The salmon are being taken on the Sacramento from Rio Vista all of the way up to Anderson and Balls Ferry. One of the traditional hot spots this time of year is the stretch of river from Woodson Bridge to Hamilton City. Prior to a trip on September 14 that I made with Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan's Guide Service, he had reported limits of quality chinooks for several days in a row.

Timing is everything in salmon fishing, and I hoped we would hit it right. On my last fishing trip with Villanueva in March, we hit it just perfect. We enjoyed great spring steelhead fishing on the American River, ending up with 7 steelhead to 7 pounds while fishing nightcrawlers and roe.

Salmon, in my experience, provide much less consistent fishing than steelhead and other trout because you are after a fish that is hitting out of an instinctive reaction, rather than feeding heavily at times in freshwater like Central Valley steelhead often do. You can figure out a feeding pattern for steelhead, but it's much harder to pattern salmon.

Two other anglers were supposed to go with us from Los Angeles, but they cancelled out at the last minute because of the difficulty of getting a flight in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, so it would just be us. When we arrived at the ramp, we had a lot of company, with dozens of others anglers, including guides and private boaters, launching their craft quickly from the ramp at Woodson Bridge State Park.

Villanueva started up his boat, a 23 foot Alumaweld Mirage jet boat, and headed downriver to a series of holes. We side-drifted roe in some gorgeous-looking water and saw a good number of salmon jumping, but we didn't get any take-downs. We tried drifting downriver to the Kelly Hole, and then began working our way upriver, back bouncing roe along the way. The fishing pressure was very intense, with clumps of boaters working just about every hole.

Finally, around 11 a.m. Villanueva hooked up a fish on his 7 foot G. Loomis rod. Since we couldn't find the net, he beached the boat and fought the fish from the bank. It turned out to be a bright, hard-fighting king weighing about 7 pounds.

Then about 30 minutes later I got a chance to land a salmon, a little bigger than Villanueva's, also while back bouncing roe. That was it for the day. Although we had a few tentative bites, we didn't get any more salmon hook-ups.

Everybody we talked to was having a rough time, including Tim Stump and Hank Mautz. It was the old adage of "you should have been here yesterday" - or "you should be here tomorrow." However, anglers in just about every boat that we ended up with some chinooks while enjoying a warm, balmy September day.

Since our trip, increasing numbers of salmon have moved up the river, improving the action in the Woodson Bridge, Red Bluff and Balls Ferry areas. Also, the first fall storm should prod more fish to move into the river.

"We've been averaging 3 to 4 hook-ups per trip," said Villanueva on Monday, September 24. "We're fishing the same area that you and me fished, but the bite has changed to a 50/50 mixture of side-drifting roe and back trolling Flatfish."

On September 24, the 3 anglers fishing with Villanueva landed three chinooks ranging from 12 to 27 pounds while fishing from Woodson Bridge down 8 miles. "This day all of the fish were taken on Kwikfish with chartreuse heads and hot pink tails," he noted.

On the previous day, Robert Davis of Elk Grove and Lanie Dennis caught limits to 27-1/2 pounds while side drifting roe with Villanueva. "I hooked up one large fish that spooled me," he explained.

"About one-third of the fish being caught now are bright," he said. "However, I expect that the rain should bring lots of fresh salmon into the river."

For example, two anglers fishing with Villanueva had already boated three chinooks weighing 12, 18 and 22 pounds by 9:30 a.m. on September 25, after a fast-moving storm had moved into the area overnight.

The salmon fishing has been tougher on the Feather and American rivers to date, but the action should improve after this rain, cooling down the water temperatures and prodding more salmon to ascend the rivers. The fall chinooks on the Sacramento will be followed by the larger late-fall chinooks in November and early December.

For information about salmon trips on the Sacramento, American and Feather rivers, call Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan's Guide Service, (916) 684-7148 or visit him on the web at www.thefishsniffer.com/steeliedan/.

Other guides booking trips on the Sacramento River and its tributaries include Rob Bonslett of Rob Bonslett Sport Fishing, 1-800-933-7438; Steve Adams of S & C Guide Service, (925) 625-8718; Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, 1-800-670-4448; Mike Bogue of Mike Bogue's Guide Services, (530) 246-8457; Ray McReynolds of Sierra West Outfitters, (530) 755-0821; Bob Sparre of Rocky River Guide Service, (916) 863-5866; Jack Findleton of Sacramento Sport Fishing, 1-800-344-4871; and Rip Their Lips Off Guide Service, 1-888-924-LIPS.