Steelhead anglers plying the Feather River near town are doing pretty well, reported Craig Bentley at Huntington's in Oroville. "The high water has brought in our late spring run of steelhead up into the Low Flow section", noted Bentley. "Knowledgeable anglers are experiencing decent action for steelhead to eight pounds, while most of the fish are fat 14 to 20-inchers."

Further downstream on the Feather, local guide Kevin Brock described the excellent striped bass action in the area from Boyd's Pump to Star Bend. "It's been incredible striper fishing down here", exclaimed Brock. "The fish are biting on everything; live minnows, pile worms, trolled plugs, cut sardines, swimbaits, just everything. Sizes are ranging from little bait stealers up to about 17 pounds.

Brock added, "The stripers on the Feather are a long way from spawning; the water has not warmed up enough yet. We should have good fishing late into May."

Craig Bentley continued, "There have been a few anglers fishing below the hatchery, with a few reports of fish being caught coming from those anglers fishing just below the Table Mountain Bicycle Bridge. The water upriver is a nice green color after recent rains, with about six feet of visibility. The temperature in the Low Flow is now between 50 and 54 degrees.

"Fly fishers have been keying on the mayflies and caddis hatches that have been occurring daily. Fly fishers have been using a variety of nymphs and wet flies, fry patterns, caddis, mayfly, or stonefly nymphs.

"Conventional gear anglers are using light line and nightcrawlers, king meal worms, minnows, crawdad tails, and soft baits like three-inch Berkley Power Trout Worms, Gulp! Worms, and Micro Power Nymphs.

Kevin Brock's glowing reports on the Feather River also extended to the Sacramento River as well. "The Sacramento is fishing very well from Colusa State Park to Tisdale, and the fish may start to spawn as early as this weekend. Tons of stripers are being caught on all of the same things that are working in the Feather, and a few even larger ones to 40 pounds are around."