prostaff at Coyote Bait and Tackle.

“ At Anderson and Calero the mornings will get you some topwater fish. Definitely toss a square bill crankbait, spinnerbait or chatterbait too,” said Jason Dominici.“ During the day its a dropshot or darterhead bite with four or six inch worms,” he added.

For crappie, Dominici recommended giving Calero a try.“ Minnows and jigs fished shallow during the mornings and evenings and deeper during the day. The boat launch cove is where you’ ll find the best concentration of them,” he ti pped.

- Roland Aspiras

SHADOW CLIFFS LAKE

Target Cats In Early Morning Hours

LIVERMORE – The trout bite at Shadow Cliffs Lakes has slowed down because of the heat, so your top prospect is to target channel catfish now.

The water temperature is 75 degrees, depending on depth. The water visibility seems to vary between 10-15 feet, reported Joe Sullivan of the East Bay Regional Park District.

“ Boaters have been catching limits early in the morning,” said Sullivan.“ Sam of Pleasanton caught his limit within an hour of launching his boat.”

Anglers should toss out mackerel, anchovies and nightcrawlers from the docks, shore and boats for the hard-fighting channel cats.

The latest plant of 750 pounds of channel catfish went into the reservoir the week of August 7.

Some bass and sunfish are also showing. Caran C and Ryan Cannon caught and released 1 bass each while using lures. They caught some bluegills too, noted Sullivan.

SHASTA / WHISKEYTOWN LAKE

Red Hot Trout And Bass Fishing Available At Shasta

REDDING- Both trout trollers and bass anglers are enjoying epic action at Lake Shasta, despite hot summer conditions.

Both Kirk Portocarrero of SacRiverGuide. Com and Jeff Goodwin of Jeff Goodwin’ s Guide Service have been enjoying fast fishing at Lake Shasta when targeting rainbow trout.

The trout range from about 14 inches to 4 pounds and are stacked in the thermocline around 60 feet deep.

Shad imitating lures are producing the fish. Some anglers are running their lures behind Sling Blade Dodgers, while others run their lures without blades. Top lures include, Hum Dingers, Needlefish, Ex-Cel Spoons, Speedy Shiners and Shasta Tackle Wiggle Hoochies.

The trout bite is pretty steady all day long, but with the heat most anglers are getting started early and calling it a day around 11 o’ clock when it goes from warm to hot.

Bass anglers are catching 50 plus spots and smallmouths per day with the largest fish approaching 4 pounds. Mother’ s Finest Worms and Senkos produce the most action throughout the day. For maximum fun work Yo- Zuri poppers near dawn and dusk.

Shasta is currently 18 feet from the top and dropping about 4 inches per day.

At Whiskeytown the only change in the limit style kokanee action is that the fish are getting bigger with the largest salmon hitting 17 inches. Apex Lures, spinners and hoochies teamed with dodgers from Paulina Peak Tackle are the weapons of choice. The area around the Highway 299 bridge is the place.

SOUTHERN OREGON ROUNDUP

Mountain Trout And Saltwater Fishing Keeps Anglers Busy

ROSEBERG- According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, trout fishing continues to be excellent at Diamond Lake. A significant portion of fish caught have been larger than 12-inches. Trolling lures and bottom fishing with PowerBait across all depths continue to be productive angling methods.

Diamond Lake has been stocked with tiger trout. These fish are intended to assist in controlling illegally introduced tui chub. Tiger trout are catch-and-release only and need to be released immediately and unharmed if caught.

As part of the 2016 regulation simplification process, Diamond Lake is now back to the Southwest Zone regulation of 5 rainbow trout per day.

Fish Lake is scheduled to be stocked this week with rainbow trout. Trout fishing has been fair to good. A portion of the rainbow trout have external parasites called copepods that can be scraped off the fish prior to cooking. Fish parasites do not pose a threat to people when

Simply put, it takes a bit of experience to fight a salmon on even terms. Quite often, the salmon wins. Should you be fortunate enough to hook a second fish after losing your first, you’ ll have a much better idea on how to handle the rod, most likely resulting in salmon on the barbie.

Salmon numbers in the salt are good. These fish should begin their annual Sacramento River migration towards the first of August. The early fish can be caught while trolling the lower river. As they come through the bay, it’ s difficult to hook up.

However when they school up in the lower river, trolling is the hot ticket. A good place to begin is Rio Vista, not only because the fish are more concentrated, but launch areas are close by.

The magnum Wee Wart, K-14 Kwikfish and any other personal choice salmon lure will work. A K-14 doesn’ t require any added weight, but a Wee Wart,

or similar lure might require a little help.

