Striped Bass Draw Anglers To Colusa And Butte City Areas   By: Dan Bacher June 22, 2006 More Articles by Dan

The Meridian to Butte City stretch of the Sacramento River every year features variety fishing for salmon, steelhead, shad, sturgeon, catfish and other species, but the striped bass undoubtedly draw the largest number of anglers when the spawning run is in full swing during April, May and early June.

Normally this river is packed with lots of guides and private boats, particularly in a high water year like this one. In contrast, this year the Sacramento is a relatively quiet place, since most anglers opted to experience the hot striped bass bite on the Feather River.

Paul Kneeland, the Fish Sniffer advertising director, and I had great time fishing with Mark Clarke of Mark Clarke’s Guide Service, on Thursday, May 18. For several days in a row, anglers had found hot fishing. We launched in Clarke’s 22 foot Rogue jet boat at Ward’s Landing, located upriver of Meridian, and went about a mile upriver to the Upper Phillips Hole, where we began trolling in 8 to 14 feet of water.

The morning began cool and refreshing, the first day of a forecast break in the weather. The distinctive “cotton” of cottonwood trees rode the current, a sure sign that American shad were in the river.

“Yesterday Bill Diemert and I had limits of stripers, catching a total of 14, before 8 am, while trolling,” advised Clarke. “The fish weren’t swatting the lures, but not taking them down, until after 7 a.m. Then the bite came on hard and we caught our fish.”

On the first pass, we had several short strikers, but we didn’t hook any fish. We were trolling broken-back Rebels, in a variety of colors, tipped with a worm tails.

Finally, Kneeland hooked into the first fish of the day. The fish, a 22 inch striper, fought hard on Clarke’s 7 foot Lamiglas rod and took Kneeland several minutes to get it beside the boat.

“You want to keep it for the table or release it?” asked Clarke.

“Let’s release this one,” replied Kneeland.

For the next couple of hours, we experienced solid striped bass action, though not as hot as the day before. I hooked a couple of shakers just under the 18 inch minimum size limit that I was sure were much larger fish until I got them beside the boat.

“That little thing put up that fight?” I commented as I released a 17-1/2 inch bass back into the water. I don’t know if it was the light tackle, the feistiness of the fish or a combination of both, but every striper we hooked appeared to be a much larger fish until we got it in the net.

Both Kneeland and I ended up by 1 p.m. with limits of stripers in the 3 to 6 pound class, good “eating-size fish.” Throughout the morning, the fish were biting very lightly, just nudging the plug and moving on. Many of the fish were holding tight to tree branches and other shore structure.

“They’re not taking the lures hard like they did yesterday,” noted Clarke. “It must be the low pressure system that is moving into the area that has put them off the hot bite.”

We tried several other spots above and below Ward’s Landing, but the Lower Philips Hole was definitely the hot spot, as indicated by the big concentrations of bass that Clarke saw on the graph.

The water level at Colusa was unusually high for this time of year, 50 feet at the Colusa Bridge. “Normally the ideal depth for trolling is a level of 42 to 48 feet,” observed Clarke.

Other anglers reported similar success to us. Four anglers fishing with Jim Zanoco of River Guide Service caught a total of 14 fish, keeping four stripers to 10 pounds. “All but one of the fish we hooked were keepers,” noted Zanoco.

During the following trips that Clarke made, his clients also caught limits of stripers and 8 to 12 shakers per day while both trolling and drifting minnows. Clarke likes to troll upstream at 3 to 5 mph and then drift minnows downriver.

The fish were getting close to spawning, as evidenced by the males spilling milt when they were caught. Clarke expects the cooler weather to delay the striper spawning, allowing anglers to fish until the end of June.

During the following week, the main concentration of stripers had moved up to the Butte City area, where Allen Bonslett, Fish Sniffer publisher, and his family experienced good fishing with Frank Townley of Fishin’ Magician Guide Service. Allen, Nicki, Derek and Elizabeth Bonslett caught a total of 17 stripers while drifting live jumbo minnows with Townley on May 24.

“Seven of the fish were keepers to 9 pounds, while the rest were shakers,” noted Bonslett. “We caught our fish while fishing in shallow water near shore, anywhere from 4 to 9 feet deep.”

Striped bass, first introduced into the system from the East Coast in 1879, begin spawning in the spring when the water temperature reaches 60 degrees. Most spawning occurs between 61 and 69 degrees F. and the spawning period usually extends from April to mid-June in moderate to swift water, according to the Department of Fish and Game’s Striped Bass Fishing Map.

