VOL . 41 • ISS . 7 May 13 , 2022
15
WHAT ’ S HOT continued from page 2
If we caught fish we would mark it in our memory and keep moving . Within about 20 minutes , we managed one of 2 major blunders of the trip . I knew a ridge of sunken rocks on a corner of the gooseneck extended out quite a ways , but I thought because of the low water , we would be far enough out to miss it – I was wrong ! We managed to hang up BOTH downrigger tube weights at the same time . Thankfully , there was no wind blowing , so we managed to reel in the Big Jon side planers , and get all four of our lines back , and then managed also to get our downrigger weights back intact ! No harm , no foul ! We headed out of the gooseneck after catching one 15 inch rainbow and headed to the Dry Fork area . We trolled from the mouth to back of the cove and turned around before committing our second blunder of the day . We had just turned east when my downrigger rod went off and I was playing a decent fish . John was at the helm , but neither he or the fellows in the aluminum boat heading toward us noticed my side planer 75 feet out to the left . I looked up and saw the planer board about to crash into the boat . I had the rod with the fish on it in one hand and tried to haul in the side planer with the leash line , but only managed to miss the boat before it went between the boat and their downrigger line ! We stopped the Minn Kota and Evinrude kicker motors , but not in time to have the side planer line get spooled . I finally landed a fat 17 inch rainbow , and we managed to get our 4 fishing lines in . The guys in the other boat got their lines in and away from the side planer . As we were drifting toward the shore , I started the big motor to back away before John noticed the loose side planer line moving toward the prop ! Yes , we did manage to get it stuck in the prop before shutting the motor off ! Luckily , the wind was now drifting us to deep water , and we did manage to unwrap the prop and bring in the planer board and line all in one piece . Again , no harm , no foul , and we hoped that would be our last mess up of the trip . We landed 5 rainbows and 2 small browns on Friday . A couple on the
Karla Smith shows off a handsome German Brown trout caught 80 feet deep rolling shad at the confluence of the McCloud river arm of Shasta lake .
Photo courtesy of Kevin Smith side planers with Al ’ s Goldfish , and the others on a 2 inch shad pattern Lyman plug off the downriggers at 20 feet deep . Friday evening , we convened at the Bass Hole for drinks and dinner , and good natured comraderie with the other fishermen in attendance . We enjoyed the excellent Basshole Burger with homemade fries that filled all of us to the “ gills ”. Back at our cabin , we sipped after dinner drinks and tried to figure out a plan for Saturday . Saturday morning , we were in the boats and heading out by 5:30 am . The weather was the same as yesterday , just beautiful with a perfect trolling breeze . The water temperature was 63 in the morning and up to about 66 in the afternoon . John and I decided to start in the gooseneck again because we had seen lots of fish on the graph on Friday . I put my favorite black / white / red Tasmanian Devil out on the Big Jon Side planer on the surface , and a Hot Ticket spoon in white with red spots at 20 feet off the Canon downrigger . John started with his favorite gold Mag Lip 2.0 on the surface and a red / gold Speedy Shiner on the downrigger . We trolled through the gooseneck with nary a strike . We ran south to the Waters Gulch area and started to see marks
Shasta Spring Derby 2022 Results
1 Bob Schmidt Team 17.23 lbs 2 Mike Giovacchini Team 16.57 lbs 3 Kevin Smith Team . 16.54 lbs 4 Jason Meeuwse Team 16.48 lbs 5 Nick Brito Team 14.59 lbs 6 Rich Crispi Team 14.45 lbs 7 Chuck Mierky Team 14.33 lbs 8 Dale Gibbons Team 14.23 lbs 9 Jack Schultz Team 13.91 lbs 10 David Mayo Team 13.69 lbs 11 Robert Irwin Team 13.38 lbs 12 Jim Brittian Team 13.27 lbs 13 Les Fernandes Team . 12.78 lbs 14 Nathan Lenard Team 11.84 lbs 15 Casey Code Team 11.56 lbs on the graph and actually caught a couple of trout in the back of the cove on a black / white / red Speedy Shiner and a gold Al ’ s Goldfish at 20 feet deep . Later we moved to the west side of the dam and trolled across to Centimudi for one bass . Our buddies in the cabin had about the same luck as us . Everyone caught a few trout , but nothing of any size . Our biggest trout of the day was a skinny rainbow of 19 inches that only weighed 1.88 pounds . The weigh in for the derby is at the Bass Hole and Brews parking lot in Lakehead . We had a weight of our 4 trout of 5 lbs . 14 oz . Most fisherman had caught fish , and the top 10 folks all had at least one brown of 3 to 5 pounds in their bag . Sunday morning , we were on the boat and heading out before 5:30 . We opened up the Rogue Jet Coastal and headed toward the main lake . We stopped just north of Waters Gulch and started trolling along the rock wall . Within 5 minutes I had a good hit on the black 2 inch Lyman and landed a 17 inch brown . A good way to start the day . We trolled south and around the corner into Waters Gulch where we caught several more trout , but nothing of any size . All of us caught several newly planted brown trout of about 12 inches over the course of the derby . Hopefully they will grow into big browns in a couple of years ! About noon I put on Vance ’ s downrigger flashers followed by the black / white / red Hot Ticket spoon and landed several medium to small trout and had several hits at 40 feet deep and 2.2 mph . We ended up with about a dozen trout for the day , but again nothing big . Our largest was a 17 inch brown of about a pound and a half . A couple of our buddies didn ’ t manage to catch a trout – lots of bass , but no trout ! Our best lures for the trip was Al ’ s Goldfish in copper and in red / white , Speedy Shiners in black / white / red , and Hot Ticket Lures in black / white / Red .
John Brassfield of Trucksmart Stores with a pair of typical rainbows take trolling Speedy Shiners at Shasta Lake . Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff
Back at the weigh in at the Bass Hole , there was a pretty good line up of folks weighing in which is always a good sign . To be in the money , you had to have landed a 3 to 5 pound trout . Largest trout of the derby was a 5.76 pound brown caught by Chuck and Bev Mierky on a Speedy Shiner . There were a few king salmon weighed in to 2.6 pounds , as well as a few kokanee to 1.65 pounds . The winning team was the Bob Schmidt team with a total 2 day weight of 17.23 pounds and the grand prize of $ 1500 . Cash prizes were paid all the way down to 15th place . The Shasta Lake Trout derbies are always a lot of fun for all of us . Shasta Lake is an amazing fishery , not only for trout , but for bass , crappie , king salmon and now kokanee ! The derbies feature an included dinner at the Lions Club in Lakehead with excellent food and great camaraderie . The weigh ins are always produced at the remodeled Bass Hole and Brews bar and grill in Lakehead that features many craft beers , great cocktails and good food . We stayed at the lovely Tsasdi Resort in Lakehead . Tsasdi features 20 cabins with one , two or 3 bedrooms , plus heated swimming pool , 230 foot concrete dock , game room , satellite TV and much more . They also have an incredible venue for weddings , retreats and reunions . For more information , give them a call at 530-238-2575 or go to www . tsasdiresort . us For more information on the Spring Trout & Salmon Derby held in May of each year , go to www . kokaneepower . org . The Shasta Lake Fall Trout Derby held in October of each year is presented by the Shasta Lake Business Owners Association . For information , go to www . shastalaketroutderby . com