Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3801 Dec 22-Jan 4 | Page 9
FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 1
9
Dec 21, 2018 - Jan 4, 2019
FRESHWATER REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 4
LAKE BERRYESSA
cont.
shad and pond smelt.
“The trout fishing slowed down in the
lake’s south end after the latest storm,
but it is still good in the north end in the
Spanish Flat and Putah Creek areas,”
reported Jose Rubio of Sweeney’s Sports.
“When you find a school of bait, toss out
spoons and let them flutter down below
the bait. Krocodiles and Little Cleos are
two of the top lures.”
Otherwise, he recommended Trolling
with Kastmasters, Needlefish and
Rainbow Runners in the top 20 feet of
water. “One customer reported catching
four rainbows to 6 pounds on a recent
afternoon trolling adventure,” said Rubio.
The trout are a mixture of rainbows in
the 18 to 20-inch range and 12 to 14-inch
class. Averaging
The fishing is hit and miss at Lake
Berryessa, depending on the day that you
hit it. Larry Hemphill, fishing guide recently
took a father/adult son team to Berryessa
- mid-morning to the twilight hour. The dad
was a former client who had caught a 7
-/2 pounder with Hemphill.
“The trip started off well with the son
drop-shotting a 2-3/4 lb. largemouth on
a MM111 Robo Worm. That was the best
fish of the day. The lake was dead flat
again with not a hint of a breeze. Dead flat
surface fish activity and the birds weren’t
diving.”
“Dad caught 2 nice crappie on the drop-
shot rig. They had 3 or 4 more bass and
that was it. I had the HDS 12 on most of
the day, showing small groups of bass
from 60 to 80 feet. Several areas had no
fish on the meter from the 30 to 60-foot
zone,” he stated.
“The bait balls we did see were mostly
tight with no bass nearby. The father/son
team went again the next day in their own
boat and had a better day. They told me
These anglers put the hammer down on limits of big trout while trolling Rapalas at Lake
Amador on November 25.
Photo courtesy of LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador.
birds were everywhere and bass were
somewhat active. They had several bass
from 2-1/4 to 3 lbs. What a difference a
day makes,” said Hemphill.
“On my latest trip to Berryessa, the bait
was scattered all over the water column
from the surface to the bottom,” reported
Don Paganelli of Paganelli’s Bass Fishing
Experience. “We caught and released
12 fish, a mixture of spotted, largemouth
and smallmouth bass, while fishing small
Keitech lures and grubs in the Narrows.
The biggest fish were spots in the 3 to
3-1/2 lb. range.”
After the recent storms, catfish action
busted loose in the creek mouths. Anglers
are hooking catfish to 10 pounds while
using shad, crawlers, chicken liver,
Banking For Winter Trout At Collins Lake
T
by Cal Kellogg
here are all kinds of exotic approaches and
complex tackle available, but most of the
time a basic approach is the best approach and at
no time is this truer than when fishing for rainbow
trout during the cold water months at foothill
impoundments such as Collins Lake.
All in all, bank fishing for trout is a simple
endeavor, but like other types of fishing it requires
a selection of efficient good quality gear and a
solid systematic strategy. I’ll go out on a limb
and assume that everyone reading this has a
trout spinning rod or six so I won’t burn time
discussing the perfect rod, reel and line. Instead
I’ll cut right to rigs and baits…
Since trout spend most of their time holding
near the bottom; that’s the most effective zone for
presenting your bait. The basic bait fishing set up
is the sliding sinker rig. To construct sliding sinker
rigs that meet a number of different situations and
conditions you’ll need a selection of trout size
octopus hooks, weights, beads and swivels along
with a with some fluorocarbon leader
material
Once you’ve gathered all the
necessary components, putting
together a rig is simple. The
first step is to pass the line
of your spinning rod
through one of your
sinkers going in
from the narrow
end and out
through the wide
end. Next pass
your line through
a bead and then tie
on a swivel using an
improved clinch knot.
The bead acts as a spacer
between the weight and
the swivel, protecting the
integrity of the knot. To
the other end of the swivel
attach an 18 to
36 inch section
of fluorocarbon
leader with
an improved
clinch knot.