The two most important spawning grounds are the Sacramento River between Sacramento and Butte City and the Delta, especially the San Joaquin River between the Antioch Bridge and the Mouth of Middle River. However, every year is different. This year many of the stripers took a right turn into the Feather River and appear to be spawning there.

The striper population has varied widely in recent years. Abundance probably reached a peak of 3 to 4.5 million fish in the early 1960’s. The population varied from 1.5 million to 1.9 million fish from the mid-1960’s through 1976, but declined to an all time low of 600,000 fish in 1994.

Since that time, the population of legal-sized striped bass has increased to about 1.5 million. “The recent upturn in abundance is unexplained and is being investigated by DFG scientists,” according to the DFG.

On the other hand, juvenile striper population has declined precipitously over the past two decades. In the fall 2005 trawl net survey in the Delta, DFG biologists documented the second lowest number of young-of-the-year stripers.

The survey also revealed the lowest ever population of Delta smelt, the second lowest-ever population of longfin smelt and the tenth lowest population of threadfin shad, according to Chuck Armor, DFG biologist. The federal and state governments are currently investigating the causes of a dramatic food chain decline that includes these four species, as well as plankton species that they and other fish forage upon.

Although a number of factors are blamed for the striped bass decline, including toxics and invasive species, the chief culprit is undoubtedly the massive export of Delta water by the state and federal pumps to the Westlands Water District and southern California.

John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, says the discrepancy between adult and juvenile bass numbers can be largely explained by the success of the striped bass rearing pen project of the Fishery Foundation of California/United Anglers of California. Until the program was discontinued in 2001 by order of NOAA Fisheries, striped bass were salvaged from the fish screens of the Delta pumps to be grown for 1 or two years free from predators and released into the estuary, ensuring better survival.

Hopefully, the high flows on the Sacramento and Feather rivers this year will result in a very successful striped bass spawn, resulting in a greater production of juvenile bass and better survival in the Bay-Delta estuary. We must do everything we can to preserve these wonderful fish, including catching and releasing the large females, that provide such fine sport on the Sacramento and other Central Valley rivers every year.    

Sacramento Butte City-Meridian Facts  

Location: The Sacramento River from Butte City to Meridian is a popular section of river for anglers. This river stretch, located mostly in a rural area, is characterized by sandbars, gravel bars, long runs and many deep holes.  

Fishing Season: Fishing for striped bass, sturgeon, black bass, sturgeon, steelhead and catfish is open year round in this area. Salmon fishing is open from July 16 through December 31. Make sure that you consult the California Fresh Water Sport Fishing Regulations booklet before getting out on the river.  

Boat ramps: Glenn County Launching Facility (Butte City), Colusa Sacramento River Recreation Area Boat Ramp (Colusa Co), Ward’s Boat Landing (Colusa Co.), Lovey’s Landing (hoist launch) in Meridian (530) 696-2449. All of these ramps require a use fee.  

Camping and lodging: available in Williams and Colusa and on the resorts on the river.  

Fishing Guides: Guides are available for striped bass, king salmon, steelhead and shad fishing during the different seasons. Guides include Mark Clarke of Mark Clarke’s Guide Service (530) 945-3267, Frank Townley of Fishin' Magician Guide Service (530) 824-5758, Jason Thatcher of Executive Guide Service (916) 997-2765, Bob Sparre of Rocky River Guide Service, (916) 863-5866, Bret Brady of Bare Bones Guide Service (530) 272-7137, Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan's Guide Service (916) 684-7148, Ray McReynolds of Sierra West Outfitters (916) 530-870-6681, Jim Zanoco of River Guide Service (530) 673-5716; Jerry Lampkin of T.N.G. Motor Sports Guide Service (530) 320-0994, Chuck Powell of River Run Guide Company (510) 381-3598 or (925) 778-7334, Craig Stillwell of River Bend Guide Service (530) 681-9932, Kevin Brock (800) 995-5543, Greg Squires of Access To Angling 1-800-551-3984, and Steve Huber of Steve Huber’s Drift Boat Guide Service (530) 623-1918.  

Bait and Tackle Stores: Kittle’s Outdoor & Sport Co., Colusa, (530) 458-4868; Star Bait and Tackle, Marysville, (530) 742-5431; Johnson’s Bait and Tackle, Yuba City, (530) 674-1912; Fish-On Bait and Tackle, Yuba City, (530) 671-9664.

More Articles by Dan