Steelhead fishing has been fair on the stretch of river above Hwy. 70, while fishing down river remains slow with minimal flows.
* The Feather River, from the Hwy 70 Bridge, up stream to the Table Mountain Bicycle Bridge in Oroville is now open to fishing as of Friday, Jan. 1st, 2016 for Steelhead.
* Barbless hooks and a 2016 Steelhead Report Card are required.
* Salmon season closes on the lower Feather River from Live Oak to its mouth at Verona, today Dec.16th.
* The 2015 King salmon season closed Thursday, October 15th, for the water from the boat ramp above the Afterbay Outlet, downstream to 200 yards above the Live Oak boat ramp at Pennington Road.
* 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.
Flows are now 800 cfs in the Low flow at Oroville, with 140 cfs being released from the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet, for a total of 940 cfs below the Outlet. The project total outflow is 950 cfs. The Gridley gauge data showed 645 cfs at the time of this writing, which is too low for safe powerboat operation and quite shallow for those rowing drift boats on the river below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet.

Remember that release changes can occur without notice.
The water temperature is now at 48 to 49 degrees at station FRA in the Low Flow. Below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet at station FOW, the sensor remains offline with no current data available. The water is milky green in the Low Flow with about two to three feet of visibility and below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet, the water is stained with about two and a half feet of visibility.
DFW's Feather River Hatchery personnel reported 15 steelhead over 16 inches long caught in their traps on Jan. 6th. Low flows have continued to make it difficult if not impossible for the fish to come upriver above the Sunset Pumps at Live Oak. Flows in the lower river at Boyd's Landing are only 1885 cfs.

The river is in a winter pattern with some trout, small steelhead and a few adult steelhead biting best in the morning through mid day, in the the tops of riffles or runs below drop-offs. Experienced anglers have been catching around one fish to the rod on a trip to the river.

For trout or steelhead try side drifting jigs under a float, Glo-bugs, single eggs, small clusters of cured roe, nightcrawlers with a 4mm florescent red bead, or size 14 Corky. Lure caster's use spinners, spoons, or small jigs. Fly fishers can try Glo-bugs, egg patterns, or Troutbeads followed by a size 14 Birdsnests, Fox Poohpah, Prince Nymph, or Soft Hackle Emergers, in green, olive, or tan and 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 un-crowded 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.