Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3813 June 7-21 2019 | Page 25
FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 13
SANTA CLARA VALLEY LAKES
cont.
Calero and Anderson.
Shore anglers are bagging some
crappie while using small jigs at night
at Chesbro Reservoir, as well as some
largemouth bass while fishing with an
array of techniques.
Anderson, Coyote Lake, Stevens Creek
and Lexington Reservoirs reopened to
boating 7 days a week beginning April 15,
while Calero remains open to boating.
All other reservoirs and bodies of
water in Santa Clara County are closed
indefinitely to all vessels and floats - these
include: Almaden, Chesbro, Sandy Wool,
Cottonwood, Grant, Guadalupe, Uvas,
and Vasona.
San Luis Reservoir striper fishing
slowed down during the recent storms.
“The action should improve with the arrival
of warmer weather,” said Gutierrez. “For
the best success, drift jumbo minnows or
toss out jerkbaits. The stripers average 15
to 22 inches long.”
- Dan Bacher
SHASTA LAKE
Bass Bite Great, Trout Action
Flat
REDDING - Lake Shasta continues to
be the scene of very good bass fishing
and fair trout fishing. The trout being are
a mix of rainbows and browns and some
of them are large. Most of the bass being
caught are spots.
The best areas for trout are the lower
reaches of the Sacramento, McCloud and
Pit River Arms. The trout are holding in
the top 40 feet of the water column for
the most par with the 30 to 40-foot range
offering the most consistent results.
The average rainbow runs 14 to 18
inches with some ‘bows as long as 24
inches showing. Browns up to and beyond
6 pounds have been caught. About 75
percent of the fish hooked are rainbows.
Salmon have been few and far between.
The trout are feeding on shad, so top
lures include Speedy Shiners, Ex-Cels
and Hum Dingers.
On the bass fishing front anglers
continue to land and release up to 40
fish per day mostly on the soft plastics
such as 6-inch Mother’s Finest Worms
and 4 inch Senkos. Early and late there
is some reaction action for guys throwing
crankbaits and topwaters. The average
bass goes about 13 inches and the bigger
fish are weighing in at about 3 pounds.
Shasta is basically full and boat
launching is available at most locations
around the lake.
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23
the staple, but
9:30 in the morning and it turned out to be
there have been
a 9 pound mack. After releasing that fish,
a few browns and
the wind came up. I got scared out there
rainbows showing in open water and double timed it back to
up too.
the ramp,” exclaimed Larsen.
Minnows
teamed with
blades have been
doing most of the
damage for Tahoe
Sportfishing
WEST DELTA
skippers, but
Stripers & Sturgeon Offer
they are mixing
Stellar Action!
in some lures too
hoping to cross
BRANNAN ISLAND- Striped bass and
paths with larger
sturgeon are on an incredible bite in the
fish that are
West Delta.
gobbling small
Striper anglers are getting steady limits.
kokanee.
The average fish is running 4 to 6 pounds
“I took a solo
and big fish can weigh as much as 48
trip to Tahoe
pounds.
to fish out of
Sturgeon are on a steady bite
my Feel Free
throughout Suisun Bay. Most anglers that
kayak and I
put in a serious effort are landing either a
had exceptional
keeper or an oversize fish.
luck,” reported
Capt. Jeff of Soo Hoo Sportfishing
Ted Larsen of
continues to put his clients on big
Stockton. “I
numbers of stripers while using a
dropped in at
combination of jigs and live bait. Before
Cave Rock and
long Jeff will be leaving the Delta and will
had a 4-pound
be skippering out of the Emeryville Marina
mackinaw on
for halibut, stripers and more.
the hook within
Bait anglers plying the Delta are using
5 minutes of
live baits in the form of jumbo minnow
starting. The
and mudsuckers. In terms of cut baits,
fish hit a jointed
just about everything is working including
kokanee pattern
anchovies, blood worms, chicken livers
Rapala pulled off
and sardines.
a downrigger at
Captain Hayden Mullins of Dragon
40 feet.”
