Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3725 Nov. 23-Dec 7 | Page 10
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Nov 23 - Dec 7, 2018
MAP FEATURE
VOL.37 • ISS. 25
Collins Lake offers great trout, black bass, catfish and sunfish fishing year round in the Sierra Nevada foothills.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
P
Collins Lake Anglers Nail Big, Bold Trout at
NTAC Tournament of Champions
articipants in the NorCal Trout
Anglers Challenge Tournament of
Champions at Collins Lake, sponsored by
the Fish Sniffer magazine and Angler’s
Press, found top-notch fishing, particularly
from shore, on the weekend of November
3-4.
Nestled in the beautiful Sierra Nevada
foothills, just over an hour northeast of
Sacramento between Marysville and Grass
Valley, Collins is a 1600-acre
lake and recreation area
with 12 miles of
shoreline. Collins
receives large
rainbow trout plants
in both the fall
and spring, with
31,800 pounds of
trout planted this
spring and another
5,000 pounds
stocked
so far this fall, with 5,000 pounds more
expected.
“This was perhaps the most exciting
Tournament of Champions event we have
had in the past 6 years,” note Vince Harris,
President of Angler’s Press Outdoors.
“With over 125 adult anglers and youth
participating, the best weather imagin-
able, and a great bite, we couldn’t be more
pleased with this event.”
Jeremy Phillipson won first place in the
kid’s division with a 5.36 lb. rainbow that
he landed on Saturday while fishing from
shore with chartreuse PowerBait. “It
was a slow morning off the beach
when suddenly my rod was slammed
down by the fish, said Phillipson.
“Angel Blanco netted the fish for me.”
Moises
Blanco
placed second
in the kid’s
division of
the event with
a 4.97 lb.
rainbow. He
was fishing
PowerBait
with his father,
Jose, off their
campsite.
The third
through tenth
place winners
were (3) Austin The top 10 winners of the Youth Division of the NTAC Tournament of
Soucy, 3.22; (4) Champions show off their prizes.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Ryder Peterson,
3.22; (5) Jacob
White, 2.99; (6) Victoria Reyes, 2.77; (7)
winner, Bruce Alger, won a 14 foot tracker
Colby Hill, 2.53; (8) Angel Blanco, 2.44;
boat, motor and trailer package, courtesy of
(9) Devin Osterberg, 2.44; and (10) Anaya
Gone Fishin’ Marine in Dixon. The youth
Tinsley, 2.38.
winner, Austin Soucy, won a Sea Eagle
Matt Kinsey won first place in the adult
inflatable fishing paddle board, courtesy of
division by landing a whopping 5.82 pound Sea Eagle.
rainbow trout.
The father-son team of Rich and Ryder
The second through tenth place winners
Peterson, like many, found their best fishing
were (2) Mike Strauss, 5.16; (3) Dave
while bait fishing.
Soucy, 5.02; (4) Dan Grass, 4.31; (5) Nick
“We tried trolling all morning without
Billmeier, 4.24; (6) Craig Smith, 3.66;
catching anything,” said Rich. “So, we
(7) Bruce Alger, 3.48; (8)
pulled up the boat on shore and fished from
Kevin Potter, 3.46; (9)
the bank. We ended up catching two trout
Mark Sepelak, 3.44;
that we weighed in.”
and (10) David
“On the following day, we went back to
Bixler 3.42.
same spot and ended up going back to the
The top 10
same spot,” said Peterson. “We caught a
winners in each
total of 9 fish, all over 2 pounds. We used
division partici-
green and rainbow Power Bait and Mice
pated in a drawing Tails in just five feet of water.”
for a boat. The adult
Ryder’s biggest fish was 3.22 pounds,
putting him in fifth place in the kid’s
division.
Moises Blanco of San
The adult winners also received cash
Jose won second place
in the kid’s division of
prizes and the youth went home with an
the NTAC Tournament of
array of prizes.
Champions at Collins Lake
Sponsors of the event included Gone
on November 3-4 with a 4.97
lb. rainbow while fishing
Fishin’ Marine, Fisherman’s Warehouse,
with his dad, Jose.
Atlas-Mikes, Berkley, Yo-Zuri, Yakima
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish
Bait, Costa Del Mar, Silver Horde/Gold
Sniffer Staff.