20 Feb 16- Mar 2, 2018 VOL. 37 • ISS. 05

FRESHWATER REPORTS:

CONTINUED FROM PG 18

QUARRY LAKES cont. will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. When the kiosk is closed, please have exact change and use the yellow ticket machine behind the kiosk.“

“ You will need separate tickets for the $ 5 parking fee( to place on your dashboard) and for the $ 5 fishing permit( to take with you). If you bring in watercraft, it will still need to be inspected or, in the case of trailered, banded boats, it will need to be un-banded and then re-banded when you leave,” he stated.

If you would like to launch watercraft when the kiosk is closed, please contact the ranger office at( 510) 544-3132 in order to be un-banded, inspected, or re-banded.

REDDING / RED BLUFF

Fly & Gear Anglers Prosper Amid Light Crowds

REDDING- According to the team at The Fly Shop, the flows on the lower Sacramento remain steady at 4,000 cfs. The river is holding and fishing pretty

breaks that connect the water of the islands with the rivers and sloughs that surround them. Any time you have two large tidal bodies of water separated by small openings you are going to get heavy current at certain times. Baitfish get caught up in the current and as a result stripers gravitate to areas featuring abrupt current changes in hopes of nailing disoriented baitfish.

In summing up about locating fish, think submerged islands, think shallow water structure and think abrupt current changes and you’ ll be well on your way to bumping into a wolf pack of bad tempered stripers.

Water temperature also plays a big role in plugging success. While you might be able to nail a few stripers while plugging when the water temperature is up, you’ ll have the best results when the water temperature hovers around the 50 degree mark.

“ When the temperature get cold, it really seems to make the bass get more active and ultimately the more active the fish are the better you’ ll do while plugging,” asserts Paganelli.

Okay, now that you’ ve got an idea of where to find stripers, let’ s take a look at the tackle and techniques used for catching them. We’ ll start with rods, reels and lines.

Medium to medium heavy weight spinning tackle can be used for striper plugging, but bait casting gear does a much better job. You could get by with one rod, but two are a much better choice, since you can rig one for subsurface fishing and one for topwater action.

Your light rod can be spooled

well from midday through the afternoon.

In addition to the Blue Wing Olives, on sunny days anglers are seeing significant Hydropsyche Caddis hatches. This insect usually comes off big during the summer, so it is hoped this bodes well for later in the season. Meanwhile, anglers are taking advantage of these hatches now. Some smaller Brachycentrus Caddis, the black ones, are also coming off in good numbers. Midge patterns in No. 16-18, Baetis nymphs, Black Silvey’ s and Cinnamon Poopahs are all working well.

Guys fishing the river with spinning gear have been enjoying success drifting with cured roe, salmon eggs, glo bugs and live crickets. Some anglers have also been scoring while back trolling Flatfish and other crankbait style plugs.

The average trout being landed is a wild rainbow in the 14 inch class, although fish to 20 inches are caught daily. In addition to the rainbows, there continues to be a trickle of fresh steelhead entering the system. These fish average about 3 pounds and can range up to and beyond 6.

If you’ d like to catch some wild rainbows and perhaps a steelhead or two up in the Redding area, give Robert Weese or Mike Bogue a call. They are two of the best sticks on the river and will work hard to get you fish. To contact

with 15 to 20 pound mono or 30 pound braid. This is the rod you’ ll use for throwing crankbaits, small plastic swimbait and bucktail jigs. Your heavy rod should be spooled with 50 to 65 pound braid. This is the rod that you’ ll primarily use for tossing topwaters, but it will also be useful for large swimbaits and wakebaits.

Lure selection for Delta striper plugging is actually pretty simple. There are a lot of baits that stripers will hit, but you only need a few to cover all the bases. First, you’ ll want some 5 inch hollow body or Fish Trap style swimbaits. Pearl colors that imitate shad are the way to go and you’ ll want to rig these baits on ½ ounce jig heads. I really like the Blade Runner Tackle Spintrix heads. They feature a small willow leaf blade that adds vibration. For variety, you can also grab a couple white ½ ounce bucktail jigs.

For hard baits, you’ ll want a few shad or chrome colored half ounce Rat-L-Traps or equivalent for subsurface work. When it’ s time to throw topwaters you’ ll want a couple Pencil Poppers in chrome or white colors and a few large walking baits in chrome, clear and baby bass.

When working these baits, whether we are talking subsurface baits to topwaters, the key is to keep them moving. Stripers have notoriously bad aim and they often miss on their first strike. If you keep the bait moving they will usually keep on striking until they get hooked.

With the soft swimbaits, jigs and Rat-L-Traps simply cast them out and slow roll them

Big Delta stripers have been hitting the deck of the Dragon this winter. This monster was landed in early January.

Photo courtesy of DRAGON SPORTFISHING, Pittsburg.

Weese, call( 530) 755-7196. To reach Mike Bogue, dial( 530) 246- 8457.

RIO VISTA

Bait Fishermen Nail Striped Bass

RIO VISTA- Bait fishing continues to produce action for anglers in search of striped bass, while sturgeon anglers put in time

back to the boat. Be sure to retrieve all the way back to the boat as the strikes often come right at your feet. If a bass misses your bait beside the boat, don’ t raise it out of the water, instead start pulling the bait in a figure eight pattern just below the surface with the rod tip. Many times, this will provoke a second strike that results in a hookup.

To effectively work either Pencil Poppers or walking baits, you’ ve got to learn how to“ walk the dog”. This is accomplished by rhythmically twitching the bait on a slack line while slowly retrieving line. With a bit of practice, you’ ll get the hang of moving the bait across the surface with a hypnotic side to side walk.

When a bass rushes a surface bait you’ ll want to haul back and set the hook. Don’ t do it! Keep the bait moving until you FEEL the strike and then drive the hooks home. Many times, a bass will miss a surface lure two or three times before being hooked.

“ Keep the bait moving!” Repeat this mantra in your head as you fish …

for bites.

Shad and sardines were the top recommended baits this week by Craig Kamikawa at Fisherman’ s Warehouse in Sacramento for anglers fishing from Sandy Beach down to Sherman Island.

“ Fair days, little to no wind, bait fishing- what more could you ask for,” Kamikawa related.

“ A lot of the fish are in the schoolie range between three and six pounds. They’ re still hitting fairly light, so you have to be quick when the pull the rod down on a

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balancer,” he tipped.“ A few guys are trolling the( west) bank and getting a couple. Troll deep during the morning hours then shallow in the afternoon. It’ s a scratch bite but if you’ re bored of sitting on anchor, trolling is an option with the water still being pretty clear,” he stated.

Sturgeon fisherman worked Sherman Island, Decker Island and Cache Slough, according to Kamikawa.

“ Guys are literally sitting on

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