Aug 3- 17, 2018

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SACRAMENTO AREA

Downtown Sacramento The Hot Spot for Salmon

SACRAMENTO – Salmon season on the Sacramento River opened with betterthan-expected fishing on July 16 below the mouth of the American at Discovery Park in downtown Sacramento

Dennis Pfanner at Sacramento Pro Tackle rated the salmon fishing in downtown Sacramento as“ 7-1 / 2 on a scale of 1 to 10.“

“ Two of my customers reported catching two salmon up to 16 pounds, with around 25 to 30 salmon taken by the fleet of over 20 boats,” said Pfanner.“ Most anglers hooked the fish while trolling Kwikfish, Flatfish and spinners.”

In the days after the opener, anglers continued to catch salmon, although not as many as on opening day.

Kirk Portocarrero of https:// www. sacriverguide. com reported top-notch fishing on opening day out of Discovery Park.“ The four anglers fishing with me landed 4 salmon ranging from 12 to 18 pounds. We trolled Silvertron spinners below the mouth of the American,” he said.

Further downriver at Vieira’ s Resort in Isleton, slow fishing was reported on opening day, with two salmon landed.

- Dan Bacher

SAN PABLO RESERVOIR

Catfish, Crappie Dominate Action

EL SOBRANTE – Anglers fishing the waters of San Pablo Reservoir are still seeing their best fishing while pursuing catfish and crappie.

“ For the catfish, use anchovies, sardines, mackerel, chicken livers,” advised Marcella Shoemaker at the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company.“ The boat launch has been the best area.”

“ Crappie are also hitting,” she said.“ You will find the smaller ones from the shoreline. For the big ones, try Scow Canyon around the reeds and various coves. We had an angler catch a couple of trout early morning fishing deep.”

Pat Vigil of Red Hook Adventures caught a couple of trout fishing early in the morning. Ryan La Coste of Berkeley caught a carp weighing 7.5 lbs. using a nightcrawler on the handicapped dock.

The water level is 307.4 in elevation and the surface temperature is 71.8 degrees.

SANTA CLARA VALLEY LAKES

Target Anderson and Calero Bass with Finesse Tactics

COYOTE- Bass and crappie continue to be caught around the area lakes, while catfishing has seen an uptick in interest.

Finesse tactics was still the top method for bass across all the area lakes as bass move offshore away from the summer heat.

“ I’ d almost always suggest some kind of drop shot, shakey head, Ned or Carolina rig this time of year, especially at Anderson and Calero,” said Eric Tang at Coyote Bait and Tackle.

“ Rocky points, secondary points and deep water humps are usually what you’ re looking for. 20 feet is a good starting point. Sometimes a little shallower, sometimes a little deeper.”

“ In the mornings try tossing a squarebill crankbait or a topwater bait like a spook.” For crappie, Tang recommended Calero.“ The deep water by the boat ramp is always a good place to start. Check your graph and drop down on them with jigs or grubs,” tipped Tang.

Brooklyn traveled to Lake Pardee from Tracy this June and was rewarded with this big rainbow she caught while trolling with her dad and grandpa. The fish grabbed a green hoochie. Photo courtesy of the LAKE PARDEE RECREATION AREA, Lake Pardee.

“ Catfishing is good at Uvas and Chesbro. Fish in the evenings in the cove with mackerel and nightcrawlers for bait,” Tang stated.

- Roland Aspiras

SHASTA / WHISKEYTOWN LAKES

For Big Trout Go to Shasta!

REDDING- Trout fishing got a notch better at Lake Shasta last week and the average size of the fish being caught increased. Heavy shad schools are forming and the trout are zeroing in on them and feeding heavily.

Both browns and rainbows are being caught. The number of rainbows is outpacing the browns, but the browns are bigger. These days a good rainbow is going 3 pounds. When the browns hit, 5 and 6 pounders are common and larger fish are certainly possible.

Now Booking Klamath River Spring Kings!

Cpt. Jerry Lampkin – 25 years of experience fishing Salmon, Steelhead, Stripers, Trout & landlocked Kings on the Feather, Sacramento, American Rivers and Folsom Lake

Now Fishing Striped Bass on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers Now Booking Spring and Fall Run Salmon on the Klamath River!

The trout are holding 40 to 60 feet deep. Find the bait and you’ ll find the fish. The I-5 Bridge is a great place to start. Shad imitating lures are the way to go. Needlefish, Wiggle Hoochies, Hum Dingers and a host of other baitfish pattern lures will work. Look for this action to get even better as more and more trout home in on the bait in August and September.

Like the trout fishing, bass fishing for 1 to 3 pound spots has been excellent. Clear poppers worked along steep drops and big points are getting action early and late. When the sun is up and the bass are keying on suspended bait, spoons and drop shot rigs produce big numbers. As of press time, Shasta was 40 feet from maximum pool and dropping 6 inches per day.

At Whiskeytown, the kokanee fishing has slowed just a bit, but anglers are still getting limits of fish in the 15 to 18 inch range depending on the day. Hoochies and spinners teamed with blades do the trick in pink and orange colors. Paulina Peak blades and micro hoochies are being especially well received.

SOUTH FORK LAKE

Target South End for Trout

ELKO- Fishing for trout at South Fork continues to be just fair though it has picked up at the south end of the lake. Float tubers are catching some trout by the willows at the south end of the lake and shore anglers are catching a few along Jet Ski Beach and in the coves near the dam.

Bass fishing has been good. Fishing for wipers has been fair to good with the

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3623 south end still producing wipers. Some nice catfish have also been showing up in the creel. Surface water temperatures have climbed into the 70’ s. Most bait anglers are having some success for trout with PowerBait or worms floated off of the bottom, while fly rodders should be using chironomids, hare’ s ears, flash back PT nymphs, prince nymphs, balanced leeches and buggers.

Damselfly nymphs are on the move so those patterns should also be tried. Small dark spinners and minnow imitating lures with some red in them have produced a few fish. Dark soft plastic grubs with some sparkle are working for bass as are crank baits. Poppers are also working on still mornings and evenings.

Starting Sunday, July 1 one black bass 15 inches or longer may be kept. Anglers may now keep one black bass 15 inches or longer. One wiper 15 inches or longer may be kept.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR

Limits of Big, Fat Kokanee Reward Boaters

TRUCKEE – Kokanee salmon fishing continues to be great at Stampede Reservoir – and the fish are getting bigger as the season moves along.

“ On my latest trip, five anglers landed full limits of kokanee to 17-1 / 4 inches by 10 a. m..,” said James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service.“ We caught three fish over 16 inches and all of the fish are big and fat.”

He’ s doing best while trolling with Paulina Peak premium micro hoochies in clown UV glow, behind gold plated crush flow hoochies at 65 to 75 feet deep.

“ We also landed one 15 inch Lahontan cutthroat and two smaller ones,” he noted.

A previous trip produced three limits of kokanee by 8 a. m.“ All of the fish that day were big ones,” Netzel added.

TAHOE / DONNER LAKES

Tahoe Produces for Summer Trollers

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE- Mackinaw are the word for trollers visiting Lake Tahoe in search of action this week.

Mickey Daniels of Mickey’ s Big Mack

CONTINUED ON PG 21

Capt. Brad Bugica

All Gear Provided

5 hours

$

• Discounts for Cash •

• Large or Small Groups • Group Discounts • Gift Certificates Over 50 Years Experience on The Lake

P. O. Box 488

Carnelian Bay, CA 96140

E-mail: bigmack-2 @ att. net • www. mickeysbigmack. com

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