Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 2723 Oct 26-Nov 9 | Page 27

VOL.37 • ISS. 23 Oct 26 - Nov 9, 2018 Freshwater Trinity River/Lake Shore Fishermen Nail Steelhead, Fall Chinooks WEAVERVILLE – Bank anglers fishing on the Trinity River from the mouth of the North Fork to Del Loma are bagging fall-run Chinook salmon, along with some bright steelhead. “Most of the salmon are in the 8 to 10 lb. range, with a few bigger fish mixed in,” stated Tim Brady of Trinity Outdoors. “The steelhead range from 1 to 7 pounds.” Anglers are hooking the steelhead and salmon while tossing out spoons and Blue Fox spinners, along with salmon roe. Glo Bugs and roe imitations should become increasingly productive as the salmon begin spawning. The releases to the Trinity River below Lewiston Dam went down to 300 cfs on October 16, according to the Bureau of Reclamation Lewiston Reservoir is producing some rainbow trout for anglers fishing from shore and boaters, but Brady hasn’t heard any word on the bass, trout or salmon fishing on Trinity Lake lately. Trinity Lake is holding 1,482,820 acre feet of water, 61 percent of capacity and 90 percent of average. West Delta Striper Bite Gets Tougher, Sturgeon Come on Strong! BRANNAN ISLAND - “We are still trolling for stripers and king salmon, but things have gotten a little tougher like they often do this time of the year,” related Captain David Hammond of Delta Pro Fishing. “The striper schools have gotten a little smaller recently because the fish are starting to spread out. Also, the weeds are starting to die so you’ve got to spend some time on the water, both in finding fish and in finding water that is not too cloudy or weedy to troll,” said Hammond. “Having said that my striper trips are still producing limits of fish. Right now, we are mixing it up with some trolling and bait fishing. Traditionally we spend a fair amount of time in October targeting sturgeon. The bite has been good, so we’ll be running sturgeon trips throughout the month of October, but we will still be targeting stripers too. The striper bite is going to rebound soon and we’ll have another shot of really good fishing,” Hammond concluded. Captain Hayden Mullins of Dragon Sportfishing is back at the Pittsburg Marina for fall striper and sturgeon fishing. As of press time, Mullins was targeting sturgeon and the action was very good on a combination of roe and eel. When the conditions improve, Mullins will begin targeting trophy stripers. To book a trip with Captain Mullins, give him a call at (925) 428-1103. Mullins’s boat, the Dragon, is a full blown yacht, so you’ll be fishing in style! Bass Spotlight 25 By Scott Suggs Structure To Target This Winter I f we’re going to be honest about it, fishing in the winter isn’t always the most pleasant activity. It can be cold, windy and sometimes getting the fish to cooperate can be frustrating. But just because the calendar has been flipped to December doesn’t mean that you should park the boat and resign yourself to hanging lights and watching football. Catching fish in the winter requires some knowledge about the body of water that you are fishing and a decided amount of patience. Slowing down your presentations will go a long way towards ensuring you get more than a runny nose for your time on the lake. So before you head out for your next day of fishing, try focusing on these three types of structure. Bluffs A lot of tournaments are won year round on rock bluffs. Big smallmouth and largemouth both like to hang on these bluff ledges during this time of year. But enticing strikes from finicky bass in winter can be a challenge. Fish each spot slowly and don’t limit yourself to just one lure or technique. In clear water, natural colored worms can be very effective for a smallmouth bite. A Berkley PowerBait Hand Pour Finesse Worm fished on a dropshot rig that is worked slowly on the ledges works extremely well. But don’t forget that crayfish also inhabit these rock bluffs and a big jig tipped with a PowerBait Chigger Craw will also work. Just keep the retrieve slow. Lipless crank- baits like a Frenzy Rattl’r fished parallel to the bluffs is also can entice strikes, but be careful that your retrieve isn’t too fast. Also remember that shad and other baitfish swim these bluffs during winter so a Berkley Gulp! Jerk Shad Texas rigged with a wide-gap hook and swimmed through the desired depth can result in a lot of hook ups. Main Lake Points Main-lake points hold bass pretty much year round. But during winter, when the lake is low, they really start to bunch up on these structures. Find a point that is just out of the swift, main lake current and