26 Jan 18- Feb 2, 2018

VOL. 37 • ISS. 03

FRESHWATER REPORTS:

CONTINUED FROM PG 19

TRINITY RIVER / LAKE cont.

and bird’ s nest nymphs and all of the variations of these patterns.

Boaters and bank anglers are both focusing on the stretch from Lewiston to the North Fork, but fishing is also productive below the North Fork.

Fishing pressure is very light on Trinity Lake. Shore anglers and boaters can bag rainbow trout in the 16 to 18-inch range at the mouths of the tributaries to Trinity Lake, mainly the Upper Trinity and the East Fork. Casting or trolling gold / fluorescent orange Rapalas is the most productive method.

Trinity Lake is holding 1,745,858 acrefeet of water, 71 percent of capacity and 106 percent of average.

- Dan Bacher

Tess, my older dog, might beg to differ. But, sometimes they have fun playing her favorite game which I call“ This is my

That’ s when they have a small piece of paper that they repeatedly mash up and chew on, then, they push it just a littleways out of their mouth – enough for a swift dog to grab – and suck it back in. Sometimes, the paper gets taken away and sometimes it gets sucked in. When the other dog succeeds in grabbring the paper, then, the game goes on until the paper gets too small and eventually disappears or we decide to intervene and toss whatever it is in the trash.

I read about the Oroville Dam today in the SF Chronicle. It’ s too bad the way these projects too often end up in the hands of people who are incompetent. It’ s bad enough that state and federal governments have less money to work with as time goes by; but, that those in charge of making the best out of what we have end up giving these contracts to people who don’ t know what they are doing.

Don’ t we have scientists / qualified engineers in charge of choosing whose awarded these jobs- or, at the very least a panel of qualified, intelligent people who are not connected to those who profit? Maybe we should have citizen approved panels made up of people not from the industries that profit; but, from experts in those fields who are knowledgeable about the dynamics of bridge / dam building, to make final approvals.

Too many projects are falling apart – we need to do something differently. Bridges and other large projects are having the same problems – too often, it seems the integrity of the cement structures are a constantly recurring problem. Don’ t we have any cement contractors who know what they are doing? This sort of incompetence can cost lives! Ever notice how we have all kinds of gatekeepers when it comes to guns and hunting; but, when it comes to projects that can affect thousands of lives, there is little in the way of oversight? It’ s unbelievable!

On the bright side, it’ s not too late for you to get a hold of my favorite calendar in the world – The Junior Duck Stamp Calendar – sponsored by California Waterfowl Assn.; and, you can get that calendar at: https:// www. calwaterfowl. org / DuckStamp- Calendar. A $ 10 donation is advised.

Anyway, this month, I made a really tasty dish from more of that lovely striper; although, other bass or fish would work in this recipe as well. Go for it!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large striper fillet, cut in half

• Lawry’ s Total Seasoning for Cooking & Grilling

• Lawry’ s Garlic Salt

• Lawry’ s Lemon Pepper

• McCormick Italian Herb Grinder

• hand crushed dried oregano leaves

• flour

• ¾ of or 1 can S & W Diced Tomatoes with Sweet Onion & Roasted Garlic

• 3-4 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced thin

• ½ of a large green bell pepper, cut into 1 / 4 inch by one ½ inch slices

• 1 small red onion, quartered and sliced

• one small zucchini squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced into ½ inch chunks

• olive oil and butter

DIRECTIONS

Season the fillets on both sides with the Lawry’ s seasonings and then dredge in flour. Meanwhile, take a skillet, heat to medium high and add in some olive oil and butter. Add in veggies and saute until softened. Remove veggies to a dish and cover to keep warm.

Add in more oil and butter and heating to medium high, add in the fillets to brown lightly on each side. Cook for a few minutes; but, do not overcook it, as it will continue to cook after we add back in the other ingredients.

When striper is lightly browned, add in the tomatoes; then, add in the Italian seasoning and oregano. Then, add the veggies back into the pan, mixing them in with the tomatoes around and on top of the fish. Cover and cook for 10 minutes until done. Remove cover and check to see if everything looks done.

Serve this with buttered pasta tossed with fresh chopped parsley. This is good with a crunchy green salad with red vinegar dressing. This recipe is enough for two.

If you have any questions, comments, cooking tips or recipes to share, feel free to write me at Cookcatch @ comcast. net or at Paulette or Cookin’ Yer Catch; c / o The Fish Sniffer; PO Box 776; Colfax, CA 95713-0776. Go for it!

This beautiful sturgeon was just a bit too large to keep, so it was released unharmed right after this photo. The West Delta sturgeon bite has been outstanding for folks fishing with Capt. Hayden Mullins this December.

Photo courtesy of DRAGON SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg.

WEST DELTA

Delta Anglers That Brave The Cold Score Big!

PITTSBURG- Sturgeon fishing is outstanding in the West Delta at this time and there are plenty of bonus stripers in the mix too.

“ We hit the water on December 23 with 5 anglers aboard the Dragon and we had more action than we could handle,” laughed Capt. Hayden Mullins of Dragon Sportfishing.

“ We got several shaker sturgeon, multiple oversize sturgeon and 4 keeper sturgeon. We also added a pair of good stripers. Now is the time to get out for some great winter sturgeon fishing. And when you fish aboard the Dragon comfort is never a worry as the boat’ s warm cabin and comfortable couches are just a few steps away from the rods,” Mullins said.

Captain David Hammond has also been doing well while targeting sturgeon in the upper reaches of Suisun Bay.

“ The fishing has been really good and we are getting keepers on most trips. Angler interest has been running pretty high and at this point I’ ve only got a couple open days on my books over the next couple weeks,” Hammond related.

If you head out into the West Delta aboard your own boat, eel has been the best bait for sturgeon, but bring some shrimp and roe too. Some days the sturgeon are keying on eel and grass shrimp combos. Other days roe and even filleted shad draw the bites.

Stripers are being caught incidentally by anglers targeting sturgeon. Top striper baits have been grass shrimp, shad and filleted eel.

WHISKEYTOWN LAKE

Winter Kokanee Fishing Is‘ Unbelievable’

REDDING – Richie Hight of Paulina Peak Tackle spent the last three days of 2017 experiencing hot kokanee salmon fishing at Whiskeytown Reservoir.

“ What a way to end 2017,” said Hight.“ Winter kokanee fishing at Whiskeytown for the last 3 days has been unbelievable.”

“ Friday we started a little late at 8:00 am and were done with limits for 3 by noon,” he stated.“ Saturday was tough and was a grind for 2 limits( 10 fish); it took until

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3:00 pm. All month long the kokanee have wanted longer than normal leaders and yesterday they decided they wanted to go back to being normal with traditional leader lengths.”

“ Today, Sunday, was the icing on the cake! We had our 15 fish by 8:30 a. m. We were running 5 rods 4 on downriggers and 1 toplined on a side planer. Two different times all 5 rods went off and we landed all 5 fish both times,” he explained.

“ Tuna corn was the top producer all weekend. We ran 90’ setbacks on all rods and we fished from the surface to 28’. If this weather holds and you get a chance to fish Whiskeytown, I highly recommend it.,” he concluded.

WILDHORSE / SOUTH FORK LAKES

Ice Fishing Begins

ELKO – Ice fishing for trout is just beginning in northeastern Nevada.

“ Wild Horse had approximately five inches of good ice with a couple of inches of snow on top,” said Joe Doucette of the Nevada Department of Wildlife( NDOW).“ The middle of the lake has thinner ice and anglers should stay close to shore for a bit.”

“ With the cold forecast temperatures the ice should start to thicken substantially as long as we don’ t get too much snow on top of the ice to insulate it. There are some major pressure ridges on the lake that contain areas of unsafe ice. Please stay away from them,” he cautioned.

“ As a general rule, anglers should find trout in six to 10 feet of water this time of year, so you don’ t need to head to the middle. It is not recommended that you take an ATV or snowmobile on the lake at this time,” Doucette added.

South Fork is completely covered with unsafe ice.“ With the lower elevation and southwest exposure, anglers should wait until New Years before venturing upon South Fork,” he advised.

- Dan Bacher

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