Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3811 May 10-24 2019 | Page 18

16 FRESHWATER May 10 - 24, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 11 17-year-old son, Andrew, daughter, 13-year-old Abby, and I hit the Feather River out of Boyd’s Pump in Yuba City with Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service on Wednesday, April 18. “We have been pretty much catching limits of stripers on every trip,” said Rob after he launched his jet boat at 6 a.m. “With this high water, we’ve seen big numbers of stripers on the Feather.” On the day before, Reimers and two anglers reported limits of fish weighing up to 8 pounds. “We caught our fish, but we had to go through a lot of shakers to do it and we were done around 1 p.m.,” he said. The action was even better on the morning we fished. After we arrived in the boat at Star Bend, Reimers told us each to a grab a minnow from the bucket, put the hook through its “nose,” and to let out the line out so the minnow and sinker would gently tap the bottom. The day started off with plenty of action, with Ernie’s two children successfully batting several legal-sized stripers. We hit one spot where the fish were absolutely stacked on the fish finder. Unfortunately, once we started hooking up one fish after another, other boats converged at the spot, spooking the fish and making the bite much tougher. Rob drove the boat downriver, ending up below the Nicolas Bridge. “We didn’t get a lot of fish down here yesterday, but the fish we landed were quality ones,” he stated. We went upriver to the Star Bend area, - and that’s where Andrew landed the biggest fish of the day, a 9-pound male. All of the fish we landed were males, typical for this time of year. The five of us were limited out with our ten stripers by 10 a.m. We released at least a dozen shakers and lost some fish also. “I expect the great fishing on the Feather to continue through the second week of May. We will also begin fishing the Sacramento River for stripers,” Rob said. Information: (530) 632-0051. - Dan Bacher FRESHWATER REPORTS: CONTINUED FROM PG 15 EAST DELTA Striped Bass Breaks Loose on San Joaquin River STOCKTON - The striped bass bite has broken out in a big way in the east Delta with most trollers and plug casters focusing on the San Joaquin. It is only a matter of time before the Sacramento River-Delta breaks loose, but for now it is the San Joaquin’s turn. The Wild West Bass Trails Pro/Am ran out of Big Break Marina with up to 150 boats will be running around the Delta over the firs two days of competition before the field is cut down to a few participants on Sunday. Pro participants are matched with a different amateur for the first two days with separate weights for both pros and ams. Dan Mathisen of Dan Mathisen Outdoors predicted some heavy weights to be brought by the tournament anglers as this circuit attracts some of the top bass fishermen in the west. He said, “I saw all of the boat traffic at Russo’s on Wednesday so I pulled out and launched at Mossdale, and there are a lot of fish to be caught down there. If someone makes the run south to Turtle Beach, I predict a 30-pound bag coming out of there. I picked up a 7, 6, and two 5’s within 25 minutes on a June Bug Lizard with a chartreuse tail. I think the fish in this area all went to the banks at the same time. The Yamamoto Fan-Shu which is a tadpole imitation in greenpumpkin has also been hot since the bass are loading up on the amphibians. There is also a frog bite in the afternoons in the hot weather, and if you walk a frog over the flats, the bass can’t resist it.” For striped bass, Clyde Wands, shallow trolling expert was out for two consecutive days in the San Joaquin River, and they took stripers to 8.5 pounds in every spot from Eddo’s Marina to False River to the Old River Flats. He said, “We released everything but a limit of 6-pound linesides, Jeff caught rainbow trout to 7.6 pounds while fishing Lake Chabot in late March. The fish were caught at Raccoon Point and all of them grabbed PowerBait. Photo courtesy of the LAKE CHABOT MARINA, Lake Chabot. and the action has been coming on deep- diving lures. I were out earlier with Dave Houston of Livermore, and we released 14 stripers to 12 pounds, also on the deep troll.” - Dave Hurley EASTERN SIERRA Trout Season Kicks Off With Positive Results! BRIDGEPORT -Most areas saw some pretty good catching and decent weather this opening weekend. The previous week brought windy conditions but settled down nicely into the weekend and through the week. Waters that were fishable yielded some decent numbers of fish and some stand out trophies in certain locations. Bridgeport Reservoir was decent for private boaters that could SUPERSTITIOUSLURES@GMAIL.COM launch from the dam side. Water SUPERSTITIOUSLURES.COM is low here as 3809 they have been ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? preparing for the deluge of run-off slated for the coming weeks and months. Not to worry, as this reservoir will begin to fill again. The East Walker River fished decently while it lasted, flows are now back up to a high level. Crowley Lake saw large numbers of boats and anglers this year. Fishing a little slower than last year for the starter but midge hatches building daily. Sandy Pt. best so far. Nice mix of browns, cutts and rainbows chewing under the under-cator rigs. FEATHER RIVER FOLSOM LAKE Stripers Go Wild on River Trolling Yields Rainbows, Occasional King YUBA CITY – Striped bass are surging up the Feather River on their annual spawning run, drawn by the high flows down the system this year. Both boaters and bank anglers are catching fish, but the most consistent fishing is reported by boat anglers drifting live jumbo minnows. The striped bass, known for its willingness to take a wide array of baits, lures and flies and its hard, dogged battle, is one of my favorite fish to pursue. Ernie Marlan, Fish Sniffer staffer, his FOLSOM – If you want to troll for trout, now is a good time to hit Folsom Lake. Jerry Lampkin of TNG Motor Sports Guide Service and Jim Palmus landed limits of rainbow trout by noon during a Roostertails Fishing Club trout tournament. They trolled with chartreuse and chrome Speedy Shiners at 20 feet deep at a speed of 3 mph near the dam. The KFBK OUTDOOR SHOW 3507 What Ails Your Boat? 1 Rated with your Outdoor Radio Show host for 26 years! # Bob Simms Fishing • Hunting • Destinations Conservation • History Dedicated to the Northern California Outdoorsman Specializing in: • Jet Boat Repair • Inboard Repair Listen Every Saturday Morning from 5 am to 8am on BOB SIMMS CALIFORNIA’S LONGEST RUNNING OUTDOOR TALK SHOW! 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