VOL.39 • ISS. 19
FRESHWATER
Sept 11, 2020
19
FRESHWATER
REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 17
EASTERN SIERRA
Fishing Fair, Expected
To Improve Greatly
With Arrival Of Fall…
BRIDGEPORT - Hot
conditions are making for
tough trout fishing in the
Eastern Sierra. Once nighttime
temperatures start to drop, the
action should pick back up, but
as of press time trout fishing
was rated as fair to poor at
many popular fishing holes.
Excellent trout fishing is
on tap at Crowley Lake. The
trout are gobbling Sacramento
perch fry swimming along the
bottom. Anglers are scoring
with streamer flies that imitate
the young perch. The key to
success is working your fly
right along the bottom.
The most consistent areas
have been McGee Bay and
Green Banks Bay. The oxygen
level in the lake is low, so you
don’t want to fight the trout for too long
and don’t take them out of the water to
remove the hook.
The Lower Owens is flowing along at
300 CFS and the fishing is rated as fair at
best. Heat waves have affected the bite
and the high rate of flow makes for tough
wading. If you go small nymphs will draw
the most strikes.
Twin Lakes have been a little tough this
past week, the fish that are being caught
are mainly earlier in the mornings and
later in the evenings.
PowerBait and crawlers for the bait
folks have been doing good, Kastmasters,
Thomas Bupyants and small Rapalas for
the lure anglers. Fly anglers should go
with matukas and wooly buggers with a
prince, zug bug or soft hackle dropper.
Also a fly/bubble rig in the evenings has
been good.
Bridgeport Reservoir has been a little
tougher than usual this past week but
there’s still some decent numbers of fish
being caught. Bait fishing with crawlers,
mice tails and PowerBait has been the
best though there’s still a few fish being
caught trolling.
Robbie and Kim hit Collins Lake for some mid-summer trout trolling and scored big!
Photo courtesy of the COLLINS LAKE RECREATION AREA, Oregon House.
FEATHER RIVER
Salmon Challenge Boaters
Below Outlet
OROVILLE - Fishing pressure on the
Feather River has lightened up with the
recent heat wave. However, a few more
fish are showing and the fishing should
improve as the main run begins to move
up the river and the water temperature
cools.
“We saw some quality king salmon
move into the river during the last full
moon,” said Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s
Guide Service. “A few are showing at
Verona, below the mouth of the Yuba and
below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet.”
“Anglers are hooking a few fish one
day and getting skunked the next,” said
Reimers. “During my last two trips, we
ended up with a 12 lb. springer and
missed another hit the first day. The
salmon was dark on the outside, but
the meat was red on the inside. On the
following trip, we lost one salmon and
didn’t get any in the boat.”
He used the Rob’s Dragon Glow Brad’s
Cut Plugs to hook the salmon below the
outlet. “In the
next few weeks,
we can expect
to see more
salmon move
into the river,”
he added.
Few anglers
are targeting
striped bass
and channel
catfish. Catfish
offer the best
prospects for
boaters and
bank anglers
fishing in the
evenings and
early in the
morning. Toss
out mackerel,
chicken liver,
anchovies and
other cut baits
for maximum
success.
Department
of Water
Resources
releases from
Lake Oroville
to the Feather
River are now
2,100 cfs.
FOLSOM LAKE
Rainbows and Kings Are Still
Active
FOLSOM – The few trollers making
it out to Folsom Lake are picking up a
mixture of king salmon and rainbow trout
in the early morning hours before the
recreational boat traffic becomes too
intense.
Kevin Schultz reported catching 3 kings
and 2 rainbow trout on his last trolling
adventure at the lake. “I trolled Speedy
Shiners 100 feet back at 40 to 50 feet
deep at a speed of 2.3 to 2.7 mph,” he
stated.
Black bass fishing pressure has also
been light, due to the heat and the fires
throughout California. The fishing should
pick up as the weather cools
and the smallmouth, spotted
and largemouth bass
become more active.
Until it does, expect the
fish to remain in a summer
pattern: fish top water lures
off major lake points first thing in the
morning, then drop shot with Robo Worms
and swimbaits in pond smelt and crayfish
patterns in 15 to 30 feet of water during
the day.
Granite Bay, Folsom Point and the
Hobie Cove ramp at Brown’s Ravine are
still open.
The lake is dropping daily and boaters
need to use caution while boating on
Folsom Lake. There is a 5 mph speed
limit within 200’ of shore.
Folsom Lake is holding 488,204 acre
feet of water, 50 percent of capacity and
78 percent of average. The lake level is
415.03 feet in elevation.
- Dan Bacher
KLAMATH/TRINITY RIVERS
Fall Salmon Fishing Gets Off
to Slow Start
REQUA – Fall chinook fishing in the
lower Klamath River got off to a tough
beginning, but the fish that are being
landed are bright ones, reported Jerry
Lampkin TNG Motor Sports Guide
Service.
On Lampkin’s most recent trip to the
Klamath, he caught a 14 lb. king while
fishing with a spinner/anchovy rig in the
estuary near the mouth. Craig Newton of
Willfish Bait and Tackle in Auburn netted
the salmon for Lampkin.
“The water was warm, 73 degrees in
the estuary,” noted Lampkin. “The guys
running upriver have reported doing
well on steelhead, including a lot of half
pounders.”
However, after getting back home,
Lampkin said the salmon fishing has
improved in the spit at the mouth and in
the estuary. He was getting ready to head
back to the Klamath for three weeks of
salmon fishing.
The fall Chinook salmon fishery in the
Klamath River opened Aug. 15, and in
the Trinity River, the fall Chinook salmon
season begins Sept. 1. The Klamath-
Trinity basin in-river quota is 1,296 adult
fall Chinook salmon for 2020.
Fall Chinook salmon regulations on
length have changed since 2019, with
CONTINUED ON PG 20
Pro-Cure: Deadly For Trout!
E
very angler out there is looking for an edge,
something that will tilt the odds in their favor
and fall trouters are no exception. One of the things that
I rely on to generate extra strikes throughout the year is
Pro-Cure fish scents.
Sometimes the bite is wide open and you can catch trout
without adding scent. Other times when the fish are totally
by Cal Kellogg
inactive they are tough to catch no matter how much
scent you slather on your baits and lures. The rest of
the time when fish aren’t really active, but aren’t really
turned off either, is when adding a bit of Pro-Cure
Super Gel can really pay dividends in terms of generating
those extra strikes that can mean the difference
between a fair day and a great outing.
So what scents do I use when targeting fall trout?
Most of the time fall trout will be feeding on either
threadfin shad or pond smelt. Being a match the
hatch sort of angler, I go with threadfin shad and
smelt Pro-Cure Super Gels when trolling, but I’ll
often mix in sardine, anchovy or tui chub.
When I’m slinging baits like Zeke’s Sierra Gold,
Berkley PowerBait or inflated worms off the bank I
really like to expand the selection of scents I utilize.
I still play with the baitfish scents, but I really like
sweet scents like anise, predator, kokanee special,
trout and kokanee magic and carp spit.
My all time favorite scent when I’m bank fishing
is anise krill. All fish seem drawn to the scent of
anise and trout have a real taste for krill. I’ve found
anise krill Super Gel to be particularly effective
when confronted with finicky trout during periods of
unstable weather.
For more information about Pro-Cure trout scents
and their full line or outstanding products, visit
Pro-Cure online at www.pro-cure.com.