Walnut Creek, Concord, CA do you remember when?

Lahontan · Senior Member

Walnut Creek, Concord, CA do you remember when?

ChucktheDuck · Senior Member

I am not sure about the spots you mentioned, but I am form Palo Alto where there is still a small run of protected steelhead in San Francisquito Creek and the Coyote Creek drainage. I've read a little about it and back when Palo Alto was just a blooming town it was famous for its steelhead fishery, but over fishing and the building of many dams all but destroyed the once prolific runs. Another creek I just learned has a steelhead run is Stevens Creek below the Stevens Creek Dam. Supposedly they have a good run there as well as a growing population of resident rainbows, but this water is also protected. Maybe one day some of the Bay Area watersheds will once again have good steelie runs.
Chuck

Swinger · Veteran Member

Hey Lahontan
I know the stream you are referring to. I never fished it but I did go check it out once like you did. It was about 3 or 4 years ago in December. If you mapquest 1200 Franquette Ave, Concord, ca and hit arial image you can see where I am talking about. You park at the end of that court and go through a hole in the fence, walk down the old RR right of way to the creek. At this location there is a cement barrier that blocks the fish from heading up stream. From here you can walk down stream for a few miles. The day I was there it was loaded with salmon and steelhead. There was a pool about 20 by 30 ft at the base of the obstruction maybe 5 ft at it's deepest point. The pool was boiling with salmon and some steelies. There were about 10 fishermen "fishing" in the hole, saw alot of snaggin goin on. Pretty ugly stuff. I digress. I did talk to some fishermen who were fishing down stream with egg patterns and they had some luck. Pretty amazing that these creatures are still trying to get up that urban creek. Back then it was legal to fish but it was all catch and release and they closed at new years. I don't know what the regs are now.

There's another bay area stream called alameda creek where soome people are trying to remove barriers for steelhead that have been seen during the winter season:

http://www.alamedacreek.org/

-- Edited by Swinger at 15:14, 2008-01-31

Lahontan · Senior Member

That's the place Swinger. It dries up almost to nothing in the summer. Commercial real estate on one side, 68/24 on the other. 242 upstream, Sun Valley Mall and the Willows Shopping Centers downstream.

I heard back then, that a small aircraft, crashed in the creek near Buchanan Field and messed up the run pretty good one year.

I drive by there all the time, and always wonder if there are any brave souls still hoping thru that hole in the fence.� confused

Misterbill · Member

I worked in Fremont for the last couple of years and Pleasant Hill/Concord is about the halfway point on the commute. On more than a few occasions I stopped at the WC channel and waited for the North 680 bridge traffic to clear. I have seen quite a few salmon, some over 36" easy. Not alot of steelies, but I have spotted more than a few. Never even tried to catch em. I kinda felt sorry for them in such a pitiful piece of water. (I have caught carp from these same waters in the summer)

If you want pictures of recent fish, go talk with Jamie Burman @ Creative Sports in Pleasant Hill (Andy Puyan's old shop). He has photos of some nice chrome taken from WC in the last couple of years. In one you can see the Hwy 4 overpass/bridge in the background.

Many folks fish the bigger hole before the concrete barrier using bass reels and spinners on short stout rods. The close quarters nature of the fishing makes for some furious action right in front of your nose. I have seen more than a few "snaggers" in the area, many are homeless folks that live under the freeway structures.

Best Regards,
Bill

Black Cloud · Senior Member

The salmon still come up.Usually after the first big rain of Nov. The concrete barrier is the end of the line. About three years ago there were� about fiteen to twenty carcasses on the concrete� where the fish had tried to jump to a trickle of water. It was a sad sight.� The regs still allow c/r� and it is actually closed to fishing� in april and may for steelhead to spawn. Salmon still come up Grayson creek� in the area around DVC also.

shon42073 · Senior Member

Thats right blackcloud, I have seen several salmon were the creek goes under hwy. 4. They still come up every fall. I haven't personaly seen any steelhead. If you have a boat the mouth of that creek is a striper hotspot.

LilWhippersnapper · Senior Member

Hey Chuck, I live pretty close to stevens creek. I fished it once and caught one little 8 inch trout. That was before I knew that it was closed to fishing. There is a steelhead run there, but it's very small. They're trying to bring it back up like it was in the mid 1900's.

