The fall run is on and the Feather is loading up with fish, as DWR's counting station has logged 5,901 Chinook since July 1. Bright kings are pushing through the high-flow section in waves, and anchored boats casting Silvertron-style spinners in the faster seams are putting fish in the net. The lower river from Shanghai Bend down toward the Hwy 99 bridge is producing well. The Thermalito Outlet is releasing about 6,850 cfs, with just 650 cfs trickling through the low-flow section in Oroville, for roughly 7,500 cfs below the Outlet, and that cooling water should keep pulling salmon upriver all month.

Fall-run steelhead typically start showing in September no news yet... keep an eye on the low-flow water as the month rolls on. The stretch from the Afterbay Outlet down to Live Oak closes to salmon Sept. 15, while below Live Oak to the Hwy 99 bridge stays open through Oct. 31, both with a 1-fish daily limit.

Castaic is full, clean, and fishing very well. Guide Jim Taibi of 661 Fishing reports surface temps at 78 in the morning climbing to 81 by afternoon, with 5 to 15 feet of visibility and no algae.

The story right now is baitfish. Shad in the 2 to 4 inch class have flooded the shallows... some even in three feet of water... and the bass and stripers have followed them into the backs of the bigger coves. That's pushed the bite almost entirely to the surface. Dropshots and other bottom-contact stuff are getting ignored. Taibi reports Lucky Craft Gunfish 115s and Espetit 70s/95s are the ticket.

Stripers are boiling from Center Point down toward Elizabeth Canyon, averaging around five pounds. Taibi notes the boils are smaller and more scattered than earlier in August, with bass and stripers both working the same bait and spreading it out.