Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3820 Sept 13-27 | Page 14
12
FRESHWATER
Sept 13-27, 2019
FRESHWATER REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 7
COLLINS LAKE
cont.
Catfish activity is still high, with lots of
catches in the late evening on chicken
livers, mackerel or anything stinky.
Jeremiah, Faith & Maya tossed out
some hotdogs and hooked two more
big whiskerfish including an 11 pound
behemoth right out in front of lakefront RV
hook-up site #222.
- Ed Palma
DAVIS LAKE
Trollers Battle Big Rainbows
PORTOLA – Warm water temperatures
have resulted in slow trout fishing for bank
fishermen, but trollers are experiencing
very good rainbow fishing.
For example, Ed Dillard, fishing guide,
reported top-notch fishing on his latest
trolling venture on the lake.
“We landed a total of 17 rainbows,
including two in the 19 inch range,” said
Dillard. “We trolled with Little Simon
lures at 20 feet deep. The surface water
temperature was 73 degrees and there
were a lot of weeds in the water.:
Shore anglers have found little success
Cove and near the
dam for the best
chance of hooking
up.
“Shore anglers
are picking up
some largemouth
bass and sunfish in
Mallard Cove,” she
said. “Bass in the
1 to 1-1/2 lb. range
are hitting plastic
worms, jigs and
nightcrawlers. The
sunfish are hitting
just about anything
you throw at them,
including redworms
and mini-crawlers.”
For brown
bullhead catfish,
she recommend
fishing prepared
dough baits or
nightcrawlers early
and late in the day
Nick caught this huge largemouth while fishing the annual
or at night off Eagle
Moonlighter bass event at Lake Amador on August 12.
Point and in Mallard
Photo courtesy of the LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador.
Cove.
Davis Lake is
holding 71,058 acre feet of water, 86
lately. Jeanne Graham at J&J Grizzly
percent of capacity and 118 percent of
Store and Camping resort recommended
average.
fishing early and late in the day with
- Dan Bacher
nightcrawlers and PowerBait in Mallard
WHAT’S HOT
a transmission problem or a problem with
something transmission adjacent, but he
couldn’t pinpoint exactly what the problem
was.
Looking down at my Chevy with the
kayak trailer attached in preparation for
a trout mission to Stumpy Meadows
Reservoir the next morning, I ask Ross
about that friendly yellow light on the
Suburban’s instrument panel.
“Dude that’s an engine warning light,” he
exclaims.
“No” I correct him. “It’s an engine
SERVICE light!”
“Yeah that’s the same thing,” he retorted.
“Can I take it up to Stumpy Meadows
tomorrow?”
“I wouldn’t and I can’t work on it until
Wednesday. I’m going out salmon fishing
on the New Easy Rider in the morning,”
Ross divulged.
That’s a fine kettle of fish. I’m stuck
with two sick vehicles and my mechanic
is going out fooling around with Captain
Joey and crew on a Golden Gate salmon
hunt, but it gets even better.
That afternoon, Gena calls me and
reports that HER ENGINE WARNING
LIGHT was on…Perfect, three broken
cars and a mechanic bobbing around on
the Pacific Ocean someplace reeling in
salmon!
Now let’s talk fishing. I’ve been in a
horrible slump. Folks that have read my
stuff over the years know that fishing
success for me goes in streaks. When I’m
LAKE
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LAKE DEL VALLE
Stripers and Channel Cats
Lead Late Summer Angling
Parade
LIVERMORE – Striped bass and
channel catfish continue to provide top-
notch fishing for anglers at Lake Del Valle
as the summer transitions into fall.
Just ask Ritchard Anderson of Antioch
who landed a beautiful, healthy striped
bass weighing 20 pounds, or Sal Herrera
of Castro Valley, who bagged an 8 lb.
striper. Neither angler reported what bait
or lure they used or where they fished on
the lake.
Roger Choate of Livermore scored both
a 6 lb. striper and a hefty catfish, but also
didn’t say what he was using or where he
was fishing.
“The stripers are averaging behind
five and eight pounds and go up to 20
pounds,” according to Captain Jacob.
“Lots of the bigger fish are being caught in
Heron Bay and in the Narrows. The striper
boils are growing, and fishermen are
taking full advantage, with the boils only
lasting from about 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 a.m.”
“After the boils die down, the best bet is
frozen cut baits like anchovies, sardines,
and shad. The hot striper lures include
Flukes (white/silver/blue), Super Spook
Jrs, and anything that could mimic a shad.
CONTINUED ON PG 13
Continued from page 1
visit
for
VOL.38 • ISS. 20
3805
www.CamancheRecreation.com
Big smiles and limits of hard fighting stripers, that’s been the scene in the West Delta for
anglers fishing with Captain David Hammond.
Photo courtesy of DELTA PRO FISHING, Elk Grove.
hot I can catch yellowfin tuna in the bathtub,
but when I’m slumping I can’t hookup in the
middle of a feeding frenzy.
My first trip last week prior to
Car-Mageddon, was to French Meadow to
troll for trout from my kayak while testing
gear. I launched early because I had a big
full moon and I knew the bite window would
be just after dawn. I was in such a rush to get
on the water that I forgot to turn my cameras
on. Naturally over the next hour I got 5
strikes and landed 3 rainbows to about 17
inches…And got none of the action on film.
When I clued in to my mistake I turned
the GoPros on and trolled for 4 more hours
without a strike!
Never one to give up, I was back at
the lake two days later with Gena for an
afternoon trip. The moon was still pretty big,
but I figured we could get into some action
before dark.
Wrong again, we trolled for 3 hours
without a bump. That was 7 straight hours
for me without a bite. When is the last time I
trolled for trout for 7 straight hours without a
strike? It’s been a long time, because I can’t
remember a trout fishing dry spell like that!
But of course, there is more, somewhere
between getting skunked and my F-150
exploding, my bad knee got angry and sore.
Usually it’s fine if I wear my knee brace
when hiking, hunting, fishing or working in
the yard.
As a result of the soreness, I haven’t been
able to hike, so I’ve had to cut my diet to
maintain my weight. The good news on that
front is that the knee feels better today and
during the down time I’ve been doing a lot
of pushups. In fact, I just achieved a new
personal best, 50 push-ups in 104 seconds.
Not bad for a 52-year-old writer with a
fleet of broken cars and a bad knee!
Are there fishing options for the fresh-
water guys reading this? You bet and I’ll be
getting in on some of it soon.
Delta striper trolling is off the hook in the
West Delta. Up north there are some very
big kokanee showing at Whiskeytown and
the thermocline trout bite is coming along
nicely at Shasta.
All the creeks and rivers, such as
Hat Creek, Deer Creek and the Middle
American are booting out trout to fly and
gear anglers. Dries, nymphs and spinners
are all working.
Eagle Lake and Almanor are giving up
lots of big bad rainbows, Buck’s is the
place to go for both trout and snack size
kokanee. And at Tahoe, the kokanee bite
has gone from good to downright fantastic!
And of course, there are some other
bites that are out of the mainstream, but
still really fun. For example, my buddy
Jason Pleece just hit Rollins Lake with a
buddy of his and they caught 20 decent-
size panfish including a good crappie and
Rollins isn’t even known as a panfish
fishery.
That’s the kind of stuff you can get in on
during the late summer and early fall, when
you want a break from river salmon, trout
and striper fishing.
Speaking of river salmon, the bite hasn’t
broken loose yet, but it won’t be long. The
fish are moving closer to the Golden Gate
and putting on a lot of mass. That’s usually
the first sign that the river fishing is about
to go off. When it does, I think we are
going to have an epic fall that harkens back
to the good old days!