14 March 30- April 13, 2018 VOL. 37 • ISS. 08

FRESHWATER REPORTS:

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COLUSA / KNIGHTS LANDING

Stripers Convene on River

YUBA CITY – Schoolie stripers in the 16 to 25 inch class have moved into the Sacramento River from Verona to Knights Landing.

“ Shore anglers and boaters are hooking stripers while using minnows, pileworms and bloodworms,” said Eddie Bisbee of Elkhorn Outdoor Sports.“ I’ ve also heard a couple of reports of anglers hooking some huge stripers in the 30 to 40 inch class while fishing S-Waver Glide Baits in the Colusa and Knights Landing areas.”

The sturgeon fishing has been up and down from Tisdale to Colusa.“ On my latest trip, we hooked a huge sturgeon that we never got near the boat,” said Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’ s Guide Service.“ The fish broke the line on a snag.”

“ So far this season, we’ ve gone out 11 times and have landed 3 keeper sturgeon and released 4 oversized fish. The fish are hitting best on lamprey eel and ghost shrimp,” he explained.

DAVIS LAKE

Target Giant Rainbows In Mallard Cove

PORTOLA – Fishing reports at Lake Davis have been scarce lately, since the J & J Grizzly Store and Camping Resort was closed for maintenance during the month of March.

Before the store closed, anglers brought in some quality rainbow trout weighing 4 to 6 pounds that they landed while using worms in Mallard Cove.

You can expect the trout fishing for both bank anglers and boaters to pick up with the arrival of spring at Davis Lake.

The Father’ s Day Fishing Derby of 2018 will be held on June 16, 2018. Proceeds will go to the Eastern Plumas Rural Fire Department:

Lake Davis is holding 69,742 acre feet of water, 84 percent of capacity and 113 percent of the 10-year average.

- Dan Bacher

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James Bratt and his fishing partner hit Bullards Bar this March and scored full limits of kokanee salmon while pulling Paulina Peak dodgers and lures.

Photo courtesy of JAMES BRATT, Nevada City.

DEL VALLE RESERVOIR

Spring Bass Bite Begins

LIVERMORE – Spring is in the air and the influx of water and change in temperatures have the fish changing their patterns at Lake Del Valle.

About 10 feet of water was added in the last 2 weeks and the surface water temperature has climbed to 57 degrees at the marina and 54.5 degrees near the dam.

“ The slight murkiness or off-color water has made it a bass fishing paradise,” disclosed Jeff Cooper, regular Del Valle fisherman.“ The bass are leaving their winter areas and starting their push to the shorelines. They are holding up on newly formed rock points and trees near the shoreline.”

“ With the calm, almost glass-like conditions, I had to slow everything down on my latest trip to the lake,” he said.“ picking apart every rock point and tree available, I managed 5 smallmouth and 7 largemouth bass. Many of those were in the 2 to 3 lb. range, with a 5 pound lunker for the day.”

“ My tactics due to the current conditions were a three-part system. In cover, I threw a Texas rigged 5” Senko( Gary Yamamoto in watermelon color with a 1 / 8 oz. tungsten bullet weight. This setup was able to glide through the limbs without getting hung up,” he advised.

“ With the steep rock ledges, I switch to a ¼ oz. shaky head with a 4” Senko. This

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allowed me to get down a little deeper as I slowly twitched it and bounced it down the rocks. Slow presentations were key on Saturday,” he tipped.

“ Last but not least, my third set up was a ½ oz. lipless crankbait, a Strike King 2 tap redeye shad in chili craw color. Saturday wasn’ t a chuck and wind day. All of my strikes came from the fish grabbing it on the fall. I would make long cast across the points and slowly bounce it back to the boat. Rip it up off the bottom and let it fall down,” he divulged.

“ Be prepared to catch a lot of trout with this tactic,” he tipped.“ They like it too. While checking new areas of the lake in February, I landed 15 trout and lost many more doing this. Speaking of trout, Saturday, trout shore fishermen had a lot of success. There were many cheers and laughter around the lake. I watched 2 families catch 3 big, healthy trout as we floated by. From what I could see, the shore fishermen outdid the trollers on this day.”

