Bill Villwock and pro guide Danny Salvador pose with a breathtaking Lake Tahoe brown trout that Bill battled on May 13 .

Photo courtesy of BILL O ’ DONNELL , Roseville .

FRESHWATER REPORTS :

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27

SOUTHERN OREGON ROUNDUP cont .

caught on bait-wrapped plugs and on roe . Anglers are reminded that only hatchery Chinook with clipped adipose fins may be retained .

Winter Steelhead fishing is winding down in the upper reaches of the Rogue , and the harvest of wild steelhead ended on April 30 . There are reports of a few spring Chinook being caught ; however , fishing remains slow . Anglers are reminded that only hatchery Chinook with clipped adipose fins may be retained . The river from the Highway 62 bridge upstream to the barrier dam at Cole River Hatchery is currently closed to fishing from 8:00 PM to one-half hour before sunrise .

LAKE TAHOE

Late Spring Macks Offer Excellent Action

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE - Mackinaw fishing is going strong for anglers that venture onto the water of Lake Tahoe .

“ The macks are feeding heavily on shrimp , crawfish and small kokanee ,” disclosed Captain Gene St . Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters . “ I ’ ve been getting limits while trolling from 100 to 200 plus feet deep at Cal Neva Point , Sugar Pine Point and the Tahoe City Shelf . Most of the fish are 3 to 9 pounds , but larger models are showing too . Minnows have been producing most of the fish , but Flatfish are working too .”

High mountain adventurer and Fish Sniffer reader Josh Moreland has been trolling Lake Tahoe from his kayak and scoring both macks and browns near Cave Rock .

“ I ’ ve been running two Vance ’ s trolling rods paired with Abu Garcia line counter reels . One rod I used for toppling is spooled with 8 pound fluorocarbon line . The other rod is spooled with Suffix leadcore with a fluoro leader . My lures of choice have been 3 inch Flatfish and Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows . Over the past week , I ’ ve

SAN PABLO RESERVOIR

( 510 ) 223-1661

LAKE DEL VALLE

( 925 ) 449-5201 landed 4 macks to 9 pounds and two brown trout to 3 pounds . There hasn ’ t been a pattern to where the fish are holding . I ’ m just fast paddling along the edge of deep water and the hits come randomly ,” said Moreland .

Mickey Daniels of Mickey ’ s Big Mack Charters has been hammering macks up at the north end of Tahoe . Daniels ’ s clients have been keeping a few fish in the 3 to 7 pound class for the table . The rest of the fish are tagged and released .

Daniels starts off the day trolling shallow water quickly and then slows down and probes deeper as the sun climbs in the sky ..

TRINITY RIVER / LAKE

Boaters Battle Smallmouths And Largemouths

WEAVERVILLE – Both black bass and rainbow trout fishing is solid on near-full Trinity Lake . The reservoir is holding 22,298,952 acre-feet of water , 94 percent of capacity and 110 percent of average at press time .

“ The bass fishing is pretty consistent through the up and down water level fluctuations on the reservoir ,” revealed Tim Brady of Trinity Outdoors . “ The Bureau of Reclamation right now is letting more water out than is coming in .”

“ Anglers are hooking smallmouth and largemouth bass to 4 pounds while fishing just about any way they like to fish ,” he said . “ They ’ re hooking fish on anything from top water lures to swimbaits . The fish are holding in both deep and shallow water .”

While the north end is the most popular area to fish , Brady noted that bass are hanging around submerged weeds ,

SHADOW CLIFFS LAKE

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LAKE RANCHO SECO ( 209 ) 748-2318

Rancho Seco Recreational Area

Open year round with RV sites , waterfront campsites and BBQ ’ s . You can rent electric and row boats , kayaks , and paddle boards for more water fun !

• Wet a line

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• Hike a trail brush , timber and structure around the lake .

For rainbow trout , Brady recommended tossing out PowerBait , salmon , eggs , marshmallows and nightcrawlers at the mouths of the tributaries . Trollers are also bagging some fish while trolling Kastmasters and worms in the same areas .

Reclamation water releases from Lewiston Dam will start ramping down from 5,400 cfs on June 4 until the summer base flow of 450 cfs is reached on August 11 .

