American River Wildlife News
Why are so few salmon returning to region's rivers?
Where's the salmon?
So far, the silvery guest of honor at an upcoming festival at Nimbus Dam on the American River seems to be largely missing in Central Valley rivers, disappointing throngs of recreational fishermen.
And puzzling veteran anglers.
"The biggest word is there's hardly any fish out there and there's nothing on the horizon," said Sep Hendrickson, the host of a Sacramento radio talk show on fishing and hunting. "No one knows what's going on. It's an accumulation of everything."
Restrictions on commercial salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean this year and good fish estimates had fired up predictions of a bumper crop of salmon surging home from the ocean into rivers like the Sacramento, American, Feather and San Joaquin for fall spawning.
"It should have been boom times for Central Valley anglers," said Mike Aughney, a former Bay Area fishing boat operator. "There's no salmon on the coast, doesn't look like any coming in. It really has us all baffled. We've all been proclaiming for months what a great season it's going to be in the Central Valley's rivers."
Read the story at the Sacramento Bee.