Central Valley river salmon seasons shut down; Sac River gets imited fishery

For the first time in history, most of California’s Central Valley will be closed to salmon fishing this year due to a record-low forecast of fall run Chinook.

It’s hard to believe, but scenes like the one above of happy salmon anglers are sure to be in short supply.

Here’s what the season boils down to:

• Sacramento River
The CA Fish & Game Commission adopted regulations on May 9 that will open only the Sacramento River to recreational angling Nov. 1 through Dec. 31 between the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and Knight’s Landing. The bag limit will be one salmon. The rest of the river is closed to all fishing…

Biologists said that a limited take of late-fall Chinook from this stretch of the Sacramento will not harm the fall-run population, yet would provide some fishing opportunity to support the recreational economy that depends on the species.

• American River
Closed to all salmon fishing

• Feather River
Closed to all salmon fishing

• Yuba River
Closed to all salmon fishing

• Other Tributaries
All other tribs — the Mokelumne, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced rivers, along will all creeks will also be closed.

I’m not at all surprised by the sweeping closures…it just didn’t make sense to close the ocean and then leave the rivers open…they had to do it.

Though salmon made up approx 80% of my guiding business, I’m glad they closed the rivers. I don’t subscribe to the “kill every last fish because it’s our livelihood” mentality. Yes, things are going to be tough for those of us in the fishing/guiding industry for a while, but nothing good comes from fishing for a decimated species.

Closures aren’t the long-term answer, however. Something is rotten in Denmark and we need to start fixing it immediately. The problem is huge — massive water exports from our river/delta system, an unhealthy delta, river temps that are too warm, poor ocean conditions and on and on. Until that stuff gets addressed, we’re in for some dark times. I do have faith that salmon are pretty resilient and will come back if we can give them a helping hand.

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