The final step
is to tie a hook A variety of baits will take Collins Lake
to the end of the trout during the winter months.
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
leader using a
palomar knot.
There are several popular and productive
baits and bait combinations for tempting trout
at Collins, but the best baits all have one thing
in common - they float up off the bottom. Trout
will seldom pick a bait directly off the bottom.
You want a bait that floats up and away from
grass and debris, so that a cruising trout can find
it easily.
Three decades ago, worms, salmon eggs
and soft cheese were the kings as far as trout
baits were concerned, and then it happened.
Floating dough baits arrived on the scene and
things haven’t been the same since. PowerBait
is the most popular and certainly one of the
most effective of these putty like concoctions.
Another dough bait you’ll want in your arsenal
is Zeke’s Sierra Gold. Bright green bait is a
proven producer at Collins, but yellow has a
strong following too. If you’re unsure about
color go with rainbow and cover multiple
bases at once!
If you hit Collins Lake for a session
of bank fishing this winter, you’ll want
to have a good assortment of both
PowerBait, Zeke’s Sierra Gold and of
course don’t forget your night crawlers,
a worm blower and a selection of casting
spoons and spinners too!
Collins Lake is home to big numbers of
rainbow trout and many of them are large.
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
sardines and
anchovies off shore
and boat, according
to Rubio.
- Dan Bacher
and shore anglers reporting catches of
rainbows.
Trout plants at Lake Camanche continue
with another 900 pounds of Mt. Lassen
Hatchery rainbows split between the North
Shore and South Shore Marinas with an
additional 700 pounds of rainbows and
500 pounds of Lightning trout at the South
Shore Pond. Since the introduction of the
Lightning trout at the pond a few weeks
ago, there has been increased interest in
catching this species.
Robbie Dunham of Koke Machine Guide
Service was finished by noon on his latest
trolling adventure, putting his clients onto
limits of rainbows running Speedy Shiners
near the dam.
For bass, Alan Fong of the Fishermen’s
Warehouse in Sacramento reported good
action, but the fish are holding on the
bottom with plastics or swimbaits on a
slow roll.
The annual Informative Fisherman’s
IF-Mas at the South Shore of Lake
Camanche was a big success despite
heavy rain in the morning. The annual
event normally brings out a few hundred
to participate in the fishing contest for
various species along with seminars and
tackle give aways, but Saturday morning
arrived with a heavy rainstorm, limiting the
group to around 100 hardy anglers.
Kimball Lemaux of the Lake Camanche
Recreation Company said, “There were
around 100 people at If-Mas, but everyone
was catching fish despite the rain. One
group went bass fishing in the morning
with one of the professionals at the event,
and they came in to rent out bass boat
to attempt to replicate the limit of bass
landed in the morning. The event turned
out well, and our café catered the event
with Chili Colorado and chicken tacos.
They were planning on a crowd over 200,
but the rain must have been a hindrance.”
Lake Camanche was at 71% and an
elevation of 218.33′ at the time of this
report. Lake Camanche’s release was
approx. 334 C.F.S. while receiving next to
nothing 2 cfs. from Pardee again at the
time of this report.
- Dave Hurley
CLEAR LAKE
CAMANCHE
LAKE
Trollers,
Shore
Guys Nail
Cold Water
Rainbows
BURSON – Trout
fishing is shifting
into high gear at
Lake Camanche,
with both trollers
Live Minnow Drifting
Produces Multiple Species
CLEARLAKE – Dave Burruss of Clear
Lake Outdoors was targeting largemouth
bass on his latest angling adventure,
but ended up catching an array of bass,
catfish, bluegill and crappie in the lake’s
north end.
“What started as a bass trip become
a multi-species trip,” said Burruss. “The
two of us caught and released a couple of
small bass while drop shotting with Robo
Worms in the morning.”
“After we switched over to drifting large
CONTINUED ON PG 8
• Trout
• Bass
• Crappie
• Bluegill
• Catfish
Largest Trout Stocking Program
North of Sacramento
Lakefront
RV
Camping
Call for Reservations
800-286-0576
www.collinslake.com
P.O. Box 300 . Oregon House . California 95962
3801