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Port of West Sac . Map Feature

MADE IN U . S . A

See Page 12

Our 43rd Year

Since 1982

ohn Brassfield of

Foresthill and I went to Bullards Bar in late January after duck season ! We got a little late start , leaving Colfax about 8 am . Usually in the winter time , it isn ’ t as important to be on the water at dark o ’ clock in the morning . Many times , we have had our best luck later in the morning or early afternoon when the sun is bright and the cold water warms up a bit . This morning the weather was cold and clear and calm , just a beautiful winter day . We launched at Dark Day Ramp about 9:15 – the air temperature was 42 , and the water temperature was 51 degrees and fairly clear . We wanted to catch some trout , instead of the kokanee that Bullards Bar is famous for . We ran all the way up the North Fork of the Yuba River arm to the 5 mph section where we started trolling . We put on our old standby spoons – me with a Hart Special Hot Ticket on the downrigger plus a toplined gold / orange two inch Mag Lip on the surface . John started with an orange

ONE CA – Lake Amador , nestled in Northern California ’ s gold county , provides a unique angling opportunity to Sacramento , Stockton , and Bay Area residents . This is one of the few lakes in Northern California where you can legitimately catch a trophy trout within an hour of the city limits . I have a long history of fishing at this fine location which has been family owned and operated since 1972 . I can remember fishing during rainy springtime mornings back in the ‘ 80s with my dad , then stopping in Ione for burgers and shakes on the way home .

The lake scenery hasn ’ t changed much since those days , but the stocking program has been beefed up over the years . They currently have a private hatchery that plants approximately 50,000 pounds of trout each season

crush Mack ’ s Cripplure on the downrigger at 25 feet deep and a solid gold two inch Maglip on the surface .

We kept the trolling speed between 2.0 and 2.4 mph using the Evinrude kicker motor . We trolled for a while with no hits , and didn ’ t see much on the Lowrance depth finder , until we hit the temperature change – the water temperature went from 50 degrees to 41 degrees in about 50 yards . Right where the temperature change happened , there was a bunch of wood and debris floating . We maneuvered around it and kept heading upstream . Then it was on ! We had 3 fish on in the first hundred yards . John got one on gold Mag Lip on the surface and one on orange crush Cripplure at about 25 feet . I got one on the Hart Special at 15 feet deep . We trolled all the way up to where the river was running into the lake and turned around and trolled out . Coming

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A sleek 16 inch native rainbow trout caught on a Hart Special Hot Ticket spoon , shown with the new FishTechy AI measuring device .

Photo courtesy of John Brassfield

Lake Amador produces trophy-quality fish , and the fish shown above is no exception . Here , Jack Naves shows off a ‘ Cutbow ’ trout with its trademark flame-orange cutthroat coloring under the jaw . On Wednesday , February 11 , this fish slammed a ‘ Hot Steel ’ pattern F-9 Rapala Floating Minnow trolled at 2.6 miles per hour just west of Jackson Creek .

Photo by Kirby Desha , Lincoln CA

FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - American River ................................ 6 Lake Berryesa .......................................................... 7 Bullards Bar / Englebright Lakes - Collins Lake ............. 8 Davis Lake - East Bay Lakes Roundup ...................... 9 Feather River - Folsom Lake ............................... 10 Los Vaqueros Reservoir - Pardee Lake ...................... 11 Pyramid Lake - Rio Vista / Delta ..................................... 15

Russian River - Lake Shasta ........................................ 16 Lake Tahoe - Truckee / Little Truckee Rivers ................. 17

SALTWATER REPORTS Bodega Bay - Monterey Bay ...................................... 21

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

GO FOR IT : Staff ........................................................ 4 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ..................................... 12 CHINOOK SALMON RUNS : Dan Bacher ................. 14 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION : Dan Bacher ....... 20

Jack Naves fished Lake Amador with Kirby Desha in Jack ’ s 20 ’ North River Seahawk . They caught seven ‘ Cutbow ’ trout to 4.5 pounds using Edge Mag Pro rods in the downriggers and side planers . The rods were teamed with Abu Garcia Ambassadeur C3 ‘ Kokanee ’ levelwind reels loaded with FINS 15-pound test braided line with a 50 ’ top shot of Trilene XT 10-pound test clear . They trolled orange Arctic Fox tube flies tipped with red worms and Rapala F-9 Floating Minnows in the ‘ Hot Steel ’ color .

Paul Kneeland fished Lake Oroville with John Brassfield of Foresthill in the Fish Sniffer 21 ’ Rogue Jet Coastal . They caught landlocked king salmon to 23 inches and 4.5 pounds using a Daiwa North Coast 8 foot ultralight graphite rod with a Okuma Convector low profile line counter reel loaded with 8 lb test Okuma Soft Steel line .. They trolled white Tasmanian Devils and 2 1 \ 2 inch Maglips in orange with black dots behind Vance ’ s cannonball flashersw off the Canon Downriggers at 25 to 60 feet deep and 2.2 mph .

Dan Bacher fished for rainbow trout at Pardee 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 .