1. Three salmon steaks ~ 1-inch thick
2. Pat dry with paper towel, then place on aluminum foil on a metal cooking sheet
3. Rub with olive oil
4. Sprinkle both side generously with McCormick's Garlic/Herb salt free seasoning
5. Sprinkle both sides sparingly with seasoned salt
6. Turn oven to 300 degrees
7. Bake 15 minutes - then turn steaks over
8. Bake another 12 minutes and check; bake a little more if needed - DO NOT OVER COOK!!!
YUMMY!!!
American River salmon compliments of PRO-Fisherman
Very little grease or fat!
Before
After - Need I say more?
I recently got an opportunity to experience the meaning of "tight lines!"
In my opinion, one of the most elusive and prized fish to catch in California is a steelhead. So this morning while out fishing at my usual spot, I was pleasantly surprised to be blessed with a beautiful 18-inch, 3-pound, hatchery stealhead.
My brother, the Captain, was with me and he caught a...
Hey, JU has never caught a crawdad with a lure before :-)
Epic Monday pulling plugs for salmon in the American River with the PRO. Those plugs were running smoothly.
Several Mondays ago, PRO pulled plugs and lost 3 fish and an anchor. That's why this Monday is epic! We boated 3 fish and got the anchor back!!! First fish on at 7:20 AM; second, 7:35 AM; and, third at 11:00 AM. Epic, epic, epic!!!
Left plug got the first two fish and right plug got the third.
Fisherman, George, pulled plugs, hooked into our lost anchor and gave it back to us. George, you are a gentleman!
First fish, wild jack: 30-inch, 12 pounds; second fish, hatchery jack: 28-inch, 10 pounds; and, third fish, hatchery jack: 28-inch, 10 pounds.
Lebron James of Plug Pulling - I kid you not!!!
GoPro ran out of battery for the last fish landed, but the first two were captured on video. Enjoy!
Fishing for salmon, I have never been limited out, ever! Today is the first!!!
The plan was to fish for two hours: The first hour use my "go-to" salmon spinner, the Flying C, and the second hour use a home made spinner given to me by my brother-in-law. I swapped out the treble hook that came with the Flying C and replaced it with double split rings and a bigger size 2/0 Eagle Claw treble hook. I learned to use the double rings while fishing steelhead with PRO because the double rings enable the fish to turn 360 degrees without spitting out the hook. It works! For the homemade lure, I had to use a 3/4 oz. sliding sinker to cast the lure out. Note that the reel used only cost $10.99 at Walmart, at least as of this writing. I highly recommend it. Check it out at this link: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Outdoor-Angler-Spinning-Reel-30/30655482
"Go to" salmon spinner 7/8 oz. Flying C.
Outdoor Angler Spinning Reel $10.99!!!
I know the day was going to be good when I arrived at 7:30 AM and saw all my regular fishing brothers already there: brother Dave, brother Lucky One, and brother RainbowTroutMan. I secured my fishing spot by placing my fishing poles by the location where I wanted to fish. Then I went to say hello to RainbowTroutMan since this was the first time I had seen him this season. I proceeded to fish with my GoPro attached to my head mount. I was joined by Dan to my left.
I was seriously focusing on letting my lure go to the bottom before slowly reeling it back in. This continued for only twenty minutes when I felt the bite. I set the hook twice just to make sure :-) After a short fight, I landed a smoker 32-inch, 14 pounds wild jack!
In da kisser is my favorite Flying C.
Before 8 AM: 32-inch, 14 pounds smoker.
Then at 8:30 AM, I switched over to the homemade lure. I figured, if my brother-in-law is kind enough to make it for me, then I should try my best to catch a salmon with it. Around 9:25 AM, I felt the lure stop, I set the hook: "Oh, no!!! The infamous crawdad traps." I have already lost 4 lures this season to the crawdad traps, so I was expecting to loose the homemade lure. I wrapped the fishing lines around my arm to break it. But.... I was super blessed today. Instead of breaking the line, the lure broke loose and came back to me in one piece. So I started fishing again. I was supposed to leave at 9:30 AM, so I had one more cast left.... Way out in the river.... I felt that familiar tug. Set the hook baby! A short fight later, I landed a silver 8-pound wild hen. Unfortunately, my GoPro battery went dead and I was not able to capture the "fish on" for you.
Last cast of the day: 8-pound wild hen
First time limited out on salmon for JU:
Then, it was back home to be JU, the Ultimate Professor. With awesome students, the teacher always look good!
I gave the 14-pound smoker to the Captain. Guest what we had for dinner? Yes, my awesome son cooked a part of the 8-pound salmon for dinner.
I know the title for today's Post would get your attention.
There are many salmon fishing holes in the Sacramento River. Just go where fishermen line up along the banks and your success rate of catching a salmon will go up tremendously. But, this is known as "Combat fishing." It can be fun or stressful depending on your personality. Personally, I prefer elbow room while fishing, even if the success rate of landing a salmon is not as great.
This morning I went out to one of the salmon fishing holes along the Sacramento River to fish for 2 hours. Two other anglers were with me. I was the only one that caught a fish during that time :-)
On a salmon lure????!!!
