16 July 7- 21, 2017 VOL. 36 • ISS. 15

Larry Aaker caught and released this beautiful northern strain largemouth bass while fishing at Scotts Flat Reservoir this June. Photo courtesy of NELSON MONEY, Sacramento.

FRESHWATER REPORTS:

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13

LAKE PARDEE

Anglers Lay Into Rainbows, Kokanee Bite Is Slow

IONE – Lake Pardee is still spilling and the water temperatures remain in the sixties from the cold water rushing down the Mokelumne River into the reservoir. Kokanee fishing remains fair, but there are quality land-locked salmon to be had by dedicated trollers.

Over 65,000 pounds of rainbow trout have been released into the lake since the lake’ s opening in February, and there are plans for monthly plants within the coming months.

Alan Fong, manager of the Fishermen’ s Warehouse in Sacramento, said,“ I was on the lake in the middle of the week, and we had trouble landing the kokanee since my partner had a short net on his boat. We hooked 16 kokanee but only landed 4 as they‘ went crazy’ went they got to the boat. These fish were just ripping line when they were hooked, and without a long net, it was nearly impossible to get them to the boat.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 15

For more information,

3615 call Donna at

Rattlesnake Avoidance Training Includes:

• Dog training takes place in a natural controlled environment

• Rattlesnake scent, sound & sight awareness training

• Snake avoidance training w / live muzzled & de-fanged snakes

BOOK EARLY- CLASS SIZES ARE LIMITED! Pheasant Season Opens In September!

• 3 Pheasants $ 82 • 8 Chukar $ 135

BIRD CARDS AVAILABLE!

Located 45 Miles North of Sacramento

weather.

“ We were fishing at depths from 18 to 22 feet with my custom AFS Apex-type lures or microhoochies, and the fish we did bring to the net were large at 17 inches. The south end of the lake has been the best location with slow action in the river arm. We marked fish at 40 to 50 feet in the river arm, but we couldn’ t get them to go. They will start moving up into the river arm in small groupings. We also landed some rainbow trout, and they are all healthy without any copepods, and the meat is solid and thick,” said Fong.

Caitlin McCloskey of Pardee Lake Recreation confirmed,“ The kokanee bite has been on and off as the fish have good deeper with the hot

- Dave Hurley

PYRAMID LAKE

Trout Season Is Over

RENO- The trout season at Pyramid Lake ended on June 30 and will reopen on October 1.

Before the closure, few anglers were targeting Lahontan cutthroat trout in the hot weather.

Nancy at Crosby’ s Lodge said,“ The only guys going out there are a couple of old guys. They are catching fish topining, but they aren’ t getting anything big.”

- Mike McNeilly

REDDING

Anglers Average 30 Wild Rainbows Per Trip

REDDING- The weather is hot in the Redding area and so is the trout action on the Sacramento River. The river’ s wild rainbows are feeding heavily and anglers are catching them using a variety of different methods.

“ I was out on the river yesterday and we did pretty well,” reported Robert Weese of Northern California

• 17 Station Sporting Clay Course. We Offer Quality Targets at

Affordable Prices!!

SEASON PASS! Unlimited Afternoon

( Clean-up) Hunts for 2-Hunters ONLY $ 300 Sept.- April

New Hogan • Camanche Pardee • New Melones Don Pedro and more!

Discounts for Kids & Veterans!

without the interference of attached weight.

Simple portable crank operated downriggers are highly effective and won’ t put a big dent in your allowance. For the utmost in speed and convenience electric downriggers are available. If money is not a big consideration these units are well worth the added investment.

These days downriggers are so affordable and accessible I’ m not going to discuss the tackle used for fishing with leadcore line. Instead let’ s take a look at the ideal rod and reel combination for downrigger fishing. My philosophy is to use the lightest tackle possible in order to get the maximum enjoyment while fighting the fish.

For most freshwater and saltwater fishing, I recommend using a fast action rod, but for kokanee the most effective and efficient rod will feature a soft slow parabolic action. Kokanee are savage little sluggers that have an exceedingly soft mouth. A soft action rod helps to cushion the fight and results in fewer lost fish.

The rod should be teamed with a high speed level wind reel capable of holding at least 150 yards of 10 pound test monofilament. A smooth drag is critical to success. Kokanee have a nasty habit of making a final slashing run right behind the boat. If your drag sticks in this situation you can kiss your kokanee dinner goodbye.

