Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3807 Mar 15-29 2019 | Page 17

FRESHWATER VOL.38 • ISS. 6 March 15 - 29, 2019 FRESHWATER REPORTS: CONTINUED FROM PG 11 EAST DELTA cont. a premium for bass fishermen. Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, said, “There are some pockets of clear water in the southern and eastern portions of the Delta, but you will have to search them out and it won’t be easy. If you are able to find clearer water, you can use reaction lures. “ “The bass will be schooled up and holding tight to the weeds for warm so it is a matter of staying with an area if you find one fish. Making multiple casts to the same spot is essential as the fish are unwilling to chase and using a large profile plastic with scent is very important. Scent and vibration are the key, and rattling jigs with a trailer, large weightless worms with Max Scent like the Berkley General, or 10-inch Power Worms are good options in the stained water,” he tipped. - Dave Hurley EASTERN SIERRA Owens River Offers Great Trout Action in the Snow BISHOP - “The middle section of the Owens is holding at 87 cfs,” reported Tom Loe of Sierra Drifters Guide Service. “The latest rains may bring a bit of color into the river for a few days, but will clear up after some time.” “Some nice and steady Baetis hatches have been taking place around the 12:30 – 2pm window. Fishing seems to pick up from this point on, using dry flies fished in the softer sections and pulling smaller streamers like our No. 16 punk perch light and darks through the same areas,” tipped Loe. “Pulling streamers in the deeper pools has still been the best for fooling the larger trout. Bishop creek has been adding a little more water to the river above Line Street and the water is a bit clearer up above,” said Loe. “The wild trout section below Pleasant Valley Reservoir has been producing some decent wild browns. Smaller nymphs in the mornings and decent mayfly patterns during the afternoons have made for some fun fishing. These anglers limited out on quality rainbow trout while trolling at Lake Best flies for these Camanche with Capt. Robbie this February. area have been Photo courtesy of KOKE MACHINE GUIDE SERVICE, Lake Camanche. No. 10 Loebergs in all colors, No. after the storms roll through. There’s 8 Spruce-a-bus in light and dark, No. 16 been a great window for throwing dry flies Punk Perch, No. 14 Crystal Leech, No. (BWO’s) during the afternoons as the trout 18 Assassin Light, No.16 San Juan Worm are really keying in on them. Otter eggs Red, No. 18 Blue Winged Olive, No. 22 have been accounting for some bigger Parachute Midge, No. 18 Broken Back fish in the deeper runs,” said Loe. Copper Tiger Midge, and No. 18 Crystal “There is no drive in access now since Caddis Larva Olive Dubbed-Black,” Loe the new snow has cut it off, so walking reported. in will get you access to both the canyon “At Hot Creek, flows are now at 9 cfs, and interpretive area. No. 18 BWO’s, No. but we can expect to see a jump in flows 18-22 Parachute midges, and Otter eggs here if the weather decides to warm up rate for winter chinooks on the ocean is 15.7%. If the 2018 regulations were in place at this time, it would show a preliminary prediction of 9.1%. “This is likely to constrain 2019 fisheries south of Point Arena ,” said O’Farrell. The Klamath River fall Chinook abundance forecast is also promising. The age 3 forecast is 167,504, the age 4 forecast is 106,119 and the SAN PABLO SHADOW age 5 forecast is RESERVOIR CLIFFS LAKE 599. O’Farrell said (510) 223-1661 (925) 426-0197 the potential spawner LAKE LAKE forecast DEL VALLE RANCHO SECO abundance is 87,893 – and the (925) 449-5201 (209) 748-2318 regulations must target an escape- LAKE PARDEE (209) 772-1472 ment of at least Offer valid on all boat rentals Monday - Friday 40,700, a 53.7 For more information about Boating, Camping & Recreation percent exploita- Visit WWW.ROCKYMOUNTAINREC.COM tion rate. All other boat rental terms and conditions still apply.Offer subject to boat rental availability. Offer expires on 12/31/2019 and is not valid with any other coupon/discount with any other coupon/discount. 20% OFF ALL-DAY BOAT RENTALS AT What Ails Your Boat? Specializing in: • Jet Boat Repair • Inboard Repair Reno, NV • Pump Work • Engine Work (916) 716-0975 Email: kwikkiwi19@gmail.com New Location, Same Great Service (Formerly Jetstream Concepts) 3807 GONE FISHING 15 and SD Crawlers have been getting some serious looks and takes from the resident trout,” Loe concluded. FEATHER RIVER Anglers Get Ready for Spring Stripers OROVILLE – Few anglers have been fishing for steelhead or striped bass on the Feather River, due to high and muddy flows. That should all change soon as the water clears and the spring run of stripers begins to move up the Feather. “Anglers have reported catching a couple of small keeper stripers while bait fishing on the Feather River at Star Bend,” revealed Tony Mello at Johnson’s Bait and Tackle in