Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3809 April 12-26 2019 | Page 31

Apr 12 - 26, 2019 FRESHWATER VOL.38 • ISS. 9 29 FRESHWATER REPORTS: CONTINUED FROM PG 27 TRINITY RIVER/LAKE cont. the anticipated effective date of February 22 (subject to OAL approval) to August 31. Trinity River main stem from upstream of the Highway 299 Bridge at Cedar Flat to Old Lewiston Bridge. Closed to salmon fishing from the anticipated effective date of February 22 (subject to OAL approval) to October 15. Fishing for Upper Klamath-Trinity River Fall Chinook Salmon will be allowed in these areas after the closure dates listed above. Quotas and bag and possession limits for Fall Chinook Salmon will be adopted by the Commission in May of this year. Steelhead fishing will be allowed year-round with normal bag and possession limits. The public may keep track of the quota status of open and closed sections of the Klamath and Trinity rivers by calling the information hotline at (800) 564-6479. Additional information can be found in the “2018-2019 California Freshwater Sport Fishing Regulations” and the “2018- 2019 California Supplement Sport Fishing Regulations.” WEST DELTA Sturgeon Hot, Striper Bite Gets Better! PITTSBURG - Here we go, spring fishing is about to break wide open in the West Delta. The water is slowly clearing, the temperature is climbing, sturgeon are on the chomp and striper fishing is much improved. “The sturgeon fishing has been fantastic THE FISH SNIFFER (833) 347-4661 • FishSniffer.com FISH SNIFFER DIGITAL!!! Captain Jeff of Soo Hoo Sportfishing has been putting his clients on some nice stripers while plying the West Delta and the fishing is only going to get better. Photo courtesy of SOO HOO SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg. in Suisun Bay,” related Captain Hayden Mullins of Dragon Sportfishing. “We’ve been getting lots of bites, lots of keepers and some oversize fish. Eel and roe have been the baits. Some days we’ve been getting multiple slot fish into the boat. One day recently we had 3 oversize fish and a jumbo keeper. Another day we had an oversize, two keepers and six total bites. If you want to fill a sturgeon tag, this is a great time to get out.” Captain Jeff SooHoo of SooHoo Sportfishing has been doing really well while targeting striped bass in the San Joaquin River. “We had a slower day today, but we still rounded up five limits. Most days we’ve been getting limits and more,” said SooHoo. “We’ve been mixing things up. Part of the time we are drifting live baits and other times we are working spoons. We’ve seen some 8 to 10 pound fish on the big side. Our average bass right now is going about 24 inches and 5 pounds or so. We are seeing lots of males and a few females,” added SooHoo. WHAT’S HOT small minnow colored Ex-Cel spoon was dancing at 15 feet. The water tempera- ture was 53.5 degrees and I was marking lots of fish from 10 to 30 feet deep. The trolling speed ranged from 1.8 to 2 mph. Once I reached the mouth of Elmer’s Cove without a hit, I made a U-turn and headed back down the west shore. I was a short distance past the launch ramp when the Ex-Cel got crushed. The fish imme- diately began pulling line off the reel and then it was gone….%*#^@$! I hate losing a fish, especially a big one. But the positive thing was that I’d only been on the troll for 20 minutes and I’d already gotten hit. At that point I was pretty confident. Down the lake I trolled marking fish all the way. I cut across the face of the dam and when I turned up the east shoreline near the floating dock that resides there. That’s where the trolling fly got hammered. The result was the same. The fish was hooked for a few seconds and then it was gone….%*#^@$! After that I trolled all over the main body and into Elmer’s Cove with zero results. With the water temperature rising I switched to Plan B. I blamed the poor water clarity for my lack of success, so I decided to rig up with bold, loud offerings that I could troll slowly. On one rod, I put on silver flashers trailing a Gulp! worm covered in Garlic Pro-Cure. On the other rod, I went with a Yakima Mag Lip 3.0 in bright orange. The Mag Lip offers a ton of skip beat action and rattle. The 3-inch version dives to about 10 feet, which seemed ideal. I put the rods out at the mouth of Elmer’s Cove and headed down the swim beach. It didn’t take long for the worm and flasher combo to get hit and this time the fish stuck. It didn’t feel huge, but it put up a hard fight. When I got the fish the boat I was shocked to see that it wasn’t a trout, but rather a beautiful 1 pound crappie. I don’t catch a lot of crappie, so landing that fish was a real treat. Better still it wasn’t hooked badly so back into Digital subscription now available to the Fish Sniffer. Download the app from iTunes or Google Play. Check us out on magazine.fishsniffer.com or Email digital_subscriptions@fishsniffer.com MOVING....OR MOVED? Send us your new address so we can get your FISH SNIFFER pub- lications coming to your proper address... ON TIME, EVERY TIME! Continued from page 1 the lake it went. I trolled down the rest of the western shoreline, headed across the face of the dam and started up the east shore before getting hit again. This time it was the Mag Lip. I could hear the fish jumping behind me and I figured it was a bass. When I got it to the boat, my suspicion was confirmed. With the one pound spotted bass back into the water I started cutting across the lake toward the ramp. It was early afternoon, so the plan was to troll to the ramp and call it a day. I was out in the middle of the main body when the Mag Lip got hit a second time. The fish was heavy and stayed deep. I was convinced that I had the rainbow I’d been looking for and then I saw the fish…It was a 3-pound catfish with the rear hook of the Mag Lip imbedded in one of its whiskers. As I raised its head to slide it into the net, the hook popped out and the channel cat took off with a surge of speed that easily match that of a trout or bass! Driving home I was a little frustrated that I couldn’t get a trout into the kayak, but it had been a good day. I’d battled some species of fish I don’t ordinarily hook and I’d gathered some good intel. Namely that Collins is full of trout. When the clarity improves and the bite kicks into gear, it’s going to be a real “barn burner”. I’ll see you there! The Infl ate & Go, Defl ate & Stow 16’ Infl atable Fishing Skiff Sea Eagle® FishSkiff ™ Sleek, Sleek, Rock Rigid, High Pressure, High Performance Hull Holds Holds 1 or 2 anglers and all their fi shing gear Packs Packs in car trunk, RV, SUV or truck Goes Goes 17 mph with 6 hp motor Goes Goes anywhere there is water Stores Stores in a closet or on a shelf Infl Infl ates in just 10 minutes Just $3849. plus local sales tax As shown with FREE SHIPPING Unique Patent Pending Design * 16’ long x 54” wide * Packs to just 60” x 24” x 12” * Weighs just 99 lbs. / Holds up 1765 lbs. * Infl ates to 10 psi * Fits in car, truck or RV • Comes with Honda 5 hp motor, 2 swivel seats, 4 Scotty® rod-holders, paddle, pump & carrying bag to the contiguous U.S. Fish Sniffer editor Cal Kellogg shows off the chunky crappie he caught while trolling flashers and a threaded worm at Collins Lake on March 19. Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. 1-800-944-7496 for a FREE catalog M-F, 9-5 EST or Visit SeaEagle.com Dept FN049B 19 N. Columbia St., Ste 1, Port Jefferson, NY 11777