8 November 3 , 2023 VOL . 42 • ISS . 15

FRESHWATER REPORTS :

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LAKE CAMANCHE cont .

Company reported . “ It all depends on the water temperature , but folks , it ’ s coming fast ! Keep a look-out here for when we drop the first plant .” Before he switched over to targeting trout at Lake Berryessa , Nate Kelsch of Big Nate ’ s Guide Service reported top-notch fishing at Camanche with early limits of trout for 2 anglers during his most recent trip . “ Today I had Ralph and Rene out for a Lassen Rainbow Trout trip on Lake Camanche and these 2 crushed it ,” stated Kelsch . “ After an alarm clock mishap by someone ( not going to say any names , we got our lines all in by 7:15 and proceeded to hookup right away . “ We landed a couple . lost some and had some hit but no sticks , then the bite died completely ,” he recalled . “ We had a couple of hours of nothing then the bite started to come alive , a few more takedowns that popped off then we started putting some very nice fish on ice .” “ These fish were fighting like crazy , which made things a lot of fun . We even had a nice bass choke on a spoon , so it had to go home with them as well . We fished from 35 to 60 ft . with a variety of Optimizers and Speedy Shiners at speeds from 3 to 3.5 mph .” The catfish action has also been decent for the few anglers trying . One local woman topped the September catches by landing an 11.93 lb . channel catfish while fishing near the South Shore launch . Lake Camanche is holding 352,020 acre feet of water , 84 percent of capacity and 137 percent of average .

- Dan Bacher

COLLINS LAKE

Fall Trout Plants Begin at Collins !

OREGON HOUSE - A total of 20,000 pounds of Mt . Lassen Fish Farm rainbow trout are being stocked in Collins Lake during the fall of 2023 . The first 2,000 pound plant including both rainbow and lightning trout went in the week of October 17 . The next plant of 1,000 pounds of rainbows will go in this week . “ Weekly plants are scheduled through the end of November and then a couple plants in December ,” said Ed Palma at the Collins Lake Resort . “ The plants will resume with a more frequent schedule in January . We had good success with the extended planting season last year and the hope is to keep pumping trout in to May when the surface temperatures will put things on hold again .” Anglers are now catching trout from shore and boat while using an array of methods . For example , Katherine Hulbert of Vacaville landed a hefty rainbow while using worms around 24 feet deep on a recent visit to the lake . The lake level is 30 feet from full . The surface water temperature is 68.5 degrees . Kellogg and Wes Ward of fishhuntshoot . com started guiding for rainbow trout at Collins Lake for the fall , winter and spring on November 1 .

- Dan Bacher

DAVIS LAKE

Trolling from Kayak Produces Lots of Trout

PORTOLA – For sheer numbers of trout , Cal Kellogg of fishhuntshoot . com recommends fishing at Lake Davis , where he reported catching and releasing 40 rainbow trout to 23

inches while trolling for two days solo in his kayak right near the Big Island on his latest trip there . “ Most of the fish were 12 to 16 inches long ,” he stated . “ I was trolling flies . 25 feet was the hot depth , although I hooked fish in shallower water .” “ Other than myself , there were no other anglers on the lake while I was there . Never have I seen the lake so clean , with no moss or algae . It shows what good high water conditions do to a lake ,” he concluded . Davis Lake is holding 58,836 acre feet of water , 83 percent of capacity and 132 percent of average .

- Dan Bacher

DON PEDRO / NEW MELONES LAKES

Trout Anglers Experience Up and Down Action

LA GRANGE - The fishing for rainbows and king salmon has been up and down on Don Pedro Lake with the changing weather and water conditions . “ After the beating we took on yesterday ’ s trip with only two fish landed and losing two , the odds were stacked against us on today ’ s trip ,” reported Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing after a recent trip . “ However , we stuck with it and they landed seven fish ., including six rainbows and one king salmon .”. “ Three of those were really nice rainbows weighing 4 , 3-1 / 2 and 3 pounds . The rest of the rainbows weighted 2 to 2-3 / 4 pounds , while the king salmon went 1-3 / 4 pounds ,” said Smith . “ “ The bite window was open and we were able to capitalize on it ! The fish were at 55 feet deep . The weather was perfect and hardly anyone was out for a Saturday ,” he added . The most recent trip by Smith to Don Pedro produced tougher fishing , with three trout in the 2 to 3 pound range caught by two anglers . “ Today the surface water temperature had cooled down to 67 degrees , but the top 30 feet of water not cooled off sufficiently for the fish to move up , so the fish were holding at 40 to 70 feet ,” reported Smith . “ Since there are a lot of shad in the lake , getting the fish to bite is a challenge . We hooked the fish at 44 feet deep while trolling my custom spoons .” Don Pedro is holding 2,030,000 ace feet of water , 81 percent of capacity and 123 of average . Smith plans to start targeting rainbow trout at New Melones Reservoir . “ Anglers fishing there have been catching limits of trout weighing from 2 to 3-1 / 2 pounds while trolling . The trout at Melones , like those at Don Pedro , are down at 45 to 70 feet However , the cooler weather will bring them into shallower water ,” Smith concluded .

- Dan Bacher

EAGLE LAKE

Change In Weather Slows Bite But Expected To Turn On Soon

EAGLE LAKE - This report tells it how it was and how it is . How it Was : Up to and including Saturday , October 21 , the trout fishing at Eagle Lake was very good . Most anglers were trolling and landing limits or near limits of Eagle Lake Trout . And the fish were on the large size . Over the last two weeks the fish we put in the box on my boat ranged from 31 / 2 up to 5 lbs . We landed many high 3 and mid 4 pound fish .

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