Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3801 Dec 22-Jan 4 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! Mokelumne River Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 14 Vol. 38 - ISS.01 Our 37th Year L Since 1982 Amador In Winter: A Great Place For Trout Junkies maximum amount of territory from my outpost on the bank. When the rig splashed down I allowed it to settle below the surface for a moment and then started a slow steady retrieve with the bobber just beneath the surface. As the bobber and fly came into sight 30 feet away I was already thinking about my next cast when I detected a flash behind the gear. A beat later the water swirled and my line came to life. The trout’s first reaction to the sting of the hooked was a brief but vigorous series of headshakes. When that failed to shake the fly loose, the fish panicked and bolted. Line screamed out of my reel against the resistance of the drag. For the next several minutes I kept the pressure on the fish as my buddy followed me back and forth, up and down the bank, net in hand. At one point I almost had GONE FISHING by Cal Kellogg I Dec 21, 2018 - Jan 3, 2019 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” ater the fog would burn off, but just after dawn when I arrived a heavy overcast hung just above the lake and the bank was wet and slick with dew. The muddy shore gave way to the seemingly black water. With zero wind the lake’s surface took on the properties of a giant mirror punctuated with spirals of faint mist that slowly crept toward open water. Working at the water’s edge, I rigged my spinning rod with a clear bobber, followed by a 30-inch leader sporting a No. 8 black woolly bugger. Once the bobber was filled with the water it probably weighed over an ounce. Bringing the rod back I let go with a blistering cast. The heavy bobber combined with the fact that the reel was spooled with fine diameter 8-pound mono allowed me to shoot the fly far down range, thereby allowing me to cover a I recklessly dropped the partially formed roe ball and grabbed a towel to clean my hands. I fumbled the rod out of the holder and uttered, “It’s on” to my fishing partner Kirby. This scene took place on November 7 during the striper portion of a trip to the West Delta. You see, I was trying to tie up roe balls so we could go fish for sturgeon, but the stripers wouldn’t give me a break. I can honestly say I have never seen a striper feeding frenzy like the one we had going on that day. The trip started at the Brannon Island boat Fish Sniffer field editor Jack Naves nailed this 10 pound striper that slammed ramp at dawn. Kirby chicken livers tied to an 8/0 circle hook using Magic Thread. This fish was landed near Sherman Island, and was released after the photo. Desha and Photo by JACK NAVES, Fish Sniffer Staff. Special Section Baja Roundup PG 26-27 INSIDE Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Almanor - Lake Berryessa......................................4 Lake Camanche - Clear Lake...................................7 Collins Lake - Don Pedro Reservoir.......................8 Eagle Lake - Folsom Lake....................................11 Knights Landing - Pyramid Lake..................... 12-13 Quarry Lakes - Sasnta Clara Valley................ 16-17 Shadow Cliff - West Delta.................................... 18 SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley - Half Moon Bay.....................................23 Monterey Bay......................................................25 FEATURES Where...When...How... Sam visited Lake Amador in late November, tossed out a Berkley Mouse Tail and scored his first ever trout. Photo courtesy of the LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador. the trout within range of the long-han- dled net only to have it storm off on a sustained 20 foot run that ended when the fish catapulted out of the water! CONTINUED ON PG 19 Wide Open West Delta Striper & Sturgeon Action looked up to check my striper rod, but it stood frozen against the clear blue sky. I spooned a mess of cured salmon eggs onto a square of netting. As I attempted to form a salmon roe ball for sturgeon bait, I glanced up again to check my rod tip. It was no longer in the sky. Instead, it was pegged almost to the surface of the water, pumping wildly. 37 Years Serving Sportsmen I launched the boat raced downstream to fish the area of the Sacramento River between Decker Island and Pittsburg. We set anchor in about 26 feet of water and got the rods all set. The outgoing tide had water speeding past the boat. It was generated by the big gravitational pull of new moon period tides. We started soaking chicken livers wrapped with Miracle Thread on 8/0 circle hooks. The plan was to striper fish until the tide slowed, and then flip over to sturgeon fishing until the incoming tide picked up. The bites were sparse at first, with only a few small stripers stealing our baits. In the first hour, we had one small keeper and lost another, but mostly had bait WHAT’S HOT by Jack Naves CONTINUED ON PG 20 Jerry Brown Backs Deal to Increase Pumping Delta Water to Big Ag See Page 22 BAJA ROUNDUP...............................................26-27 BASS FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Dr Keith Jones........ 16 BULLETIN BOARD................................................... 3 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Mark Fong.................. 24 GO FOR IT: Staff....................................................... 6 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg.............................................. 9 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Cal Kellogg ............. 5 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher.............................14-15 SALTY TIPS: Hippo Lau.......................................26 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher..... 22 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Paul Kneeland - fished Pyramid Lake with John Brassfield of Auburn in the Fish Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coastal. They caught Lahontan cutthroat trout to 5 1\2 pounds, using a Daiwa DXS 8’ light action IM-7 graphite trigger stick rigged with a Daiwa Lexa 100 line counter reel loaded with 8 lb test P Line Tactical Flourocarbon line. They trolled Yakima Bait Mag Lip 3.5 in bloody firetiger and Silver Horde 4 inch spoons in watermelon off the Canon Downriggers at 30 to 40 feet deep and 2.5 mph. Cal Kellogg - fished Lake Berryessa from his Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak. Cal focused on bass fishing and landed 11 spotted and smallmouth bass to 2.5 pounds. For working offshore structure with Blade Runner Spoons, Cal employed a 7’ Cousin’s Tackle baitcasting rod paired with an Abu Garcia Revo STX baitcasting reel spooled with 15 pound Berkeley Vanish fluorocarbon line. Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Rollins Lake near Colfax. He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6” medium action spinning rod, teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 6 lb. test P-Line CX Premium Flourocarbon Coated Line. He fished with rainbow Berkley PowerBait, 1/8 oz. gold and black Panther Martins and 2/5 oz. gold/red stripe Little Cleos.