The upper section of the American River that has been closed to fishing since Nov. 1 reopened to steelhead fishing on Jan. 1, but the outlook for the fishing is not very promising, based on a very low fish count to date at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.

This stretch of river is from the U.S. Geological Survey gauging station cable crossing about 300 yards downstream from the Nimbus Hatchery fish rack site to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) power line crossing at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park.

Only 10 adult steelhead were reported at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery as of Dec. 29, an alarmingly low number for this time of year. By contrast, the hatchery had trapped 335 adults to date last year, according to Gary Novak, hatchery manager.

Normally there are hundreds and sometimes thousands of steelhead showing at the facility at this time of year.

Hopefully, the steelhead are late in their migration, just as the fall run Chinook salmon were. The main body of the fall Chinook salmon run arrived over a month late this fall on the American River.

Few anglers have been fishing on the American River lately. The salmon fishing closed Dec. 31, but most anglers have already put down their rods.

“Opening day is going to be SLOW if the action at the basin is any indication,” reported Roland Aspiras, an avid American River steelhead fisherman. “I fished both yesterday and today for barely a sniff. I floated eggs, swung spoons, tossed jigs for zilch. I saw one fish follow a spoon in to the bank. The fish seem confused with the new channels they (state and federal governments) created at the basin.”

One angler, Leo Salcido of Sacramento Pro Tackle, reported landing two steelhead in the 4-pound class while tossing out Little Cleos in the basin on Dec. 23.

Releases to the lower American below Nimbus Dam continue to be 900 cfs, very low for this time of year.

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