VOL. 37 • ISS. 15 July 6- 20, 2018
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REDDING / RED BLUFF
Stable Flows Lead To Fantastic Rainbow Action!
REDDING –“ I don’ t know why, but we got a lot of really large fish today. We didn’ t get huge numbers, but very few fish under 18 inches and 5 that were over 4 pounds. Our total for the day was 15 big fish,” exclaimed Mike Bogue of Mike Bogue’ s Guide Service on June 21.
“ It’ s been really good for both numbers and bigger rainbows right now. The river flow is stable at around 10,000 cfs and the trout are very active at that flow rate,” said Bogue.
“ I’ ve used a little bait, mainly Pautzke Fire Eggs, but mostly we’ ve been getting our fish on plugs. I’ ve had the best results back trolling a Mag Lip 2.5. Silver was the hot color today, but that can change from day to day. The river is really clear right now. I’ d like to see the visibility reduced a bit so I could run some bolder colors,” Bogue quipped.
With anglers beyond the Golden Gate nailing easy limits of big king salmon, it looks as if the river season might be epic this year.
The season gets going on July 16 and Bogue is anxious to fish.
“ I’ ve been seeing all those fish being caught off the coast and I’ m thinking that may translate to great river fishing. If you want to fish during the opening several days of the season, give me a call as spots are starting to fill. My Flatfish are ready,” Bogue concluded.
RIO VISTA
Rio Vista Black Bass Fishing Top Summer Prospect for Delta Anglers
RIO VISTA- Angling pressure continues to dwindle across the California Delta with striped bass being the top target despite spotty fishing. Bass fishing was highly recommended over chasing striped bass this week by the pro anglers at Fisherman’ s Warehouse in Sacramento.
“ They’ re spraying all over the place to kill the weeds right now, but if you can find the grass, you’ ll find some bass,” noted manger, Alan Fong.
“ There’ s stripers in the Delta but you’ ll have a hard time finding them if you’ re actually targeting them. Most of our guys are finding stripers busting on bait while they’ re bass fishing,” he added.
Catfish were also an option for anglers wanting to get out and wet a line.
“ They’ re always around. Mackerel and clams are good to use and try and get out in the evenings. The last 2-3 hours of sunlight are the best time to go,” Fong tipped.
- Roland Aspiras
ROLLINS / SCOTTS FLAT
Bass, Trout & Cats Stretch Lines
COLFAX“ At Rollins the last couple hours of daylight have been best. Early in the afternoon, you can catch bass, but the
This young man explored the waters of Folsom Lake with Captain James Netzel on June 3 and successfully battled this beautiful rainbow trout.
Photo courtesy of TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE, Loomis.
most intense bite comes once the sun is off the water,” exclaimed Jason Pleece of Meadow Vista.
“ I’ ve been using clear Rebel Pop Rs and Yo-Zuri 3DS poppers you’ ve got to
get the plug near overhanging vegetation, submerged wood and rocks. The bass are holding around that cover that gives them instant access to deep water. I favor
CONTINUED ON PAGE 26 event this year. The first day of the derby, Saturday, featured atypical winds to say the least. The menacing gusts were the worst winds I’ ve ever tried to fish in using downriggers. Despite these challenges, my wife and I plus our two children were able to catch 14 kokanee on the first day of the derby. We even got two beautiful fish over 16 inches.
After being tossed around all day by the churning waters, it was a huge relief to be back on solid ground. We had a waterfront site at the Oak Bottom campground. It was a walk-in site, which meant packing and boating all of our gear to the site. However, once we made camp it was a
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WHAT’ S HOT Continued from page 1
convenient and beautiful location. The kids enjoyed observing families of baby mallard ducks and Canada geese frolic by the waterside campsite.
After weighing in our fish and returning to camp, we proceeded to the Kokanee Power dinner and raffle at the Red Lion Hotel in Redding. It was great dinner, and provided a nice outlet for everybody to complain about the wind. Kokanee Power President Gary Coe joked about how everybody was still rocking in their seats at the dinner. Gina enjoyed a glass of red wine, while I stuck with water for rehydration purposes. We still had another full day of fishing ahead of us.
At 5:30 am the next morning, we had our lines in the water at the Whiskey Creek arm of the lake. After the first day, we were sitting in fourth place, so I didn’ t really want to change anything. Although the weather was much nicer, the morning bite was slow compared to the previous day. The first half hour passed, and we hadn’ t had as much as a bump on any of our rods.
It’ s funny how you start to question what you are doing when the kokanee bite turns off. Kokanee salmon, much like their king salmon cousins in rivers, will inexplicably bite or not bite at any given time of the day. When they go on a cold streak, you start to wonder if you should change things up.
Should I change colors? Try a different speed? Am I fishing too shallow? Should we get out of here and try somewhere else?
While questions like these danced in my head, I stood my ground and decided to stay put. I told Gina that the fish weren’ t biting anywhere for anybody, as boats from across the lake raced over to our location. Those boats were moving because they were having the same slow action that we were suffering through.
The most frustrating part about kokanee fishing is trying to figure out what to do during dry spells. It’ s wild how you will experience insane hot streaks followed by totally dead fishing for hours. You will drag your gear through school after school of kokanee without as much as a scratch. It will drive you nuts, but you have to persevere. Sooner or later they will start biting … but when?
As the sun crested over a tree lined peak, we picked up our first kokanee of the morning at 55 feet deep. Now we were in business. One by one, we continued to scratch out fish here and there. Although we never experienced a red-hot bite like we had on Satur-
Adam and Grace Naves had a great time at the Whiskeytown Kokanee Derby and took home some cool prizes.
Photo by JACK NAVES, Fish Sniffer Staff.
day morning, we still managed to net 13 kokanee between the four of us.
The derby turnout was great, featuring over 100 adult entries. Back at the weighin, there was a door prize raffle followed by ceremonial trophy and prize presentations. Our kids Adam and Grace placed fourth and fifth in the junior division, while Gina and I took third in the team event. Ahead of us were the teams of Jim Brittain and Dale Gibbons in first place, and Gary and Cathi Durbin in second place.
Kokanee Power has more derbies lined up this summer, and I recommend attending any of their future events if you can. Information is listed on their website at www. kokaneepower. org