Wednesday September 9, 2026
7×7 —
A fiery sun beat down on our small flotilla of kayaks as we pushed off from the shore near the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville late last September.
Not long ago, adult Chinook salmon would return by the thousands to spawn in this tributary, dropping eggs and milt (sperm) into nests dug into the gravel, then dying before the next generation hatched. So dense with fish was the Feather River in late September and October that they were like a carpet of glinting scales under the surface of the water.
But in 2020, the aquatic tapestry began to grow threadbare. By 2023, so few fish were returning to spawn that the entire riparian ecosystem was in trouble. A three-year moratorium imposed on commercial and sport fishing was a Hail Mary to save Northern California’s native Chinook populations—and, against all odds, it worked.
In 2025, the salmon swam all around us, pushing their way upstream against the current. There were dozens of them, hundreds maybe—more than our guide from the Forebay Aquatic Center had seen in this spot for years—and late September was just the start of their run.
For the first time in a while, the Oroville Salmon Festival—a day of free, family-friendly events and activities that includes a soap box derby, salmon wrestling, hatchery tours, a car show, a kids zone, live music, and plenty of local food and vendors—had good news to celebrate.