bass have moved up with the rising water level ,” reported Don Paganelli of Paganelli ’ s Bass Fishing Experience . “ The smallmouth , spotted and largemouth bass are all showing in the top 15 feet of water .”

“ The spotted and smallmouth bass are spawning now , while the largemouths are cruising in the shallows and looking for areas for their nests ,” said Paganelli . “ Anglers are fishing an array of plastic worms , rip baits and other lures .”

“ On my latest trip to the lake , an afternoon solo trip , I caught and released 15 bass ,” said Paganelli . “ All were spotted bass except for two smallmouths . The fish ranged in size from 1 to 3 pounds . I hooked all of the fish on Keitech swimbaits in the top 10 feet of water in the South Fork .”

Folsom Lake is holding 792,995 acre feet of water , 81 percent of capacity and 121 percent of the 10 year average . The water level is 448.77 feet above sea level , 17.23 feet from maximum pool .

- Dan Bacher

KLAMATH RIVER

Fish & Game Commission Approves Salmon Season

SACRAMENTO - In contrast with last fall when recreational salmon fishing was closed on the Klamath and Trinity rivers , anglers will able to fish for salmon this year in both rivers . The Klamath Basin quota this season 3,409 fish 22 inches and over .

On April 12 , the California Fish and Game Commission at a teleconference meeting quickly approved a season of August 15 to December 31 on the Klamath River and September 1 to December 31 on the Trinity River .

The bag limit is 2 fish , with not more than one adult over 22 inches . The possession limit will be 6 fish , with not more than 3

Brett Brady 530.272.7137 • 530.263.4451 adults over 22 inches .

In addition , the Klamath Spit Area at the mouth of the river has addition regulations :

• This area will be closed to all fishing after 15 percen tof the total Klamath River Basin Quota has been met

• All legally caught adult salmon must be retained .

• Anglers must leave the split area once the adult daily bag limit is met .

• Anglers can fish other areas of the Klamath River to fill their daily bag limit ( i . e . jack component .)

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LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR

The Catfish Keep Biting

BYRON – The catfish bite at Los Vaqueros hasn ’ t let up since 5000 pounds of channel cats were planted in the lake over two weeks ago .

Anglers are finding the top action in the South Cove and the Pier by the Marina while tossing out anchovies , nightcrawlers and chicken livers .

Gou Yang had a great day when he caught four catfish weighing up to 12 pounds , along with a trout and a keeper striper , while soaking anchovies from shore . Morbella Mulato also nailed a hefty catfish while soaking bait from shore .

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Hayden and Carter nailed a couple crappie and a hefty rainbow while trolling Speedy Shiners near Little Hat Island on Lake Camanche this March .

Photo courtesy of the CAMANCHE RECREATION COMPANY , Lake Camanche .

“ We had our last plant of 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout on Wednesday , April 11 ,” said Mike Allain of the Los Vaqueros Marina . Anglers are using PowerBait , nightcrawlers and other baits in the South Cove and other areas around the lake to entice the hardfighting rainbows .

Big fish honors go to Jonnell Rojas , who landed a 7.25 lb . trout while soaking chicken liver in Cowboy Cove . Jerry and Don Brown teamed up to land a 5.2 lb . rainbow while soaking Power Bait .

Anglers continue to catch both shaker and legal-sized stripers at Los Vaqueros . Cut anchovies or shad are the baits of choice , fished either from shore or a boat .

The reservoir is currently storing 146,000 acre-feet of water . The water temperature is between 54 and 56 degrees . Water clarity remains between good and fair .

- Dan Bacher

NEW MELONES

12.98 Lb . Largemouth Tops Bass Catches

ANGELS CAMP – “ It ’ s been a bass fairly close to the bank . Will there be fish offshore ? Yes , but there will be lots of bass near the bank , so let ’ s focus on them . You ’ ll find them on structure . In our waters that mostly means rocks . The bass will be holding around boulders , rocky points and rocky drop offs .

They will hold on stumps and trees to if you can locate that type of wood structure . In the spring when the water is high you ’ ll often find big stands of willow trees in the backs of coves . These submerged trees will hold bass , but I ’ ve never had much luck hooking fish in them .

An isolated tree or two is a completely different ball game . I ’ ll go out of my way to work around an isolated tree or two and I ’ ve done very well . The same is true for big isolated boulders .

