Flows on all of the Sacramento River are very high due to the huge amounts of precipitation Northern California is experiencing.  Both the Sacramento and Feather rivers are running very high with 30,000 cfs to the Sacramento River in Redding, California and at times 50,000cfs to the Feather River in Oroville.  These releases are needed to make room in our resivoirs  for heavy rain run off now and in the near future.  Snowpack estimates are over 170% of average and Shasta, Trinity and Oroville lakes will fill to the brim.  Even with these high releases out of our dams, inflows into the lake are exceeding at times over 30,000 cfs and still rising!  All of this water storage is setting the stage for excellent conditions for all of our  returns of migrating fish.  The sturgeon, striper and king salmon runs will have plenty of water this season.

Sacramento River trout fishing
The trout fishing will again kick back into full swing in the downtown Redding section when flows return to a fishable level.  Flows at the time of this report are very high, muddy and un fishable due to heavy rain and river releases from Keswick Dam.  Anglers should always check in advance of current conditions as they can change very quickly here in Northern California.

Sacramento River sturgeon fishing
There were a couple of sturgeon fishing opportunities early this winter, but here too, with the extremely high runoff and releases, sturgeon fishing in the Colusa, California section of the Sacramento River has been un fishable.  Sturgeon fishing here will resume as flows subside and return to a fishable level.  All indicators are pointing to great sturgeon fishing conditions later at fishable levels possibly into March and early April.

Sacramento River striper fishing
This Springs striper fishing season is inevitably going to be a high water season with many great striper fishing opportunities in and above Colusa, California.  This spring's annual Sacramento River striper run should be action packed with many stripers making their annual spring migration up the Sacramento and Feather river's to spawn. Anglers can expect to see many more stripers in the rivers to catch in late March, April and early May.

Sacramento River salmon fishing
Tentatively the Sacramento River will re open to king salmon fishing in mid July and remain open through mid December.  The first salmon action of the year will take place below the Red Bluff Diversion Dam in Red Bluff, California.  This years two year old return of hatchery fish could be very strong again.  Just as it was in the Summer/Fall of 2011 as 100% of the Coleman Hatchery salmon were trucked safely down the Sacramento River due to extreme drought two years ago.  60% of the hatchery salmon were trucked three years ago as well due to drought and where all of these trucked salmon will return will depend on where the greatest flow of river releases are this Summer/Fall.  Last seasons return was scattered all of over the Sacramento River valley with salmon retuning both low and high in the Sacramento River,  in the American River as well as the Feather River.