Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3811 May 10-24 2019 | Page 29
27
May 10 - 24, 2019
FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 11
FRESHWATER REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 23
wind to deep snow drifts, spring has
sprung in the Tahoe Basin. Melting snow
and warm bluebird afternoons are now the
TAHOE
norm. Like most residents of the basin,
Macks & Browns Bite As
Tahoe’s gamefish are enjoying the change
Spring Conditions Build
and both mackinaw and browns are on
the chomp.
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE – After an epic
The team at Tahoe Sportfishing have
winter that featured everything from big
continued putting their
anglers on limits of
mackinaw this week and
they noted an uptick in
the size of the fish. A
solid keeper still weighs
from 2 to 3 pounds,
but much bigger fish
are mixed in. The most
recent jumbo was
caught on Capt. Bobby’s
boat. It weighed in at a
husky 8.5 pounds.
Tahoe Sportfishing
skippers are playing
with a variety of
different offerings, but
the staple is threaded
minnows teamed with
some sort of blades.
If it isn’t broken, why
make things more
complicated?
Capt. Gene St. Denis
of Blue Ribbon Charters
is now back on the
water after a break and
he’s gone right back
to doing what he does
best, rounding up limits
of mackinaw for visiting
anglers.
“We are pulling
minnows and working
the structure for macks
that run from 3 to 11
pounds,” said St. Denis.
Fish Sniffer readers
The trout bite is getting better and better at Lake Shasta.
This awesome rainbow was caught during an April 9 trolling
and brothers, Todd
adventure with Capt. Jeff Goodwin.
and Jerry Kemp of Elk
Photo courtesy of JEFF GOODWIN’S GUIDE SERVICE, Redding.
HOW TO
By Cal Kellogg
tides are generally best for halibut fishing.
The minimum size for halibut inside the bay is 22 inches.
Fish from the minimum size to 20 pounds are common,
30 pounders are trophies and fish up to and beyond 40 are
possible. The limit on California halibut is 3 per day. Spring
through fall is the best time.
Striped Bass
WEST DELTA
Striper Fishing Redlines Out
West
continued from page 14
bass cruising the mudflats will readily take a variety
of baits including pile worms, ghost shrimp and cut
anchovies to mention only a few.
When presenting natural bait, the standard set up
is a sliding sinker rig weighted with a 1 to 2-ounce
sinker and featuring a 24 inch 20-pound test leader
tipped with a No. 2 bait holder hook.
Leopard Sharks
end, we landed over 200 fish. Half of them
were keepers that ranged up to about 7
pounds. The action came in waves, but
one of the wide-open periods went on for
over an hour. It was absolutely incredible,”
exclaimed Fong.
While Capt. Soo Hoo is spending his
time spooning for bass, guys drifting live
bait, plugging with swimbaits and Rat-L-
Traps and trolling with Yo-Zuri Minnow
plugs are also rounding up limits. Most of
the bass being caught have been in the 3
to 8-pound class, but a couple bass over
50 have shown up over the past week.
On the sturgeon fishing front, the bite is
red hot. Captains like Hayden Mullins of
Dragon Sportfishing have been enjoying
lots of action and are bringing lots of fish
to the net.
“We are getting 2 to 3 keepers per day.
One day we had a total of 7 fish. Overall
the fishing has been amazing. Our top bait
has been roe, but eel is working. We are
going to mix in some striper fishing soon,”
said Mullins.
“It’s pretty cool when you go
sturgeon fishing knowing you
are going to get hits and
hook fish. The only wild
card is whether or not
the fish you hook will be
a shaker, a keeper or
an oversize monster,”
Mullins exclaimed.
BRANNAN ISLAND - “I’ve been on
a lot of great trips writing for the Fish
Sniffer, but the West Delta striper trip
I just wrapped up with Capt. Jeff Soo
Hoo of Soo Hoo
Sportfishing
probably ranks as
the best,” reported
Mark Fong on April
24.
“Jeff and I along
with a few other
We carry Lead Free Pistol ammo for
clients hit the water
the hunter who wants to carry his
looking to spoon for
stripers. Jeff found
handgun in Lead Free Hunting Zones.
the fish right away
Available in a variety of calibers...
and it was on. In the
Not that many years ago leopard sharks were
considered trash fish by most anglers. Today after
discovering the excellent table fair they offer
leopards are considered gamefish, with a 36-inch
minimum size restriction and 3 fish limit.
