Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3804 Feb 1-15 2019 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! Port of West Sacramento Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 14 Vol. 38 - ISS.04 Our 37th Year Since 1982 February 1 - 15, 2019 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Eight-Year Old Angler Battles 10 Lb. Lightning Trout at Lake Amador Y ou never know what you might catch when you go fishing at Lake Amador and other Mother Lode lakes. Every bite you get could be the fish of a lifetime. Just ask eight-year-old Cassidy Frazier, who was trolling a Rapala lure in the Carson Creek Arm with her father, Jimmy, when she hooked up a colorful Lightning Trout weighing 10.03 pounds on January 4. “That’s the largest fish that she’s ever caught,” said Karen, Cassidy’s mother. “She hooked the fish on her new pink fishing rod that Santa gave her for Christmas. We’re probably going to get a replica or mount made of the fish.” That’s not the only big Lightning Trout landed at Amador recently. Sixteen-year-old Jack Powell of Healds- burg caught a 5.25-pound lightning from the shoreline with red and white lure on January 3. David Burruss from Kelseyville also caught a 5.9-pound lightning while using Power Eggs on December 30. The Lightning Trout is a unique breed of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) featuring vibrant, yellow, orange and pink colors. Like other trout raised at Lake Amador’s on-site hatchery, the fish being stocked in the lake now have deep orange or pink flesh similar to king salmon, due to the krill-based Cassidy Frazier successfully battled this Lightning food they eat, according to Trout weighing 10.03 pounds while trolling a Rapala lure in the Carson Creek Arm of Lake Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador with her father, Jimmy, on January 4. Amador Resort. Photo courtesy of LAKE AMADOR RESORT, Ione. The Lightning Trout (or Golden Rainbow Trout) and normal rainbow trout coloration.” “is a gold-orange rainbow trout raised For more information, go to: http:// under artificial fish culture conditions and stocked as a novelty for angling sport. The www.yorkccd.org/wordpress/wp-con- tent/uploads/2009/12/Golden-Rain- golden rainbow was developed from one bow-Trout.pdf) fish, a single female trout with a genetic CONTINUED ON PG 17 mutation that gave her a mixed golden GONE FISHING by Dan Bacher Get Big and Ugly For High Water Steelhead T “ hat is a ridiculous looking presentation,” I thought to myself. “What stupid fish would eat such an atrocious looking concoction?” In my hand, I held a combination of a “Nightmare” (black wings with a red and white body) colored Spin N Glo, a rocket red Little Corky, bright red yarn with a nickel sized chunk of roe to really sweeten the offer. The entire abomination was downright ugly, full of contrast, and likely to frighten any self-re- specting steelhead in clearer conditions. However, I was on the Mad River, a stream known for its’ cloudy complexion. The Mad is almost always off color in the winter time, but it was especially dirty on this trip. I like to be the first guy on the river fishing with bait after the river drops into shape following a big storm. When everybody else is trying to floss the fish with twenty foot leaders, I’m the guy using a 2 foot leader with a big loud Spin N Glo for vibration. If you can put the bait and Spin N Glo right in the fish’s face, they will bite. The key is to fish slow and methodically. It’s almost like a modified plunking technique. There are still certain rules that an enterprising steelhead angler should follow to maximize one’s success. For starters, you don’t want to fish on a rising river. I’ve had days that had inexplicable lacks of success, and at the end of the day checked the hydrograph to find that the river had a rise of a couple hundred cubic feet per second. That might be an imperceptible rise WHAT’S HOT by Mike McNeilly Field editor Mike McNielly is a steelhead fishing expert that travels long and far to do battle with the fabled sea run rainbows he loves. He pulled this big chromer out of the Mad River on one of his crazy looking Spin- N-Glo offerings. Photo courtesy of MIKE MCNIELLY, Fish Sniffer Staff. 37 Years Serving Sportsmen CONTINUED ON PG 19 CDFW Fall Midwater Trawl Finds ZERO Delta Smelt See Page 22 Special Section Baja Roundup PG 27 INSIDE Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Almanor - Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoir........4 Lake Camanche - Don Pedro................................ 8-9 East Delta - Los Vaqueros Reservoir...................11 New Melones - Quarry Lakes.............................. 12 Rancho Seco Lake - Rio Vista............................. 17 Rollins Lake - Shadow Cliff Lake......................... 18 Shasta Lake - Smith/Chetco Rivers..................... 21 Tahoe - West Delta.............................................. 23 SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley - Half Moon Bay.....................................25 Monterey Bay......................................................27 FEATURES Where...When...How... TROUT ANGLERS CHALLENGE............ 6,7,9,10,13 BAJA ROUNDUP.................................................... 26 BASS FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Scott Estes............. 20 BULLETIN BOARD................................................... 3 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Melanie Parker and Melissa Mandrup............................................ 24 GO FOR IT: Staff....................................................... 2 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg............................................ 16 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Kevin Hofer ............. 5 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher.............................14-15 SALTY TIPS: Hippo Lau.......................................26 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher..... 22 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - trolled Folsom Lake for trout from his Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak. Cal used a pair of 7’6” Vance’s Tackle ULT 762 trolling rods topped with Abu Garcia 5500 LC line counter reels. The reels were spooled with 10 lb moss colored Trilene Big Game line. On the business end, Cal pulled Yo-Zuri L Minnows and Gulp! minnows teamed with Sling Blade Dodgers. Paul Kneeland - fished Rollins Lake in the Fish Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coastal. He caught rainbow trout to 14 inches and spotted bass to 12 inches using using a Powell Rods ultralight trigger stick with a Shimano Calcutta 150 level wind reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Hybrid line. He trolled “cutthroat” Tasmanian Devils and “Red Racer” Speedy Shiners off the Canon Downriggers at 10 feet deep and 2.4 mph. Dan Bacher - fished for steelhead on the American River at Sailor Bar. 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 Flourocarbon Coated Line. He tossed out 1/4 oz. gold/red and silver/blue Little Cleos.