The releases for this “ extremely wet ” 2017 water year will result in an annual total volume of 815,000 acre-feet . The releases meet “ extremely wet ” water year objectives of the Trinity River Record of Decision and “ efficiently promote additional geomorphic change in the river by increasing hydrologic variability ,” Reclamation said .

-By Dan Bacher

WEST DELTA

Sturgeon Bite Steady , Striper Bite Fluctuates

BRANNAN ISLAND - Both sturgeon and striped bass remain on the bite in the West Delta . Black bass and catfish are available too .

According to the staff at Benicia Bait , the sturgeon bite in the lower reaches of Suisun Bay has been outstanding for both keeper and oversize fish , but dealing with the big spring winds has been challenging . Eel has been the hands down best bait .

Brothers and Fish Sniffer readers Ray and Dennis Goodwin enjoyed double-barreled sturgeon success while fishing Montezuma Slough .

“ Both of us had landed shaker sturgeon in the past , but we ’ d never filled a sturgeon tag ,” said Ray . “ The last thing we expected was to take home a pair of keepers , but that ’ s exactly what happened to us on May 14 . We set up where Nurse Slough comes into Montezuma and tossed out two rods baited with eel . My rod got hit within 2 minutes and I hooked the fish . I couldn ’ t believe it . When we first saw the fish , we knew it was a keeper . When we got it into the boat it measured 53 inches to the fork .”

“ With a keeper in the boat we really didn ’ t expect to get another . I tossed out a rod baited with a frozen bullhead in hopes of getting a striper , while my brother stuck with eel . About an hour later Dennis got a hit and missed the fish . Another hour past and when Dennis ’ s rod went off again he got the hook into the fish and

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Visit smud . org / RanchoSeco or call 1-800-416-6992 .

• Launch a boat

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Rancho Seco Recreational Area is located 25 miles south of Sacramento at 14960 Twin Cities Road in Herald , CA .

80

N it immediately jumped . We noticed right away that it wasn ’ t as large as my fish , but it looked to be a keeper . When he got it in , it measured 42 inches . We went from zero keepers to full limits in one day . It was quite a thrill ,” exclaimed Ray .

Captain David Hammond of Delta Pro Fishing has been trolling various locations in the West Delta for stripers . Some days the fishing is tough and other days it ’ s really solid with limits all around . Deep running Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows have been the lure of choice in recent days .

Hammond is also available for sturgeon trips in the upper reaches of Suisun Bay .

WILD HORSE LAKE

Rainbow Trout Fishing Picks Up As Lake Spills

ELKO - Wildhorse is at the highest water level it has seen in years and there is a lot of water going over the spillway as well as lots of water still in the form of snow in the basin .

You can launch a boat and the boat dock is in the water . Fishing for trout is picking up as the surface water temperature is climbing into the mid 50 ’ s after a drop over the past week due to weather .

Anglers report some good fishing in the Hendricks Arm , near the warm springs on the west side and in the last cove before the canyon by the highway . Boaters even managed to land a couple of wipers last weekend .

Expect bass fishing to be slow this year as the bass fishery recovers from the drought . If you do catch some smallmouth , they must be returned immediately to the water until July 1 .

Bait fishermen should use the usual worms or PowerBait here . Garlic PowerEggs of just about any color seem to work very well . Spin fishermen should be using spinners and minnow imitators like Rapalas . This time of year gold , black and gold , or green and gold spinners work well .

For the minnow imitating lures , black over white or silver , dark blue over white or silver and dark green over white or silver work well . Fly rodders should be using chironomids , hares ears , PT ’ s and wooly buggers . Wildhorse received approximately 4500 trout the first week of May . The campground is open and is on a first come first served basis .

-by Joe Doucette

1-5

Sacramento

99

Twin Cities Rd .

104

Vicinity Map

Herald

Clay

From Sacramento , take Highway 99 South to the Highway 104 exit . Go East on Highway 104 , 15 miles , to the Rancho Seco Park exit .

Clay Station Rd .

Park Entrance

Rancho Seco Recreational Area

Offer valid on all boat rentals Monday - Friday

For more information about Boating , Camping & Recreation Visit WWW . ROCKYMOUNTAINREC . COM All other boat rental terms and conditions still apply . Offer subject to boat rental availability . Offer expires on 12 / 31 / 2016 and is not valid with any other coupon / discount .

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