Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3821 Sept 27, 2019 | Page 18

16 Sept 27 - Oct 11, 2019 MAP FEATURE VOL.38 • ISS. 21 Lake Camanche offers great fishing for black bass, rainbow trout, channel catfish, bluegill and black crappie. Photo courtesy of CAMANCHE RECREATION COMPANY, Burson. L Double Digit Largemouths Lead Catches At Lake Camanche don’t know if I will be able to beat it.” He hooked the fish while using a 13 Fishing Omen rod with Bass Pro Qualifier reel and 12-pound test Berkley Big Game line. While this was a huge bass, it was the second biggest landed at the reservoir this year to date. Tim Wells of Clovis caught and released a 15.01 lb. largemouth while using a drop shot rig on March 16, 2019. Schmidgall and Wells are not the only angler to report big bass success at Camanche this season. For example, in July Austin Barker of Rio Linda caught and released two largemouths weighing 8.98 and 10.62 pounds while fishing jigs, according to Kimball LeMaux, manager of the Camanche North Shore Store and Marina. Kevin Miranda of Sacramento caught the lake record largemouth weighing 18.17 lbs. on June 26, 2015 when he was fishing with a crankbait by Little Hat Island. That fish measured 31” long and had a 24” girth. That record shattered the previous record of 15.2 lbs. caught by Lonnie Owens back in January of 2013. The second biggest bass ever caught at the reservoir was caught in January 2018 by Dennis Choi of Rocklin while he was fishing for trout off the north shore day use area at Lake Camanche .While He didn’t hook any trout, but he managed to catch and release a monster 15.46-pound large- Albert Berends of Granite Bay holds up a 7 lb. 10 mouth bass while using oz. largemouth caught in 50 ft. of water on a 3/4 Berkley Power Eggs. oz. Hopkins spoon and a 4 lb. 5 oz. spotted bass “It was my 73rd hooked on a 3.8″ fat Kaitech swimbait at Lake ake Camanche, located on the Mokelumne River in the low, rolling Sierra Nevada foothills northeast of Lodi, lived up to its reputation as a trophy bass fishery when the lake produced yet another huge largemouth this month. After returning from a six-week road trip, Andrew Schmidgall of Lake Camanche Village had an epic fishing day on September 2 when he caught and released a 14.71 lb. largemouth bass at Camanche. He was using a Wicked Weights jig on a ledge in the main body at 25 to 30 feet deep when he hooked the monster fish. “This is my new personal-best bass,” said Schmidgall. “It took about 10 minutes to bring in. It was the fish of a lifetime; I Camanche on in the winter of 2018. Photo courtesy of WAYNE O’HALLORAN, Rocklin. birthday,” said Choi. “I feel very lucky to catch such a huge fish, especially since it was the second bass that I have ever caught.” He hooked the fish around noon while fishing with an Okuma 8.6-foot ultralight spinning rod teamed up with a Shimano reel. T “The fish hit so hard that it bent the rod completely over in the holder. I grabbed the rod and as soon as I set the hook, I thought, ‘Holy Toledo, this is a big fish,’ ” he said. The reason for the big bass at Camanche is the presence of Florida-strain largemouths that grow bigger than the northern-strain largemouths, Tim Wells of Clovis caught and released a 15.01 lb. plus a healthy forage base. largemouth while using a drop shot rig on March 16, The lake management every 2019. Photo courtesy of CAMANCHE RECREATION COMPANY, year stocks Florida-strain Burson. largemouth in the lake to bolster the lake’s natural spawning population. trout plants began in 1989, the East Bay On July 10, 2019 Bass Unlimited from Municipal Utility District water supply Willow Creek Fisheries planted 4,700 reservoir, best known for outstanding lbs. of fingerling bass in Camanche. Each bass fishing, has also become known pound equals to roughly 170 fingerlings; the math is about Trout ~ Kokanee ~ Salmon ~ Shad 800,000 baby bass fish. They planted ithe bass n multiple OFFICIAL SPONSOR locations throughout the entire shoreline of the lake. But bass aren’t the only fish that grow big and fat at 18 Proven 240 different size/ Camanche. One of the lake’s Kokanee/Trout Dodgers! color combinations! most popular fisheries is for rainbow trout. Camanche features both good shore and bank fishing for trout during the spring and winter months, but it can be fickle at times. “You can go fishing all morning on the lake and 4 All Natural leave at noon without a bite,” Scents... said Bob Simms, host of the 82 YEARS of Catching Kokanee, KFBK Outdoor Show. “Then TROUT & KOKANEE Trout, the anglers in the boat that Salmon & Shad 100% Made in the USA arrives at the ramp at noon Without a DICK NITE... will catch their limits by 2:30 You’re Not Fishin’ Right! pm.” Since regular rainbow www.dicknite.com • fs@dicknite.com 3704