Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3717 Aug 3-17, 2018 | Page 18

18 Aug 3- 17, 2018 VOL. 37 • ISS. 17

FRESHWATER REPORTS:

CONTINUED FROM PG 13

KLAMATH RIVER cont.

• This area will be closed to all fishing after 15 percent of 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.)

LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR

Rainbows, Stripers Lead Warm Weather Angling Parade

BYRON – The weather is hot, dry and windy, but fishermen continue to catch good numbers of rainbow trout at Los Vaqueros Reservoir.

“ Although the last trout plant was three weeks ago, anglers are still picking up trout from shore and from rental boats when the wind allows,” said Jeff Houston of the Los Vaqueros Marina.” Some anglers have limited out while fishing PowerBait, nightcrawlers and other baits. Jeff Lam, a 10-year-old from Hong Kong, caught his first-ever fish, a 17 inch trout, at the lake.”

Besides the piers, Cowboy and Howden Cove are also good spots to target trout. No large stripers have been caught over the past couple of weeks, but anglers continue to bring in a mixture of keeper stripers in the 18 to 24 inch range and undersized stripers while fishing anchovies in Howden Cove.

Bank anglers are still hooking channel catfish in the wake of a 5,000 pound Mount Lassen channel catfish plant in late May, although nobody has weighed in any big catfish at the marina lately. The fish average 2 to 5 pounds and are hitting mostly anchovies and chicken liver.

The water level is currently at 153,000 acre feet. Filling has stopped for the summer. With the warming weather the water temperature is floating between 69 and 71 degrees depending on the time of day and winds.

If you are looking to rent a boat, it is a good idea to call ahead to check current wind conditions at( 925) 371-2628 or check the weather conditions.

NEW MELONES LAKE

Kokanee, Black Bass Highlight Summer Catches

ANGELS CAMP – Kokanee are providing better action at New Melones than rainbow trout as the weather in the Mother Lode

One aspect a lot of guys overlook until the moment of truth is a landing net. It takes a big net to land a big king. I’ ve got the biggest net I could find and I use it on both salmon and sturgeon.

Okay let’ s put these rigs into the water and troll. Sinker selection is based on the amount of flow, but let’ s say the flow is average so you start out with a 3 ounce sinker snapped on a rig armed with either a plug or spinner. To catch salmon while trolling the Delta you want your lure near the bottom, so with the boat moving no faster than 1.5 miles per hour lower your rig slowly down until you feel the sinker hit the bottom and then bring it up one turn of the reel. With the lure near the bottom, put the rod in a hold with the drag set fairly loose and the clicker engaged.

You should be able to see the rhythmic action of your lure on the rod tip. As you troll keep an eye on both the rod tip and the depth finder. If the water gets deeper let out more line, if it gets shallower retrieve line. If the rod tip stops working pull in the lure and make sure it hasn’ t fouled debris. Your line should enter the water at a steep angle. If too much line is scoping out behind the boat, that means you need a heavier sinker.

Salmon will hit a lure moving with or against the current. Naturally when trolling against the current the boat can move slower and the lure will still work well. When moving with the current you need to be moving faster than the surrounding water for the lure to work. Having said that you don’ t want to go over 1.5 mph, the real key in dialing in the correct speed is watching how your lures are working on the rod tip. You want them working, but you don’ t want them going crazy.

Some salmon strikes are savage, while others are more subtle with the rod just gradually loading up as if you’ ve hooked a large piece of debris. The most important thing is to stay cool and not jerk the rod out

of the holder until the rod is really doubled over or the fish begins head shaking which is signaled by a series of sharp jabs that typically yank the tip down a foot or more several times in quick succession. At this point the salmon is hooked. Slip the rod out of the holder and fight your fish.

Earlier I mentioned a rig that was purely theoretical. To clarify I should say that the rig isn’ t theoretical since it really does exist. The theoretical part is whether or not the rig will work in the Delta.

Over the years I’ ve spent time chasing kings on the Columbia and other Northwest rivers. The way these river ebb and flow in their lower stretches reminds me a lot of the Sacramento River as it flows through the valley and Delta.

