Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3726 Dec 8-21 | Page 6

6 Dec 7 - 21, 2018 VOL.37 • ISS. 26 FRESHWATER REPORTS ALMANOR Jiggers, Trollers, Drifters & Bank Anglers All Hooking Up! CHESTER - Anglers fishing Lake Almanor aren’t hooking huge numbers of fish, but the fish they are hooking run large. While fishing pressure is light at the Plumas County powerhouse trout fishery, anglers that make the effort are being rewarded with browns and rainbows that run up to and beyond 6 pounds. “I took a two day trip up to Lake Almanor to break in my new Hobie Outback kayak and caught three trout over 4. The biggest fish was a 5.91 pound brown. The other two were rainbows that went 4.60 and 5.17 pounds. I released the brown to spawn, but I took the rainbows home for the smoker. They ended up tasting every bit as good as smoked ocean salmon,” reported Troy Biggs of Redding. “I got the brown and one of the rainbows while trolling a small smelt pattern floating Rapala just under the surface. The other rainbow hit a white crappie jig drifted 15 feet under a slip bobber. While I was on the water I talked to a guy in a power boat that had three very nice rainbows he caught while drifting worms around the power house at the dam,” said Biggs. Shore anglers are reporting success while fishing both near the dam and off Rocky Point. Both salmon eggs and worms are drawing strikes when fished 3 to 10 feet deep under bobbers. LAKE AMADOR Trout Catches Soar with 4,000 Lb. Plant IONE – A recent plant of 4,000 pounds of trout in one day, including 500 pounds of Lightning Trout from Mount Lassen, has definitely boosted the fishing success at Lake Amador. “We received a ‘bumper’ load on November 13, just in time for Thanksgiving and the start of our annual derby,” said Elizabeth Lockhart of the Lake Amador Resort. “That’s a whole month’s allotment in one day. There was a total of 4000 lbs. stocked – 3500 lbs. were rainbows and 500 lbs. were Lighting Trout. All were put in off the spillway so they will spread out quickly.” “I’m still hearing more about anglers using small lures in the shallows, but I’ve seen many caught with PowerBait as well,” she tipped. “Stay shallow in the top 10’ and use the wind in you favor;, don’t fight it. You will pick up more fish if you wind drift your bait the right way.” Brian Compani and Robert Carbone had a great day catching their limits of trout, including a nice 5.20 lb. Lightning. They were using Kastmasters and a blue minnow spinner. The Lake Amador Trout Derby began on November 23 and will run through March 3. The event will feature 300 tagged trout in 3 months – and over $3000 in cash and prizes. There is a $7 one time entry fee. In addition to the trout, anglers are also picking up some catfish by soaking mackerel, chicken liver and other cut baits and largemouth bass while fishing plastic worms, jigs and swimbaits. The lake is currently 29 feet from full and the boat launching facilities are in full operation. - Dan Bacher AMERICAN BASIN/ STAMPEDE RESERVOIR Sugar Pine, French Meadows Offer Rainbows AUBURN – Trout fishing at Sugar Pine Reservoir, located on Shirttail Creek, a tributary of the North Fork of the American River,, has improved with a recent plant of rainbow trout by the CDFW. “Anglers are doing pretty well on the rainbows,” said Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle. “Most of the guys are bank fishing with worms and Power Bait.” However, trolling with Kastmasters, Cripplures, Excel spoons, Panther Martin, Rooster Tails, Uncle Larry’s spinners, Needlefish and other lures is also productive for rainbows at the reservoir. French Meadows has been producing holdover rainbows and some browns for anglers. “Two local anglers reported catching rainbows and brown in the 15 to 16 inch range while trolling watermelon dodgers and worms and crawdad pattern Shad Raps,” reported Newton. Shore anglers can also experience solid rainbow and brown action while tossing out PowerBait and nightcrawlers in the river inlet and off rocky