Sportfishing reports very good sturgeon
“I kept that fish
action.
and decided to
“Pressure has been fairly light, but the
This angler grabbed his lucky Fish Sniffer hat and hit the Delta with
let the rest go
fishing is off the hook. We are getting a
Captain Jeff Soo Hoo this May and ended up with a limit of husky stripers. if I was lucky
lot of keepers and oversize
Photo courtesy of SOO HOO SPORTFISHING, Brannon Island. enough to hook
sturgeon while fishing with a
anymore.
combination of salmon
Well about
roe and eel. The fish
20 minutes later I hooked another mack
are there and they are
TAHOE
that was almost identical to the fish I
hungry so we are just using
Tahoe Trollers Prosper!
kept. After that there was a lull, but then I
standard tactics and it’s
caught back to back rainbows in the 20-
SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - If you want a
working really well,”
inch class. I hooked my last fish around
limit of macks for the grill and perhaps
said Mullins.
a bonus brown
or rainbow, set a
course for Lake
By Cal Kellogg continued from page 15
Tahoe. To get in
on the action you
Okay let’s troll… Once at the fishing grounds, the
whistle. Pull on the rear of the release and the tines
can either tow your
skipper will instruct how deep to lower your bait.
of the cotter pin inside the release retract and slide
own boat to lake
Don’t just free spool your rig down, rather lower it
behind a slot in the tubing. The eye of the sinker is
or jump on one of
to the specified depth with one foot “pulls” of line.
placed
into
the
slot,
the
tension
is
relieved
on
the
Tahoe Sportfishing’s
This will ensure you’re at the proper depth, while
cotter
pin
and
one
of
the
tines
will
skewer
the
eye
of
vessels.
preventing tangles. After the bait or lure is at the
the
sinker,
holding
it
in
place.
When
a
salmon
hits,
it
For anglers
proper depth engage the reel’s clicker and place the
pulls on the cotter pin, the tines retract and the sinker
fishing with the
rod in the holder.
falls out.
Tahoe Sportfishing
Team mackinaw in
When a salmon strikes don’t grab the rod too
Of course, your 5 to 7-foot leader attaches to the
the 3 to 6-pound
quickly. Let the fish fight the rod tip for about 10
opposite end of the release and that’s where you’ll be
class have been
seconds before making a move, this ensures that the
attaching your offering be it rigged bait or a lure.
Now Booking
Bucks Lake
Bucks Lake
Lake Almanor
Trout & Kokanee
Davis Lake
and Almanor
Eagle Lake
trophy trout!
Captain Bryan Roccucci
Lake Tahoe
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salmon is firmly hooked and allows the sinker time
to fall away.
When you hook up yell “Fish On” and then follow
any and all of the deckhand’s orders. He’ll be
directing traffic and doing his utmost to ensure that
you put the fish into the box!
This last bit of advice will make charter skippers,
deckhands and experienced charter boat trollers all
scream in pain, but here it goes anyway. You’re on
a charter boat out on the ocean. There is water and
salmon all around the boat, so it shouldn’t matter
where you are positioned along the rail right?
Wrong!
I’ve spent hundreds of hours trolling from charter
boats and I can tell you from direct observation that
the guys fishing off the rear of the boat, particularly
the back corners and the guys fishing off the bow
hook the most fish most days. Baits trolled
Now Booking Folsom Lake Trout & Salmon! off the bow theoretically encounter the fish
first. Guys fishing off the transom have the
Also Fall Run Kings on the Sacramento River
luxury of fishing deeper than anyone else
Custom 23’ Rogue Jet
on the boat since they don’t have to worry
about snagging an angler fishing behind
them. Both of these advantages can be huge
when it comes to competing with 25 other
anglers to hook fish.
Cpt. Jerry Lampkin – 25 years of experience fishing
The early bird gets the worm, but while
Salmon, Steelhead, Stripers, Trout & landlocked Kings on
that
bird is hunting worms, the early
the Feather, Sacramento, American Rivers and Folsom Lake
arrivals to the charter boat get to camp out
3813
on the prime locations and almost always
T.N.G Motorsports Guide Service
end up eating salmon fillets!
(530) 320-0994 • www.tngmotorsports.com
Now I love to run hoochies and Apex Lures and
I’ve killed many an ocean salmon on both. While I
never set foot on a salmon boat without some of these
offerings in my bag, the most effective bait day in
day out is rigged anchovies and/or herring…
These days there are a lot of innovative plastic
hoods and bait rotators on the market that you can
“snap” your bait into the make it roll perfectly every
time. These rigs hook a lot of salmon, but overall
I prefer my baits on an old school crowbait rig or
impaled on hook fitted with a stainless steel wire
tether like those that Captain Joey Gallia of the New
Easy Rider constructs (see illustration).
While bait works much of the time, there are days
when salmon just aren’t interested in the real stuff
and that’s when you want to break out a Krocodile
spoon, Apex Lure, or Hoochie.