Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3615 July 7-21 2017 | Page 19

VOL . 36 • ISS . 15

Location : Stampede Reservoir is located in the northeastern region of the Truckee Ranger District in the Tahoe National Forest . This reservoir is approximately 10 miles north of Truckee . Stampede Dam and Reservoir are situated on the Little Truckee River immediately below the mouth of Davies Creek and approximately 8 miles above the confluence of the Little Truckee and Truckee Rivers .

Size : The surface area is approximately 3,340 acres at full reservoir storage with 25 miles of shoreline .

Season : Fishing season is year-round , with ice fishing available during the winter . Gamefish species found in the reservoir include kokanee salmon , rainbow trout , brown trout , mackinaw trout and smallmouth bass .

Boating : A three-lane boat launch is available at Captain Robert ’ s Boat Ramp . Boat ramps are located in Logger Campground and the Emigrant Group Site . However , all of the boat ramps are out of the water at this time and you need to use a 4-wheel drive vehicle to launch a larger boat . Kayaks and small car top boats can be launched from shore .

Picnicking : Available is provided at the Stampede Vista Picnic Ground .

Truckee River Operating Agreement ( TROA ): This agreement between the federal government , the states of Nevada and California and the Paiute Indian Tribe modifies reservoir operations at Stampede , Boca , Prosser and Martis Creek reservoirs . The TROA will enhance conditions for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui ; increase municipal and industrial drought protection for Truckee Meadows ( Reno-Sparks metropolitan area ); improve Truckee River water quality downstream fro Sparks , NV ; and enhance stream flows and recreational opportunities in the Truckee River Basin .

Facility Information : Stampede Reservoir , c / o Truckee Ranger District , 10811 Stockrest Springs Road , Truckee , CA , 96161 , Phone : 530-587-3558

Guide Service and Fishing Information : James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service , ( 888 ) 975-0990 , www . fishtightlines . com , Mountain Hardware , Truckee , ( 530 ) 587-4844 .

To Hiway 89 & Truckee

To Graeagle

Prosser Res .

I-80 to Sacramento

Sagemen Creek

Stampede Res .

Boca Res .

Little Truckee River

I-89 to Lake Tahoe

Campground

Picnic Area Launch Ramp

To Reno

To Hobart Mills & Hiway 80

To Boca Res . & Hiway 80

July 7 - 21 , 2017

Davies Creek

Henness Pass Road

Winnie Smith Mill Site

Logger C . G .

Davies Creek C . G .

Spillway Elevation 5949 ft . Dam

Emigrant C . G .

Stampede Dam Road

19

To Boca Res & Hiway 80

Kokanee Kokanee Salmon Salmon fishing fishing is is productive productive at Stampede at Stampede from from May May through through September September . Trollers . Trollers use a variety use a variety of spoons of , spoons spinners , spinners and hoochies and kokanee , tipped with white bugs corn behind , behind flashers flashers and dodgers and dodgers . Jigging . Jigging with with small small Crippled Crippled Herring Herring and and other lures can be good when the fish school up up late late in in the the season . Mackinaw season . Trout will be found below the schools of kokanee . Boaters often hook them while trolling kokanee lures . Troll Rapalas , J-Plugs , Needlefish and Brown other Trout lures to can target be taken them at throughout Stampede the throughout year . the season , but the best action is generally in the spring after ice out and during the fall before the lake ices over . Troll Rapalas , Yozuri Pins Minnows , Cripplures and other minnow imitiation lures along the shoreline .’ Lahontan Mackinaw

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campgrounds Needlefish and and dam other in the lures spring to and target early them summer throughout . Use PowerBait the year , Berkley . Gulp !, salmon eggs and inflated nightcrawlers .

J-Plugs ,

Brown Rainbow Trout Trout can be are taken planted at Stampede regularly throughout by the CDFW the season . Bank , fishermen but the best and action boaters is generally nail the in rainbows the spring while after fishing ice out around and during the the campgrounds fall before the lake and ices dam over in the . Troll spring Rapalas and , early Yozuri summer Pins Minnows . Use PowerBait , Cripplures , Berkley and other Gulp minnow !, Pautzke imitation salmon lures eggs along and the inflated shoreline nightcrawlers .’ . of the water .

This time the ramp was not only in the water , but the water was so high it has inundated part of the walkway of the boat dock . We experienced wideopen fishing for kokanee to 15-1 / 2 inches on that trip also .

Stampede kokanee spawn successfully every fall in the Little Truckee River and tributaries , but the California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) stocks the lake with around 75,00 fingerlings , when the fish are available , to supplement the natural fish population . Stampede received 74,976 kokanee fingerlings in 2013 , 74,998 in 2014 , 24,999 in 2015 , and 60,027 in 2016 .

Mackinaw trout have apparently replaced the brown trout as the apex predator in Stampede in recent years . In the 1990s , anglers would catch German browns in the 2 to 6 lb . range , along with an occasional fish 10 pounds or bigger .

The late Tracy Chimenti , a great friend and fishing buddy and the former Sierra conservation columnist for our publication , caught and released a 15 lb . brown at the lake 25 years ago . That huge fish graced our cover at the time .

Now the large numbers of browns are gone , apparently due to fishing pressure and competition with the mackinaw for kokanee and other forage .

The mackinaw can be caught year round , as long as the lake isn ’ t frozen over and the road to the lake isn ’ t snowed in . Right after ice out is a good time to catch mackinaw , as is the summer , when the fish are feeding below the schooling kokanee , and right before the lake ices over . Anglers regularly hook fish in the 8 to 15 pound range , along with some larger fish .

Over a decade ago , I hooked a 4.5 lb . mackinaw while trolling a Sockeye Slammer for kokanee at Stampede . Netzel has also reported catching mackinaws in the 3 to 6 lb . class while fishing for kokaanee near the dam .

Stampede and nearby Donner Lake have similar forage – kokanee , planted rainbows , tui chubs and crawfish – so anglers should use lure color patterns that approximate those species .

Trollers can target mackinaw with blue / chartreuse Stingfish , as well as with Flatfish , Kwikfish and other plugs . Large Koke-A-Nuts behind Sling Blades are also very effective . In the spring , anglers hook many mackinaws while trolling F18 Rapalas .

Besides kokanee , mackinaw and

Jack and Chris McMillan of Reno enjoy a day trolling for kokanee at Stampede . browns , Stampede also features a sleeper population of big smallmouth bass and a fair population of rainbows ,

Chris Hammond of King ’ s Beach has caught beautiful wild and holdover rainbows up to 5 pounds while tossing spoons from shore at the lake in the late fall and early winter .

For more information , contact James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service , ( 888 ) 975-0990 , www . fishtightlines . com .

Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .