Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3722 Oct 12-26 | Page 18

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Oct 12 - 26, 2018
MAP FEATURE
The Rio Vista Bridge is one of the iconic landmarks on the Sacramento San Joaquin River Delta.
VOL.37 • ISS. 22
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Salmon Fishing Shifts into High Gear on the Sacramento River
A
nglers are seeing greatly improved
fishing in the stretch of the Sacra-
mento River from Pittsburg to the Sacra-
mento metropolitan area this year as the
fall run of Chinook salmon moves upriver
to spawn.
In the short time that I was waiting at
Discovery Park for participants in the
Winnemem Wintu’s Run4Salmon to
board the boat making the journey from
Sacramento to Colusa on the morning
of September 22, anglers in two boats
arrived back at the dock with their one fish
limits of salmon.
Larry Mabalot, Benny Tayag and Oliver
Pascual came in with three bright salmon
up to 18 pounds. They landed their fish
while trolling with Kwifkifsh and Silver-
tron spinners around the I Street Bridge.
“It was epic, “said Mabalot. “We landed
our three fish in 30 minutes of fishing. It’s
the best day we’ve had yet this year.”
Mike Morales of Sacramento returned to
the ramp with his one salmon. “I caught
the fish while using a jig,” he explained.
While the salmon fishing on the
Sacramento River from Pittsburg to the
Sacramento area has been much better
than expected, the salmon are still in deep
trouble.
2017 was the third year that the Sacra-
Larry Mabalot bagged this
beautiful king salmon while
trolling on the Sacramento River
in downtown Sacramento on
September 22.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer
Staff.
mento River fall run didn’t meet its
conservation goal of 122,000 to 180,000
fish. set by the Pacific Fishery Manage-
ment Council, prompting the designation
of the fishery as “overfished,” even though
it was water exports, diversions, dams,
habitat destruction, and poor federal and
state water management over the decades
that have led to the collapse.
Meanwhile, low numbers of winter and
spring run Chinook salmon continue to
return to the Sacramento River and its
tributaries.
To help restore native winter run
Chinook salmon back to the McCloud
River, Captain James Netzel of Tight
Lines Guide Service and Alyx and
Brennen Howell of Santa Rosa, both
members of the Wappo Tribe, donated
their services this
September to take
leaders of the
Winnemem
Wintu Tribe and
their allies in
jet boats on the
Run4Salmon.
Netzel drove
the Pittsburg
to Sacramento
stretch of the
river
in his boat on
September 18
while Alex
and his brother
boated the
section from
Sacramento to
Colusa section
on September
22. This was
the third
year of the
Run4Salmon.
The
Run4Salmon
is a “participa-
tory, prayerful
journey” that
took place
this year from
Alicia, Winnemem Wintu Chief Caleen Sisk, Desirae Harp and Gary
September 15 Niria
Thomas get ready for the trip up the Sacramento River from Pittsburg with
to 30 to “raise Captain James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service.
awareness and
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
build public
support to
help protect and restore declining salmon
of the many threats posed to the river and
populations, California river systems and
its fish.
indigenous lifeways.”
Gary Thomas, a Pomo Roundhouse
Different sections of the run featured
leader from Lake County, pointed out the
running, walking, boating and bicycling
natural gas wells that line the river and the
and ended with a paddle in dugout canoes
many pipelines that cross the river, posing
up Shasta Lake and the McCloud River
a threat to the river and the environment,
arm, as well as a horseback ride to a
particularly in the Pittsburg to Rio Vista
village site where the tribe conducted a
section of the river. We also boated by
ceremony.
the Delta Cross Channel that diverts
The run for salmon traces the route of
water from the Sacramento River to the
winter run Chinook salmon from the
Mokelumne and San Joaquin rivers.
estuary at Vallejo all of the way to the
We also took videos and photos of the
McCloud River where it enters Lake
Southport Levee Improvement Project,
Shasta.
one of four designed to bring West Sacra-
The tribe is trying to reintroduce
mento up to the state-mandated 200-year
the original run of McCloud winter
level of flood protection.
run Chinooks. now thriving on the
Caleen Sisk, Chief of the Winnemem
Rakaira River in New Zealand, where
Wintu Tribe, said UC Davis now has
they were introduced
the DNA collected from 100 samples
over a hundred of
their tribe and other tribes collected on
years ago, back to
the Rakaira River in New Zealand this
their ancestral home on
summer. The samples are now at UC
the McCloud. The tribe set
Davis, where they are being tested by Dr.
up a Go Fund Me site to raise
Michael Miller.
money to conduct DNA Testing
“We have to fight for these samples to be
of the Rakaira River salmon.
validated even though we know they