Yuba City. “Some sturgeon are also showing at the mouth of the Feather River, but nobody has weighed in any fish from there at the shop” Steelhead are very abundant in the Feather River this season – and a run of fresh fish is expected to arrive in the river in March. The hatchery trapped a total of 1,049 males and 839 females this year, 1988 steelhead total. They took over 1.1 million eggs, more than enough to meet their production goal of 450,000 steelhead smolts for the Feather River. They also have enough eggs to stock the Thermalito Afterbay with 10,000 steelhead. CONTINUED ON PG 16 continued from page 1 If the 2018 regulations were in place this year, the forecasted number of natural area adults returning to spawn would be 58.000 fish. That would result in an exploitation rate of 33.2 percent. O’Farrell said this fishery could constrain the 2019 fishery south of Cape Falcon, Oregon, as it has done in recent years. The ocean abundance forecasts “suggest a return to relatively plentiful salmon fishing in 2019 is likely,” explained John McManus, President of the Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA). In March and April, Pacific Fisheries Management Council officials will use this forecast and other information to set times and areas open to both sport and commercial ocean salmon fishing for 2019, according to McManus. McManus said the reason for the uptick in this year’s salmon forecast is directly linked to the better Central Valley river conditions during the very wet spring of 2017. “Increased natural runoff from rivers in the Central Valley always boost salmon survival, as measured two years later when the fish return to spawn as adults, said McManus. “We are looking forward to a good salmon fishing season this year.” “We could see the best season since 2013, which was a really good one,” said Mike Aughney, GGSA director. “Then as now, the good times came two years after really wet winters and springs in the Central Valley. If water managers would leave more water in the rivers during some of the drier years, we’d always have more salmon.” Since salmon are considered one year old when they leave the Central Valley in the spring, and most return as three year old adults, you can usually count on good fishing two years after lots of rain and snow. Thus, with this year’s rain and snow, 2021 should be a good year also. The less positive news is that the number of adult salmon that returned to the Sacra- mento Valley to spawn in 2018 fell short of targets for the fourth year in a row. After three years of missing the target, the National Marine Fisheries Service increased the minimum escapement target from 122,000 to 151,000 fish in 2018. “They may do the same again this season which could result in a shortened season or some areas being closed. These decisions will be made over the next month but no matter what, most expect good fishing once the season finally gets under way,” said McManus. A total of 105,739 hatchery and natural area adult spawners were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento River Basin in 2018, meeting the criteria for “overfished” status in 2018, according to the Pacific Fishery Management Council. Fall Chinook returns to Sacramento River hatcheries in 2018 totaled 33,815 adults, and escapement to natural areas was 71,924 adults. “In spite of the relatively rosy 2019 forecasts, the entire Central Valley is still recovering from the last drought that greatly reduced salmon in various Central Valley tributaries. A few years of good returns to help rebuild the natural spawning stocks is welcome news,” said McManus. The excessive diversion of Central Valley rivers and massive water exports from the Sacramento-Sacramento River Delta in dry and drought years are two of the primary causes of salmon declines, combined with poor ocean conditions, the blocking of migration to the spawning grounds by dams and habitat destruction. “Drought could revisit us almost anytime, in fact it’s probably just a matter of when. We need to build and fortify in the good years so we don’t get wiped out again in the bad,” said GGSA secretary Dick Pool. “That’s why GGSA is working overtime to get salmon recovery, habitat improvements, and hatchery improve- ments on the new governor’s radar.” One revealing bit of data presented by Barry Miller of the CDFW at the meeting is the contribution of the Mokelumne River to the recreational and commer- cial ocean salmon fishery in 2018. The Mokelumne, a relatively small river, provided 33 percent of the Central Valley fall Chinooks caught in the recreational fishery and 43 percent of the commercial fishery. “The advances in releases of salmon, coupled with the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery Manager Bill Smith’s care of the fish, have resulted in big, strong fish that are in really good shape,” concluded McManus. “The Mokelumne Hatchery has apparently discovered some type of magic in their stewardship of salmon.”