ledges. Use one rod to fish PowerBait, Mice Tails and nightcrawlers and another rod to cast Rapalas and other stickbaits. - Dan Bacher Trout Planted Seasonally! • Cafe • RV Park • Waterslide • Campground • Disc Golf • General Store Cafe Open Seasonally On Friday, Saturday & Sundays 209-274 -4739 7500 Lake Amador Dr., Ione, CA 95640 WWW.LAKEAMADOR.COM Lake Almanor Now Booking Fall Trout at Eagle Lake La ke Almanor Lake Davis a n d Eagle Lake Bucks Lake Captain Bryan Roccucci Lake Tahoe www.BigDaddyFishing.com Call for Best Dates – (530) 370-1001 LAKE AMADOR Bruce Olsen teamed up with Captain Mike Bogue for a day of Sacramento River salmon action above Red Bluff and nailed this big bad king while working a T-60 Flatfish! Photo courtesy of MIKE BOGUE’S GUIDE SERVICE, Redding. AMERICAN RIVER Salmon Numbers Are Low This Season ORANGEVALE – While the Feather River and Mokelumne River hatcheries have seen good salmon runs this season, the numbers seen on the American River are relatively low this year. The hatchery has trapped 3,998 salmon this season, while a normal year would normally be over 9,000 fish, according to Gary Novak, hatchery manager. Because the numbers of naturally spawning fish in the river are so low so far, the hatchery is not bringing some of the fish into the hatchery so that there is some natural spawning in the system. “We’ve conducted 4 out of our 14 planned spawning sessions – and we’re getting near the peak of our run,” Novak stated. “Maybe the storm coming into the area this week will trigger more fish to move up the river.” One indication of lower numbers in the river is that CDFW staff found only 150 dead salmon in Nimbus Basin – even though fishing is now closed year round in the basin. In addition, CDFW survey staff have found only 50 redds throughout the river. Although the hatchery plans to take less eggs this season to allow fish to naturally spawn in the river, Novak still expects them to meet their production goal of 4,000,000 smolts. The hatchery staff has seen 3 steelhead to date – all Central Valley fish rather than the Eel River-strain that the river is known for. The good news is that the water temperature is prime for spawning, 56 degrees, for both salmon and steelhead. Water releases to the American below Nimbus Dam remain at 1800 cfs. - Dan Bacher shot rigs near the Putah Creek Bridge.” “We went to the west side of the lake and located a huge school of shad,” said Letreille “While fishing there, we caught and released 20 fish from 2-1/2 to 4-1/2 pounds while using Underspins with Keitech swimbaits and Lucky Craft LV 400s in pearl white and shad patterns. All were largemouths except for three smallmouths.” After moving to a rockpile on the lake’s east side, Luke landed a 6-1/2 lb. largemouth. On Luke’s next trip with another angler, he landed an 8 lb. 11 oz. largemouth on a glidebait. Trout fishing has slowed down at Berryessa. “I caught one 18 inch holdover rainbow while bass fishing, but I haven’t heard many anglers out targeting rainbows since the action tapered off,” noted Letreille. Alan Fong of Fisherman’s Warehouse reported catching two trout measuring 14 inches long while trolling Scatter Ramps on a recent trip to Berryessa. ‘”While jigging with Blade Runner spoons at 60 to 80 feet deep in the main body, we caught and released a lot of largemouth and spotted bass, 10 crappie in the 1 to 1-1/2 lb. range and even a couple of catfish,” he noted. After an epic spooning adventure that Rich Tietz and Larry Hemphill of Lunker Larry’s Guide Service made to Berryessa, Continued on Pg 7 LAKE BERRYESSA Bass Fishing Is Hot and Cold NAPA – Bass fishing at Lake Berryessa has been off and on. The key is to find a big school of bait that the bass are feeding upon. Shane Letreille of Sweeney’s Sports and his fishing partner, Luke Liponovich, did just that on a recent trip and found great action. “The day started off slow,” said Letreille. “After catching zip on the south end of the lake, we went to the north end and caught a few bass while using drop