South Fork American River

Fishing the South Fork American River

The South Fork of the American is a freestone river that comes down from Twin Bridges and Strawberry beside Hwy 50, passes through two reservoirs, and runs through the gold-rush town of Coloma before it ends in Folsom Lake at Salmon Falls. Expect bedrock holes, cobble bars, boulder riffles and pocket water, with mine tailings and old mining works along the lower canyon. The upper river follows Hwy 50 closely from Strawberry down to Pacific House, and getting to it is mostly a matter of pulling into a turnout and walking a short, moderate slope to the water. In order going down, the named stops are 42 Mile, Eagle Rock above the Silver Fork confluence, Sand Flat and Indian Springs, Alder Creek, the Ice House Rd bridge, Bridal Veil and Pacific House. Between 42 Mile and Eagle Rock the highway climbs well above the river. Below that, the Forebay Rd bridge near Pollock Pines has riffles and a rough camp, and then Slab Creek Reservoir backs up behind its dam, with gated roads to the river below. The Mosquito Rd bridge comes next, then Chili Bar Reservoir and its dam. Below Chili Bar Dam, the Hwy 193 bridge at Chili Bar opens the lower river, which runs through Coloma under two bridges, one of them Hwy 49, past Henningsen Lotus Park at Lotus and the Dave Moore Nature Area, and through a gorge to the Salmon Falls Rd bridge and the head of the lake. This is trout water from top to bottom. In 1995 most campgrounds along the upper river opened in May or June and closed in October, while Sand Flat stayed open all year. On the lower river the season turns on flows: high water makes fast, even runs and covers the riffles, and as the river drops later in the season the riffles come back and wading gets easier. At Salmon Falls the water fishes like a river when the lake is low and like a lake when it is full. Fly anglers do best on the riffles: upstream of the Ice House Rd bridge, above Forebay Rd and Bridal Veil, and at Dave Moore and Lotus once the water falls. Bait and lure anglers work the deep holes under the bridges at Coloma and Chili Bar, the bedrock cuts at Pacific House and the big pool at Indian Springs. Brush crowds the banks in several places, Slab Creek and Dave Moore among them, so bring waders. Regulations on the South Fork change and differ by section, so check the current California regulations before you go.