week on Lake Oroville. The bass are chasing pond smelt on the surface early and late in the day with stick baits, small swim baits and buzz baits getting bites. Also reported on a typical outing, - two anglers are catching 20 to 30 bass in a four to six hour session, with the better fishing in the late evening to 9 Pm, or in the early morning. Much of the action is over open water, near points, steep drop-offs and walls. It is mostly smaller bass being caught by boating anglers on the lake. Topwater lures, chatterbaits, crankbaits, stickbaits and Finesse fishing plastics are working for catching an ocassional bass over 12-inches last week, with few fish going over 14-inches. Boating bass anglers are also working suspended fish with small swimbaits, or tubes are finding a few fish between 30 and 40 feet. Drop-shoting small tubes or Keitech minnows, or fishing 5" Senkos, may catch some small bass. Natural bait fish colors such as Baby bass, Shad and Bluegill may catch bass. Earth tone baits, like watermelon, pumpkin, oxblood or brown are also good colors. King salmon fishing has been good for boaters that are trolling or mooching. The main body of the lake has been uncrowded most days, with few if any boats trolling in front of the Dam on weekdays. The Dam, Spillway, Green Bridge, Bidwell Point, Potters Point and the "Slot" have
been good areas to troll and fish are being caught everywhere. The catch has been fish averaging 13" to 15", with a occasional fish to 18" caught. Boaters are trolling lures down from 35 feet, down to the 65 foot mark to catch salmon, with some biting as deep as 75 feet. The last few weeks, 45 to 60 feet deep has been the bite zone. Troll around until you find the bait. Spoons trolled at 2 to 2.2 mph have been taking fish early mornings, then later blue, green or pearl UV Hoochies tipped with small anchovy chunks are getting bit. Salmon may usually be caught while trolling over submerged islands or structure, along steep walls or along the face of the dam. The best tactic is to try and find bait schools then troll your gear just under the bait. Berkley Power minnows, Apex lures or Hoochies-tipped with a piece of anchovy, rigged behind a medium sized dodger, trolled anywhere from 30 to 75 feet, at 1.9 to 2.2 mph usually works for both salmon and trout. Spoons like the Speedy Shiner, Coyote, RMT flutter spoons work better while trolling at higher speeds up to 3.5 mph. Diversion Pool Releases from Oroville Dam to the pool have been as much as 4700 cfs being released from 2 Pm to 12 Am, then back down to as low as 3550 cfs. The spillway gates are closed and the water is coming from the tunnels at Hyatt Powerhouse and the penstock. The water is clear with about 4-6 feet of visibility. A few trout and salmon have been active during the day with releases of water from the lake and some nice fish can be caught. Few if any anglers have been out here lately, so no recent reports have been available. Anglers cast and retrieving minnow imitations: soft plastics, stick baits, or spoons, or fish bait for the trout or salmon. Please note that DWR advises that flows can increase without notice and flows are subject to change throughout the day. No wading, swimming or floatation devices are allowed on this water above the buoy line that normally spans the pool, 100 yards below the spillway. Thermalito Forebay No recent reports. Trout, salmon, bass, catfish and other species of rough-fish are present in the Forebay. Some transient trout and salmon that have moved down from the diversion pool to the South Forebay are occasionally caught on bait by patient anglers enjoying the solitude of this little used facility off of Grand Avenue. Thermalito Afterbay Pool elevation is a little above 135 feet. The water coming in at Wilbur Road Bridge is 54 to 59 degrees and warms up a little to the low sixties in the late afternoon in the back coves. The water is clear green with about 4 to 6 feet of visibility near Wilbur Road and at the 162 bridge and below. Bass fishing has been slow at the Afterbay with the cooling water. Largemouth are showing best along the western rock wall and near live tules in deeper water. There's a few fish weighing 1-1/2 to 2 pounds and some to about 20" long. Boating anglers have been using Senko's, or creature baits like Baby Brushhogs, skirted jigs, Roboworms, chartreuse or white colored- buzz, chatter and spinner baits in and along the rocks, brush piles or near green tules. Drop-shoting small swim baits, plastic minnows or tubes, off the same areas will also work when conditions are right. A few fish have been caught on crankbaits also. Steelhead fishing has been dead slow for boaters with very few even trying. There has not
been a stocking of steelhead in the Afterbay for almost two years now. Bank fishing has been so slow, there have been few anglers fishing at the Wilbur Road canal and near the Hwy.162 Bridge. A report from came in from a local angler last week at the canal mouth, stating the last fish caught there was more than two weeks ago. Anglers trying for steelhead use pink Gulp eggs, with a nightcrawler or scented marshmallow, use a three to five-foot long leader and a sliding sinker setup, or cast soft baits or lures while bank fishing at the Afterbay. Boaters usually troll with minnow type lures or a threaded nightcrawler behind a dodger, or drift a flylined nightcrawler from the surface down to fifteen feet deep, along the west wall of the Afterbay, on the flats, or on the edges of the channels in front of the outlets, north of the Highway 162 bridge and the mouth of the inlet canal. Feather River Salmon fishing is good as Chinooks stay on the bite with cooler water and good flows. Flows are now 800 cfs in the "Low flow" at Oroville, with 3200 cfs being released from the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet, for a total 4000 cfs below the Outlet. The Gridley gage data showed 3755 cfs at the time of this writing, which is good for safe powerboat operation and driftboats on the river below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet. The river remains in a good fishable state with good water conditions! The water temperature is 54 to 59 degrees at station FRA in the Low Flow. Below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet at station FOW, the water temperature is 60 to 62 degrees. The water is clear green in the Low Flow and below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet, it is slightly tea stained with about 4 to 5 feet of visibility. Salmon fishing below the Afterbay Outlet continues to be decent, with the Fall Run Chinook staying on the bite with cooler water temperatures. There were a good number of kings caught in the Afterbay Outlet hole on spinners, beads, or corkies and yarn, by wading anglers and on roe or Flatfish, by boaters. Guides and knowledgeable boaters are using K15, K16 Kwikfish, Flatfish, or Brad's Killerfish with a fresh Sardine wrap early Am then switching to Roe after the sun gets on the water to catch better than a fish to the rod, or limits. The better guides are limiting out by 9 Am. Action has been good for bankies and knowledgeable anglers are limiting. Good numbers of nice salmon are being caught by boaters from Gridley on upriver, throughout the Oroville Wildlife Area. The fall run is nearing to its peak, based on the numbers and appearance of the salmon. Bank anglers and experienced waders cast and retieve no. 5 or 6, Blue Fox Spinners, #5 Mepps Aglia, Scopion spinners, or spoons. Some anglers are using beads, drift bobbers, with or w/o yarn. The best bite has been in the mornings when the water is coolest, then often off and on through the rest of the day. There are fish with color and most starting to turn, yet there's still some bright fish showing and more coming. The salmon are in good, healthy shape and the flesh is a nice orange and firm. The Largemouth bass have been recently ignored on the river, with most anglers after salmon or stripers. For Stripers, try topwater plugs, swimbaits, Bucktail jigs or bait,- Anchovies, minnows, pileworms and sardines. Some nice stripers had been caught in the river above the Outlet and there haven't been any anglers trying for them up here. Most anglers are going after stripers below Marysville.
