Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3726 Dec 8-21 | Page 16

16 Dec 7 - 21, 2018 MAP FEATURE VOL.37 • ISS. 26 Rollins Lake offers spotted, largemouth and spotted bass, rainbow and brown trout, crappie, bluegill and channel catfish for boat and bank anglers. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. Fall Offers Solitude for Trout, Bass & Crappie Anglers at Rollins Lake S ituated amidst a conifer forest on the Bear River in Nevada County near Colfax, Rollins Reservoir is like two different bodies of water, depending on whether you fish it during the summer or fall, winter and spring. In the summer, the lake is a maelstrom of personal watercraft, water skiers and recreational boaters. Fishing for the lake’s rainbow trout, German brown trout, spotted, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill and channel catfish is best during the early morning and late afternoon hours due to the heavy boating traffic during the day. Concentrating on the more peaceful 5 mph coves is also highly advisable. In contrast, during the fall, winter and spring, the lake is known as a place to find solid fishing for rainbow and brown trout, as well as black bass and panfish, amidst solitude. Bank fishing and trolling are both effective methods for pulling out trout at this time of year. Rollins is located at an elevation of 2,100 feet and features a surface area of 900 acres and 26 miles of shoreline. On November 17, the recreational boats and personal watercraft users that enjoy the lake during the summer were gone and anglers dominated the reservoir. Richard McGuire of Lincoln and Ron McGuire of Weimar had a great time fishing in the lake that afternoon, when they landed 10 rainbows in less than an hour while tossing out crankbaits, along with one spotted bass, in the Greenhorn arm of the lake. “This is my home lake,” said Richard. “I like to fish it year around from my kayak for trout, bass and crappie.. The bass fishing has been off and on lately. On my latest bass trip here, I caught and released 11 bass while using Zoom Flukers.” After a long period without plants, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife had stocked the reservoir with 1,000 pounds of rainbow trout recently. I have fished many times from both boat and shore at Rollins. Both Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer Editor, and I like to use the lake as a place to test new baits and lures for trout, since your chance of getting trout is very good here during the winter and spring. The bass fishing has changed a lot at the lake over the past decade. The lake used to be known as one where you can hook lots of small smallmouths and a few largemouths. Smallmouth bass in the 8 to 12 inch range were the predominate the catch. But as is the Calvin Frey bagged this smallmouth/spotted bass hybrid and spotted bass during the Folsom Bass Club Tournament at Rollins Lake on November 17. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. case on many foothill lakes, spotted bass now dominate the fishing at Rollins. The predominance of the spotted bass in the lake was demonstrated by the results of a Folsom Bass Club tourna- ment out of the Long Ravine Resort on the same day that the McGuires did so well on the trout. Seventeen teams of two people each, a total of 34 anglers, fished the lake that day. All of the fish weighed in the event were spotted bass with the exception of two largemouths and one smallmouth bass. “It was a very tough day, but all but one of the teams weighed in fish,” said Jerry Lawler, the club’s tournament director. ”Drop shotting and fishing slow moving baits were the most productive methods. We were originally scheduled to fish Lake Oroville, but we decided to change the location of the tournament to Rollins because of the Camp Fire.” The results of the event also demon- strate another aspect of the Rollins bass fishery: the lake continues to be known for the quantity of its spotted bass rather than its size Michael Allen caught the big fish, a 1.88 lb. spotted bass. The two bass that he landed weighed a total of 3.80 pounds. “I hooked the fish while drop shotting with a ¼ oz. dark grape Robo Worm,” he stated. Ryan Petersen and Ryan McGinnis won first place in the event with 5 fish weighing 7.07 pounds. Chris Brisendine placed second with 5 fish weighing 6.71 pounds, while Rob Ridge, the club president, and Jim Vretros third with five fish going 6.33 poundsl Addison Williams and Shannon Mason finished fourth with five fish