and PowerBait has also been good . Fly anglers are stripping streamers like wooly buggers and mini leeches with soft hackle and zug bug droppers ,” said Reid .

“ The Virginias are kicking out some really nice fish with several in the 6 pound class making a showing from Little Virginia . Bait anglers are using pinched crawlers , Mice Tails , PowerBait and night crawlers , lure anglers are using Kastmasters , Thomas Buoyants and Jakes . Fly anglers are going with beetles , ants , wooly buggers , seal buggers , simi seal leeches , prince nymphs and soft hackles ,” Reid concluded .

FEATHER / YUBA RIVERS

Lure Tossers Hook & Release Large Stripers

YUBA CITY - While the king salmon bite is still very slow on the Feather River , a few anglers fishing from boats are finding success on stripers while tossing out lures .

“ Chris Spade , who works at the shop , caught and released a 20 lb . striper while throwing a swimbait above the Tenth Street Bridge last week ,” said Bob Boucke of Johnson ’ s Bait and Tackle . “ Another anglers reported hooking and releasing a 20 pounder around Boyd ’ s Pump .”

Surprisingly , anglers are still catching some American shad and stripers while fishing shad flies on the lower Yuba River below the Daguerre Point Dam .

Boucke hasn ’ t heard any reports of anglers targeting steelhead lately . Since the salmon fishing has begun to slow down outside of the Golden Gate , you can expect Chinooks to move into the lower Feather soon .

Combined water releases below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet are 7,000 cfs ,

FOLSOM

Bassers Reel In Feisty Spots

FOLSOM - Black bass anglers are finding solid action while fishing drop shot rigs in the willows at Folsom Lake .

“ The best depth is 20 to 25 feet ,” said Alan Fong of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse . “ Most of the fish are spotted bass , with smallmouths and largemouths mixed in . Your top prospect is to fish with Robo Worms and Senkos off the peninsula .”

Don Paganelli of Paganelli ’ s Bass Fishing Experience and his client hooked and released six bass to 2-1 / 2 pound on his latest trip to Folsom .

“ We caught spotted and largemouth bass while drop shotting with Robo Worms and fishing Senkos at 15 to 20 feet in the main body . The best colors were morning dawn , Aaron ’ s Magic and green pumpkin . We also fished top water lures early in the morning ,” said Paganelli .

If you want to catch holdover rainbow trout , Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacramento Pro Tackle recommended fishing from the South Fork to the dam at Folsom .

“ Boaters are picking up rainbows up to 2-1 / 2 pounds while trolling with Goldeneyes and Speedy Shiners at 45 to 60 feet deep ,”

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said Barnes . “ I haven ’ t heard of any salmon caught by anglers lately .”

The surface water temperature is now 81 degrees . Folsom Lake is still 85 % of capacity and dropping about a 1 / 4 ’ each day .

“ We were over 50 feet lower last year and the lake was dropping 1 foot each day ,” according to the staff at Folsom Lake Marina . “ State Parks has done a great job in getting the debris removed from the lake and boaters can now use that lake without much worry of hitting some driftwood .”

LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR

Catfish Go On Prowl

BYRON - Catfish are starting to show up in greater numbers at Los Vaqueros Reservoir .

“ With the warmer weather and catfish plants , they are beginning to be caught from South Cove to Cowboy Cove ,” said Brian Demmunik of the Los Vaqueros Marina . “ Chicken liver and anchovies are the best choices of bait . “

Mt . Lassen planted 1,000 pounds of catfish on August 10 and another 1,000 pounds on August 24 .

Enrique Perez of San Jose topped the catches by landing an 8.3 pound cat while using an anchovy in Cowboy Cove . Tom Butler of Livermore also landed 5.49 pounder while fishing an anchovy from the fishing pier .

“ Striper fishing is mixed with fewer shakers showing up but more medium to large fish being caught ,” said Demmunik . “ The pier by the Marina and from Oak Point south towards South Cove are doing decently . Cut anchovies or shad are the baits of choice .”

“ Fishing for trout continues to be good with a lot of activity at the fish cleaning station . They are being caught in South Cove and Oak Point as well as past the Rock Wall . The baits of choice for shore anglers are garlic-scented PowerBait , nightcrawlers or Kastmaster lures ,” he tipped .

The water clarity remains good and the surface water temperature remains at 71 degrees this week . The reservoir is storing 152,200 acre-feet of water , 95 percent of its 160,000 acre-foot capacity . That number is up ; the District has updated the way it calculates the amount of water stored in the reservoir . Pumping has stopped and the reservoir will continue to drop through the summer .

- Dan Bacher

NEW HOGAN

Stripers ‘ Boil ’ On Shad Schools

SACRAMENTO – New Hogan is famous for its amazing striped bass boils , and the stripers have been chasing bait for the past few weeks . Local fishermen have figured out how to work the boils by not charging directly into the feeding frenzies .

Beau Coutroul of the Camanche Recreation Company has been on

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3614 the lake throughout the past few weeks , and he said , “ The stripers are going nuts at Hogan , and we have been using topwater lures or swimming flukes for linesides in the 17- to 24-inch range . The boils started off up the river arm a few weeks ago , but now they are throughout the lake , and the fish are staying up for 3 to 4 hours at a time .”

“ Just when one boil goes down , another school will pop up nearby , and the fish will stay up for a long time ,” he tipped . “ We have been catching and releasing up to 40 stripers in the early morning before getting off the lake before it gets really hot outside . The recreational boating during the week hasn ’ t been too bad like it is at other local lakes ..”

“ The good thing is the boaters have figured out not to run fast and directly into the boiling fish since this is what puts them down . The cooperation of other boats holding along the edge of the boils and moving in slowly has made for much better catching ,” stated Coutroul .

There is no size limit for striped bass at New Hogan with a bag limit of 10 fish . Using live bluegill for bait is not allowed at the lake . Water releases have started , and the lake is at 69 percent

- David Hurley

.

NEW MELONES LAKE

Boaters Battle Big , Bold ‘ Bows

ANGELS CAMP - Downriver trollers continue to land large numbers of hefty rainbow trout in the 3 to 6 lb . range while using kokanee gear . The lake has dropped 2.5 feet to 1063.31 feet in elevation and is currently 89 percent of capacity .

Boaters are hooking rainbows averaging 4 pounds each in the lake ’ s main body near the dam from 60 to 80 feet deep while trolling with kokanee gear , including hoochies , spinners and Apex lures behind dodgers . The kokanee , though large , a very rare in the catches .

Anglers seeking to target the chunky rainbows should troll

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Brayden Davis and his grandpa Mike Davis rounded up limits of dandy rainbows while trolling Lake Don Pedro on August 8 .

Photo courtesy of GOLD COUNTRY SPORTFISHING , Oakdale .

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with big spoons and other lures to mimic the 3 to 4 inch shad that are the primary quarry of the trout .

As the water level drops , the bass fishing has become tougher at the reservoir .

“ The bass have spread out into tight groupings as the water continues to drop in the lake ,” said John Liechty of Xperience Bass Fishing Guide Service . “ Where these fish were in the creek channels and coves , once the lake has started to recede , they are schooling up along main lake points and island tops .”

“ I took a full-day trip on Friday following by a half-day evening trip , and my clients landed between 60 and 70 fish up to 4 pounds , but there were a lot of small fish in the 8- to 12- inch range ,” he dilvulged . “ You can go through a long stretch of bank without action before locating one spot with 10 to 20 bass .

With all of the forage fish in the lake , including bluegill , sunfish , threadfin shad ,

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