Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
Vol. 39 - ISS.18
Oroville Lake Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 13
Since 1982
August 21, 2020
38 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
Special Section
KAYAK Fishing:
pgs 18
Our
38th
Year
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
California Dawn: If You’re On Time, You’re Late
My father always told me: “If
you’re on time, you’re late!” I
learned this the hard way
when I arrived at the K Dock
in Berkeley at 5:30 am sharp,
as instructed, and watched as
my charter boat drifted out
into the bay…without me.
Luckily, Captain James
Smith was able to squeeze
me onto the California Dawn
with only minutes to spare. I
felt very fortunate considering
boats have been forced to
operate with lighter loads due
to Covid-19 restrictions. Not
only was the boat squeaky
clean, but with less than 20
anglers on board, there was more space
than usual to move around.
I settled in, enjoying the aromas of
bacon and eggs coming from the galley
while we headed to the San Francisco pier
for fuel and live minnows. California
T
he August doldrums are upon
us and while there is some decent
freshwater fishing available now, great
fishing is just a matter of weeks away
when the days shorten, the nights get
colder and water temperatures begin to
drop in a meaningful way.
I’m just like most of the folks reading
this. I’ve been fishing and I’ve been
GONE
FISHING
by
Stacy Barawed
Dawn’s newest addition,
Chef Lori, was cranking out
mouth-watering
breakfast burritos
oozing with
cheese and sour
cream as fast as
passengers could
place their orders.
All fueled up
and ready to
go, we headed
south towards
Alameda. The
halibut bite had
been outstanding
earlier in the
week, but from
what I was hearing over the
captain’s radio, today was
already proving to be trickier
than usual for several boats.
That’s fishing, though!
Captain James eventually
Joe enjoyed great big salmon action when he targeted New
Melones kokanee this August with Kyle Wise.
Photo courtesy of KYLE WISE, HeadHunter Sportfishing.
CONTINUED ON PG 11
Stacy Barawed loaded up on halibut when she hit the
waters of San Francisco Bay aboard the California Dawn.
Photo courtesy of CALIFORNIA DAWN SPORTFISHING,
Berkeley.
Navigating Through The Dog Days Of August!
catching trout, but overall the action
hasn’t been super exciting. It’s been
scratch fishing for a handful of strikes.
My most recent trips to French
Meadows Reservoir are a great example
of what I’m talking about. On both trips,
Gena joined me. She fished out of her
Hobie Compass and I was in my Pro
Angler 14. The combined total for those
two trips was 6
pansize rainbow trout
landed between us
in 5 hours of trolling
from 25 to about
50 feet deep. The
bites were tentative
and threaded worms
were the best bait
because you could
tease lightly striking
fish into getting more
aggressive.
So why does fishing
level off at so many
lakes during August
and early September?
I think it’s due to
a combination of
plentiful food, stable
conditions and warming water that
continues to drive the trout and salmon
deeper.
Now there
are much better
bites available
at destinations
I haven’t been
fishing, but
honestly, I’ve
been reluctant
to travel. I’m
trying to use
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Cal Kellogg
utmost caution
during the
pandemic. Call
me paranoid, but
I was already
afraid of germs
before COVID
19 do I’ve been
laying low.
Secondly, I’ve been trying to save my
fishing and hunting budget for fall when
the action is going to be much better at
places like Davis, Almanor and Eagle.
After this crazy spring and summer,
I’m dedicated to spending as much
quality time fishing and hunting this
Fish Sniffer TIP OF THE WEEK
SOCIALLY DISTANCE - BE SAFE!!!
See Page 3 for an update about the Fish Sniffer and Coronavirus
CONTINUED ON PG 16
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Almanor Lake - American River..............................8
Berryessa Lake - Lake Camanche...................... 10
Clear Lake - Eagle Lake.......................................11
East Delta - Eastern Sierra.................................. 12
Feather River - Klamath/Trinity Reservoir........... 13
Los Vaqueros - New Melones Lake..................... 16
Oroville Lake/Thermalito Afterbay - Rio Vista...... 17
Rollins/Scotts Flat Lakes - Sacramento Area ..... 18
San Luis Reservoir - San Pablo Reservoir.......... 19
Shasta/Whiskeytown Lakes - Stampede Reservoir .... 21
Tahoe - West Delta.............................................. 22
SALTWATER REPORTS
Baja Roundup........................................................... 26
Berkeley - Half Moon Bay........................................ 27
Monterey Bay......................................................28
FEATURES
Where...When...How...
BAJA ROUNDUP........................................................29
FISH SNIFFER COVID UPDATE................................4
CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Cal Kellogg..........18
FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY.......................................24
GO FOR IT: Staff.........................................................9
HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................5
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Noel Vick .................20
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................14-15
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......25
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Cal Kellogg - fished Jackson
Meadows Reservoir with
Bridget Looney in the Fish
Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coastal.
They caught cutthroat trout
to 22 inches and rainbow
trout to 19 inches using an Lamiglas 7 ½
foot ultralight graphite rod with a Daiwa
Lexa low profile line counter reel loaded
with 6 lb test PLine flourocarbon line.. They
trolled Hot Ticket and Speedy Shiner spoons
in chartreuse behind Vance’s cannonball
flashers off off the Canon Downriggers at 50
feet deep and 2.4 mph.
Paul Kneeland - fished
Lake Berryessa with Gary
Caruso of Auburn in The Fish
Sniffer Rogue Jet Coastal 21.
They caught kokanee to 16
inches using an 8’ ultralight Phenix Reaper
composite kokanee rod with a Team Daiwa Z
ultra light levelwind reel loaded with 6 pound
Yozuri TopKnot fluorocarbon line. They trolled
pink/orange Silver Horde micro hoochies
and Uncle Larry’s spinners tipped with corn
soaked in Pro Cure Kokanee Special behind
Vance’s dodgers in watermelon at 40 to 50
feet deep off the Cannon Downriggers at 1.4
mph.
Dan Bacher - fished for
largemouth bass at Rucker
Lake. He used a Berkley Ugly
Stick GX2 6’ 6” medium action
spinning rod, teamed up
with a Shakespeare GX235
spinning reel filled with 8 lb. test P-Line CX
Premium Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He
fished with wacky-rgged Yamamoto Senkos
in green pumpkin on Gamakatsu Finesse
Wide Gap Hooks in #1 and 1/0.