Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3717 Aug 3-17, 2018 | Page 13

FRESHWATER REPORTS: CARSON PASS REGION Rainbow Trout Dominate Caples, Bear River Catches CLEAR LAKE Early Morning Bite Features Quality Largemouths CLEARLAKE – “Lunker” Larry Hemphill guided a father and 2 sons (14 and 16) on his latest trip out of Red Bud. They were visiting from Tennessee, and of course, had to fish the famous Clear Lake. “All three were good bass fishermen,” said Hemphill. “There must have been wind warnings or something as there Big trout continue to bite at Lake Almanor. This 6 pound rainbow blitzed a was no one out threaded worm on July 7. there. I only saw 2 Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY’S GUIDE SERVICE, Quincy. bass boats all day. It was rough seas, after 9 am - was like an ocean. “Besides catfish we’ve also seen a “We were able to fish some areas I like number bass including some trophy-sized down south and found the bite to be great fish. There’s enough of them biting to make for about an hour. They caught many bass it worth a shot, even if you have to brave from 2 to 3-3/4 lbs - one after the other,” he the heat.” said. Ferman Layos from San Jose landed “The oldest bass, between 4 and 4-1/4 a monster 9 pound bass. Roman’s lbs, was caught by the youngest angler son landed a 7-1/4 lb. bass caught on - the 14-year-old! All of their bigger bass PowerBait. were caught during the early morning. Big trout honors go to Mark Zaski, OREGON HOUSE – If you want to hook some hefty channel catfish, it’s time to hit Collins Lake. “The summer heat is on and we’ve got the catfish to prove it,” reported Ed of Collins Lake. “Most of the cats our campers pulled up were caught on chicken or beef liver although they seem to be biting just about anything including rubber worms typically used for bass. Even shore fishermen out for trout with PowerBait and nightcrawlers have been catching these whiskered bottom feeders,” said Ed. Cameron landed the biggest cat, a 9 pounder, while soaking chicken liver. Joe Rice enticed an 8 ½-pounder with beef liver. Noah Konz caught a 6, pound cat on PowerBait. Steven nailed a 4-3/4lb cat while soaking a nightcrawler. Finally, Denise and Joe teamed up to bag a hefty 6-1/2 pounder on beef liver. “It seems to me that the extreme heat has signaled the catfish that it’s their turn but unfortunately has also led to a slowdown with the crappie and trout. We’re still seeing a handful of other panfish, especially redears and bluegill, but the explosive crappie bite from last month seems to have quieted down considerably,” Ed tipped. “That being said, sometimes the ones hit hardest by the heat aren’t fish at all but fishermen. The sparse trout and crappie balanced by the increase in cats could simply mean more people are escaping the sun by fishing evening and night,” Ed explained. CONTINUED ON PG 8 COLUSA/KNIGHTS LANDING Channel Cats Reward Nocturnal Anglers RIO LINDA – King salmon fishing has been slow on the Sacramento River from Verona to Colusa since the season began on July 16 due to high water temperatures. The fish are shooting right up to the cooler water available below Red Bluff. Until the fishing picks up. Channel catfish offer anglers their best chance of hooking up on the Sacramento River until salmon fishing picks. Nocturnal shore anglers soaking mackerel, GMS Dip Bait and chicken livers are bagging cats averaging 2 to 2-1/4 pounds and going up to 11 pounds from Verona to Second Beach in Knights Landing, reported Tim Boggs of Elkhorn Outdoors in Rio Linda. CONTINUED ON PG 10 Powered by Clean, Quiet, Dependable Honda 4 Stoke Outboards. Now available in 2 hp. to 250 hp. Models... the right outboard motor for any boating need. COLLINS LAKE Shore Anglers Crank In Channel Cats 13 The wind blew in a strange direction which I haven’t seen often, making areas to fish very limited. We continued to catch bass into the afternoon, but only up to 2-1/2 lbs. Docks, rocks, and weed lines were the key. Their best 5, caught within an hour, were between 15-16 lbs.” “With 4 in the boat, we just fished Robo worms and Senkos,” stated Hemphill. “MM111 was the best worm color by far. The new moondust Senko color is working well. These baits. worked very well, even when the wind took over. It was hard for them to feel a bite, but drop-shotting was the way to go in the afternoon” “Several of their bass were very tight to the tules after the wind came up. Bass do try to avoid strong wind currents if they can. Lots of bass are still quite shallow in spite of the warm water. The upcoming heat spells will probably send the bass deeper now,” he added. - Dan Bacher who nailed a 4 lb. rainbow. The lake level is 9 feet from full and the surface temperature is 82 degrees. CONTINUED FROM PG 7 KIRKWOOD – The fishing has slowed down a bit at Caples Lake, through anglers are landing a mixture of recent planters and holdover rainbows. The latest plant was prior to the July Fourth weekend when the El Dorado Irrigation District stocked 1200 pounds of rainbows in the 3 to 9 lb. range in the lake. Big fish honors go to Michael Coates of the Golden Gate Salmon Association, who landed a holdover 5 lb. rainbow while trolling between the mouths of Emigrant Creek and Woods Creek, reported Joe Voss of the Caples Lake Resort. Other anglers report hooking rainbows while bank fishing with PowerBait, nightcrawlers, spinners and lures along the spillway. The lake level is currently only 3 feet from full. “Kirkwood Lake is producing good action on pan size rainbows, while Emigrant Lake, a hike in lake, is kicking out brookies,” said Voss. “I caught and released four brook trout in the 9 to 10 inch range while fishing humpies pattern flies on a recent trip to Emigrant Lake.” For stream fishing, your top prospect is fishing spinners, spoons, nightcrawlers and flies in the West and East Carson rivers. Mike Raso at the Bear River Lake Resort reported that the rainbow trout have gone deeper as the weather warns up. Shore fishermen tossing out PowerBait and nightcrawlers are landing small rainbows off the corner of the dam. “There is still plenty of water in the reservoir for recreational boating and fishing,” he emphasized. - Dan Bacher Au