Never use an in line rubber core sinker. Just drop your offering back between 80-100 feet, place the rod in a holder at about a 45-degree angle, slightly above parallel and let‘ er rip. And don’ t overlook the spinner, especially the double bladed ones.

As water depth will greatly vary, the boat operator must keep in close contact with the angler overseeing the downriggers. Yes, downriggers. When working 10 – 15 foot depths, set the rigger at about 8-9 feet and drop the spinner back about 50 feet.

When you locate a depth change due to an underwater ridge or bar, work just where the depth levels out. Be aware of flow changes and troll the seam. The“ S” trolling technique works to your benefit.

This is probably the preferred method until you reach the Freeport area. Anchoring up and trolling both work from here up to say Knights Landing. This year we should have better water for anchoring.

My favorite depth in the old days was 18-22 feet. The past few years we seldom located water exceeding 14 feet, mostly it was 10-12. And, we did bag a few fish.

Our anchoring plan is to use a spreader with an 18 inch dropper and a 36 inch 20 pound mono leader to the K-14. Don’ t use a pyramid sinker as they are far

The kokanee action is heating up at Donner Lake. This fish fell for a pink Sling Blade teamed with a pink and silver Hum Dinger during a July trolling adventure.

Photo courtesy of CHRISTOPHEL’ S FISHING GUIDE SERVICE, Truckee. cooked properly.

Brook trout, tiger trout, and stocked Chinook salmon are also available. With the lake warming up, look for fish to move toward the springs on the east end of the lake or to deeper areas. Still fishing with bait is generally one of the more productive methods, especially if water clarity is poor. The reservoir is holding fairly steady at 82 percent full.

On the saltwater front, the nearshore halibut season( inside 40 fathoms) is now open seven days a week except when there are All Depth Halibut days.

Recreational Chinook salmon

CONTINUED ON PAGE 25

more difficult to walk back once they hit the bottom. Have a few weights in the 2-5 ounce range.

My preference below Knights Landing is to flavor my lure with anise oil or a garlic scent. We’ ve tried a sardine wrap many times with very little success in the lower Sacramento. Bouncing roe while free drifting is even less successful down here.

Again, when anchored, we use a downrigger for spinners. Our choice for these rods is one at least 9 feet long with a soft enough tip to crank down in the downrigger.

The reels are loaded with braid as this allows for a quicker set on slack line. We’ ll set the release clip about 4-6 feet above the ball, depth dependent, and run the spinner 8-10 feet off the wire. Keep these hooks sharp and re-sharpen after each fish.

Some years there will be a bunch of river crud, elodea, leaves, small branches, rags and who knows what else drifting downstream below the surface. It will be necessary to check your rig on a regular basis as the gunk gets caught on the spreader, lure or spinner.

A quick giveaway is the rod tip losing its twitching action when running a plug. Larger flora or flotsam will gather around your outboard, thus it’ s a good idea to check it out prior to starting the engine. So, now that we’ re set up, suppose we hook up. It’ s imperative that the rod is tended immediately. Remove the doubled over rod from the holder and start cranking immediately. Don’ t just hold the rod to determine if the fish is on.

Once the weight is felt, one solid hook set is all you need, and keep cranking. As the fish takes off, this is not the time to set the drag. The other rods must be

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removed from the water immediately.

The lure rod should be brought in first, the spinner rod last, but bring em in. As the hooked up angler, don’ t rush it. Follow the fish from left to right, right to left and above all, when it’ s close to the net, don’ t lift its head out of the water. If it dives under the boat, don’ t try to stop it. Just drop your rod tip into the water as far as is necessary or as much as possible.

Netting: Salmon are usually lost within a minute or so, or, right at the boat during the net job. A salmon must be tired enough to relax prior to netting, if you’ re going to keep it.

A salmon you choose to turn back should be released in the water with a long needle nose pliers. The hooked up angler needs to hold the fish just below the surface and facing upstream for a perfect net. If the fish is still turning and diving, it’ s not ready.

Here’ s the most important factor during this process. Hold the netting against the handle with your off hand and net the fish over its head, in a single downstream motion, dropping the netting itself at this point.

Don’ t try to pull the net up over the tail and against the current as this will be a second choice for releasing a fish. As a final thought, if your fish is over 10 pounds, replace the leader and double check all knots.

Stress on the leader is severe and can reduce the maximum strength of the mono. Good luck this season. Seeya at the barbie. Tight Lines!!!

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