Chasing An American River Grand Slam   By: Cal Kellogg November 6, 2007 More Articles by Cal

There are two different types of marquee fishing destinations in Northern California. On one hand, there are waters like Eagle Lake that offer world class action for one species of fish. In the case of Eagle, the action comes in the form of big beautiful hard charging rainbows.

On the other hand, there are fisheries like the fabulous California Delta that provide excellent fishing for a variety of species. As for the delta, a day on the water could encompass chasing anything from diminutive white crappie to massive white sturgeon and anything in between including stripers, salmon, black bass or even the lowly catfish.

My favorite place to fish is generally the place I happened to be fishing at the time, whether I’m out on the ocean looking for lingcod or stalking the banks of a foothill pond trying to tempt largemouths with my fly rod. Yet, if I were actually forced to choose a favorite fishery, it would undoubtedly be a destination that offers superb multiple species opportunities.

If I were told to choose a lake it might well be Shasta with its trout, bass and landlocked kings. If the choice were limited to a river the choice would be tougher. I’d probably settle on the section of the Sacramento River that falls within the boundaries of the delta, but the American River would run a close second.

I love the lower American, since it is one of those destinations where I always have wonderful time fishing whether the fish are biting or not. The American is a river of contrasts. When you are out on the American you would swear that you’re out in the middle of the country despite the fact that you are actually drifting through the heart of the Sacramento metropolitan area.

Sure, there are homes that dot the bank of the river in some areas, but in most stretches the river is buffered from civilization by trees, thick brush, lush glades and oxbows and wildlife is plentiful. I’ve seen wild turkeys, deer, a wide array of waterfowl, coyotes, raccoons, rattlesnakes and even mountain lion tracks while plying the waters of the American.

As a fishery the American is fascinating. The river is often crystal clear and in many ways is reminiscent of a freestone trout stream with a rich forage base boasting aquatic insects, crawfish and abundant baitfish. King salmon, steelhead, striped bass and black bass all call the American home.

Now, when you look at the river you can definitely visualize salmon and steelhead traversing its currents, but stripers and black bass in a river that seems best suited for trout? Well they’re in there and in terms of striped bass some of them are downright massive. Take for example the striper that Harry Motoizo caught on the American on October 19.

Harry hit the river that day with his buddy Greg on a guided trip with Randy Buffington of the American River Guide Service. Greg busted a 17 pound king in morning. When no more salmon showed, the pair turned their attention to drifting live Sacramento pike minnows in hopes of fooling one of the river’s big stripers. Around noon, a heavy fish took Harry’s minnow in the vicinity of Sarah Court.

“We knew it was a big fish, but we weren’t sure how big,” related Buffington. It took Harry about 30 minutes to wear the fish down and bring it to the boat. When we saw the bass we all knew that it was a real trophy. Once we got it into the boat we found out that it weighed 36 pounds with a length of 46 inches.”

After hearing about Harry’s big catch, I gave Randy a call and presented him with a challenge. I wanted to head out on the American with him and spend the day trying to land a salmon, a striper and a steelhead, basically I wanted to see if we could pull off an American River grand slam.

Randy was as excited as I was about the prospect, so we settled on October 31 as the day for our expedition. This was the last day that the stretch of river from the Nimbus Basin to the power lines at lower Hoffman would be legal to fish until the stretch reopens on January 1, 2008.

I met Randy early Halloween morning at the gate that leads down to the Gristmill. Our plan was to try the salmon hole below the Gristmill launching area before putting the drift boat back on the trailer and heading up to Rossmoor to make a 5.5 mile drift for stripers and steelhead.

Randy launched his boat just prior to legal fishing time and we headed downstream to one of his favorite salmon slots. Randy rigged up a pair of rods with “blinky” Kwikfish that sport an internal flashing light. After tying a sardine wrap to the bellies of both plugs we spooled them back about 60 feet behind the anchored boat and put our rods in the holders.

“Hooking a salmon is going to be tough, since there are very few fish in the system,” Randy said as we settled in to wait for a strike. “I’ve been fishing the American since I was a kid and last year was one of the worst salmon seasons I’ve ever seen. Well, I think this season is actually going to be worse yet.”

Despite the fact that we had ideal foggy low light conditions all morning, Randy’s prediction proved to be right on the money as neither of us had so much as a bump. Around 10 o’clock we decided enough was enough, reeled in our salmon rods and headed back up to the launching area in order to trailer the boat and head up river.

After grabbing an early lunch at KFC, we dropped the boat into the water at Rossmoor around 11:30. We started out side drifting roe for steelhead. I was expecting to hook up at any moment, remembering a early fall drift I’d taken through the same area with Randy a couple years ago that resulted in 4 beautiful steelies between 5 and 8 pounds.

We’d covered about a quarter mile of water when I felt a pair of sharp tugs on my line and slammed the hook home. Immediately, I saw a metallic flash and knew I was into a steelhead. The fish wasn’t big, but the feisty half pounder put up a spirited fight all the way to the boat. I shook the battler off the barbless hook with nothing more than a sore lip and a bruised ego. If that fish wants a rematch when it weighs 8 or 10 pounds I’m ready, willing and able!

A few casts later I hooked into something heavy. At first I thought I’d hung up on a piece of wood, but when a big yellow tail broke the surface I knew I was into a fish. You can count on carp to put up a savage fight, but I didn’t have a carp. Instead it was a husky 6 pound sucker that put up a struggle on pare with that of a saturated beach towel!

By the time I got the sucker in and removed the hook we were pretty much out of the steelhead water, so we swapped our steelhead gear for striper rods and started drifting with live pike minnows.

We hadn’t gone far when a fish picked off Randy’s minnow and took off on a clicker screaming run. Unfortunately, just as Randy prepared to set the hook the fish dropped the bait and refused to pick it up again.

As luck would have it Randy’s missed connection signaled the end of the excitement for the day at least in terms of the fishing. On the way back down to the Gristmill, we floated through a couple of stretches that featured some bumpy white water, which I found to be pretty darn cool.

While our grand slam didn’t materialize, we still had a great time. We’d bet on a long shot and lost, but that’s okay, we’ll even up the score next time. If you want to capture the glory like Harry and Greg did with a 17 pound king and a 36 pound striper, you’ve got to be prepared to face some long odds and find solace in the fact that everybody takes a beating sometimes!