FRESHWATER
20 June 26, 2020 VOL.39 • ISS. 14
FRESHWATER
REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 21
RANCHO SECO
RESERVOIR cont.
recreation at the reservoir, call the Rocky
Mountain Recreation Company at (209)
748-2318.
- Dan Bacher
REDDING/RED BLUFF
Rainbows Rush
Plugs And Flies
REDDING - Trout fishing on the
Sacramento River is red hot between
Redding and Red Bluff. The average
trout runs about 15 inches and fish over 4
pounds have been common over the past
two weeks.
“The fishing has been outstanding,”
reported Captain Mike Bogue of Mike
Bogue’s Guide Service.
“I always have bait aboard the boat, but
I haven’t used much of it recently because
the plug bite has been so good. We are
getting both numbers of fish and big fish
on Yakima Bait Mag Lip 2.5 plugs. The
size and action of these plugs seems to
be just about perfect for the trout right
now and the rainbows are really slamming
them. I’ve been running a lot of silver
patterns and they continue to work great,”
Bogue continue.
“We are really getting excited about
the salmon season up here. The fishing
in the ocean has been really good, so
I’m thinking the river fishing is going to
be pretty exciting this year. The river
season will get started on July 16. If you
want to fish during the opening week of
the season, give me a call as spots are
starting to fill,” Bogue related.
Fly guys working the Sacramento are
doing well. There are a lot of bugs coming
off. The best offerings over the past week
have been stone fly and caddis nymph
imitations. Most guys are running 2 or 3
flies on their leaders with the stone fly
nymph rigged to drift nearest the bottom.
RIO VISTA
Trollers Still Bagging
Stripers on West Bank
RiO VISTA – Most anglers have left the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers with
the arrival of summer heat, but there are
still plenty of striped bass available for
anglers to catch on the west bank of the
Sacramento River.
“Ron Retzlaff of Orangevale has
experienced excellent striped bass fishing
on his latest trips on the Delta,” said Craig
Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle. “He
and his friend caught 44 keeper stripers
and 53 shakers in four days of trolling
along the west bank.”
“Then on his latest trip he reported 6
keeper stripers and 21 shakers while
trolling the same area,” noted Newton.
“The big fish of the day weighed 16
pounds. The trolled with Yo-Zuri lures,
tipped with white and chartreuse plastic
worms.”
This is time to target white and channel
catfish at night in the Sacramento River
from Freeport to Rio Vista with chicken
livers, anchovies, sardines, nightcrawlers,
mackerel and other baits.
You can also catch and release plenty
of smallmouth bass in the North Delta
sloughs, including Steamboat, Sutter
and Miner sloughs. Toss out crawfish
crankbaits, crawfish pattern plastics and
topwater lures along the riprapped banks
early and late in the day.
- Dan Bacher
ROLLINS/SCOTTS FLAT
LAKES
Topwater Bassers
Enjoy Success
COLFAX -“It’s all about the Yo-Zuri
Banana Boat walking bait right now. I’ve
got one in yellow and pearl and I’m killing
the spots and smallies on it at Rollins,”
exclaimed Jason Pleece of Meadow Vista.
“The best fishing is taking place in the
evening once the sun is off the water, but
when there is surface chop I’m getting
fish on topwater baits all day long. When
the sun is high and the surface is glassy
crankbaits work best, but they’ve got to be
fairly small. The bass are hanging around
rocky structure that drops into deep water.
I haven’t been doing much
trout fishing. I have seen a
few guys trolling, but I haven’t
seen them catch anything,”
disclosed Pleece.
The average bass at Rollins
runs about 12 inches, but
Pleece has caught fish to 2
pounds over the past week.
Crowds at the lake are
uncharacteristically light,
despite the fact that the lake
is nearly full. You’ll have to
deal with some water skiers,
but not nearly as many as
you’d normally see.
At Scotts Flat smallmouth
bass can be taken on
topwater baits at first and
last light. Plastic worms and
3 inch grubs will draw strikes
throughout the day.
- Cal Kellogg
SAN PABLO
RESERVOIR
Bank Anglers Find
Decent Trout and
Catfish Action
SAN PABLO – San
Pablo Reservoir reopened
on Monday June 15 for
private boat launching and
shoreline fishing, according
to Marcella Shoemaker at the
Rocky Mountain Recreation
Company.
“The fishing is fair,”
said Marcella. “We are
seeing people who haven’t
purchased a fishing license in
10 to 15 years.”
Business hours are from 6 a.m. to 8
p.m. Boat and kayak rentals and picnics
or group gatherings are not permitted at
this time. There will be no playground and
no fish cleaning tables available.
Since the lake reopened, 4700 pounds
of fish total have been planted, including
1200 pounds of catfish, 2500 pounds of
CDFW rainbow trout and 1200 pounds of
trout from Mount Lassen, including 600
pounds of Lightning Trout.
In addition, a plant of 500 pounds of
Lighting Trout, 700 pounds of rainbows
from Lassen and 1200 pounds of catfish
went in on June 27.
Boat rentals and picnic areas are still
close, no playground, fish cleaning tables
closed. No water foundation.
