Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3806 Mar 1-15 2019 | Page 23

RIO VISTA cont. “If you want to catch largemouth bass, probably your best bet is to the Central Delta from Mildred Island south, where the water is clearer,” said Fong. “I’d use chatterbaits or flip with Brush Hogs in 5 feet of water for the largemouths.” “The water in the Port of Sacramento is clear, but there aren’t any concentrations of good-sized stripers there now,” he added. “Boaters are hooking a few small stripers to 5 pounds while trolling Yo-Zuris and other lures or while drifting jumbo minnows.” - Dan Bacher ROLLINS/SCOTTS FLAT Pressure Light, Rainbows & Bass Bite! COLFAX - “We are coming off a week of rain free weather, but it’s raining right now and it’s forecast to continue for several days. They say it’s not going to rain heavily at any one time, but it is forecast to drop to come down pretty steadily and drop a couple inches of rain when all is said and done. The fishing had been good, but we’ll have to see how this weather effects the water quality and the bite,” related Jason Pleece of Meadow Vista. “Both Scotts Flat and Rollins have been planted and trout are being caught at both locations. My buddy Raith hit Scotts last week and got a limit of planters while using worms under a bobber and tossing a gold Little Cleo Spoon,” said Pleece. “I kayaked Rollins before the rain and got 4 rainbows right at the mouth of Long Ravine while trolling a Berkley Power Grub. After that, I paddled up toward the headwaters of the Bear River Arm to a bank fishing spot where I often can pick up a brown or two. I got one bite on a worm fished 7 feet under a slip bobber, but it wasn’t a brown trout. Instead it was an awesome 15 inch smallmouth bass. With spotted bass now outnumbering smallmouths at Rollins, it was pretty cool seeing a quality smallmouth.” “I think we are in for a really good spring HOW TO debris for productive fishing now.” As is the case on the After catching big stripers in the North Sacramento, Feather and Delta in the shallows on glidebaits American rivers, large the previous week, Alan Fong of the numbers of steelhead are Fishermen’s Warehouse said the fish had returning to the river this left the area with the arrival of muddy season. water conditions. The Warm Springs Fish “The visibility was only an inch, and Hatchery on Dry Creek the water temperature went from 54 to reported 1989 steelhead 46 degrees in the north Delta, and the total to date. Last stripers have gone,” he observed. “They season’s total count was may be holding in the sloughs until the 3117 fish water clears since it must have dumped in The coho count is only the upper Sacramento River, as we were three fish to date. Last dodging big trees and logs while motoring season’s total count was to the spot. After five casts in the dirty 33 fish. water, I packed it in.” The Chinook count is The Port of Sacramento and 15 fish, less than one- Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel third of last season’s are worth a shot, though fishing reports total of 47 fish. weren’t available at press time. Anglers At the Coyote Hatchery should fish pileworms and bloodworms below Lake Mendocino, for stripers in the Barge Canal and Port of good numbers of Sacramento via the Barge Canal Public steelhead are also Access off Jefferson Boulevard. showing. The facility has Kayakers and other boaters should look reported 973 steelhead for schools of threadfin shad in the port to date. Last year’s grand and channel. If the shad are showing, you total was 1783 fish. can expect to see a lot of stripers. Anglers However, the CDFW can jig with Blade Runner spoons. They has reported zero can troll with Yo-Zuris or other lures. Or Chinook or coho salmon they can throw out Rat-L-Trips or Alabama this fall and winter. Pha traveled from San Jose to Lake Del Valle on February 1 Rigs to entice the stripers. Before the river became and landed this incredible 7.5-pound rainbow while soaking - Dan Bacher Berkley Mice Tails. unfishable, Caleb Weaver Photo courtesy of the ROCKY MOUNTAIN RECREATION AREA, of Sebastopol landed a 10 Lake Del Valle. lb. hen Kings Roe under a float, reported King’s Sport and Tackle. SAN PABLO RESERVOIR at Rollins. There has been a lot of water flowing into the Bear River Arm. Hopefully Use Scented Baits for Top the lake will get another trout plant or two. Trout Success The bass fishing seems to get better year SAN PABLO - If want to hook trout, after year, so I’m thinking the spring of use extra garlic scent on your bait at San SACRAMENTO AREA 2019 will be pretty darn good. My goal for Reservoir. Rollins this year is to land a bass over 5 Anglers Wait for Clearer