Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3807 Mar 15-29 2019 | Page 22

20 FRESHWATER March 15 - 29, 2019 FRESHWATER REPORTS: CONTINUED FROM PG 17 NEW MELONES LAKE cont. Delta due to the slow action, and he put in limits of quality crappie on consecutive days over the weekend trolling Notorious crappie jigs at 45 feet in the main lake.” New Melones has risen to 83 percent. Hopefully, all the muddy runoff and abnormally cold temperatures and snow begin to subside. A few breezy days in the 60’s would really help the Pyramid shore bite get back on track. - Mike McNeilly OROVILLE LAKE PYRAMID LAKE Shore Cutthroat Bite Falters SUTCLIFFE - Fly fishermen were extremely excited about the way things were shaping up. The bite was really good, and a lot of cutthroat trout in the 10-13 pound range were being caught in the Sutcliffe area. However, that was two weeks ago, and a lot has changed since then. The weather has been brutal over the last two weeks in Western Nevada. Snow has been piling up all along the Truckee Meadows and making just getting to the lake problematic. All of that snow has also been melting and sending lots of cold off colored runoff into the lake. The muddy ice cold runoff has been especially focused in the area from Washout Bay to the Nets Beaches. This area was hit hard by wildfire over the past few years, and the turbid runoff has been exacerbated by the lack of vegetation on the hillsides. This writer found extremely poor fishing on a recent trip to the Nets. In fact, over three hours of flogging the water with my fly rod and a pair of wooly buggers, I found nary a bite. Feeling pretty low, I compared notes with a few of my friends. Brad Stout related, “I had my worst trip of the year the other day ago. I got one little Summit. That was it. I went home early.” Lou Varela commented, “I went out there and didn’t even get a bite. However, Donny had one bite and got a 12 pounder.” Lastly, the Pyramid King, Jeff Morris, had this to say, “Trout aren’t catfish or sturgeon. They don’t bite in the mud.” DWR Doesn’t Plan to Use Main Spillway OROVILLE – SACRAMENTO, Calif. – With recent storms increasing runoff into Lake Oroville, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is monitoring lake levels and taking steps to prepare in the event the newly reconstructed main spillway needs to be used. However, at this time DWR does not anticipate using the main spillway to manage lake levels and inflows in the immediate term. Oroville’s elevation is currently 773 feet. At this elevation, the reservoir is The bite is light, but anglers working minnows at Clear Lake a little over 40 feet below are pulling some fat largemouth bass out of deep water. Photo courtesy of PAGANELLI’S BASS FISHING the entrance to the main EXPERIENCE, Sacramento. spillway. The following scheduled steps are being taken, as construction the spillways can be used, it will not activities are ongoing at the Oroville necessarily be activated. Releases spillways: are based on available flood storage, • Based on current 10-day projections, environmental needs, and water reservoir levels could reach an elevation deliveries. of 780 – 785 feet by the end of the • If DWR needs to use the main month. At elevation 780 feet, DWR and spillway for flood control releases at any its construction contractor Kiewit will point during the season it will follow the take steps to remove equipment from the 2018/2019 Lake Oroville Flood Operations main spillway. To prepare for rising lake Plan. levels, DWR will also plan to shut and As of November 1, 2018, the Oroville seal the gates before the lake reaches an main spillway is fully reconstructed and is elevation of 805 feet. capable of handling flood control releases. • Once water reaches the gates at 813 feet, the lowest elevation at which Powered by Clean, Quiet, Dependable Honda 4 Stoke Outboards. Now available in 2 hp. to 250 hp. Models... the right outboard motor for any boating need. SPRING SALES EVENT! Huge Inventory • EZ-Financing • Call Now! Alumacraft Boats From 14 To 20 Feet WE MAKE IT WORTH THE DRIVE. CALL NOW FOR DETAILS! RAIDER BOATS FROM 18 TO 30 FEET WE MAKE IT WORTH THE DRIVE. CALL NOW FOR DETAILS! Qwest Pontoon Boats From 13 To 28 Feet Electric or Gas Gregor Boats From 12 To 22 Feet WE MAKE IT WORTH THE DRIVE. CALL NOW FOR DETAILS! 3320 Boyington Rd. at Penryn in Loomis, CA 3807 DWR is closely coordinating with our state and federal partners, including the National Weather Service, to monitor and stay aware of minute to minute forecast changes. The recent precipitation and forecasted reservoir inflows mean Oroville is likely to reach average levels for this time of year. Fishing pressure for spotted bass and king salmon remains very light at Lake Oroville. “The fishing was slow on my most recent bass trip at Oroville,” said Tony Mello at Johnson’s Bait and Tackle in Yuba City. “Before the storms hit the lake, fishing was pretty good, with about 10 to 20 fish caught per trip on jigs and Ned rigs.” Anglers can look forward to solid landlocked king salmon fishing at Oroville this spring. Trollers should use hoochies, tipped with anchovy strips, around the Bidwell Canyon Marina and the “green bridge.” - Dan Bacher QUARRY LAKES Trout and Bass Lead Angling Parade FREMONT – The festival of rainbow trout continues at Horseshoe Lake, located in the Quarry Lakes Recreation Area. The park district planted 750 pounds of rainbows in Horseshoe Lake the week of February 25-March 1 and 750 pounds the week of March 4-8. Anglers are tossing nightcrawlers, PowerBait, Rooster Tail spinners., Mice Tails, Rapalas and other offering to entice the trout. Big fish honors go to Chris R. from San Jose, who bagged two big trout weighing six pounds and ten pounds using a Mouse Tail. Bill S. from Hayward caught a six-and- a-half pound trout from the shoreline to the left of the beach using a green Power Worm and a yellow Power Egg. Jack A. from Hayward hooked and released three trout and two bass from a boat using a homemade lure. Eght-year old Pedro I. from Newark landed a three pound trout from Fisherman’s Row using chartreuse with sparkles PowerBait. Please note that the use of lead fishing tackle is prohibited at Quarry Lakes. You can exchange lead tackle at the kiosk in a “1 for 1” trade for stainless steel weights. REDDING/RED BLUFF Big Flows Shut Down Trout Fishing WE MAKE IT WORTH THE DRIVE. CALL NOW FOR DETAILS! (916) 652-1660 VOL.38 • ISS. 7 For optimum performance and safety, read the Owner’s Manual before operating your Honda Marine Product. Always wear a personal flotation device while boating. www.auburnoutboard.net • www.auburnoutboardmarine.com REDDING – Big, wet Pacific storms dumped a huge amount of rain on the north state. The result has been lots of muddy run off and debris in the Sacramento River. “The trout fishing is going to be great in the future, but I’m not going to hit the water for two weeks at a minimum,” related Erik Hicks of Redding. “I fish the river quite a bit with both flies and lures and I think we are in for some really good fishing this spring. It seems like whenever we have winter storms that blow out the river multiple times the spring action is exceptionally good when things get back into shape.” “Not only would hooking trout be challenging at this time, but I don’t think it would be very safe either. My wife and I stopped by the river two days ago after going out to breakfast and witnessed a lot of wood floating in the current,” Hicks advised. If you’d like to nail down a date to target the Sacramento’s wild rainbows when the weather warms up and the flows stabilize, give Robert Weese of Northern California Guide Service or Mike Bogue of Mike Bogue’s Guide Service a call. They are two of the best sticks on the river and will work hard to get you fish. To contact Weese, call (530) 755-7196. To reach Mike Bogue, dial (530) 246-8457. CONTINUED ON PG 22