Some anglers use line as light as 4 pound test while others use line as heavy as 12 pound test. Kokanee are not line shy, so what line weight you use isn’ t a really big issue. I prefer 8 or 10 pound believing these weights are a good compromise between strength and fine diameter.

Okay you’ ve got a boat equipped with all the proper toys and a nice light action

Now Booking for …

Smallmouth • Steelhead Salmon • Trout Sturgeon

2315

Also seasonal Striper and Salmon trips on the Delta.

Pro Guide John Loverin •( 209) 304-4246 www. procastfishing. com

Phone Bill Kremers at …( 541) 754 – 6411 bkremers @ comcast. net 29606 N. E. Pheasant, Corvalis, OR 97333

downrigger rod. What about lures? This is where kokanee fishing really gets fun. Kokanee are aggressive, but they are also fickle. They will readily strike small spoons, spinners, flies and hooks adorned with brightly painted resin known as“ bugs”. A few kokanee anglers make use of flasher blades in certain situations. On the other hand, virtually all kokanee anglers rely heavily on 3 to 6 inch dodgers to both add action to their lures and to attract‘ kokes into the spread with the vibrations they emit.

When using lures such as flies and bugs that have no built in action, you want your lures riding within 14 inches of the dodger such that they derive action from it. Lures such as spinners and spoons that have their own action can either be rigged close to the dodger or as far away as 48 inches.

The distance to rig lures that have built in action behind a dodger represents a controversial issue within kokanee fishing circles. I like to put them from 24 to 36 inches back, but the best approach is to answer the question yourself through experimentation.

The folks at Mack’ s Lure have some very interesting kokanee offerings that should be highlighted in any discussion of kokanee gear. Most of us are familiar with Mack’ s line up of traditional Wedding Ring Spinners and the updated Wedding Ring equipped with a“ Smile” blade.

The Wedding Ring is a well known kokanee killer, so there’ s little to be said beyond that your kokanee fishing arsenal should feature multiple Wedding Rings in various colors.

Truth be told, I believe that flashers are just as effective, perhaps more effective than dodgers when it comes to tempting sockeyes, yet many

3612 anglers refuse to use them because of all the drag a conventional set of blades produces.

If the weight and drag of old school flashers turns you off, give Mack’ s Flash Light or Hot Wings flashers a try. These rigs utilize a Mylar like blade material and offer 80 % to 90 % less drag than traditional metal blade flashers. If you’ re committed to going light, Mack’ s flasher systems are must have gear.

The final item in the Mack’ s line that I’ ve used with great success is their 4.4 inch Double D Dodgers. These dodgers offer action similar to that of a traditional herring style dodger, but multiple attachment point all you to walk the dodgers away from the boat, thus spreading your lines, cutting down on tangles while helping you to cover more water with a wider trolling spread.

While I’ ve yet to run any of their gear personally, I hear very good things about the kokanee products offered up by Paulina Peak Tackle of Reno, Nevada. The Paulina Peak Tackle lure and blade lineup boasts three deadly offerings at this time, the Kokanee Katch Micro Hoochie, the Kokanee Katch Spinner Magic and Big-i Dodgers.

The Big-i Dodger line up consists of both herring style dodgers and slim profile dodgers. All of these blades feature a range of killer color combinations and of course each of them is embossed with the iconic Paulina Peak all seeing eye!

Lure and dodger color is often very important and kokanee being the fickle souls that they are, change their preference from day to day and even from hour to hour. This is why a veteran kokanee angler’ s tackle box boasts a rainbow like array of different colored lures and blades.

Whatever style and color of lure you decide to use it is important to tip it with a piece of shoe peg corn. No one is certain why you need to use corn. Some say it adds a pleasant smell to the lure. Others contend that it gives the salmon a target to strike.

Many veteran kokanee anglers treat their corn with Pro- Cure Wizard Kokanee Killer Korn Magic. This product toughens the corn and adds strike inducing amino acids to it. Beyond that you’ ll want to fill several small containers with corn and add a different scent to each one. Some days they want shrimp flavored corn other days they prefer anise. Anise, krill, shrimp, herring, sardine, garlic and night crawler scents are all proven performers.