In addition to the great eating they provide,
leopards are ready strikers and put up a tremendous
fight.
Shark fishing for bank anglers gets productive
in June and remains good until water temperatures
drop in the fall. In the winter leopards retreat to deep
water areas, but during the warm water months they
will be found cruising the nutrient rich mudflats
feeding on whatever is available.
Most of the time whether I’m fishing for leopard
sharks from the bank or from an anchored boat, I
use the same sliding sinker rig that I use for stripers
except I incorporate a 20-inch leader either made of
light cable or a 100-pound test monofilament tipped
with a 9/0 circle hook.
If standard leader material is used, the shark’s
abrasive teeth will quickly wear through it. The
circle hook prevents gut hooking the sharks, and
allows unwanted leopards to be released unharmed.
For bait a lot of anglers rely on squid because it is
cheap and effective. The downside with using squid
is that it attracts a lot of small sharks and bat rays.
In terms of availability and cost I have found
no better bait than sardines. To use them I simply
cut them in half and pin them on the hook. For me
sardines have proven highly effective in drawing
strikes for large sharks and bat rays, while the
smaller fish tend to leave them alone.
I’ve landed leopard sharks to 61 inches and bat
rays in excess of 100 pounds while soaking sardines
on the mudflats.
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As a general rule if you’re targeting stripers from a private
or charter boat in S.F. Bay you’ll be using the same gear,
leader and live bait that is used to tempt halibut. The only
real difference is that stripers tend to favor areas with more
big rocks and current than halibut, but I’ve caught plenty of
stripers while drifting sand flats for halibut.
Shore anglers interested in stripers have many miles of
shoreline to work throughout the S.F. Bay Area.
For shore anglers plugging and fishing cut baits are the
most effective ways to bag stripers. A good set up for both
of these approaches is a 7 to 8-foot spinning rod with a
medium fast action and enough power to cast up to an
ounce and a half of weight. The rod should be teamed with
a spinning reel spooled with 200 yards of abrasion resistant
12-pound monofilament or braid in the 20 to 30-pound
class.
When the water has a decent level of clarity, nothing can
match the excitement of plugging for stripers. Shiner perch,
anchovies and smelt are the primary forage within the bay
and your lures should be chosen accordingly.
Nothing does a better job of imitating a perch better than a
small swimbait, Kastmaster or Rat-L-Trap.
If the bass are feeding on anchovies or smelt, top artifi-
cials include Rapala, Bomber and Rebel minnows in the 3
to 7-inch range, AA 6 inch swimbaits rigged on half ounce
jig heads and bucktail jigs.
Plugging for stripers is a run and gun proposition in which
the angler is well advised to stay on the move seeking out
actively feeding bass. The last hour of the incoming tide and
the first hour of the outgoing offer shore pluggers the best
opportunity, since this is when the bass will move within
close proximity of the bank.
While plugging for stripers offers excitement, targeting
them with bait offers consistency across a broader spectrum
of situations.
When baitfish are not present stripers will happily feed on
crabs, clams, marine worms, shrimp and a long list of other
creepy crawlers that call the bay mud home. For this reason,
Grove towed their Rogue Jet up to Tahoe
this week and were surprised by the
results.
“Our spring Lake Tahoe trip has become
an annual event. We typically don’t do real
well and we’re happy taking in the scenery
and bringing home a mack or two for
dinner. This year’s trip was the best we’ve
ever had and we are thinking of going
back,” said Jerry.
“After launching at Cave Rock we trolled
north pulling a Rapala floating minnow
and a Rapala Husky Jerk. We hadn’t
gone a quarter mile before Todd landed
a 5 pound brown on his Husky Jerk. After
putting that fish into the cooler Todd got
another brown about 3 pounds and then
I caught one about the size of Todd’s first
fish. The action stayed steady for about
two hours. In all we caught 7 browns and
3 macks. We each went home with a big
brown and a mackinaw. Our top mack
weighed exactly 6.33 pounds.”
45 Miles North
of Sacramento
(530) 724-0552
www.lincraahauges.com • traahauge@yahoo.com