Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3810 April 26- May 10 2019 | Page 18

16 Apr 26 - May 10, 2019 GONE FISHING shallow water are amongst the best fighting of all fish… more on that later. Now that we have got a lot of the tomato cans out of the way, we find ourselves in the mid-level fighters. All of these fish can pull drag off of a reel and make a fisherman’s heart go “pitter- patter.” Many of these fish also jump when hooked, and that definitely bumps them up a couple of points. All of the black bass species fall in this bracket for me. Smallmouth have a reputa- tion of being the best fighting black bass, but I have had spotted bass and largemouth that could have fooled me. Largemouth probably get airborne more than any other species of bass, and that defi- nitely counts for something. Largemouth usually telegraph their soon to come acro- FRESHWATER continued from page 1 batics in a long run towards the surface. When your line makes a v-wake along the top of the water, a jump is forthcoming. Smallies’ bulldog and try to dig their way back to the bottom. A lot of anglers would say smallmouth pull harder than just about any fish pound for pound. I wouldn’t disagree, but therein lies the problem; most smallmouth weigh 1-3 pounds. If they got up to 20 pounds, they might find themselves the champions of this argument. Spots’ fight pretty similar to smallies’. Then there are my beloved trout. Cutthroats tend to be the dogs of the trout world, but a Pyramid Lake Pilot Peak Cutt’ is a tank. As a matter of fact, big Pilot Peak Cutts’ will advance to the latter Kokanee Power Shasta Lake Spring Derby Set For May 4 & 5! L ake Shasta will be full for the big Kokanee Power Shasta Lake Classic on May 4 & 5 and the excite- ment level couldn’t be higher. The fishing promises to be great, so be sure to mark the derby date down on your calendar! Kokanee Power is the state’s premier cold water fishery enhance- ment organization. Their focus is on helping to VOL.38 • ISS. 10 provide healthy kokanee, king salmon and trout populations in northern and central California lakes. Much of the funding for the fishery enhancement programs Kokanee Power participates in comes from derbies. This year the organization’s calendar is packed with seven different derbies including the Pine Flat and Shasta events. To sign up for the Shasta event, call Kokanee Power president Gary Coe at (888) 744-8150. rounds of this topic. Smaller Lahontan’s like those found in Heenan Lake usually just headshake their way into the net. Yellowstone Cutts’ are similar. Snake River Fine Spots’ are slightly better. Coastal cutthroats, while scrappy, don’t obtain large enough Big stripers can be counted on to put up a solid fight. They don’t sizes. Any cutthroat/ bulldog and test every aspect of your gear. rainbow hybrid will be jump, but they run, Photo courtesy of MIKE MCNIELLY, Fish Sniffer Staff. an excellent fighting fish. boost. They also catch air more than just about Moving on, brook trout and brown trout any other fish. are held in about the same regard by me. Chinook salmon are better yet. All of the They both fight well, and browns can get absolutely huge. Big browns have frus- salmon species are good fighters, save for spawned up pink salmon that alligator roll like trated the devil out of me while fishing the a big toothy bullhead catfish with a hump on Truckee River. Many a 5-7-pound brown its back. I have hooked some chinook trolling has been lost by immediately getting in the Lower Sacramento in warm water airborne and shaking its head; resulting in conditions that gave up very readily. Those a quickly tossed Rapala. fish found their way to the net before the other As previously mentioned, small rods could even be cleared. However, that is mackinaw pulled up from 200’ are some the exception, not the norm. I have hooked of the most loathsome fighting fish there chinook that I swore had been grabbed by a are rivaling gobs of moss and old shoes. sea lion. One fish in particular pulled out 220’ However, hook a 15-25-pound mackinaw of line off of my line counter reel before it in 40-80’ of water vertically jigging, and stopped. I put my thumb on the reel thinking, you have a very different beast on your “Damn sea lion got my fish!” Wrong! It was hands. A shallow water mackinaw has just the fight of a very determined 22-pound determination and sheer size on its side. chinook. I also recall fish of 27 and 31 pounds Macks’ can pull drag in a determined repeatedly getting airborne and causing my fashion that will make your jaw drop. heart to leap with their every jump. Along with a big Pilot Peak Cutthroat, Lastly are two species of the Sacramento these are some of the best fighting purely River Delta that can really pull. Big stripers freshwater fish you can find. and sturgeon are some of the hardest fighting There is a reason rainbow trout are so fish you can tangle with in freshwater. Much popular. They are one of the sportiest like chinook and steelhead, these species get fish in the world. They are beautiful fish a turbo charging out in saltwater, or at least in the hand, and most stripers do. Some of the biggest smartest the fight of a big old stripers never leave freshwater. Regard- rainbow can only less, both of these fish really pull hard. be described as Sturgeon very well may be the single hardest frantic. They can fighting fish in freshwater. Stripers don’t jump, switch directions but sturgeon readily and often times catch air on a dime, and like some kind of prehistoric bottom feeding their endurance marlin. Plus, sturgeon can weigh hundreds of is unmatched by pounds. They certainly are the heavyweight just about any champs of this debate. other freshwater So, which fish reigns supreme? I will take a fish. Let a rainbow tidewater bright chinook hooked in 55-degree go to the ocean, water over all others. Make that fish a high where it becomes 30-pound class fish or better, and there is no a steelhead, and grander fish in my opinion. A big chinook will you have the fish bulldog you, switch directions on a dime, run equivalent of a upriver at 12 mph burning drag off your reel, turbocharger and a serious horsepower and it may even jump. Trout ~ Kokanee ~ Salmon ~ Shad OFFICIAL SPONSOR 18 Proven Kokanee/Trout Dodgers! 240 different size/ color combinations! 4 All Natural Scents... 82 YEARS of Catching Kokanee, TROUT & KOKANEE Trout, Salmon & Shad 100% Made in the USA Without a DICK NITE... You’re Not Fishin’ Right! 3704 www.dicknite.com • fs@dicknite.com