Stripers In Grimes, Oh So Fine!

Allen Bonslett
June 18, 2008

Derek and I had been itching bad to do some fishing, but work, big school projects, a new baby (not mine) and a 110 lb. puppy with a taste for boat trailer electrical wire had all been conspiring to keep us off the water lately. Luckily my old friend Frank Townley called me up and hollered, "Whatchoo doin' pahdnah, you've got to come up here and do some striper fishing!" Now that sounded like a good idea, to say the least.

Frank hooked me up with Craig Stillwell of Riverbend Guide Service. Craig, along with his partner Debbie Catania, had taken ownership of the Grimes Boat Landing on the Sacramento River there just below Colusa and with the season looking towards its latter days, Derek and I made the date to head up on Saturday, May 17.

When we rolled out of the house that morning the mercury was sitting at a toasty 75 degrees at 3 a.m. It was scheduled to be a scorcher, but we were both excited. Heading north out of Woodland, the warm breeze flowed through the car as Derek napped along the way.

Grimes is a small river community on the Sacramento River on Hwy 45 (goes up the west side of the river) about 5 miles south of Colusa. The river through here, while shallow on the big curves, is still relatively navigable for a prop boat that doesn't draw too much water.

While a jet boat is preferred, good boaters can navigate the area with a prop if careful. The flow is steady and fairly strong here, but it offers a wide variety of fishing opportunities from salmon and steelhead to sturgeon, stripers and a smaller extent black bass.

Grimes Boat Landing, which Craig and Debbie took over last year has docks for berthing, RV sites, a great coffee shop and a 'sling' type launch like you see on the wharfs at Capitola and Santa Cruz. Call ahead to get the particulars on boat size and requirements for launching.

Derek feasted on bacon and a couple of hubcap-sized flapjacks that he gave the big thumbs up to, while I enjoyed an egg/taters/links breakfast before heading out. Dawn was breaking as we joined Craig while his deckhand Tyler Roach grabbed bait. The menu of the day for the stripers included live minnows, anchovies and pileworms.

Craig has been guiding in this area for almost 20 years, and he knew exactly where he wanted to start. The run is starting to wind down, but it still has a few weeks left. Fresh males are in the catch daily, but chasing the schools down as water warms and the flows fluctuate is the real art. The river on this day, while warm, had come up a fair piece overnight as the Bureau of Reclamation increased flows in the Sacramento for a powerboating event in Red Bluff.

I asked Craig if that might put the fishing off and he said, "A little, but we'll find fish" as he smiled. We headed north to our first spot and anchored in about 8 feet on the inside of a wide bend. A boat whizzed by in the early morning light, causing Craig to point out one of his favorite thing about this spot.

"We catch a lot of the boat traffic coming south out of Colusa here, but it works out well," he explained, "The boats will follow the deeper channel on the outside of the bend; this seems to push the fish over to us."

We put out four rods - two with minnows, one with a 'threaded' pileworm and one with an anchovy. They treat the anchovy like a sardine wrap without the Kwikfish. Craig removed the head and tail, then butterflied the anchovy flesh side out and proceeded to tie it on the hook with elastic thread. A quick dip or spray with your favorite scent and you're good to go. Craig says garlic is his top choice, so make sure to have it on hand.

Our rods weren't out more than a few minutes when a boat whizzed by and a few seconds later Derek's rod took off. 7'-6" medium action rods with baitcasters holding 15 lb. mono are what Craig uses. The rig was a three-way set-up with a small round sinker (1-2 oz.) on a very short dropper (< 2").

The baits were on red Gamakatsu kahle style hooks (size 1 or 2) with a 24 - 30" leader. The real chance of a sturgeon makes real light tackle a little less desirable here. Derek's smile was big as he fought the nice 5 pounder to the net. Fish tacos were on the menu!

We continued to fish through the day until just after noon. We anchored up on a few more spots, and also drifted the minnows. Anchoring was definitely the most productive, with all but a couple fish coming that way. We caught several more keepers, some shakers and Derek caught a handsome 16 inch channel catfish. The last fish of the day was mine, a nice 9 pounder that took a pileworm offering.

The sun was getting higher, and the temperature was getting HOTTER and Craig's son Hunter was playing in the North Section Division IV playoff for Maxwell High School that afternoon, so we decided to call the day. Five keeper stripers to 9 lbs. and a catfish along with a bunch shakers made for a great father/son adventure on the river.

Any trip to Grimes Boat Landing would not be complete without one of their premier burgers, "the best burgers on the river," the reputation goes! So to end the day, we enjoyed a supreme bacon cheeseburger, which frankly, was to die for. It may have just been the hot day, but that burger was delicious. Make sure you don't leave without one.