Fish Sniffer Magazine Volume 44 Issue 01 | Page 24

FRESHWATER

24 January 10 , 2025 VOL . 44 • ISS . 1
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
CONTINUED FROM PG 23
SHASTA LAKE
bass now – Senkos , Jigs , worms in watermelon , green pumpkin and shad patterns are catching fish from 15 to 30 feet deep , and sometimes right on the bank in the afternoon . The main body holds the most bass and water clarity is good . Most fish are spotted bass from 1 1 \ 2 to 2 1 \ 2 pounds , but a customer landed a huge 11.78 pound largemouth last week . Lake levels will stabilize soon as the outflows increase after Jan . 1 to allow for storm storage . Currently , the lake sits at about 1029 ’, down 38 ’ from the full pool .
TRINITY RIVER
River is very high , but good things to come
The Trinity River has been blown out by the big recent storms , but according to Alex Ross of The Trinity Guide service , it should be fishable again in a week or two , depending on the weather . He
said it has been one of the best steelhead seasons in memory on the Trinity this year . He and his guides have averaged 2 to 10 fish per day , almost every day all year . They specialize in both flyfishing and pulling plugs from their 18 foot Willie drift boats . Deep water nymphing with bright flies and pulling 3.5 Mag Lip plugs have been getting the steelhead . Alex said he expects the fishing to be extraordinary once the river drops to good levels , and he will be fishing the river through April .
- Alex Ross , TheTrinityGuide . com
TRUCKEE / LITTLE TRUCKEE RIVERS
Target Trout In Afternoon and Evening Hours
TRUCKEE - This storm has done very little to change the conditions on the river , both here on the California side as well as the Nevada side . The flows came up just a tad along most of the Truckee , but we have already seen this begin to taper off . As predicted in last week ’ s report the water temps came up a few degrees , but likely will drop again
after this storm pushes through and we look at nights in the teens next week . This may slow the fish down a bit and really make evenings the best time to find fish . The water clarity has decreased just a bit , which is probably the biggest positive out of this storm . The decreased clarity will often make the fish react more positively to the larger bugs , such as worms , stones and eggs , whereas the previous weeks were all about little black stuff in sizes 18-20 . You can certainly keep these flies in rotation , especially later in the week as temps drop and clarity increases . But if I were going out today , I would put my trust in the worm . These high calorie meals are always a great choice during the leaner months of the winter , especially after a weather event , and especially if that weather event was rain instead of snow . The streamer and dry fly bite on the lower river has been on a dayto-day basis and if you time it right then it can be epic . But we would recommend being adaptive if it isn ’ t happening and switch over to the bobber if you need to feel that tug . Little Truckee River : While the Little Truckee is open to some vehicles
once again due to the lack of snow out of this storm , there is still a chance of running into snow and ice patches on the road out here . So we are recommending that only those confident in driving in such conditions attempt to head out here right now . The river is currently at 200 CFS , which is not typical this time of year and what some would consider high . At these flows the dry fly bite will be tough along most areas of the river and nymph fishing will be your best bet to find fish . Due to the LT ’ s smaller size , both tight line nymphing and indicator fishing are good choices here when presenting subsurface during the winter months . The name of the game with be little black stuff on light tippet . The two bugs on the menu will be baetis and midges in sizes 18-22 . The worm or egg will remain low hanging fruit as well . Because this is a tailwater it will fish good most of the day , but with air temps expected to peak just above freezing this week , we would recommend fishing the afternoons right now .
- Miles Zimmerman , Trout Creek
Outfitters

GONE FISHING continued from page 25

on a half-ounce pink / silver Pixie spoon . Most times you could see several fish chasing the lure towards the boat in the clear water . I started to break up my retrieve to a reel and stop motion , and that really turned them on , most hitting the spoon on the fall . I put on a small Luhr Jenson Crippled Herring in bright pink and started nailing them on that jig . As the tide fell , the salmon stopped breaking water and we got no more bites . We ended up catching and releasing about 25 small salmon – lots of fun on very light tackle . When we arrived back at the floating cabin midafternoon , we got some bad news . Tom had flown in to check on us , and brought the news that we would be unable to fly into the inland cabin because of bad weather . Our plan was to spend 3 days on the floating cabin , then fly about 100 miles inland to Haganita Lake where we were to spend 3 days as the only people on the lake fishing for lake trout and grayling . We were very disappointed , but you can ’ t fight Mother Nature . Later that day Dan arrived at our floating cabin in a large aluminum work boat with a sheltered helm . We loaded all our gear and took the short ride down the bay and around the corner to a beautiful outpost cabin located on a point overlooking wide open water . In the back of the cabin was a small dock with 3 more Livingston boats tied up , again with 15 hp Honda outboards . This cabin was extremely comfortable , with a large kitchen , a dining room looking out on the sea through huge windows , and a large bedroom plus a loft with room for 4 people . We settled in and enjoyed the gorgeous views and great serenity . The next morning John and I went out in search of halibut in a light rain , while the girls decided to stay in and enjoy the cabin . We fished for a few hours for halibut with the heavy rods and large baits , then decided to use our lighter gear for bottomfish . We cruised the rugged shoreline , slowly probing for a deep hole using our linecounter outfits . There were rockfish almost everywhere , and we tried to keep count of how many we caught . Our consensus was we landed 69 bottomfish in about 2 hours of fishing . We caught copper and quillback rockfish , ling cod , kelp greenling , sculpin , cabezone , starry flounder ,
View of our outpost cabin from the calm waters of Prince William Sound
Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff
A brown bear at the edge of the woods behind our floating cabin .
Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff
yelloweye , pacific cod and several other species we couldn ’ t identify ! It was lots of fun catching and releasing them in shallow water , never more than about 80 feet deep . We did keep a few for a nice dinner of barbequed rockfish back at the cabin . You don ’ t get fish fresher than that !! Our last morning , John and I decided to catch some more rockfish for fun before we had to depart about noon . We again used our light gear , John using a Lamiglas 7 ½ foot travel rod matched with a Daiwa Sealine real loaded with 12 pound test P Line . We didn ’ t go far from the cabin and again moved with the tide which was outgoing at the time . We had caught several small rockfish apiece when John pulled up on his rod and said he was stuck on the bottom . He had the rod doubled over trying to get his small jig off the bottom , when suddenly his rod bucked – twice ! It wasn ’ t stuck on the bottom , it was stuck in the mouth of a big fish ! He fought the fish for over a half hour , barely moving it for the first 15 minutes or so . He would gently work the fish up a few feet , then it would make a powerful surge and take line all the way back to the bottom again . I said it was acting like a halibut , but we didn ’ t really know what it was . Finally , he was gaining line on the fish , and we caught a glimpse of a nice halibut before it dove to the bottom once again . It was our last day , and John decided to release the fish if he ever got it close enough ! We wanted to show the fish to the girls , and we were right in front of the cabin when John hooked the fish . As the halibut tired , I fired up the Honda outboard and gently – very gently – towed the fish toward shore . As we approached the cabin Bridget and Hellen came out of the cabin to see what was going on . I nudged the boat onshore , and John jumped over the bow and slid the halibut onto the sand . He let his rod relax as the fish was on shore , and the one ounce chartreuse jig fell out of the halibuts mouth !! We took a few photos and then gently pushed the fish into the water , and watched him swim slowly into the depths ! What a way to end the trip , about a 40 pound halibut landed on 12 pound test and a trout rod ! For more information , you can meet Tom , Katie and Dan at the Sacramento ISE show January 16-19 at Cal Expo . Or see them on the web at www . alaskanwilderness . com , or call 907-424-5552 .