Sacramento County Fishing Reports

Folsom continues its hot spring into June. Shad and pond smelt are starting to school in large numbers, and they’re becoming the primary forage for everything from salmon to trout to bass.

The salmon bite has really been the standout, with guides reporting numbers and quality fish trolling hoochies at 40–60 feet. Trout anglers are running spoons and spinners in the 20-foot range and pulling limits as well.

Bass action remains excellent for both spotted bass and largemouth. Both are fully out of spawn, with largemouth now pushed under docks and thicker cover, while spots have moved off points and hard structure in 10–20 feet of water. Small swimbaits, drop shots, and Senkos are working best for both right now.

The Delta has seen a solid push of stripers move through and up the Sacramento River over the last few weeks. Fish are still present in the West Delta (Pittsburg area), with live bait producing best. The Central Delta bite has been fair to good, but expect a lot of undersized fish... the bigger stripers are being caught ripping large jerkbaits during low-light hours. Over the next 2–3 weeks, look for Sacramento fish to begin migrating back down, which should light up the West Delta bite.

Largemouth action has been hit or miss. Fish are locked in full spawn mode and holding in less than 5 feet of water... but very finicky. Spawning beds are hard to spot given current water conditions, but the fish are there. Best approach is to stay shallow, working Senkos, Texas-rigged worms, and punch baits in and around vegetation. There's also been a decent frog bite in the mornings before 9 a.m., and that should only improve as water temps continue to climb.

Folsom is churning out some excellent fishing right now for both spotted bass and salmon, as they both key in on shad. Spots are still in spawn and shallow. Many are on beds, but some are easing off into post spawn behavior pushing deeper and following shad schools. Still, most fish are sitting in that 5-15 foot range, hitting dropshots, swimbaits, and small jigs.

The King salmon bite has been good as well for trollers running Apex lures or Speedy Shiners in the 20-30 foot range in the main body near the dam. A few shore guys have also hooked a few kings heaving out jerkbaits and large kastmasters off points into deeper water. The king bite should continue to improve throughout early May.