Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3811 May 10-24 2019 | Page 27

Location and Size: The recreation area, located at 1200 feet in elevation, covers about 1,600 acres when full and features 12.5 miles of shoreline. Collins Lake is about 1-1/4 hours northeast of Sacra- mento and about 30 minutes east of Marysville. Season: The recreation area is open for day use 7 days a week year-round. Anglers fish for rainbow trout, brown trout, spotted bass, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, black crappie, bluegill and redear sunfish. Boating: The water ski season runs from May 15 through September 30. Jet skis and small personal watercraft aren’t allowed on the lake. A double wide concrete launch ramp with a dock and a full-service marina with moorage and boat rentals are available. Fishing Access: Collins Lake provides outstanding access for shore anglers and campers. Shore anglers find success while fishing along the dam, on the west shore and around the bridge on the river arm. Camping: A safe and clean family campground includes hot showers and laundry, RV hookups and tent campsites. The campground is patrolled by security and emergency medical personnel are on call. Groups are welcome. Rates vary on time of year and amenities provided. Other Facilities: Collins includes a 600-foot sand swimming beach, children’s playground, beach volleyball, picnic area, general store, laundry and hot showers. Check out their famous huge ice cream cones! Three large group picnic areas located near the swimming beach and playground. Information and Services: Collins Lake Recre- ation Area, 1-800-286-0576 or (530) 692-1600, www. collinslake.com. Collins Lake (Merle Collins Res.) Yuba County Natural Tree & Brush Habitat Natural Rocky Habitat Steep Drop off Manmade Brush Habitat Lake of The Springs Bridge Oregon House El. 1530 Pow erlin e Stanfield Hill El. 1221 Flanly Peak El. 2099 Loma Rica Road To Loma Rica, Marysville & Hiway 20 Collins Lake Entry Station & General Store Swimming Beach Dolan Harding Road Open Camping Area FISHING NOTES Dry Creek Dam Chaparral Hill El. 2099 • Rainbow Trout are the most popular species at Collins, since the lake management and DFW in a cooperative program plant big loads of rainbows into the reservoir in the spring and fall. While the DFW plants catchable trout, the concessionaire stocks lots of trophy trout in the lake. Trollers find success using nightcrawlers behind dodgers, Cripplures, Needlefish, Rapalas and a variety of spinners throughout the year, but the best fishing takes place in the spring and summer. Shore anglers also catch trout while fishing Power Bait, spoons and spinners in the camping areas, off the swim beach and in near the dam. Fishing can be very good off the docks at night during the summer. • Spotted Bass are the predominant bass species in Collins, but the lake kicks out trophy Florida-strain Largemouth Bass every year. Smallmouth Bass used to be more abundant, but the spotted bass have largely replaced the bronzebacks in the catches. Collins is known for being a good drop shotting lake throughout the year,as well as being a great place to fish top water lures and plastic worms around structure. The lake management has put a lot of time and effort into habitat enhancement and Florida largemouth planting programs at the reservoir. • Channel Catfish prowl the waters of Collins during the spring and summer when water temperatures are at their highest. The Dry Creek inlet also kicks out good numbers of catfish during winter storms when food washes into the lake. Use mackerel, chicken liver and other baits for the whiskerfish. • Bluegill, Black Crappie and Redear Sunfish offer top-notch action during the spring and summer. Fish for the crappie with Mini Jigs and for the bluegill and redears with wax worms, redworms and golden grubs. Fish around the trees and brush on the east side of the lake and in the brush piles. fishery at the reservoir. The CDFW puts the trout in the 12 floating pens at a size of 2/3 lbs. each November. When they are released in increments between mid-March and the end of April, they range from 2-1/4 to 3 The kids division winners of the NTAC event at Collins Lake on April 13 pounds. This pose with their prizes and trophies along with Sheldon Bright of the Fish year the net Sniffer and Vince Harris of Angler’s Press. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. pens will be filled on CDFW, Kokanee Power and CIFFI, has November 19 by the CDFW, assisted by also sponsored a successful pen-rearing lake staff and local volunteers. program to enhance the trophy trout “They’re beautiful fish with full fins that look much more like native or holdover trout,” said Lincoln Young, manager of Collins Lake Resort. “Since they’re already accli- mated to the lake’s waters, they’re brightly colored, their flesh is firmer and they fight harder than recently planted trout.” The CDFW planted brown trout in previous years, but they haven’t stocked browns for over 8 years. Trout grow big and fat in Collins, feeding heavily on the lake’s abundant threadfin shad and other forage. Rich Moore set the lake rainbow Frederick Tinsley was the Rooster Tail winner at the Collilns Lake NTAC event. record of 14 pounds, 3 Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. To Brownsville Collins Lake Facts 25 May 10 - 24, 2019 MAP FEATURE VOL.38 • ISS. 11 ounces in May 2009. The lake brown In addition to replanting the reservoir record, set in 1991 by Bill Clutter, is 9 with warm water fish, they also have pounds. conducted their own habitat enhance- Spotted and largemouth bass offer ment project every 6 to 8 years to top-notch fishing at Collins also. Dan rebuild the lake’s food chain from the Raub captured the lake largemouth bottom up. bass record of 13 pounds, 4 ounces in “A positive aspect of the recent June 1998 while fishing a live crawdad. drought is that it exposed the shoreline James Everhart employed a trout and allowed brush to grow around the swimbait to nail the lake spotted bass lake,” said Young. “When the lake filled record of 9 pounds, 8-1/2 ounces in over the past few springs with the rains, 2008. it inundated the brush, providing good “Spotted bass are the most abundant habitat for juvenile bass and sunfish to bass in the reservoir,” said Young. “We feed and hide from predators.” see good numbers of 4 to 5 pounders For more information, contact the and fish up to 7 pounds every year. Over Collins Lake Recreation Area at the years, we’ve weighed in a dozen 530-692-1600, www.collinslake.com. spotted bass over 8 pounds.” Channel catfish also offer an excellent fishery at the lake throughout the year, with the best action generally available during the summer and early fall months. The lake catfish record, set in 2008, is 24 pounds. To supplement the bass and panfish fishery, Young and the lake management in the past have stocked the lake with Alabama spotted bass, black crappie, bluegill and redear sunfish. “We plant the fish at the size that they can spawn that season,” Young noted. The lake crappie record of 3 pounds, 4 ounces was set by Probhat Palma Dave Soucy placed second in the adult division with his 6.93 lb. rainbow caught while trolling a Kastmaster near the in October 2012. surface in the lake’s southeast corner. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.