Up-To-Date and Published Locally ... By Sportsmen ... For Sportsmen !
Vol . 36 - ISS . 13
Our 35th Year
MADE IN U . S . A
Since 1982
35 Years Serving Sportsmen
SEE OUR NEW BAJA ROUNDUP SECTION ON
PAGE 30-31
“ The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen !” INSIDE
Area Reports
Fish Sniffer Readers Smack Feather River Stripers !
The Minn Kota was keeping the boat almost stationary below the falls on the Feather River . Using the term “ falls ” might be a bit of an over statement . The falls are basically a section of rapids that punctuate a relatively placid stretch of the Feather not far from Yuba City .
Whether you call them falls or rapids they look fishy , with lots of current in some areas , current breaks in other places and big eddies swirly near the banks .
We already had landed over a dozen stripers that morning up to about 22 inches , but when Captain Manny hooked up and passed the rod to Richard Cummings , we could tell right away that it was a much larger fish .
WHAT ’ S HOT by Cal Kellogg
5 DAYS CHASING STRIPERS UP AND DOWN THE VALLEY
Mike McNeilly bagged this beautiful striper while fishing a live minnow in the Sacramento River .
Photo by MIKE MCNEILLY , Fish Sniffer Staff .
The Cousins rod bent heavily and the reel grudgingly payed out Yo-Zuri braid as the bass surged away using the current to its advantage .
“ Pull in your lines guys ,” Manny exclaimed . “ We may have to follow this one .”
With my line in , I turned my attention to shooting video of the developing battle .
Richard has fought his share of big fish and it showed . He stayed calm , kept the rod loaded as Manny eased the boat several yards down river matching the pace of the bass .
When the striper realized that it wasn ’ t creating any real distance between itself and whatever was fighting it , the fish changed strategy . In true husky striper manner , it dropped to the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 23
Day one dawned breezy and cool in the Marysville area . The Feather River raged by . It normally would be flowing around 5,000 CFS , but today it scooted by at 9x that amount . Entire trees floated down the muddy torrent , but across the river lay the confluence of the much clearer Yuba River . There had been a hot striper bite underway in the area for the past several days , but today the water had spiked on the Feather .
Through my friend Jeremiah Wattenburger , I had found my way onto noted north coast salmon and steelhead guide Mario Arguilles ’ s boat . I had met Mario once before at his salmon camp on the Klamath River . It had been a wild night of
GONE FISHING by Mike McNeilly
Lower American River Map Feature
See Page 18
boozing and gorging on tri-tip that Mario had cooked that afternoon . I had already formed an opinion of Mario that he is a great dude , and it ’ s hard not to feel like you ’ ve known him for years .
He is pretty much an open book . Also with me was the aforementioned Jeremiah and our mutual friend from Nebraska , Vance . Vance is always good for entertainment ’ s sake .
At least once per day he will lose his wallet . There ’ s 5 minutes of frantic paranoia until he finds it . It ’ s usually located in his pocket . He ’ s also famous for his dark and morbid sense of humor and his hatred for eating any kind of plant matter .
CONTINUED ON PAGE 17
New Report : Extinction Likely for Majority of California ’ s Native Trout and Salmon
See Page 28
June 9 - 23 , 2017
Bill Groome battled a bunch of striped bass while fishing the Feather River on May 5 including these feisty fish .
Photo by CAL KELLOGG , Fish Sniffer Staff .
FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - American River ............................. 4 Lake Berryessa - Carson Pass .............................. 7 Clear Lake - Eagle Lake ...................................... 10 Davis / Frenchman Lakes - East Delta .................. 16 Eastern Sierra - Lafayette Reservoir ................... 21 Los Vaqueros - Lake Pardee ............................... 22 Pyramid Lake - San Pablo Reservoir ................... 25 Sacramento Area - So Oregon Roundup ............. 27 Lake Tahoe - Wild Horse Reservoir ..................... 29
SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley & Emeryville to Fisherman ’ s Wharf ......... 33 Half Moon Bay - Shoreline Peninsula ............ 34-35
FEATURES
Where ... When ... How ...
BAJA ROUNDUP ............................................... 30-31 BULLETIN BOARD ................................................... 4 COOKIN ’ YER CATCH - Paulette ........................... 24 FISH SNIFFER HOW-TO : Cal Kellogg ................... 11 GO FOR IT : Staff ....................................................... 6 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ...................................... 3 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ............................. 18-19 TROUT & KOKANEE JOURNAL ... 5,8,9,13-15,17 SALTY TIPS Steve “ Hippo ” Lau .............................. 34 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION Dan Bacher .... 28 WHAT ’ S HOT – SALTWATER ................................. 31
STAFF
TACKLE
What We ’ re Using
Cal Kellogg - fished Rollins Lake for rainbow trout . Cal utilized a 7 ’ Fenwick HMG 70 ML rod rated for 4 to 10 pound test matched with an Abu Garcia Revo SX spinning reel . The reel was spooled with 8 pound Trilene Big Game line . A 6 lb . Vanish fluorocarbon leader was employed . Cal caught 3 trout to 14 inches while soaking green Zeke ’ s Sierra Gold floating trout bait . The best action took place from 6 in the evening until dark .
Paul Kneeland - fished Boca Reservoir with Matt , Mark and Bridget Looney in the Fish Sniffer 21 ’ Rogue Jet Coastal . They caught Kokanee to 15 1 / 2 inches using a Cousins 7 ’ 6 ” ultra light graphite downrigger rod with a Abu Garcia Revo MGX Extreme level wind reel loaded with 6 lb test Yozuri TopKnot fluorocarbon line . They trolled pink & purple Mack ’ s Lure Double Whammy Mini Kokanee spinners and Paulina Peak spinner hootchies behind Vance ’ s and Sep ’ s Watermelon dodgers off the Canon Downriggers 10 to 25 feet deep at 1.4 mph .
Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Pardee Lake . He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6 ’ 6 ” medium action spinning rod , teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 6 lb . test P-Line CX Premium Flourocarbon Coated Line . He fished with Berkley chartreuse glitter and fluorescent orangee PowerBait on # 14 gold Eagle Claw hooks rigged with 4 lb . test Berkley Trilene 100 % Fluorocarbon leaders on sliding sinker setups . He also tossed out 1 / 4 and 1 / 8 oz . Yakima Bait Rooster Tails in Brown Trout , Fire Tiger and Rainbow color patterns .