Water Pablo “People are catching trout., but the water pounds. I’ll see if I can make it happen,” SACRAMENTO – Uncle Larry Barnes conditions are muddy due to the recent exclaimed Pleece. of Sacramento Pro Tackle summed up rains,” reported Marcella Shoemaker at the predicament that Sacramento area CONTINUED ON PG 22 anglers are in at this time. “I haven’t heard Now Booking American River Steelhead and Folsom Lake Trout any reports of RUSSIAN RIVER anglers catching Custom 23’ sturgeon or stripers Hatcheries Report Good Drift Boat Rogue Jet Trips on the Sacramento Numbers of Steelies River in the GUERNEVILLE - The Russian River metropolitan area was high and muddy and press time, but lately,” said Barnes. anglers should see improved steelhead “There is too much fishing when the water clears. water and too much Cpt. Jerry Lampkin – 25 years of experience fishing By Cal Kellogg you might need to let out more than 100 feet of line. If the water is on the shallow side, but still too deep for shallow running plugs, you might need to shorten your line to 60 or 80 feet to keep the plug from digging into the bottom. Plugging: Cast, Retrieve & Repeat! Anytime you can catch stripers while trolling shallow water along the bank, plugging becomes a viable option. During the daylight hours, the best strategy is to go with subsurface lures. Proven favorites are Rat-L-Traps, bucktail jigs and small 4 inch soft plastic swimbaits. These baits can be thrown with either spinning tackle or bait casting gear. With these subsurface lures you want make casts toward the bank, exploring features such as pockets in tules or weeds, fallen trees, rip rap points and irriga- tion pipes that are discharging water. When retrieving these lures don’t do anything fancy just cast them out and reel them in. When plugging with a Rat-L-Trap, the strike will usually be hard. When using bucktails or small plastic swimbaits the typical bite starts with a series of grabs and taps. When you feel that just keep the lure moving and let the bass load the rod before hammering the hook home. Some of the most exciting fishing available to Norcal freshwater anglers comes in the form of tempting stripers with surface lures. This shallow water action takes place during the low light periods of dawn and dusk as well as on overcast days. Big swimbaits and walking baits like River2Sea Rovers and Zara Spooks and Pencil Poppers will all draw savage surface explosions from hunting stripers. When working the surface, you’ve got to stay focused. Strikes might not come right away, but since the bass that hit on top are generally large you want continued from page 20 to be ready. Stripers very often miss the first time they come up and slash at a surface plug. You never want to set the hook on the splash. KEEP WORKING THE PLUG UNTIL YOU FEEL THE FISH! Soaking Bait A solid bait fishing rig is made up of a 7 foot conven- tional rod capable of handling sinkers up to 4 ounces, teamed with a high speed level wind reel capable of holding at least 300 yards of 15 pound monofilament or 200 yards of 30 pound braid. The rod should sport a sensitive fast action tip along with sufficient backbone to drive the hook into a striper’s tough mouth. The terminal rigs used for bait fishing all incorporate a sliding sinker. To begin rigging you’ll need a plastic slider sleeve, a bead, and a snap swivel. Pass your main line through the slider, then thread on the bead, and finally attach the snap swivel using a Palomar knot. It seems everyone has a favorite leader and hook set up. The basic leader consists of 40 inches of 25 pound test monofilament tipped with a 7/0 to 10/0 octopus hook, although circle hooks are gaining a footing. Stripers will strike a long list of natural baits including threadfin shad, bullheads, mudsuckers, pile worms, blood worms, clams, chicken livers sardines, anchovies, and various types of shrimp. The hands down best baits during the spring are chicken livers, pile worms and blood worms. When it’s time to fish, put a sinker on your slider, put a gob of worms or livers on your hook, cast out and set your rod in a holder with the reel in gear. When a spring bass comes knocking they are usually pretty aggressive. When you are sure the fish has the bait in its mouth, set the hook and start smiling...It’s spring after all and you’ve got a striper at the end of your line! Salmon, Steelhead, Stripers, Trout & landlocked Kings on the Feather, Sacramento, American Rivers and Folsom Lake 3802 T.N.G Motorsports Guide Service (530) 320-0884 • www.tngmotorsports.com Lake Almanor Now Booking Lake Almanor Eagle Lake Rainbows and Lake Davis Browns! 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