Really? :-)
Following is the stats for the fishing hole that I fish at, except for trip #3 when PRO and I fished the American River:
My personal stats:
Trips:
7
Miles:
277
Travel
Time (Hrs):
7
Fishing
Time (Hrs):
22
Lures
Lost:
4
Salmon:
1
Hey, I should sell my info to Department of Fish and Wildlife :-)
One of the highlights for me every morning is to see my wife off to work by walking her to the bus stop. This morning in preparation for the fishing trip, I ate breakfast first. My wife walked to the bus stop a few minutes ahead of me. By the time I got out to the bus stop, the bus had just passed. I only got to see the rear lights of the bus. The bus came a few minutes early and I was glad that my wife did not miss it.
Then I went fishing.
I arrived at the fishing hole around 7:30 AM. Only one person was there before me. You guessed it: The Lucky One. He has landed NINE salmon so far for the 2016 season!!!
I went about ten feet downstream from the Lucky One. My first cast was far out in front of me, but about ten feet upstream thus making it directly in front of the Lucky One. I counted about 15 seconds for the lure to hit bottom, then I proceeded to reel it in. Seeing that I must coordinate with the Lucky One so that our fishing lines won't tangle, I asked: "Which way is the current? Should I continue to cast upstream?"
"Nah. Just cast it straight out in front of you." Said the Lucky One.
I did just that. As I reeled in, we exchanged fishing stories. Nothing on the second cast.
Straight out in front of me, I repeated the process for the third cast. As we were busy talking, I noticed the lure was about SEVEN feet in front of me and it stopped! "Darn," I thought to myself, "I must have got a snag." The Lucky One told me I should have seen the look on my face :-) But then, the snag started tugging! Wahoo!!! Fish on, baby! And only on the third cast! I forgot to turn on my GoPro and had to be reminded. So I captured a little bit of the action for your enjoyment.
My thanks go out to the Lucky One, who netted the salmon for me. The lure came off just as the fish was in the net. Then it happened. The fish flopped off the net and was heading towards the river! Oh, no! Fortunately, I jumped in and headed it off.
"Grab the tail," instructed the Lucky One.
I did just that! Whew!
So I went fishing this morning at 6:50 AM; I landed a beautiful 14-pound hatchery hen after the third cast; and I was home by 8:22 AM.
God is good!
First one from Sac. River for 2016
Just in: Remember the salmon from last week (10/8/2016).
The Department of Fish and Wildlife (Department) would like to sincerely thank you for cooperating with field samplers on the Central Valley Angler Survey. The Chinook Salmon you caught on Saturday, October 8th, 2016 on the American River contained a coded-wire tag. The tag number (055811) allowed us to retrieve important information about the fish.
This 2-year old male was the progeny of fall-run Chinook Salmon spawned at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery located on Battle Creek during the fall of 2014. It hatched in 2015 and was released from the hatchery on May 14th, 2015 into San Pablo Bay. The average length and weight of salmon in the hatchery release group, of which your fish was a part, were only 79 millimeters and 7.8 grams, respectively. The salmon you caught grew to 64.0 centimeters (25.2 inches) and 3.5 kilograms (7.72 pounds).
I had two offers to go fishing on Saturday, 10/8/2016: jigging in the Sac. Riv. or pulling plugs in the American River. I had already accepted the invite to go to the American River with the PRO. That's what I'm talking about when I say, "Good things come in a Pair."
Sacramento River
The Patriarch, Captain and his brother-in-law came by my home to pick up the boat at 6:30 AM. They were prompt! They went jigging at the Minnow Hole in the Sacramento River. Around 9:30 AM, I received a phone call from the Captain: "The jinx is over! Dad finally, got a chrome while jigging!!!"
Young man with a BIG grin :-)
American River
I had an appointment to meet da PRO at the American River at 1 PM. Needless to say, I was there by 12:30 PM to scout out the place. The water conditions could not be any worse! California DFW dropped the water to approximately 1,000 CFS, the water level was the lowest that I have seen at this particular section while fishing for salmon. However, as I was checking out the river, a guy on a kayak paddled past me and told me that the water was actually higher than last year and that he saw lots of salmon!!!
PRO and I hit the water at around 1:30 PM, using our favorite tried and proven K14, sardine wrapped, Kwikfish. First pass down the river and it was "Fish on!!!" I was fumbling with the Go-Pro strapped to my chest, but I managed to hook the salmon! It was a good fight! But I got the upper hand. Finally, near the boat was a fantastic silver bullet! Then it happened! The line went limped! The fish got off. How in the world did it shake loose a double treble hook???
Fortunately, we repeated the process using a fresh cut of sardine and a new silver/blue K-14 Kwikfish. On our third trip down the river, there was another take down! This time, we successfully boated the fish. It was a 7.5 pounds hatchery jack. Near the end of the day, Department of Fish & Wildlife employee came by, measured, and weighed the salmon for us. She asked for the salmon's head because there was an implanted chip that would give the Department info on the salmon. She promised to send me the info in about a week's time.
