20 July 6 - 20 , 2018 VOL . 37 • ISS . 15

FRESHWATER REPORTS :

CONTINUED FROM PG 14

DAVIS LAKE cont .

Ron Vanassen placed second with two fish weighing 6 pounds 12.8 ounces . His big fish was a little over 4 pounds .

Peter Hallrud placed third with two fish weighing 5 pounds , 14.4 ounces . His big fish weighed 3-1 / 2 pounds .

In the kids division , Kaiden McKinney placed first 1 fish with a trout weighing 3 pounds , 10.2 ounces caught while shore fishing .

Ryu Crank was second with 1 fish weighing 1 pounds , 7 pounces . He was trolling red dot frog Dick Nites .

Chris and Collin Jackson won the “ dad and me ” division by caching a fish going 2 pounds , 12.8 ounces while bank fishing .

“ Trollers are using wee Dick Nites in Copper Redhead , Red Dot Frog and Firetiger and all of the bright Rooster Tails ,” tipped Graham . “ They are trolling 15 to 20 feet deep between the two islands .”

Bank fishermen are using worms and rainbow-garlic PowerBait from Mallard , Coot ’ s Bay , Eagle Point and Lighting Tree . The bugs are finally starting to hatch ; so fly fishing is also improving .

Lake Davis is holding 79,579 acre feet of water , 78 percent of capacity and 119 percent of normal .

- Dan Bacher

DEL VALLE RESERVOIR

Channel Cats Lead Summer Angling Parade

LIVERMORE – A mixture of recently planted and holdover channel catfish are rewarding anglers fishing the warming

Joe Gamez took a break from sturgeon fishing long enough this June to land this monster Delta largemouth .

Photo courtesy of VINCE BORGES , Phenix Rods . waters of Lake Del Valle . The East Bay Regional Park District stocked 750 pounds of channel cats in the lake the week of June 18 and 750 pounds

the week before . The catfish plants have replaced the trout plants until the water temperature cools down in the fall .

For targeting the catfish , use anchovies ,

mackerel , nightcrawlers , or chicken livers in the coves . Fishing early and late is your best bet for hooking the catfish .

With trout plants over until the fall , the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company reported that trout bite will be a bit harder to come by , but not impossible .

“ We are still getting reports of anglers catching trout ! We recommend fishing PowerBait or Power Eggs , Mice Tails , and Flicker Shad . Make sure you are fishing shallow sand flats and if you are fishing from a boat , make sure you keep moving ,” they stated .

There are starting to be reports of striper boils out by the dam , but some people are having success in the Narrows and near the dock . The marina staff recommends using diving spoons and lures out by the dam , in deeper water .

Expect the smallmouth and largemouth to move into their summer pattern . Fish top water lures and glide baits early and late in the day along shoreline structure – and fish Senkos , plastic worms and jigs off the points during the day .

LAKE DON PEDRO

Trout Fishing Shifts Into High Gear

LA GRANGE -Trout fishing has been outstanding at Don Pedro with quick limits of rainbows along with the very occasional kokanee or king salmon . Bass fishing is also strong , and there are crappie to be had as well .

Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing said , “ I took three trips on the lake this week for trout , and we put in limits on every trip . On Saturday morning , I couldn ’ t get the second rod out before we had a fish on , and we were done with limits by quarter to one ounce and a few quarter ounce tungsten drop shot weights . A small selection of glass beads and swivels rounds out the necessary terminal tackle .

Texas Style

This is an old standby that just about everyone knows . The Texas rig refers to both a method of hooking a worm and a fishing method . A worm put on the hook Texas style runs straight and is weedless with the hook point buried in the worm ’ s body . Since a worm rigged in this way can be worked around the nastiest structure it is a popular hook rigging method for a variety of fishing techniques .

In the classic sense the Texas rig consists of a worm hooked Texas style with a bullet weight on the line directly above it . Out here in the west this method isn ’ t used as much as it is back east , but it can be highly effective . The most popular way of fishing this rig is to cast the worm toward promising structure , allow it to sink to the bottom and them begin slowly inching it across the bottom .

Fished in such as way the worm looks like a substantial meal that a bass can pick off with minimal effort . In addition , since bass spend a lot of time feeding near the bottom on crawfish and other prey items there is a very good chance that a worm fished this way will be in the strike zone of the bass on any given day .

Carolina Rig

This is a method that pro ’ s use to put big numbers of fish in the boat , yet you ’ ll seldom see a casual angler utilizing it . To set up a Carolina rig slide your main line through a half to one once bullet weight , slide on a glass bead behind it and follow the bead with a swivel . To the swivel attach 18 to 36 inches of leader material

tipped with a Texas rigged worm . This rig is great for working water that is 15 to 30 feet deep thoroughly and quickly . To fish the rig , make a long cast into open water that features bass holding bottom structure such as stumps , boulders , ledges or a creek channel . Once the rig sinks , start crawling it across the bottom . Periodically stop dragging the worm and shake the rod tip . This will cause the weight and glass bead to work against each other and the bottom , creating vibrations that draws bass close to investigate . This is great method to use for seeking out fish at an unfamiliar lake and it is also a winner for pinpointing bass on lightly fished offshore structure .

A finesse fishing variation of the Carolina rig is the split shot rig . This rig utilizes a spinning outfit spooled with 8 pound line with a Texas rigged worm tied directly to the main line . One or more split shot is placed on the line 12 to 20 inches above the worm . A trick I often use with this rig is to place a glass bead on the line before tying on the worm . I then put on a pair of split shot about an inch apart with the glass bead sandwiched between them to create vibration .

Wacky Rig The wacky rig is a variation of the weightless rig . The only difference is that instead of rigging the worm Texas style , the hook is pinned through the middle of the worm with the point exposed . It sounds crazy and looks crazy , but it is deadly on bass holding near rocky structure like that found at many NorCal reservoirs .

The preferred method of fishing the rig is to cast it out and let it sink on a semi tight line without any added action . If it makes it to the bottom without being hit , retrieve it a few feet with a pumping rod tip and them let it fall again . This results in a crippled falling action that shallow water bass have a hard time passing up .

Final Thoughts

Well , there we have it , three rigs that will cover virtually all conditions and situations encountered on the water . Do the three methods we ’ ve discussed represent the final word on worming ?

Absolutely not , all these methods were stumbled on by enterprising anglers looking to solve a problem they encountered on the water , whether it was how to present an effective bait in thick cover or how best to tempt inactive deep water bass . Every angler develops his or her own method of worming over time .

Some pros do a lot of dead sticking . Other anglers do well casting and retrieving Texas rigged worms as if they were fishing a crankbait . Add to these variations in fishing style things like scents , scented worms , insertable rattles and new tackle innovations , and it ’ s easy to see that the versatile plastic worm is still a long way from reaching its full potential !

#

3507

CALIFORNIA ’ S LONGEST RUNNING OUTDOOR TALK SHOW !