To target the salmon in the Columbia, we use three way rigs identical to the ones I’ ve described, but on the leader instead of a plug or spinner we run a Fish Flash inline flasher with a plug cut herring trailing about 30 inches behind it. Fish Flash flashers are made of plastic and create little drag while putting out a large amount of vibration and flash.

I haven’ t seen this rig used much in the Delta, but they swear by it in Washington and Oregon. Kings being kings, I’ m certain Delta salmon will crush a plug cut herring the same way that a king pushing up the Columbia will. When it comes to river run king salmon, action and scent are often the driving factors in creating strikes and plug cut bait offers both!

MARIO ARGUILLES

GUIDE SERVICE

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Teo paid Los Vaqueros Reservoir a visit in late June and pulled this husky rainbow out of Cowboy Cove, while soaking PowerBait.

Photo courtesy of LOS VAQUEROS RECREATION AREA, Livermore. Oregon House.

805-878-6061 WWW. FISHMARIO. COM

heats.

“ The salmon are as deep as you’ d expect with a surface water temperature of 85 degrees,” said John Liechty of Experience Guide Service.“ Anglers are picking up the salmon at 30 to 40 feet deep while trolling pink Micro Hoochies and Apex lures.”

“ Trout subsidized a bit with the hot weather,” said Liechty.“ Anglers are definitely not catching the trout hot and heavy, although the few fish being hooked are big ones.”

Bass fishing is very good.“ The lake is super healthy this year, the healthiest I’ ve ever seen it,” he noted.“ All of the flooded brush and vegetation has provided refuge to juvenile bass and other fish that were spawned over the past couple of years.”

His latest guided bass trip produced top-notch action.“ Last night the three of us caught and released 50 bass,” said Liechty.“ Thirty to forty percent of the fish were largemouths and the rest were spotted bass. In addition to the fish that we landed, we also missed another 25 fish.”

“ We fished from 4:30 p. m. to 8:30 p. m. with a little bit of everything, including top top water lures,

Sacramento River Feather River

Smith River Klamath River

Now Fishing Striped Bass and Steelhead

crankbaits, spinnerbaits, shakeyheads and drop shot rigs. Whatever you like to fish with, you ought to be able to hook fish on.”

OROVILLE LAKE

Salmon Limits Are the Rule

OROVILLE – King salmon limits are the rule for anglers fishing Lake Oroville, but the action isn’ t red hot – boaters have to work for the fish.

“ We’ re catching limits on our trip, but the fish are running in schools,” said Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’ s Guide Service.“ Anglers are catching fish ranging from 16 to 20 inches long, along with some holdover chinooks measuring 22 inches and over.”

He is experiencing his top action wile trolling with Kokanee Series Cut Plugs at 50 to 70 feet deep.

Black bass are in their summer pattern at Lake Oroville. Fishermen are throwing topwater lures off the main lake points early and late in the day and are drop shotting with Robo Worms and other plastics in deep water during the day.

Lake Oroville is holding 2,120,159 acre feet of water, 60 percent of capacity and 77percent of average.

- Dan Bacher

PARDEE LAKE

Derby Anglers Bag Kokanee, Rainbows

IONE – The Kokanee Power Lake Pardee Team Derby held on July 14 featured 114 adults and 20 junior participants. The bite was by no means hot, but hard-working anglers caught kokanee salmon and rainbow trout.

The winners of the adult division were the team of Kenny McDonald and Kenny MacDonald with a three-fish limit at 40.90 ounces.

“ My partner and I took second in the trout side pot with a 48.95-ounce rainbow that was in great shape,” said Gary Coe, President of Kokanee Power.“ None of the kokanee appeared to be turning into their spawning colors. I expect this action to remain into September and October.”

Every junior participant that landed a fish

SAN PABLO SHADOW RESERVOIR CLIFFS LAKE

( 510) 223-1661( 925) 426-0197

LAKE

LAKE DEL VALLE RANCHO SECO

( 925) 449-5201( 209) 748-2318

LAKE PARDEE( 209) 772-1472 Offer valid on all boat rentals Monday- Friday For more information about Boating, Camping & Recreation Visit WWW. ROCKYMOUNTAINREC. COM All other boat rental terms and conditions still apply. Offer subject to boat rental availability. Offer expires on 12 / 31 / 2018 and is not valid with any other coupon / discount with any other coupon / discount.

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