Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3822 Oct 11-25 | Page 29

Oct 11 - 25, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 22 WHAT’S HOT Continued from page 1 king. What a way to start the day! A short time later, Dan hooked a fish on his rod and handed it to Dave. He played it for a couple minutes before the rod just went slack! Sometimes they just throw the hook, even 2 sets of big trebles like on the Flatfish. Of course, we gave Dave a hard time about “farming” our second fish! We had only seen a couple other salmon landed by other boats, and Dan said we should move. We secured the rods, and ran down- stream a mile or so to a “secret” spot. He said he never liked to fish with a bunch of boats around, and was always looking for a spot with fish that others didn’t know about. There was a big gravel bar that reached about halfway across the river, and Dan set us up on anchor on the inside of the riffle where it was about 12 feet deep. He set the Brain Garcia of Colfax was all smiles after anchor and we put out the Flatfish, successfully battling this husky Sacramento River with only 2 ½ ounces of weight in king. Photo by PAUL KNEELAND, Fish Sniffer Staff. the slower, shallower water. A few minutes later, Dave made up for his “farming” job by hooking and landing our fought another nice salmon to the boat. The wind came up from the north, biggest fish of the day, a 16 pound male king. The bite slowed down until the right cooling us off as the temperature reached about 80 degrees. We called it a day rear rod went off, and Brian grabbed a about 12:30 when we hadn’t had a smell for an hour and a half. Dan filleted the salmon for us, and we all took home a bag of pink fillets for the barbeque or Paul Kneeland led off the day with this Sacramento River king when Team Fish Sniffer hit the water with Captain Dan Ponciano. Photo by PAUL KNEELAND, Fish Sniffer Staff. Best Selection — Best Service — Best Prices 3720 (916) ROCKLIN 773-7333 6455 PACIFIC ST. AUBURN (530) 888-7825 11844 ATWOOD RD www.trucksmart.com 27 Willfish Tackle Of Auburn, California For Trout, Salmon & Striper Gear! W illfish Tackle isn’t a big box store. In fact, the store isn’t very large at all, but it has everything you need for catching fish from the coast to the Sierra. I’ve been shopping at Willfish for a long time because they stock a full line of gear and compo- nents. Line, hooks, rods, reels, lures and an array of natural baits. For fall action, Willfish Owner Craig Newton has stuffed the store with trout, river salmon and striper gear. If you need it for our local fisheries, Willfish has it and if by chance they don’t, Craig will get it quickly! Willfish is located at 11944 Masters Court, Auburn, Ca. For more information call (530) 887-0839. smoker. Dan Ponciano has been fishing for over 40 years, and his specialty is the tremen- dous sturgeon fishing in the Columbia Rriver. Dan grew up in Northern Cali- fornia, and the Sacramento River is one of his favorite fisheries. It was very obvious to us that he knew the river extremely well, and knows how to find salmon! We had a great time sharing stories, and Dan is an ardent hunter as well as a fisherman – just like the three of us! I heartily recommend Dan to anyone who wants to fish the Sacramento River and catch some salmon. You will have a good time with a guide who is patient, very knowledgeable and a lot of fun to spend the day with. You can reach Dan by calling (360) 607-8511, or see his website at www.columbiariverfishing.com.