Fishing for trout and steelhead in the upper "Low Flow" is fair to good and continually improving. Releases to the low flow are 800 cfs and unlimited wading is now possible in the Low Flow. Some anglers were on the water last week in boats and wading, fishing for trout or steelhead. There are a few adult steelhead over 20" present in the river now and mostly wild trout being caught by anglers fishing above the Afterbay Outlet and below Hwy 162. Fishing with eggs and egg imitations should start to produce steelhead as salmon begin to spawn. For the spinning or gear angler trying for trout or steelhead on the Feather, try side drifting jigs or pink worms under a float, Glo-bugs, single eggs, small clusters of cured roe, nightcrawlers with a 4mm florescent red bead, or size 14 Corky, Steelhead worms, Berkley Trout worms, or Micetails, on a sliding sinker setup, using a light slinky weight or pencil lead. Lure caster's use spinners,- Rooster Tails or Vibrax, spoons- Lil' Cleos, Kastmasters, small jigs and small minnow imitating plugs, such as Rapala's. Size 30-50 Hot Shots in copper, gold, or silver are good and the 3.0 Flatfish in Copcar, Firetiger, Perch or Crawdad color, are good choices for wiggling, diving lures used for trout and steelhead. Fly fishers should try Caddis, Mayfly, or Fry patterns, Glo-bugs, Egg patterns, black, purple, or cerise Articulated Leeches, olive, brown, or black Wooley Buggers. For indicator fishing try Troutbeads, Glo-bugs-in size 8-10, followed by a size 16 or 14 Birdsnests, Fox Poohpah, Prince Nymph, or Soft Hackle Emergers, in green, olive, or tan, also San Juan Worms, in red, bubblegum or tan. Boat traffic is minimal on the river below the Hwy.162 Bridge. Most drift boaters fly fish nymphs or egg patterns under strike indicators, or swing wet flies or streamers when fishing for trout or steelhead in the Low Flow. Some boaters pull plugs or side drift from drift boats on uncrowded days on the low flow. * Please note that only hatchery trout (those fish under 16 inches) and hatchery steelhead may be taken from the Feather. Wild fish- (those with an adipose fin) must be released. The daily bag limit is 2 hatchery trout, or steelhead, with a maximum of 4 in possession for two days of fishing. * The Feather River, from the Hwy 70 Bridge to the Table Mountain Bicycle Bridge in Oroville is open to fishing from Jan. 1st, 2016 to July 15, 2016 for Steelhead. * Barbless hooks and a 2016 Steelhead Report Card are required. * The King salmon season opened July 16th, 2016, for the water from the boat ramp above the Afterbay Outlet, downstream to 200 yards above the Live Oak boat ramp at Pennington Road. The limit is two salmon per day, four in possesion for 2 days. * Fishing for the king salmon is closed all year in the Low Flow above the Outlet. There is no allowance for any catch and release fishing that targets salmon when any water is closed to salmon fishing. * Below the Hwy 70 Bridge, the Feather River is open year around for steelhead, trout, bass, catfish and panfish. Check DFW regulations for species limits, gear restrictions and salmon regulations. Oroville State Wildlife Area ponds will produce a few bass, bluegill and sunfish for anglers fishing the ponds near weed beds or stickups. Use creature baits, small chatter-baits, buzz baits, plastic worms, or nightcrawlers for bass and red worms or small flies and work them slowly for the bluegill or sunfish. Watch out for Rattlesnakes!
Hunting * Ouail season and waterfowl hunting opens in October. * Second half of Dove season opens Nov. 12. * Deer and Squirrel season opened Sept. 24. for Zone D 3-5 * Shotgun or Bow only, non-lead only slugs/projectiles for shotguns in the Oroville Wildlife Area * Steel shot only in State Wildlife Areas or Ecological Reserves. * No Pistols or Rifles are allowed on the Oroville Wildlife Area. * See regulations regarding Hunting and area use at Ca. Dept. Fish and Wildlife, www.dfw.ca.gov/regulations