“Please be patient with us; we have new
safety procedures. Only 4 customers are
allowed in the visitor center at a time,”
noted Shoemaker.
A face mask must be worn in the visitor
center no exceptions. 6 ft social distancing
must be enforced at all times.
“We do not have the same household
rule on private boat launching! Boat
launching must be staggered, at the ramp”
she added.
San Pablo is located at 7301 San Pablo
Dam Rd, El Sobrante, CA 94803. For
more information, contact: (510) 223-1661
SANTA CLARA VALLEY
LAKES/SAN LUIS
RESERVOIR
Uvas and Chesbro Lakes Kick
Out Bass and Catfish
COYOTE – Shore anglers are catching
a mixture of black bass and channel
catfish at Uvas and Chesbro lakes.
“Fishermen are throwing out drop shot
rigs, swimbaits, wacky rigged Senkos
and square billed crankbaits,” reported
Madison Borgia at Coyote Bait and Tackle.
“The largemouths range in size from ½ to
3-1/2 pounds.”
Channel catfish are starting to bite cut
baits including mackerel, anchovies and
chicken liver in the evenings at Uvas
Robert helped Captain Chris Ditter wrap up his spring striper season in
style when Robert landed this hefty bass on May 25.
Photo courtesy of HEADRUSH SPORTFISHING, South Lake Tahoe.
and Chesbro. “Most fish go from 4 to 12
pounds, but cats to 20 pounds have been
taken,” she advised.
Calero, Coyote Lake and Stevens
Creek reservoirs, are open to boating
again (non-power boating only at Stevens
Creek) with a reservation. Boating is
limited to single boaters or members of
the same household only.
Reservations are required 7 days a
week for both power and non-power
boats. Please visit www.gooutsideandplay.
org to book your boating reservation.
For crappie and bass, Borgia
recommended fishing crappie jigs around
the boat launch at Calero. The be bass
are hitting the same lures employed at
Chesbro and Uvas.
Fishing at Coyote has slowed down,
now that the lake is being drained by the
Santa Clara Water District.
Both San Luis Reservoir and the O’Neill
Forebay are producing striped bass at this
time. “Expect to hook bigger but less fish in
main lake and smaller but more numerous
fish in the fore bay,” she advised.
Shore fishermen should cast out jumbo
bloodworms, shad and swimbaits in the
main lake and forebay, while boaters
should slow troll Atlas rigs and Keitech
swimbaits in the main lake
The state park is open 6 a.m. to 8
p.m. Both day-use parking and the boat
launches are open. Campgrounds and
the visitor center remain closed. Special
events and public gatherings continue to
be canceled until further notice.
- Dan Bacher
SHASTA LAKE
Trout & Salmon
Provide Thrills
REDDING - If you live in or want to
travel up to the North Valley, fishing
opportunities are widespread. At
Whiskeytown the kokanee bite is very
good. The Shasta trout bite is getting
back on track after a brief slowdown and
some big fish are up for grabs.
Many of the trout are being caught at
40 to 50 feet down. Big rainbows and
browns are feeding on shad and readily
take a shad imitation spoon or rolled
shad.
A variety of different spoons are
producing well at Shasta. Half ounce
Hum Dingers are a good bet as are ¼
ounce Kastmasters and
Krocodiles, large Ex-Cels
and large Needlefish. Some
anglers are using dodgers,
but the best action has
been coming on naked
shad pattern spoons.
Bass action has been
fantastic at Shasta for
mainly spotted bass,
but there are some
smallmouths and
largemouths in the mix too.
The fish are now in a
summer pattern. They
move up on prominent rock
structure early and late.
When the sun is high they
move offshore. Reaction
baits and topwaters work
when the fish are up. During
the midday hours drop shot
rigs are the best choice.
Most anglers are getting 20
to 40 fish per day.
The kokanee bite at
Whiskeytown Reservoir
remains very good, with
most anglers landing limits
of fish in the 15 to 17-
inch class. Paulina Peak
dodgers and hoochies
are working as are Apex
Lures teamed with Sling
Blade Dodgers or Vance’s
dodgers. Pink and orange
are good colors early. Break
out the subtler colors and
drop down in the water
column once the sun is on
the water. The hot depth
range has been 40 to 70
feet.
STAMPEDE RESERVOIR
Limits of Kokes Reward
Downrigger Trollers
TRUCKEE – Trollers are catching
limits of hard-fighting kokanee salmon
at Stampede Reservoir, along with an
occasional Lahontan cutthroat.
“We had another productive day at
Stampede today, catching kokanee to
16”,” said James Netzel at Tight Lines
Guide Service. “Depths change according
to the time of day. Paulina Peak Tackle’s
Peak Performer Dodgers did just as
well as the p lites today. The bigger
kokanee came on Purple Haze behind
a wonderbread Peak Performer Dodger.
The cutthroat came on light orange flutter
hoochies, The speed was 1.0-1.2 with 50’
setbacks.”
On the following trip, Netzel reported:
“We got a late start at Stampede today,
but we still got kokanee to over 16” plus 1
cutthroat. The bad part about starting late
is you got to fish in the heat to get limits,
but we got a pretty good wind that kept
us cool. It was as a scorching 82 degrees
today.”
CONTINUED ON PG 22