16 November 11 , 2022 VOL . 41 • ISS . 18

of the participants in the tournament . There was a general agreement – the bite was tough , the moon was full , and trout had been caught from the surface down to 100 feet deep . Saturday morning we were joined on the Fish Sniffer boat by Mark Kalinowski of Concord , and decided to start trolling in the Gooseneck section of the Sacramento arm . This area has been very good to us in the past , including the largest trout I ever caught at Shasta , a 7 ½ pound brown . Obviously , it wasn ’ t during a derby ! We trolled out of the Gooseneck and up to Elmore bay , with no trout and only a couple of bass . We headed to Waters Gulch , where we saw lots of bait and fish marks , but couldn ’ t get anything to bite . Then we decided to go back to the mouth of the McCloud – at least we had caught some trout there yesterday . As we trolled the McCloud again , we noticed that we had only seen one or two trout boats all morning . Where was everybody ?? We caught our first trout about 11:30 – a pretty Pit River strain of rainbow only about 14 inches long – but at least it was a trout . We continued trolling the mouth of the McCloud and across the Pit River toward the I-5 bridge . At about 3:30 , Johns rod popped off the downrigger and he was into a good fish . I said “ that is probably a really nice bass !” But a few minutes later we saw a long silver shape behind the boat ! Finally , a good trout we would be proud to weigh in ! Unfortunately , as Mark was netting the bright silver fish , we saw that it was a fat , 22 inch salmon ! We finally caught our 4th trout at about 3:30 pm and headed to the weigh in . All four trout were caught on a cutthroat Speedy Shiner trolled about 2.7 mph and 25 feet deep . We had tried many other lures of course , but nothing else was successful . We weighed in our fish at the Bass Hole , and most folks had caught more trout than we had , but the size was very small for most everyone . Talking with the other fishermen , it seems almost everyone was fishing near the dam and catching trout . Ed Grossman caught the biggest fish of the day , and

Shasta Trout Derby Winners

it was only a 3.39 lb . brown . Everyone remarked on how small the trout were , and especially how skinny they seemed to be . It didn ’ t make a lot of sense , because we all saw lots of bait balls all over the lake . For some reason the fish didn ’ t seem to be feeding . The one constant was that most of the folks that caught multiple trout had fished in the dam area , where all 3 major rivers come together . We attended derby dinner at the Lions club across the street and enjoyed a great meal of barbequed tri tip or chicken , rebaked potatoes , seasoned vegetables , Caesar salad and great cake for dessert . Sunday morning dawned bright and clear with a light north wind . We headed immediately for the dam ! We trolled around Digger point in shallow water first thing , and caught only 2 bass . We saw several boats fishing – and catching trout – out in the deep water , so we moved away from shore . And almost immediately , John was into a trout ! We stayed in the deep water and fished from Digger Point to the east side of the dam , and back again and caught several trout to about 18 inches . Again , they were all very skinny . Our 18 incher only weight 1.85 pounds . Most were caught on the same cutthroat Speedy Shiner , at 15 to 45 feet deep over 200-300 feet of water . We did get a few on a rainbow pattern Thomas Buoyant , a black / white / red Excel spoon , and also a couple on watermelon Speedy Shiner . We ended up with 16 trout to the boat , but a weigh in weight of only 6.03 lbs ., barely a pound and a half average . Back at the Basshole for the final weigh in , we were surprised to see lots of anglers checking in . The fishing at the lake was actually pretty good , although the average size was much smaller than usual . The team of Gary and Nick Flanigan won the derby with a 2 day weight of only 15.25 lbs ., which is less than a 2 lb . average for 8 fish . My thoughts are that with a third year of drought and the lake 150 feet down , I think the trout just kind of “ hunker down ” and don ’ t feed much . I am no biologist , but it seems the fishing at Shasta is very tough during drought years when there hasn ’ t been a good inflow of fresh water to the lake . I looked at my records over the last several years , and the average weight of the winner at the fall Shasta derby was 21.81 lbs .! As always , we had a great time fishing this derby , on this wonderful big lake , even when it is low . All the folks in Lakehead who put on the derby are very friendly and want everyone to have a good time . We stayed at the comfortable Sugarloaf Cottages Resort . They offer 16 comfortable cabins right on the lake , with one , two or 3 bedrooms , full kitchens with utensils and dishes , comfortable beds and bedding , and great patios with barbeques overlooking the lake . For more information , call ( 800 ) 953-4432 or go to www . shastacabins . com . For more information on the Fall Trout Derby , as well as the spring Trout & Salmon Derby , contact Harold at Sugarloaf Cottages or the Basshole Bar & Grill at ( 530 ) 238-2170 .

Rancho Seco Recreational Area

Open year round with RV sites , waterfront campsites and BBQ ’ s . You can rent electric and row boats , kayaks , and paddle boards for more water fun !

• Wet a line

• Launch a boat

• Hike a trail

• Have a picnic

• Pitch a tent Visit smud . org / RanchoSeco or call 1-800-416-6992 .

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