Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3823 Oct 25-Nov 8 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! 37 Years Serving Sportsmen Tahoe Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 16-17 Vol. 38 - ISS.23 Our 37th Year Since 1982 Oct 25 - Nov 8, 2019 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Lake Davis Produces Big Trout & Bigger Smiles T he attention span of a twelve- year-old is about a tenth of how long it takes to read the title of this article, which can make fishing with my twelve-year-old son, Jacob, a painful experience if the bite isn’t absolutely lights out. So, when Cal told me about his incredible trip to Lake Davis mid-week, I knew I had a chance to pull off a dad and son trip that would be remem- bered for the catching, NOT the boredom of fishing. We rolled out of the driveway with the Duckworth in tow around 6AM packing the typical day’s rations of donuts, Fritos, Oreos, and buckets of candy and headed up the hill for Lake Davis. It was a rare calm day with just the hint of a breeze blowing out of the South when we slipped the boat off the trailer into the weedy shallows of the lake just before 9AM. A few other boats were already circling, and the bank was dotted with anglers. Armed with Cal’s info from just a couple of days earlier and a healthy box of tackle, we dropped lines and started Jake Ward caught a bunch of rainbow trout while fishing at Lake slow Davis while trolling from the Fish Sniffer Duckworth with his dad trolling Wes Ward. The hot lure for the day was an orange and brass Cripplure fished in the top 15 feet of the water column. towards Photo by WES WARD, Fish Sniffer Staff. the main body of the lake. Davis is shallow, and the weeds often rods easily. Just to increase our odds, we grow within 5’ of the surface. Our plan also dropped a couple of lines a few feet was to keep our gear just above the weeds, down on each Cannon Downrigger. The which meant we could topline a couple of initial spread consisted of a Mack’s Lure WHAT’S HOT by Wes Ward CONTINUED ON PG 18 My First Lingcod Hunt Aboard The Pacific Dream! A s I was reeling harder than I’d ever reeled before, I heard a man’s voice over my shoulder. “No matter how hard you try,” he muttered, “you’re never gonna catch that fish...” I ignored the voice, unwilling to let that remark break my concentration. Was this some sort of reverse psychology to get me to try harder? Or maybe a jab at my lack of upper body strength? After some time, my arms eventually gave out… and I was still getting spooled. I finally looked over my shoulder and there stood Captain Chris Smith, arms folded, half smirking at me. And that’s when I realized I was hooked on the rocky bottom of the ocean floor. Disappointed, but relieved to finally get a break, I handed him my rod so he could pull me free. This wasn’t my first rodeo with Pacific Dream Sportfishing, so I blame my lack of sleep for not detecting the captain’s subtle sarcasm sooner. Their tight-knit, enter- taining crew is why I keep coming back for more. The goal that day? Catching my first lingcod. I didn’t know what to expect, and I had done zero research on the rigs and baits typically used, so I just hopped on board and hoped for the best. I also put a lot of faith in the cherry-topped cheesecake I brought for the crew, hoping it would bring me some good luck. We were warned that there was “going to be some weather” that day. In other words, the water was expected to be rough. Because we had a couple of young kids on board, Captain Chris GONE FISHING by Stacy Barawed Fish Sniffer Field Editor Stacy Barawed used a frisky rockfish as bait to land her first ever lingcod while fishing aboard the Pacific Dream this September. Photo courtesy of CAPTAIN CHRIS SMITH, Pacific Dream Sportfishing. F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK A common mistake when soaking bait for trout is fishing with a tight line. When a trout feels any kind of resistance it will likely as not spit out the bait. To prevent spooking trout it is important to have some slack in the line so any trout that picks up the bait can move off and swallow the bait without feeling anything. To accomplishing this is to hang a small plastic bobber on the line between the tip of the rod and the second or third eye. Enough slack is pulled off the reel to allow the bobber to hang down almost to the ground. When a trout takes the bait and moves off the slack is paid out gradually as the bobber pulls upward toward the rod. When the line comes tight it’s time to set the hook and begin fighting your prize! CONTINUED ON PG 25 Special Section Kayak Fishing Page 5 INSIDE Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - Berryessa Lake.............................4 Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoir - Clear Lake ...........................................................7 Davis Lake - Lake Del Valle................................. 13 Lake Don Pedro - Eastern Sierra................... 14-15 Feather River - Klamath/Trinity Rivers............... 19 Los Vaqueros Reservoir - Sacramento Area ................................ 20-21 San Pablo Reservoir - Tahoe..............................23 West Delta............................................................ 25 SALTWATER REPORTS Baja Roundup........................................................... 31 Berkeley - Half Moon Bay.................................28 - 29 Monterey Bay......................................................30 FEATURES Where...When...How... TROUT ANGLERS CHALLENGE.........................8-12 BAJA ROUNDUP......................................................31 BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3 CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Cal Kellogg....14 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Mike McNeilly...............27 GO FOR IT: Staff.........................................................2 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................6 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT ...................................5 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................16-17 MIXED BAG FISHING: Ernie Marlan........................24 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......26 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - fished Lake Davis from his Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak. For trolling flies and grubs Cal used one of his signature series leadcore trolling rods matched with an Abu Garcia 5500 line counter reel spooled with one of his Hybrid Leadcore setups. Using these rigs Cal landed over 50 trout to 3 pounds. Dan Bacher - fished for rockfish and lingcod on a light tackle shallow water trip to Point Sur aboard the Kahuna on flat calm seas. He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6” medium action spinning rod, teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 8 lb. test P-Line CX Premium Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He fished with 2 oz. Point Wilson Dart Anchovy jigs, 2/5 oz. silver/blue striped Little Cleos and two hook Sabiki rigs. The 25 people on the boat landed their limits of rockfish, including 25 vermilions, and 6 lingcod. Paul Kneeland - fished the Big Joe river in northern Idaho with Peter, Matt, James, Mark and Bridget Looney. They caught cutthroat trout to 18 inches using a 9’, 5 weight Pflueger graphite fly rod with a Pflueger machined aluminum reel with a Scientific Anglers double taper floating fly line, attached to a 9’ P Line flourocarbon tapered leader with a #14 Prince Nymphs.