“ As the water continues to rise and warm up, the lake will form new shorelines and the fishing will just get better. Pre-spawn behaviors are starting and the male bass are wanting to reach the shallows to make their beds. The big females will be grouped up off the first and second points. Once the water reaches 60 degrees, the females will move into the shallows too,” he concluded.

EAST DELTA

Largemouth and Striped Bass Biting on San Joaquin

STOCKTON- The colder water temperatures that were a deterrent to the Florida-strain largemouth bass a few weeks ago have warmed up to the high 50s to even 60 degrees, and the bass are back on the bite.

Kris Huff, pro staff for Delta Wood Bombers, said,“ The Delta is a fun fishery right now with a lot of stripers in the area along with largemouth chewing. We started out striper fishing, but we didn’ t connect with anything over 8 pounds so we decided to target largemouth bass, focusing upon current breaks and weed lines in 3 to 6 feet of water with chatterbaits or plastics on the drop-shot. The most active fish were found in water temperatures from 50 to 60 degrees, and we put together a solid limit over the 30-pound mark.”

Dan Mathisen of Dan’ s Delta Outdoors was out with his wife, Sandra, on Thursday afternoon, and he said,“ The Delta is on

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fire right now, and we are hooking fish left and right on spinnerbaits, black and blue Senkos, or swim jigs.” Mathisen is hosting his Pro-Am tournament for his circuit out of Big Break Marina on March 18th, and there is optimism for a big weight since the last tournament out of Russo’ s Marina on Bethel Island posted a winning limit of nearly 29 pounds.

Neil Simpson of Lodi was on the San Joaquin with a friend from the Bay Area, and he threw Lucky Craft ripbaits, spinnerbaits, and swim jigs while his friend was fly fishing. He said,“ He caught more than me on a 3- to 4-inch streamer, and we released a number of shaker stripers along with legal linesides to 6 pounds. He also landed a 4-pound largemouth bass on the streamer. The stripers were taken on Kei Tech paddle tail swimbaits in Sight Fish with a chartreuse tip.”

Mike Pipkins of Gotcha Bait in Antioch reported a good bluegill and crappie bite near the Lazy M Marina and also in Discovery Bay as fishermen are finding the slabs with crappie jigs and then tossing out waxworms under a bobber. He said,“ In addition to the panfish, male stripers in the 4- to 7-pound have been coming into the shop. A 28-inch striper was landed off of the Antioch Fishing Pier this weekend on frozen shad.”

Luther Thompson of H and R Bait in Stockton reported a decent crappie bite off of Inland Drive, Whiskey Slough, and Eight Mile Road with small to medium minnows.”

- Dave Hurley

EASTERN SIERRA

Winter Weather Challenges Trouters

BISHOP-“ The Upper Owens River remains slow,” reports Tom Loe of Sierra Drifters Guide Service.“ There are a few nice fish holding in the deeper pools, however numbers are declining. Flows remain on the high side and you will see some turbidity, and dirty water as the snow melts along the banks, and at the headwaters near Big Springs. This area got about a foot of snow from the last storm, with some snow drifts shutting down the larger rutted roads with two foot of snow. The access roads are all wheel drive only and a mess.”

“ Pleasant Valley Reservoir has been good in the transition area near the inlet. The lake level has really dropped making access fine. Watch the mud near the lake after it thaws, it can be nasty! Power generation has not been occurring, so the river has been very easy to wade.“ Freeze tubing” has been good for those hearty fly fishers willing to kick around from the launch ramp to the inlet using full sinks and streamer patterns. The small river section down from the powerhouse is good for wading, & casting dry / dropper bead head rigs,” said Loe.

“ Hot Creek has the usual winter time aquatic weed issues.

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Water levels are moving up due to some snow melt. There are good numbers of smaller fish concentrated just below the hatchery and in the deeper pockets and slots in the canyon. Moderate snow accumulations here might make felt soled wading boots like ice skates,” Loe exclaimed.

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