Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3710 April 27- May 11 2018 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! Thermalito Afterbay Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 14 Vol. 37 - ISS.10 Our 36th Year Since 1982 April 27 - May 11, 2018 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” 5.87 Lb. Rainbow Tops Catches at NTAC Collins Lake Event B ig rainbow trout went on the bite at the Norcal Trout Anglers Challenge (NTAC) event at Collins Lake sponsored by Angler’s Press and the Fish Sniffer magazine on Saturday, April 7, as evidenced by the many hefty fish weighed in. “We were extremely pleased that despite the downpour expected for Saturday, 170 participants came out to participate, including 30 kids,” noted Vince Harris, = President/CEO of Angler’s Press Outdoor Promotions. Jeremy Phillipson caught the biggest fish taken by anyone during the event, a 5.87 lb. rainbow trout. He easily captured first place in the youth division. “I hooked the fish while using orange Power Bait from shore near the dam,” said Phillipson. Ricardo Diaz III placed second in the youth division with a 2.67 lb. trout. He was fishing white Power Bait from shore with his dad, Richard Diaz Jr, “near the volleyball court.” Victoria Reyes of Rocklin finished third by catching a 2.43 lb. rainbow. She shore fished with a nightcrawler/marshmallow combination near the dam with her dad, Ben, to nail the fish. The fourth through tenth place winners were Jeremy Phillipson landed this 5.87 lb. rainbow trout, (4) Winston Huber, 2.37; capturing first place in the youth division of the NorCal (5) Kylke Felter, 1.96; Trout Anglers Challenge at Collins Lake on April 7. (6) Jacob White, 1.76; Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. (7) Makyla Smith, 1.57; (8) Angel Blanco, 1.5, (9) adult division with his 4.27 lb. rainbow. He Natalia Smith, 1.47; and (10) Josh was trolling with a Rapala when he hooked Cortez, 1.36. the trout. “I also hooked a 1 lb. black bass Ricardo Diaz Jr. won first place in the while trolling” he noted. adult division of the event with his 4.8 lb. Gavin Huber captured third place with rainbow. He was fishing PowerBait from his 4.8 lb. rainbow trout. shore by the volleyball court with his son, The fourth through tenth place finishers Ricardo Diaz III. were (4) Walter Gibbs, 3.57; (5) Mario George Leezy came all of the way from Castillo, 2.9; (6) Dirk Enzwiler, 2.9; (7) Sparks, Nevada to capture second place in the James Fleenor, CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 GONE FISHING by Dan Bacher Looking For One Big Trout…! count. For Gena “big” is 8 pounds. She’s gotten a few rainbows around 5 pounds and her biggest overall trout so far was a 6 pound silver color phase brown that she caught at the mouth of the McCloud River Arm on Lake Shasta. That husky brown smashed a Big trout and big smiles, that’s been the situation for anglers fishing Lake Almanor Silver Horde salmon with Capt. Bryan Roccucci this spring. Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY’S GUIDE SERVICE, Lake Almanor. spoon trolled be- neath a big bait ball. Last week, Gena’s hunt for a trophy trout was elevated to a whole new level when she finally hit the y wife Gena has caught a lot of water with Captain Bryan Roccucci of Big big fish, including 100 pound Daddy’s Guide Service. She has known tuna, 30 pound yellowtail, a 40 plus pound for a long time that Lake Almanor is full striper and a huge jack crevalle that was of big browns and rainbows and that fish in within a pound of the world record! the 8 pound class are not uncommon at the The one fish that she really wants to catch Plumas County impoundment. that has eluded her is a big trout. She isn’t A couple years ago she decided that she particular whether it’s a rainbow or a brown, really wanted to fish the lake with Roccucci, but she has made clear mackinaw don’t M 36 Years Serving Sportsmen but it can be tough to get a date on Bryan’s boat during Almanor’s early spring trophy season that typically takes place in March and early April. This year when I dropped into Bryan’s booth at the January Sacramento ISE show I asked about a date and he revealed a couple openings in early April. Bryan penciled in our names and April 2 was officially the date when Gena would attempt to trade punches with a Lake Almanor monster! Prologue Gena and I along with our Labrador Lucy arrived in Chester on the shores of Lake Almanor the afternoon before our trip with Bryan. After checking into our hotel, we decided to go exploring around the lake and give Lucy a chance run off some WHAT’S HOT by Cal Kellogg CONTINUED ON PAGE 13 Coleman Fish Hatchery Releases 5,000 Adult Steelhead Back into Sacramento See Page 22 Special Section Baja Roundup PG 26-27 INSIDE Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Almanor - American River.....................................4 Berryessa Lake - Colusa/Knights Landing.............7 Davis/Frenchman Lake - East Delta ....................8 Eastern Sierra - New Melones.......................10-11 Pardee Lake - Rio Vista......................................12 Rollins/Scotts Flat - Shadow Cliffs Lakes...........17 Shasta Lake - Tahoe..................................... 18-19 Trinity Lake/River - West Delta..................... 20-21 SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley - Monterey Bay................................ 24-25 Peninsula Shoreline.............................................26 FEATURES Where...When...How... BAJA ROUNDUP...............................................26-27 BILL’S TIPS - Bill Adelman...................................... 18 BULLETIN BOARD................................................... 4 FISH SNIFFER HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg..................... 5 GO FOR IT: Staff....................................................... 2 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...................................... 3 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher.............................14-15 SALTY TIPS Steve “Hippo” Lau.............................. 25 SONOMA COAST - Kathie Morgan......................... 20 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION - Dan Bach er.... 22 WHAT’S HOT SALTWATER - Dan Bacher.............. 23 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - Took his 14 foot Hobie Pro Angler kay- ak to Rattlesnake Bar on Folsom Lake for a shake- down cruise. Cal spent some time fishing for bass. For tossing Senkos and Berkley Power Worms, Cal employed a 7 foot Fenwick HMX spinning rod. The reel was an Abu Garcia Orra S30 spooled with 8 lb Trilene Big Game line. Before his next trip, Cal plans to re-spool the Orra with 15 pound FINS braid for increased sensitivity. Paul Kneeland - fished Lake Camanche with Brian Garcia of Colfax in the Fish Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coast- al. They caught rainbow trout to 19 inches and 2.7 pounds using Daiwa DXS 8’ light action IM-7 graphite trigger stick rigged with the new Daiwa Lexa 100 Line counter reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Top- knot line. He trolled purple/silver and fire- tiger Speedy Shiner spoons off the Canon Downriggers 20 to 35 feet deep at 2.5 mph. Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at the Ther- malito Afterbay Outlet. He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6” medium action spinning rod, teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 6 lb. test P-Line CX Premium fluorocarbon coated line. He fished with chartreuse Berkley PowerBait, 1/8 oz. gold and black Panther Martins and 1/8 oz. Yakima Bait Rooster Tails in brown trout, fire tiger and rainbow color patterns.