Up-To-Date and Published Locally ... By Sportsmen ... For Sportsmen !

Lale Collins Map Feature

MADE IN U . S . A

See Page 18

Our 43rd Year

Since 1982

ast July , my brother Ken from

Merino , Colorado and buddy John Brassfield of Auburn joined me in a trip to Magdalena Bay , on the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula . Magdalena Bay is located about halfway down the Baja Peninsula , is 31 miles long , and features mangrove swamps in the north and south ends of the bay . We fished with the good folks at Mag Bay Lodge in the small fishing village of San Carlos . We have fished the Baja area many times out of Cabo and Los Barriles , but we wanted to try

something different . We were intrigued by the mangrove fishery in the bay , something we had never experienced . We were looking forward to catching some species of inshore fish we hadn ’ t seen before , as well as the offshore species we were used to catching . Mag Bay Lodge is a single 3 bedroom , 2 bath home in downtown San Carlos . One of the prettiest and most modern homes in the area , it features a beautiful pool , hot tub and a huge garage area filled with tackle and boats . The boats and tackle are all of top quality and set up for both inshore and offshore fishing . They include a 27 ’ Cape Horn center console with twin 300 hp Suzuki ’ s ,

Fish Sniffer publisher Paul Kneeland with a bright Dorado caught off the coast of Magdalena Bay . photo by John Brassfield , Fish Sniffer Staff

locally custom made 26 ’ center console pangas with 225 hp Honda outboard , and the queen of the fleet , a 27 ’ Boston Whaler Conquest with cuddy cabin , head , and

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ANCHO CORDOVA – The

American River below the Nimbus Fish Hatchery opened to steelhead fishing on January 1 with surprisingly mild weather , tough fishing in cold water conditions and a big crowd of anglers . There were hundreds of steelhead milling in the hatchery holding pond and in the new fish ladder on opening day , but relatively few fish caught by anglers . Most of the people I talked to fishing in the stretch below the hatchery didn ’ t hook fish , but a few anglers , mainly those who got on the river early to secure their spots , did well .

While I was there , James Hyman of Sacramento landed an 8 lb . steelhead while tossing out a Little Cleo . He was stoked when he got his fish in the net . “ I was here since 4 a . m . and this is my first steelhead ,” he said , visibly excited , as any angler should be when he lands a quality steelhead . Yuri Tyukanev of Sacramento and his fishing partner , Philip Tokarvev , reported even better fishing . They were fishing soft beads under bobbers when they hooked 5 and landed 4 steelhead on January 1 . Their biggest fish weighed around 5 pounds . They also got on the river early around 3:40 a . m . to secure their spot until legal fishing time began .

A big crowd of anglers showed up to fish the American River for steelhead on opening day .

Photo by Dan Bacher

Jerry Lampkin of TNG Motor Sports Guide Service reported lots of drift boats on the river and slow steelhead fishing . “ We counted 10 boats from Sailor Bar downriver , the most I ’ ve ever seen on the opener ,” he stated . “ I saw none landed , although I did see a few fish hooked . We fished with Hot Shots , nightcrawlers and spinners , but didn ’ t get any bites . There were lots of salmon still in the river .” While fishing from his drift boat in the Sailor Bar area , Austin Wilson of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse in Sacramento

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FRESHWATER REPORTS Amador / Camanche Lakes - Lake Berryessa ......... 14 Bullards Bar / Englebright Lakes ............................... 15 Collins Lake - Don Pedro Lake ................................ 16 East Bay Lakes Roundup - Lake Oroville ................. 17

Los Vaqueros Reservoir - Pyramid Lake ............ 20 Rio Vista / Delta ........................................................ 22 Russian River - Truckee / Little Truckee Rivers ............. 24

SALTWATER REPORTS Bodega Bay .............................................................. 28 San Francisco / Berkeley Emeryville ............................ 29 Monterey Bay ........................................................... 30

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

GO FOR IT : Staff ........................................................ 4 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ..................................... 18 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION : Dan Bacher ....... 27

Ernie Marlan fished Lake Lopez in his 22 ’ Skeeter Bay Boat . He caught several crappie and some bass while using ultralight gear that included a Wally Marshall Speed Shooter Combo with 4lb test line . The bait of choice was a Mr . Crappie Slabalicious .

Paul Kneeland fished Lake Berryressa with John Brassfield in the Fish Sniffer 21 ’ Rogue Jet Coastal . They caught rainbow trout to 20 inches and 3.2 pounds using a Lamiglas 7 ½ foot ultralight graphite rod with a Daiwa Lexa low profile line counter reel loaded with 6 lb test PLine flourocarbon line .. They trolled Speedy Shiner and Silver Horde spoons in purple / silver and green / purple , off the Canon Downriggers at 22 to 30 feet deep and 3.2 mph .

Dan Bacher fished for rainbow trout at Camanche 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 .