there is likely to be a bunch of bass feeding on baitfish and crayfish. If there is deep water nearby, that deeper water is likely to hold bass, too. These out-of-the current spots can hold huge schools of bass, bunched up, usually in one very small spot. This means either dragging bottom-bumping lures, or fan casting, Carolina-rigged lures like a PowerBait Power Lizard or a Gulp! Turtleback Worm and looking for that instinct strike. Wood cover along these spots always harbor the bigger largemouth’s in the area. Try laydowns, washed in debris, stumps and brush piles and go after them with a jig and trailer. Islands And Humps Smallmouth bass and a surprisingly good number of largemouths, can both be found around islands, submerged humps, sand bars and ridges, located throughout lakes. Because of low water levels in winter, many are now visible; others can be found by paying attention to your electronics. Smallmouth relate to the edge of the swift current, waiting for an easy meal. Largemouth tend to hug the bottom and hang out in the cover (stumps, ledges). Fishing these areas can be tough when the weather is extremely cold, but slowly down and finesse are of the utmost importance whenever fishing these areas. Dropshot- ting small, straight-tailed finesse worms like the PowerBait Hand Pour Finesse Worm or Carolina rigging small, finesse lures, such as worms, lizards, grubs, jerkbaits and crayfish imitations, will entice more strikes in very cold water than baits with a larger profile. Lighter line also works better in these situations, so make sure your spinning reel is in good working order. Don’t let a little cold keep you off the lake this winter. There’s a lot less boat traffic this time of year and still a lot of fish to be caught. Just make sure to slow down your presentation and downsize your line and focus your attention on these three wintertime hotspots and pretty soon everyone will want to go with you. This article comes courtesy of Berkley. For more informa- tion about fishing and their extensive line of products, visit them online at www.berkley-fishing.com Brad’s Super Bait Cut Plug Lures For Ocean Salmon, Landlocked King & Trout I love trolling plug cut baits. In the ocean a juicy cut plug herring is often just what the doctor ordered. In lake’s cut plug anchovy tails are deadly offerings for landlocked kings, holdover rainbows and big thick-bodied browns. While trolling rigged natural baits is effective, preparing and storing bait can be a pain and at some lake’s using baitfish is off limits. I’m not the first troller to wish that someone would make a lure that imitates the shape and rotation of a cut plug herring or anchovy. A few years ago while at the ICAST fishing tackle show in Las Vegas I came upon just such a lure…Brad’s Super Cut Plug. Now I’m not going to claim that these baits are as effective as a properly rigged natural bait because they aren’t. Yet they come close and are a lot easier to fish with. Plus they come in a wide range of both natural and super bright colors that you just aren’t going to replicate with dyed herring or anchovies. by Cal Kellogg stock with a 60” leader of 40lb test monofilament completed with a six bead chain, scent pad and treble hook and includes an optional Siwash hook. Anglers can choose to fill the cavity with any number of prepared bait options including cut herring, sardines, ground tuna as well as PowerBait or Gulp! dough or a patch of sponge saturated with Pro-Cure. All can be quite effective depending on the species of fish you are targeting and the method you are using to catch them. For big salmon tuna, sardines or herring work great. Canned tuna can easily be packed into the cavity and will remain in place once the retainer band is replaced. The Mini Cut Plug Brad’s Super Bait Cut Plug The Super Bait Cut Plug is a patented 4 inch long bait/scent holding lure that displays a rotating action. Brad’s cut plugs feature a revolutionary design that affords fishermen the ability to pack their bait of choice or a scent soaked piece of sponge into the plug cavity. This design innovation has proven extremely effective and simple to use. The Super Bait Cut Plug is an excellent choice when targeting Chinook salmon. The rigged version of the cut plugs comes While Brad’s standard size Cut Plug is gear toward ocean salmon, the Mini is a trout and landlocked trollers dream. With an overall length of 3 inches the Mini is big enough to interest big brown and oversize kings, but small enough to draw strikes from smaller holdover rainbows. For more information about Brad’s entire line of fine products, visit them online at www.bsfishtales.com.