16 March 3 , 2023 VOL . 42 • ISS . 3
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
CONTINUED FROM PG 15
PYRAMID LAKE / TRUCKEE RIVER
as we have seen some starting to show when flipping rocks this week . The streamer bite has been getting better and better as water temperatures continue their warming trend and the large fish in the river are a bit more willing to chase a well presented baitfish imitation . This will be especially effective in the evening hours when temps are at their highest for the day and the light is no longer directly on the water . If in doubt , fishing size 18-22 Baetis nymphs or midge larvae on light tippet will be a good way to get numbers throughout the day . As always , when nymph fishing or chucking streamers just be sure you ’ re using ample weight and fishing deep to find those fish hunkered down on the bottom of those deep runs . - Miles Zimmerman at Trout Creek Outfitters
RIO VISTA / DELTA
Largemouths Are Hitting In North Delta
RIO VISTA -- Black bass fishing is productive for quality fish , while striper fishing in the North Delta is tough , due to cold water temperatures . “ We ’ re catching about a dozen largemouths per day , but they are good fish in the 3 to 6 pound class ,” said Alan Fong , Manaager of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse . “ On my latest trip , I caught and released 12 largemouths and one striper weighing 10 pounds on the North Delta in the Mokelumne River area . I ’ ve been throwing Chatterbaits in the grass in 2 to 3 feet of water .” Another trip produced 10 largemouths for Fong and two largemouths for his brother . They also landed 15 hand-sized crappie .
Anglers fishing with Captains Zack Medinas and Virginia Salvador of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures won first place in both the adult and kids divisions of Flash Sport Fishing ’ s sixteenth
Alan Fong has found the largemouth bass are in pre spawn mode on the California Delta . Alan is not only catching good numbers of fish but also finding big fish in the mix .
Photo Courtesy of Alan Fong Outdoors
annual Diamond Classic Catch & Release Derby out of the Pittsburg Marina in February .. The winners were selected in a drawing . Josh Wolford won first place in the adult division after catching a 47-inch sturgeon while using lamprey eel off Roe and Ryer Islands , according to Medinas . Cash Bradley won first place in the kids division after hooking and releasing a 35 inch sturgeon on salmon roe . Information : ( 925 ) 497-7171 . “ 215 adult fishermen and 89 kids participated in the derby ,” said Steve Talmadge of Flash
Sport Fishing Charters . “ Fishing was tough due to the conditions , but we had 11 slot length fish released by the adults and 10 fish by the kids .” Information : ( 510 ) 851-2500 . “ Every day has been a struggle sturgeon fishing lately ,” noted Medinas . “ On my most recent trip , we caught two oversized and lost one oversized sturgeon off Port Chicago . We fished lamprey eel and salmon roe for the fish .” “ The cold weather is keeping most anglers off the water . I ’ m looking forward to March and April when the fishing should be good as more fish move through the system ,” he added .
RUSSIAN RIVER
Anglers Tough It Out For Bright Steelies
GUERNEVILLE - The Russian River is in beautiful shape right now with flows under 700 cfs in Healdsburg and under 1000 at Hacienda , according to the latest report from King ’ s Sport and Tackle :. “ With the low numbers this year the fish don ’ t seem to be holding as well in the lower river . The best action has been at Memorial Beach in Healdsburg or below where Dry Creek enters the system . It ’ s been tough but those putting in the work are getting it done !” “ For example , Chris Aff putt a client on a bright hatchery hen yesterday morning and also the mouth of the Russian near low tide Tuesday afternoon . For those swinging flies use large darker pattern intruders . Gear fishermen should use plugs out of a boat or bounce roe through the runs . Weather is in the future , so get out the next couple of days before the heavy stuff comes in the beginning of next week .”
GONE FISHING continued from page 2
the Fish Sniffer Rogue Jet 21 Coastal into 44 degree water . The sky was clear and a slight south wind didn ’ t bother us as we headed south to the mouth of the Truckee River . We passed several beaches with lots of shore fishermen , so we figured they had to be catching fish . We started trolling at the mouth of the Truckee with our favorite cutthroat lures . I started with a Yakima Bait Mag Lip in tui chub color off the Big Jon Side planer and a large Doctor Spoon off the Canon downrigger at 20 feet deep . John started with a Silver Horde 4 ” spoon in orange / chartreuse off the downrigger and then toplined a Lyman plug in “ Dill Pickle ” color . As we got into some deeper water from 30 to 60 feet deep , the Lowrance depth finder screen was covered with fish from 20 to 35 feet deep . Lots of big fish . We trolled our lures right through them several times with nary a bite . We changed lures several times , and finally landed a total of 3 cutthroat to 7 pounds . As 10 am came about , we decided to move . There were obviously lots of trout here , but they weren ’ t biting . We beached the boat at the south western corner of the lake to let Rackerby the yellow lab out to relieve himself . I got out and talked to a few people . There
John Brassfield playing a trout with snow covered mountains in the background at Pyramid Lake .
Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff was a guide boat taking out and they said they only had 2 bites and no fish all morning . That made me feel a little better ! I also talked to a young lady who was fly fishing off the rocks with several friends and none of them had caught anything either .
Back in the Coastal , we headed north to the outside of the “ Nets ” and started trolling toward the main boat ramp . We noticed that some cloud cover had come in , and the temperature had warmed up to about 50 degrees . We fished in 10 to 40 feet of water , and
The Lowrance graph covered with big trout at the south end of Pyramid Lake . Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff
didn ’ t mark many fish , but we did start catching them ! Suddenly the side planer and top lines were getting hit . I was using a Tui chub color Lyman plug off the side planer , and it got smashed several times ! John was doing well with his top line , and our downrigger lines weren ’ t doing much . We ended up with 16 cutthroat landed and released , the biggest was a fat 9 pounder that John caught on his “ Dill Pickle ”. As we headed to the boat ramp about 3 pm , we were wondering if all those fish at the mouth of the Truckee had come on the bite as well ? Or did our move make all the difference ? We will never know , but that is a big part of the mystery and fascination of fishing !