Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3818 August 16-30 | Page 19

VOL.38 • ISS. 18 Stampede Reservoir Facts Stampede Stampede Reservoir Reservoir Sierra County Sierra County To To Graeagle Graeagle Stampede Stampede Res. Res. Prosser Prosser Res. Res. D a a v vie D ies s C C r r e e e ek k d d Ro o a a as s s s R P a P s s s e s en n n e H H en To To Reno Reno Davies Creek Davies Creek C.G. C.G. Boca Boca Res. Res. I-89 to to I-89 Lake Tahoe Tahoe Lake I-80 to to I-80 Sacramento Sacramento Stampede Stampede Stampede Reservoir Reservoir Reservoir Campground Picnic Area Launch Ramp Spillway Elevation 5949 ft. Logger Logger C.G. C.G. e u c ke e Tr Littl Riv e r k k C r r e e e e n C m e e n m e e g g a S a S Winnie Smith Mill Site To Hobart Hobart Mills To Mills & Hiway Hiway 80 & 80 Dam Dam Emigrant Emigrant C.G. C.G. Location: Stampede Reservoir is located in the northeastern region of the Truckee Ranger District in the Tahoe National Forest. This reservoir is approx- imately 10 miles north of Truckee. Stampede Dam and Reservoir are situated on the Little Truckee River immediately below the mouth of Davies Creek and approximately 8 miles above the confluence of the Little Truckee and Truckee Rivers. Size: The surface area is approximately 3,340 acres at full reservoir storage with 25 miles of shoreline. Season: Fishing season is year-round, with ice fishing available during the winter. Gamefish species found in the reservoir include kokanee salmon, rainbow trout, brown trout, mackinaw trout and small- mouth bass. Boating: A three-lane boat launch is available at Captain Robert’s Boat Ramp, located on the south shore of Stampede Reservoir, 2 miles west of the Stampede Dam. Boat ramps are located in Logger Campground and the Emigrant Group Site. Kayaks and small car top boats can be launched from shore. Picnicking: Available is provided at the Stampede Vista Picnic Ground. Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA): This agreement between the federal government, the states of Nevada and California and the Paiute Indian Tribe modifies reservoir operations at Stampede, Boca, Prosser and Martis Creek reservoirs. The TROA will enhance conditions for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui; increase municipal and industrial drought protection for Truckee Meadows (Reno-Sparks metropolitan area); improve Truckee River water quality downstream fro Sparks, NV; and enhance stream flows and recre- ational opportunities in the Truckee River Basin. Facility Information: Stampede Reservoir, c/o Truckee Ranger District, 10811 Stockrest Springs Road, Truckee, CA, 96161, Phone: 530-587-3558 Guide Service and Fishing Information: James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service, (888) 975-0990, www.fishtightlines.com, Mountain Hardware, Truckee, (530) 587-4844. 17 August 16-30, 2019 MAP FEATURE To Boca Boca Res To Res & Hiway Hiway 80 & 80 To Boca Boca Res. Res. To & Hiway Hiway 80 & 80 Kokanee Salmon fishing is productive at Stampede from May through September. Trollers use a variety of hoochies, spoons, spinners spoons and and kokanee spinners bugs behind flashers and dodgers. with small Crippled Herring and other be good the school fish school up in late the behind flashers and dodgers. Jigging Jigging with small Crippled Herring and other lures lures can be can good when when the fish up late the in season. season. Brown Trout can be taken at Stampede throughout the season, but the best action is generally in the spring after ice out and during the fall Brown Trout be over. taken Troll at Stampede throughout the season, Cripplures but the best generally in the spring after ice and during the fall before the lake can ices Rapalas, Yozuri Pins Minnows, and action other is minnow imitiation lures along the out shoreline.’ before the Trout lake ices Troll below Rapalas, Minnows, Boaters Cripplures and other minnow lures along the shoreline.’ Mackinaw will over. be found the Yozuri schools Pins of kokanee. often hook them while imitiation trolling kokanee lures. Troll Rapalas, J-Plugs, Mackinaw will be found below them the schools of kokanee. Boaters often hook them while trolling kokanee lures. Troll Rapalas, J-Plugs, Needlefish Trout and other lures to target throughout the year. Needlefish and other to planted target them throughout year. Lahontan Cutthroat Trout are now stocked by the CDFW. Bank Rainbow Trout are no lures longer at Stampede, but the fingerling Rainbow are planted regularly by the CDFW. Bank fishermen and boaters rainbows while fishing the and campgrounds fishermen Trout and boaters nail the cutthroats and some rainbows while fishing around nail the the campgrounds and dam in around the spring early and dam in the PowerBait, spring and Berkley early summer. Use PowerBait, Berkley nightcrawlers. Gulp!, Pautzke salmon eggs and inflated nightcrawlers. summer. Use Gulp!, salmon eggs and inflated untreatable bacteria that only seemed to affect the LCT, according to Rowan. Particularly hard hit were the LCT-I and they had really heavy losses right at hatch. “As such the number of fish we’ve had to plant of both strains have been fairly low the last 2 years, so we’ve had to prioritize the ones we felt would Craig Holley of Fair Oaks shows off a scrappy kokanee salmon caught have the most while trolling at Stempede with Captain James Netzel. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. successful return to anglers as well as work within as keeping Kokanee,” said CDFW hatchery space logistics and the big Senior Environmental Scientist snow years we’ve had,” he added. Supervisor Jay Rowan. “Following The Department hasn’t stocked along with that desire to go to the LCT-I in Stampede the last 2 years, native fish for that basin we’ve started but they did stock 7,022 PP-LCT-sub moving to stocking both Indepen- catchables at Stampede in 2017 and dence LCT (LCT-I) from our Heenan 4,710 in 2018. Lake Broodstock as well as Pilot Mackinaw trout have apparently Peak LCT (LCT-PP) we get as eggs replaced the brown trout as the apex from the Lahontan National Fish predator in Stampede in recent years. Hatchery into Stampede. Both are In the 1990s, anglers would catch hatched, reared and stocked out of the German browns in the 2 to 6 lb. range, American River Hatchery in Rancho along with an occasional fish 10 Cordova.’ pounds or bigger. In 2017 and 2018, the CDFW CDFW is no longer planting had issues with an unknown and mackinaw in Stampede or anywhere and holdover rainbows up to 5 pounds in the state, so all of the fish found in while tossing spoons from shore at the the lake are naturally spawned. lake in the late fall and early winter. “Six to seven years ago the CDFW Netzel will be fishing for kokanee Fish Health Laboratory pathologists through mid-September and then found a disease in the source fish that begin fishing for salmon on the Sacra- we don’t have in the wild here in our mento River in the Sacramento area California waters so we are unable to For more information, contact James import the eggs,” said Rowan. “We Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service, haven’t been able to find another (888) 975-0990, www.fishtightlines. pathogen free egg source.” com. Stampede and nearby Donner Lake have similar forage – kokanee, tui chubs and crawfish – so anglers should use lure color patterns that approxi- mate those species. Trollers can target mackinaw with blue/ chartreuse Flatfish, Kwikfish , Brad’s Killer Fish and other plugs. Large Koke- A-Nuts behind Sling Blades or night- crawlers behind flashers are also very effective. In the spring, anglers hook many mackinaws while trolling F18 Rapalas. Stampede, with its abundant forage, features some of the healthiest and prettiest wild rainbows in the Sierra Nevada. Two days after our trip, one of Netzel’s customers landed a gorgeous 5 lb. wild rainbow at Stampede. Stan Wong, Dan Bacher, Chris Dyke and Craig Holley with their Chris Hammond limits of Stampede kokanee. of King’s Beach has caught beautiful wild Photo by JAMES NETZEL, Tight Lines Guide Service.