Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3807 Mar 15-29 2019 | Page 19

March 15 - 29, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 6 KNIGHTS LANDING/COLUSA cont. oversized fish, caught by bank anglers in the Knights Landing, area” said Boggs. “The Knights Landing and Verona ramps aren’t launchable at this time, so all of the fishing now is from the bank. With the high flows, it’s hard to keep your bait on the bottom, so anglers are purchasing 14 to 16 oz. weights to get down.” Boggs said ghost shrimp is the number one bait for the sturgeon, followed by lamprey eel. “Other anglers are heading down to Suisun Bay to target sturgeon with shrimp and eel,” said Boggs. “One angler reported hooking lots of stripers in the 4 to 6 lb. range while fishing ghost shrimp where the Mothball Fleet was. In fact, the stripers were biting so well that the sturgeon didn’t get a chance to hit the bait.” Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Service saw sturgeon on his fish finder screen on his last evening adventure on the Sacramento River near Grimes after launching out of Ward’s Landing, but they didn’t hook any fish on ghost shrimp/ pileworm combos, The angler fishing with him wanted to leave early at 9 p.m., so they didn’t get to fish for long. The good news is that they didn’t have to deal with much debris. - Dan Bacher LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR Big Channel Cats Prowl Lake BYRON – Los Vaqueros Reservoir continues to produce some of the largest channel catfish reported in Northern California so far this winter. Big catfish honors go to Israel Thomas, who landed a 17.38 pound channel cat while using bread in the South Cove in late February. Yekam El Nakar also caught three huge catfish weighing 14.5 lbs., 12.7 lbs. and 11.7 lbs. during two recent trips. He was soaking anchovies for bait in the South Cove. “Shore fishing is doing great for trout and striper limits, as well as big catfish,” according to the Los Vaqueros Marina. “Boaters are also coming back with good size trout and stripers, although not too many limits.” The trout are hitting a mixture of PowerBait, nightcrawlers, Kastmasters and other offerings, while the stripers are falling for anchovies and Kastmasters. Big trout honors go to Dave Delgado, who caught a 7.7 lb trout on a pink and white Mousetail in Howden Cove. The most recent plant of 1000 pounds of rainbow trout went into the reservoir on February 21. Los Vaqueros will host its annual spring Trout Fishing Derby in April 2019. Anglers who catch the three largest trout will win! More details on participation and prizes will be coming soon. .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 Romero and Daniels Cinch FPT ‘Calaveras Clash’ ANGELSCAMP - The first Angler’s Press tournament of the season was the ‘Calaveras Clash,’ named for the county in which New Melones partially is located, and the team of Romero and Daniels took first with a five-fish limit of 32.94 pounds along with the big fish at 12.56. It took a 16-pound limit to land within the top fifteen finishers. At New Melones, Mike Gomez of Berserk Baits and his brother came in the top 25 during the Angler’s Press event, and they qualified for the three-day Tournament of Champions at Melones on March 8-10. He said, “The bass were in the top 10 17 Igor Bobritskiy from Livermore and Don Vaught from Manteca had a great day of fishing when they bagged these two king salmon and eight rainbow trout while trolling with Jerry Lampkin at Folsom Lake. Photo courtesy of TNG MOTOR SPORTS GUIDE SERVICE, Meadow Vista. feet in the early morning, but by 8:00 a.m., they were moving down. We ended up with 14.04 pounds, and everything came on either the Purple Hornet or Brown Craw jig at varying depths from 5 to 60 feet. The bass really hit the jig, and when you received a strike, the line jumped a foot and a half.” John Liechty of Xperience Fishing Guide Service said, “The bite is on, and swimbait fishing is very good. My client, Mike Dalforno of El Dorado Hills, landed a largemouth bass just over 6 pounds on a swimbait, and this fish just crushed the bait all the way to the back of its throat. The big fish are coming on swimbaits, and I was out with a father and son on the same day as the big Angler’s Press tournament.” “There is plenty of water on the lake so it didn’t seem crowded even though there were over 100 boats out,” Liechty stated. “We used plastics on the drop-shot or shakey head for 4 hours for between 15 and 20 bass with the best cut found from 15 to 25 feet. We also found bait deeper on the graph at 45 to 55 feet, and we picked up more fish in deep water.” Gene Hildebrand of Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp said, “Angels Cove is giving up some nice rainbows from shore near the inlet where they are taking advantage of the high water runoff that brings insects into the feeding ground. Heavy spoons such as Kastmasters or Tasmanian Devils along with nightcrawlers under a bobber or on a Ned rig have produced rainbows to 4 pounds this week.” For crappie, Captain Joey Gamez of Golden State Sport Fishing took a few days off from sturgeon fishing in the CONTINUED ON PG 20 The Yukon is the industry’s only classified boat under 20’ that boasts an amazing beam width of 102” providing unmatched available space and stability. That means you get piece of mind and the ability to get where you’re going in all water conditions. Designed for the outdoor enthusiast that doesn’t need a longer profile boat or is restricted in the amount of storage space they have, the Yukon delivers. From bad weather ocean conditions to bays and estuaries, the Yukon design provides the performance offshore enthusiasts have demanded. We’ve not only maximized the free board area but have designed it to provide additional floatation and stability utilizing our signature full width outboard bracket. 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