Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3708 March 30-April 13,2018 | Page 13

FRESHWATER REPORTS :

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BERRYESSA LAKE

The Trout Are Scattered

WINTERS – In contrast with a couple of months ago when the rainbow trout at Berryessa were concentrated on schools of bait , the fish are scattered throughout the main body of the lake .

“ Anglers are catching a trout here and there ,” said Alan Fong of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse . “ Now it takes all day long to get your limit of rainbows .”

Trollers are finding the top action while using the new Rapala Scatter Raps in shad # 5 or # 7 patterns . The trout are quality holdovers ranging from 14 to 18 inches long .

Black bass fishing is productive at Berryessa “ Anglers using drop shot rigs with Robo Worms and other baits are picking up mainly smallmouth and largemouth bass now ,” said Fong . “ Experienced fishermen are reporting catching 15 to 16 lb . five fish limits in the main body of the lake ”

“ I guided an expert angler yesterday all over the lower end of Berryessa , showing him areas that were new to him ,” reported Larry Hemphill , fishing guide . “ We experienced all sorts of weather - mostly cold and a little wet . Early afternoon we even had the big north wind hit - rare during a storm , followed by more south wind .”

“ The bite was slow as the water temperature was the same as a month ago - 52-54 degrees , He did catch two nice bass , largemouth and smallmouth , in the 2-3 / 4 lb range . He missed a few good ones , as the bite was timid . It was fun to run into a bunch of near keepers at the last place we stopped . They probably moved up as the sun finally came out . Robo Worms worked as always ,” Hemphill noted .

“ The bass do seem ready to come shallow in spite of the weather . Our bigger bass were not too deep . Water is clear - so far ,” Hemphill concluded .

BULLARDS BAR RESERVOIR

Limits of Kokanee hitting Now !

SMARTVILLE - Anglers are catching lot of kokanee in the 12 to 14 inch range at Bullards Bar Reservoir , according to Gary Coe , President of Kokanee Power .

Richie Hight , of Paulina Peak Tackle , his wife Samantha and his son Cody had a great time catching their 10 fish limits of kokanee early at Bullards Bar .

“ They launched out of Dark Day and turned east away from the river and dam ,” said Coe . “ They started toplining down to 15 feet and then went deeper to 35 feet . They trolled with the new hammered Bigeye Dodgers and Spinner Micro Hoochies and Micro Hoochies in pink , orange and chartreuse . They used tuna and garlic scents on their white corn .”

“ Their 12 to 14 inch fish were of the highest quality , perfect silver bullets weighing over a pound ,” said Coe .

Mary Dunham and Chris Dunham , former Fish Sniffer staffer , trolled the bowl in front of dam on a recent trip to Bullards Bar . “ They only landed three kokanee , but two of them were 15 inches long ,” said Coe .

If fish of this quality are biting already , just wait until the summer bite when anglers can expect to hook some huge kokanee !

- Dan Bacher

CAMANCHE LAKE

Bass , Crappie Reward Mother Lode Anglers

BURSON - This is the time of year to catch big largemouth and spotted bass at Lake Camanche . Just ask Martin Rojas of Galt , who was fishing for trout when he hooked an 8 lb . largemouth .

“ I was ljigging a PowerBait minnow shad on the north shore while using a 7 ′ ultralight rod and reel ,” said Rojas . “ I released the 8 lb . fish back into the lake . It was a fight of a lifetime on a 4lb test line .”

Trout fishing is also going strong . Richard S . of Rancho Cordova brought in a 4.81 lb . trout while using a spinner by the dam .

Trout plants continue every week , with 1200 pounds of Mt . Lassen Hatchery rainbows split evenly between the South Shore Pond and the South Shore Marina during the last plant .

The rainbows are moving into the main body of the reservoir near the dam , but there are still lots of fish upriver past the Narrows . Shore fishing is best in the pond with PowerBait or crappie jigs .

Jeff and Owen traveled to Lake Amador from Carmichael in late February and fooled this quartet of rainbows with Berkley Power Eggs .

Photo courtesy of LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ , Lake Amador .

One angler , Jeff Howard , also brought in a monster channel catfish while fishing at the south pond over the past week .

Crappie are also showing in the catches . Nick Hicks of Ione was fishing upriver when he hauled in a 2.21 lb . crappie while using a white grub .

Armando Palacios posted to Instagram , reporting productive crappie fishing : “ I went to Camanche with Ramirez for his birthday and we helped our mom and pops catch their first crappie ever ! Just another crappie day of fishing ,” he quipped .

Lake Camanche has dropped to 72 % full elevation 218.39 while Pardee Lake as climbed up to 93 % full . With rain in the forecast , we hope to see an increase in the lake level .

Lake Camanche was releasing approximately 342 cubic feet per second into the Mokelumne River while receiving approx . 264 cfs . from Pardee at the time of this report .

- Dan Bacher

CLEAR LAKE

Crappie , Bluegill Reward Shoreline Jig Tossers

CLEARLAKE – If you want to catch crappie , bluegill or black bass , the best advice is to head to the north end of Clear Lake .

“ The north end gets warmer first , so that ’ s where to fish ,” said Dave Burruss of Clear Lake Outdoors . “ The crappie fishing is the top action available now . Shore anglers are getting crappie in the 1 to 2

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lb . range while fishing crappie jigs and medium minnows at Library Park in Lakeport , the Nice shoreline , Clear Lake State Park and Clear Lake County Park . The largest fish I ’ ve heard of caught lately weighed 2-1 / 2 pounds .”

“ Bluegill are also showing in the same areas as the crappie ,” he noted “ Use redworms for them .”

He gave the bass fishing a slow rating , but the fishing should perk up as the water temperature warms up and the largemouths become more active .

“ Your best bet for the bass is to throw Keitech lures on A-Rigs , again in the north end ,” said Burruss . “ Most of the bass are in the 2 to 3-1 / 2

COLLINS LAKE

Huge Trout Grace Scales

OREGON HOUSE - The Collins Lake Resort is planting the reservoir once a week with 1000 pounds of rainbow trout , including 20 percent in the 5 to 8 lb . range . Boosted by the plants , a lot of anglers have reported catching large trout lately .

“ Before the latest storm , the fishing was really good ,” reported Lakota Martin of the Collins Lake Resort . “ Anglers are catching most of the larger trout while fishing PowerBait from shore off the swim beach and the dam .”

Big fish honors go to Tony , who landed an 8.8 lb . rainbow while fishing a rainbow Rapala by the bridge . Rick Schmaus of Challenged bagged a 7 lb . trout while using green PowerBait from shore near the dam .

Eric Samay brought in two rainbows weighing 6 and 1-1 / 2 pounds while trolling a Rapala on the lake ’ s north end . Charlie Moore landed a 7-1 / 4 lb . rainbow while fishing all color PowerBait off the Swimming Beach .

Gary Musick of Grass Valley reeled in a 6-1 / 2 lb . rainbow while fishing a jerkbait in the main channel from a boat for bass . Weston Burton of Grass Valley caught a 5-3 / 4 lb trout using worms off the beach . David Bunting of Yuba City landed a 5 -1/ 2 lb . trout and a 2-1 / 4 lb . trout using PowerBait by the dam .

Most anglers are concentrating on trout , but bass and crappie are also available . For example , Hank and Ava caught two bass and a 2 lb . crappie . John Schembari caught a 5.25 lb . trout in the middle of the lake while floating minnows and Cheryl Schembari caught one bass and one crappie .

The lake is currently 3-1 / 2 feet from full and the surface water temperature is 51 degrees with 3 foot visibility .

- Dan Bacher CONTINUED ON PG 10

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