Lower Sacramento River Striper Report

By Capt. Hogan Brown

Striper fishing has been good on the Lower Sacramento River. There are good numbers of fish being caught throughout the river, from Colusa north to Red Bluff. Most fish are in the 18–25-inch range, with some bigger fish starting to show as the shad run comes to an end. We have hooked—and lost— double-digit fish, but as we approach the July 29 full moon and the opening of salmon season later this month, we should see more and more big fish moving into the feeding zones looking for an easy meal.

We have been catching most of our fish on heavy sinking shooting heads with weighted Clouser-style flies. That said, most days we are either starting or ending the day fishing intermediate shooting heads with unweighted flies. This is a great way to begin or finish the day because most grabs are visual, allowing anglers to watch the entire eat unfold.

Flows are lower than they were last year, and we are starting to see aquatic weeds return. Combined with the addition of a salmon season this year, this should push more fish into the shallows. That means we expect some outstanding shallow-water striper fishing throughout the rest of the summer on the Lower Sacramento River.