Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3804 Feb 1-15 2019 | Page 14

12 FRESHWATER Feb 1-15, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 4 FRESHWATER REPORTS: PYRAMID LAKE CONTINUED FROM PG 11 LOS VAQUEROS Shore Cutthroat Bite Gains Momentum While Boat Bite Stays Strong cont. Andrew Kowal also caught a nice limit of rainbows, topped by a 3.5 lb trout on garlic Power Bait in Howden Cove, reported Christina Cutts of the Los Vaqueros Marina. The top spots for anglers to soak garlic scented PowerBait, nightcrawlers and other offerings for trout include Peninsula Cove, the Rockwall, Cox Cove, Cowboy Cove and South Cove. For striped bass, anglers should toss out cut anchovies or shad either from shore or a boat.  Most of the keeper fish are in the 18 to 22 inch range, but there are much larger fish out there. For example, Rodrigo Castro and his family caught a 12.26 lb. striper while using Power Bait in Cowboy Cove. Just a reminder: stripers need to be 18 inches or more to be legal.  Please release the small fish as quickly and carefully as possible.  They are the future of the lake’s striped bass fishery. Nobody has reported bringing in any channel catfish or largemouth bass lately. Fishing for both species will improve as the weather warms up. Weekly trout plants by Mt. Lassen continue, with the latest plant of 1,000 pounds of rainbows going in on January 17. Los Vaqueros is currently holding 147,600 acre feet of water. With the cooler days and windy weather the water temperature is floating between 57 and 59 degrees depending on the time of day. If you are looking to rent a boat, contact the Marina ahead of time to check current wind conditions at (925) 371-2628. - Dan Bacher NEW MELONES LAKE Boaters Battle Bass and Browns ANGELS CAMP -  Bass anglers report a good bite at New Melones Reservor while fishing over suspended bass feeding on threadfin shad. “Anglers are fishing with soft plastic baits and jigging P-Line Lazer Minnows,” said Gene Hildebrand at Glory Hole Sports. “A drop-shot rig is a good way to fish bass suspended in the water column along with the shad. If you’re landing bass, catch and release is always a good way to go this time of year.” Marty Morfey reported that the brown trout bite was on during the recent Costco tournament at the reservoir. The anglers landed an unusual number of browns, 10, with the largest weighing 4.1 lbs. “During the winter months when the LAKE OPENS FEB. 14 2019 3804 These boys braved cold weather to battle these big rainbows during a December outing on Lake Almanor with Captain Bryan Roccucci. Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY’S GUIDE SERVICE, Quincy. trout rise to the surface of the lake, try casting out a fly with a bubble attached. Different setups can be used by placing a stopper on your line between the bubble and Wooly Bugger, or fished with a leader attached to a swivel, a bead above swivel, or a bobber above a bead,” Hildebrand tipped. Anglers trolling for trout at 20 ft. using Apex Lures and spoons have caught a few crappie in the 2-2.5 lb range. Bass anglers are also getting their soft plastic baits inhaled by crappie, also in the suspended shad balls, noted Hildebrand. Anglers haven’t reported landing any channel catfish or kokanee over the past couple of weeks. The New Melones water level is currently at 1034.70 and 53.30 ft. from full. Water clarity is clear and the current water temperature is 54 degrees and holding. The Tuttletown middle ramp is currently in use for lake elevations from 1036.00- 942.00 feet. The Glory Hole Point side of the lake has the high ramp working and it doesn’t appear that the middle ramp will be in use this year. Angels Cove ramp also in use. OROVILLE LAKE Spotted Bass Bite When It’s Cold OROVILLE – When the water temperature dips below fifty degrees on California reservoirs, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, rainbow trout, king salmon and other fish species start to acquire a case of “lockjaw.” However, the spotted bass, opportunistic feeders, keep actively foraging. “The size of the fish being caught has gone up over the past couple weeks,” said Jamey Sorensen at North Valley Tackle. “Anglers have reported catching and releasing a few bass over 2 pounds. Boaters are experiencing the top fishing while dragging plastic worms and jigs along the bottom. The water temperature ranges only from 47 to 49 degrees.” He noted that the water is really muddy now in the lake’s forks, while the main lake is now stained. The spotted bass are hitting at 3 to 20 feet deep. “On my latest trip, I caught and released good numbers of spotted bass while dragging ½ oz. Keitech tungsten jigheads teamed up with Dry Creek Old Ugly twin tail grubs,” Sorensen noted. Trollers are picking up some chinook salmon while fishing hoochies, tipped with anchovy strips, in the Kelly Ridge area. Bass fishermen are also hooking salmon incidentally while throwing out worms, jigs and other baits. