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Rio Vista Area Map Feature

MADE IN U . S . A

See Page 10

Our 40th Year

Since 1982

his year ’ s Kokanee Power derby season wrapped up at Shaver Lake on September 9 . It featured three distinct classes of fish . Huge red sockeyes in the seventeen to twenty-inch class ; a smaller class of red spawners ; and a separate class of chromers that were typically smaller in size . It marked this author ’ s first every entry into the event , the final bookend to the 2023 Kokanee Power derby season . Never having visited the lake myself , I enjoyed the long , but interesting journey from the Sacramento area to the distant alpine lake . First , we made our way south , and then we cut east from the Fresno area up to the 5,500 ft elevation lake . It was the Thursday before the derby , and my fishing partner Jim Brittain and I got there early enough to do some pre-fishing . Not wasting any time , we launched and had lines in the water by 10:30 am . The scenic pine trees and fresh air were a stark contrast to the hot stuffy conditions that we had left behind in the Sacramento Valley . We started marking fish right away and staggered our four downriggers to cover different depths . We immediately began to catch kokanee

Klay Gustin caught the fish of a lifetime at Pyramid Lake . Known for its stunning desert scenery , the lake is located on the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation in Nevada 39 miles northwest of Reno . The Lahontan cutthroat weighed 31 pounds , 4 ounces on Gustin ’ s scale . It is the biggest fish reported at the lake this year and possibly the largest of its kind caught in nearly 100 years . After taking photos and video of the fish , he released it back into the lake .

Jim Brittain ( left ) and Jack Naves ( right ) troll in Jack ’ s North River boat in front of the dam at the Kokanee Power Shaver Lake derby on September 9 . In this shot , dark gloomy storm clouds in the background are cut by a rainbow that suddenly appeared above the boat , announcing good weather for the remainder of the derby . The team ’ s pot of gold ended up being a massive 20-inch kokanee that Jim landed only moments after the photo was taken .

Photo courtesy of Kyle Draper

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“ I caught what could possibly be the Nevada State Record for Lahontan cutthroat at 31 pounds , 4 ounces ,” he stated on Facebook . “ In all the excitement , we didn ’ t get the scale reading in our video . What a trip !” Gustin is the President of Gustin Hydraulics in Salt Lake City , Utah . The world record cutthroat trout , caught by John Skimmerhorn at Pyramid in 1925 , weighed 41 pounds . In 2021 , Quinn Pauley landed a 39-inch Lahontan that he estimated to be close to 30 pounds at Pyramid . The proliferation of big fish now found in the lake is due to the introduction of the Pilot Peak strain of Lahontan cutthroat trout into the lake . These fish descended from the original stain of Pyramid Lake trout

Klay Gustin caught and released this huge Lahontan cutthroat trout weighing 31 pounds , 4 ounces while fishing at Pyramid Lake on Ox . 5 .

Photo courtesy of Klay Gustin

that were planted in a small creek in Utah before the fish became extinct in Pyramid Lake by the 1940s . They were introduced into the lake by the U . S . Fish and Wildlife Service after being successfully raised at the Lahontan National Fish Hatchery in Gardnerville . These fish have drawn anglers from all over the world to target them .

I successfully battled a 14 lb . cutthroat while jigging a

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FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Amador - American River / Sacramento Area ..... 6 Lake Berryessa - Lake Camanche ............................. 7 Collins Lake - Eagle Lake ......................................... 8 Davis Lake - East Bay Lakes ..................................... 9

Folsom Lake - Los Vaqueros Reservoir ............. 12 Lake Oroville - Pyramid Lake .................................. 13 Sacramento / Feather Rivers - Stampede / Prosser Reservoirs . 15 Shasta Lake - Truckee Little Truckee Rivers ....... 17 Truckee / Little Truckee Rivers .............................. 18

SALTWATER REPORTS Bodega Bay - Half Moon Bay ................................ 21 Monterey Bay ........................................................... 23 Monterey Bay ........................................................... 24

Where ... When ... How ...

GO FOR IT : Staff ........................................................ 4 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ..................................... 10 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION : Dan Bacher ....... 20

Ernie Marlan fished for striped bass on the California Delta . He caught and released four stripers to 12 pounds . All the fish were caught while using a Strike King KVD Mega Dawn in bone color . The rod of choice was a Lew ’ s Elite TLE610MH 10-20lb rod team up with an Elite Ti reel spooled up with 50lb braid .

Paul Kneeland fished Pyramid Lake with Gary Caruso of Auburn in the Fish Sniffer 21 ’ Rogue Jet Coastal . They caught Lahontan cutthroat trout to 22 pounds , using an Okuma 8 ’ 6 ” SST steelhead Rod with an Okuma Cold Water SS line counter reel loaded with 10 lb test Soft Steel line . They trolled Bottom Line Tackle B-21 spoons and Lyman plugs in tui chub and red dot frog colors , trolling with Canon Downriggers at 50 to 75 feet deep and 2.5 mph .

Dan Bacher fished for rainbow trout at Collins 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 Berkley Tequila Sunrise Power Bait on a # 14 Eagle Claw gold treble hook on a sliding sinker rig .