Packrat · Senior Member

I live near there and have been to the creek in the winter and watched salmon move up with my kids...pretty amazing site. Haven't seen anyone fishing it recently but have seen guys out there in the past fishing it. There is a photo of a 30 inch + steelhead that was caught 2 years ago in Walnut Creek posted in Creative Sports fly shop, it's a monster.

Worthy · Member

I know exactly where you guys are talking about. I do some�volunteer work�for the East Bay Regional Parks Public Safety Department and have witnessed Police officers from that agency asking fishermen to pack their stuff up and to not fish in that area. I've also seen a lot of teenagers out there marking up the cement walls with grafitti. In Early December I saw some large carcasses of some kind of fish, not sure as to what kind of fish it was though.

Worthy

-- Edited by Worthy at 23:25, 2008-01-31

-- Edited by Worthy at 23:26, 2008-01-31

Lahontan · Senior Member

So...thanks all...looks like I'm not the only one.� Shame isn't it.� That wall seems to really be in the way of something...something that's been going on there longer than the wall itself.

windknots · Senior Member

There are a number of studies you can find on the web that document the remnant populations of rainbow trout and steelhead in bay area creeks. It's a bummer to see the what once was, and sad but also optimistic to see where they are still hanging on with a hope that future conservation efforts will protect them and help them persist and perhaps even improve.

Like Chuck the Duck said, San Francisquito creek still has a steelhead population which got some attention when an adult carcass was found under a bridge near downtown Palo Alto in the early 90's and some newspaper articles were published, to some it was like a rediscovery, but if you read the historic studies you find that they were being tracked all along. It really irks me to think of all the channelization projects that took place in the middle of the last century and all the habitat that was destroyed.

Packrat · Senior Member

If I remember correctly, about 2 years ago a thriving population of rainbows was found in a concrete drainage section of a small creek that runs through Berkeley. There were trout to 12 inches in there. I don't remember the exact name of the creek but found this link to another in Berkeley:

http://loccna.katz.com/creek/index.html

And another cool link:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/04/22/EBGM2BSL7U53.DTL&type=printable

good reading!

shon42073 · Senior Member

Theres also a creek in the oakland hills that is supposed to have some wild trout in it, I think its called alameda creek, Its up skyline blvd around the jauqin miller park, Theres sighns that give a little history of the trout and even a fish ladder.

Worthy · Member

Hey Captain -- I am very familiar with that park. Redwood Park is the name -- They have old remnants of a fish ladder next to the trail which is called Fishway.
I have seen small trout in sections of that creek up there-- dont know the name though.

Worthy

shon42073 · Senior Member

thats it scm, it might be called redwood creek. I think it flows year round so its possible to have a few fish hang on.

brian clemens · Senior Member

from what i have heard about redwood creek, it has a great run of steelhead in it, its a coastal river up north, it blows out very easily, but if you plan it just right, it will be the best steelhead fishing you have ever had. heard about it while fishing the AR, chuck was there too.

hey chuck where was redwood creek at again.

JT · Senior Member

It's a different creek, Brian.� The Redwood Creek they're refering to is in Redwood Regional Park located in the Oakland hills.� The creek flows into Upper San Leandro Reservoir.� Rainbow trout swim up from the reservoir to spawn but not steelhead.� Note: Fishing is not allowed in the park.�

-- Edited by JT at 14:08, 2008-02-07

Fishemanlegit · Newbie

I drove by the spot you are talking about by the freeway in December. The banks were lined with fisherman. I wouldnt have been able to count. It was a combat fishing situation. Does anyone know what that creek/river is called? Is fishing allowed? Where is there access? When can I fish? What kind of fish are there?

ONEWEIGHT · Senior Member

Rich,

That stream you are talking about is Cordinices Creek in Berkeley. The Friends of 5 Creeks group in the area did a bunch of restoration work in the area and in the process discovered a Steelhead run which has built up since the restoration work established some spawning areas. It is a no fish zone I believe.

The best spawning habitat and population is located right alongside UC Village, UCB's Married Student Housing!!!!

BTW, it's Yuba time amigo, send me a message!!!!!!!!!!!

Ed, great post, perhaps we should continue with a discussion group at Thje Preserve in Winters one evening?

Bob

-- Edited by ONEWEIGHT on Tuesday 26th of March 2013 08:07:27 PM

Bob Loblaw · Senior Member

They are still there. I shot this video in December.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP220i0UehE

-- Edited by Bob Loblaw on Thursday 28th of March 2013 08:43:17 AM