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife stocked 139,000 chinook salmon from the Feather River Fish Hatchery in late September 2018 for Lake Oroville’s landlocked salmon program. The fish were about 23 to the pound, about 6 inches long, when stocked in the lake. The water level is slowly rising.. The lake level is 676.80 feet above sea level. The reservoir is holding 1,086,187 acre feet of water, 31 percent of capacity and 49 percent of average. The only paved boat ramp available for boat launching at this time is Bidwell Canyon. For largemouth bass, Sorensen recommended fishing jerkbaits off the rocks in the Thermalito Afterbay. He hasn’t heard any word on the landlocked steelhead fishing lately. - Dan Bacher PYRAMID LAKE MOBILE HOME FOR RENT! Under New Management RENO - The boat bite has been really good with one caveat, it’s January. A more accurate statement might be that “the fishing is really good for January.” The water is only 44 degrees, but the trout are still feeding pretty well. A lot of nice fish in the 10-14 pound range are showing in catches for hardy anglers. The weather has been all over the map lately with some nice days in the fifties and some cold windy and snowy days mixed in. The fish tend to bite best right before a storm; especially right as the wind begins to blow and the sky goes grey. On a recent trolling trip, this writer found really solid fishing (for January) landing over a dozen nice fish. The biggest one was a 12 pound male Lahontan Cutthroat beginning to develop handsome spawning colors. Several other fish were in the 5-7 pound range. The key was briskly trolling Lyman Lures at 2.5-2.6 MPH along a ledge in 15-25’ of water. Many other anglers including Lou Varela and Jeff Morris have similar stories to tell. Jeff has been mixing up shore and boat trips, more on the shore trips later, and he has been scoring in both arenas. Jeff landed a 19 pounder on a recent outing also while trolling a Lyman in the “Dill Pickle” color. Lou has been landing fish up to about 10 pounds, and you guessed it, he too is trolling Lyman’s. For the first time this season, there appears to be a good shore bite developing. Sources have insisted on the anonymity of this beach, but there likely are other beaches producing as well. The aforementioned Jeff Morris reported landing a 16 pounder off the shore just before I wrote this. He also landed another 16 pounder and a 12 pounder over the last few days. Jeff has been tossing marabou jigs on a light spinning rod loaded with braided line or wooly buggers on a 7wt fly rod with a fast sinking shooting head. - Mike McNeilly QUARRY LAKES Trout Dominate Winter Angling Scene FREMONT - While the catfish catches have dwindled at Horseshoe Lake with the cold weather, anglers are landing a lot of quality rainbow trout while fishing from shore and boat. Regular trout plants continue at Horseshoe. The latest plant of 1000 pounds of rainbow trout went in the week of January 14-15. Joaquin G. has been finding plenty of trout success. He caught his limit of trout on Horseshoe Lake on one day while using a mixture of spoons and mice tails, reported Joe Sullivan of the East Bay Regional Park District. Then on another day, Joaquin G. landed CONTINUED ON PG 17 Salmon • Trout • Kokanee GREAT Fishing for: Trout • Kokanee • Catfish Large & Smallmouth Bass Crappie • Bluegill • Sunfish Store • Campsites/RV sites Marina • Boat Launch New Boat & Motor Rental Fleet Call for Information & Reservations (800) 416-6992 4900 Stony Creek Rd. Ione www.rockymountainrec.com ONLY $150 PER NIGHT! Large 2 bedroom completely remodeled mobile home sleeps up to 5 in separate beds, fully equipped kitchen, living room and large porch. Close to convenience store and 10 minutes to the boat ramp. Lots of boat parking — Dogs Welcome! Call or text Jaay at (775)742-0362 3802 • Stampede Kokanee • Oroville Kings • Now Booking Sacramento River Fall Salmon! 3713