I distinctly remember a day at Folsom a few years ago when my partner and I stumbled on a big truck size rock sitting all by itself in a cove . The top of the rock was about 2 feet below the surface . I pulled a pair of 3 pound spots off the rock by dead-sticking a 4 inch Senko right beside it ….

To sum up , look for your bass in shallow to moderately deep water near the shoreline . Work any irregular features you find in the form of rocks , drops or wood . The areas I tend to avoid are big featureless flats and featureless stretches of bank . These areas can produce fish , but overall , you ’ ll do better focusing on identifiable structure . The Lures For the casual basser , the lure selection doesn ’ t need to be extensive . If I were you and just starting out , I ’ d want a couple types of finesse baits and couple reaction baits .

On the finesse side , you need a soft plastic you can

attack on New Melones with the bass on their beds spawning ,” reported Gene Hildebrand of Glory Hole Sports .

“ Josh Parris of Angels Camp had an awesome day slamming the bass on Melones ,” said Hildebrand . “ He tantalized a 12.98 lb . female just off of her spawn with a not often heard of Balam 300 swimbait . After watching her swim up to the bait a couple times but not getting her to strike , Josh set up his Go Pro and the next cast , she slammed his bait , capturing the scene on video . He also landed a 7 lb . bass .”

Anglers are also having success using the Strike King XD crankbait with 12 lb . flourcarbon allowing the bait to dive deep , according to Hildebrand . Strike King / Booyah spinner baits and buzz baits are also getting the attention of the spawning bass protecting their beds .

The trout fishing has been off for the past couple of weeks , but the fish being landed are big ones .

Just ask Matt Kain of Twain Harte , who was trolling Angels Creek arm at 30 ft . with a Kastmaster on the line when he hooked into a 7 lb . 7oz . beauty .

“ Look for trout in the creek arms being fed by streams coming into the lake . Trolling speedy shiners , Apex lures and Pro Troll lures has brought success to some anglers ,” noted Hildebrand .

There ’ s a new lake crappie record now . “ Ric Ochos came to fish and blasted last month ’ s newly crowned lake crappie record for New Melones with a 3 lb . 4 oz . beefcake ,” stated Hildebrand . “ Eric was fishing off shore in a Tuttletown cove using live minnows and was fishing 20 ft . deep .”

“ Crappie fishing has just been off the charts the last two weeks with 25 count stringers of fish coming into Glory Hole Sports for pictures ,” he said . “ Crappie jigs , flukes , live minnows , artificial minnows and small spinnerbaits are all getting the attention of crappie on Melones .”

The New Melones Lake level is currently at 1056.00 ft . and 32 ft . from full . With recent rains , locals soon hope to see water levels exceed last year ’ s level of 1068.55 . and are anticipating seeing water levels at 95 % of capacity by early summer . The surface water temperature is between 65 and 68 degrees .

CONTINUED ON PAGE 12

present vertically and one that you can drag along the bottom . I use a Senko wacky rigged and dead-sticked for the vertical dimension .

My go to drag lure is a finesse worm pinned “ Texas Style ” on a split shot rig . Basically , a worm with one or two split shot clamped on the line about 14 inches above the bait .

Some guys use bright colored plastics . I tend to prefer natural colors . Think baitfish and crawfish colors and you ’ ll have something on your line that the bass will hit .

In terms of reaction baits I ’ d advise you to go with some sort of spinner bait , either a traditional wire arm bass style spinnerbait or a large “ trout ” style in line spinner like a Rooster Tail or Panther Martin .

My go to in this category is a ¼ ounce yellow Rooster Tail .

The other reaction bait should be some sort of floating crankbait . I like minnow plugs , but you might like something that has a more compact shad shape .

The reason you want a floater is that you are going for maximum versatility . Most of the time you will be casting the bait and cranking it back . But , if you think the bass are on the surface or looking to the surface you can work the lure with a series of twitches and pauses , allowing the bait to return to the surface between twitches .

With a couple rods and a small selection of finesse and reaction type lures you can do very well on bass in the spring and summer . Overall I think the biggest part of bass fishing success is the mental game of figuring out where the fish are holding and what their mood is at any given time . With a limited selection of basic lures , you ’ ll be forced to really think about your strategy and to concentrate on working your baits correctly . And these things will turn you into a good basser , no jersey or hair dye required !