When the inky darkness of the American River Parkway gave way to a crimson sunrise, Randy Buffington of American River Guide Service and I had already been on the water for forty-five minutes. It seemed as if we were in a remote wilderness, with only the sound of the occasional car betraying the fact that we were in the middle of Sacramento.

We began the morning of September 8 back trolling anchovy-wrapped Kwikfish at the Grist Mill. Randy had only seen a handful of salmon in the river during the previous days, but we were hoping to get lucky. After thirty minutes without a take down, Randy suggested that we try drifting live pike minnows through the Grist Mill's backwater ponds in hopes of hooking a striper.

The stripers were not in a cooperative mood. Both of us had bass run with our minnows but they dropped the bait before we dared set the hook. Around 8 o'clock Randy decided to trailer the drift boat and drive up to Rossmor Bar where he'd been picking up some steelhead.

Randy has been fishing the American since he was a boy. During the short drive up to Rossmor, he spoke about the American's steelhead fishery. "The American offers world class steelhead action," he said. "Most guys don't realize it, but you can catch steelies in the American year around. This year I've landed steelhead during every month except June when I didn't spend any time targeting them."

He continued, "The only reason people don't catch them in the summer is that they don't try for them. Most anglers have a mindset that says steelhead fishing is a fall, winter, and early spring proposition. During the late spring and summer, the flows are stable, the water temperature is perfect, and the fish are very aggressive and acrobatic. Yet you'll see virtually no anglers out on the water."

A few minutes after arriving at the Rossmore we had the drift boat in the water. "We'll be drifting roe," Randy related as he rigged up our rods with 24 inch 8 pound test Maxima leaders tipped with No. 6 barbless Gamakatsu chrome octopus hooks.

I was using an 8' 6" Lamiglass MBS 86MH rod teamed with an Abu Garcia 176 spinning reel loaded with 10 pound Maxima monofilament. Randy used an 8'6" Lamiglass casting rod teamed with an Ambassaduer level wind reel.

"The stretch below us often holds some salmon so we'll drift our way down to my steelhead hole using bouncing betties for weight and see if we can't pick up a king," Randy said as he rowed us into the main current.

We watched for salmon as we drifted and walked our roe across the bottom, but there weren't any kings holding in the slots we covered. About a mile downstream Randy announced that we were approaching his steelhead spot and that we'd be anchoring and side drifting the roe with quarter ounce slinky weights.

With the boat anchored in the slack water aside of a brisk run we started casting and drifting roe. We started out making short casts and progressively lengthened them, systematically working the entire run.

About ten minutes had passed when Randy announced that something had nipped at his roe. A couple casts later Randy yelled, "Fish on!" and I saw a thick-bodied steelhead cartwheel out of the water 150 feet below us. Randy had his hands full. The power of the steelhead combined with the current made it impossible to gain line. However, several minutes later the rod's forgiving tip and the reel's smooth drag had done their job and the fish head for slack water.

A couple of halfhearted runs later, Randy slid the exhausted steelhead into the net. The fish was wild and sported a beautiful red stripe the length of its body. After a quick photo, Randy revived the 5 pounder and it shot back into the current with a splash.

"That was probably the fish you felt hit a little while ago," I commented, casting my rig toward the center of the run. As the bait drifted I looked down to find my soda and felt three distinct tugs. I jabbed the hook home and immediately heard a splash. "Did you see that, you've got a big steelhead on," Randy exclaimed.

I hadn't seen it, but from the way line was smoking off the spinning reel I believed him. Just about the time Randy was considering pulling the anchor to follow the fish, it began moving my way and I was able to gain some line. I'm not sure how long I fought the steelhead, but the adrenaline made it seem like a lifetime. Finally, I worked the fish to the boat and Randy scooped my glistening prize aboard. The wild steelie weighed about 7 pounds and we worked quickly returning it to the river.

A dozen casts later and Randy had another steelhead on. After a determined battle Randy worked the fish to the bank side of the boat and I readied the net. Suddenly the 6 pound hatchery steelhead rocketed out of the water.

"Look," Randy yelled. "There is a huge striper trying to eat him!"

For over a minute the striper that must have weighted upwards of 40 pounds chased the steelhead, trying to eat it head first. I'm convinced the bass would have eaten the steelhead had it not seen us moving around in the boat and spooked.

We fished the run for another half-hour without results before Randy suggested that we drift downstream and then motor back up and fish the run from another angle. "I know there are more fish in there," Randy commented as he repositioned the boat on the opposite side of the river.

Shortly after we started casting, Randy saw a fish flash a few yards directly upstream of the boat near the bank. Tossing his bait beyond where he'd seen the fish, the roe barely reached the bottom before the steelhead engulfed it. The steelhead was a long lean 4 pound hatchery fish that fought all the way to the net.

A short time after landing our fourth fish of the day we motored back upstream to Randy's jeep. It was a tough to leave those steelhead, but I had to get back to the office and take care of some end of the week business.