Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3824 Nov 8-22 | Page 22

20 Nov 8 - 22, 2019, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 24 WHAT’S HOT continued from page 1 Humdinger at 21 feet deep. I caught a couple more average rainbows on small size Jake’s spoon and a red/black Tasmanian Devil. All of the fish we caught were on the surface to 21 feet deep, in spite of the 66 degree surface temperature. Back at the cabin, Dave and Steve had a good day, landing several fish on Speedy Shiners and getting a 4 fish weight of 9.03 pounds for the first day. Bruce and Al also did very well, catching several nice trout on a red head small Triple Teazer at 5 to 10 feet deep, for a weight of 9.54 pounds. John and I brought up the rear with a first day’s weight of only 8.17 pounds After weighing in our fish at the Bass Hole, we attended derby dinner at the Lions club across the street. The meal of barbequed tri tip or chicken, rebaked potatoes, seasoned vegetables, Caesar salad and great cake for dessert was excellent, as usual. Sunday morning dawned bright and clear with a brisk north wind. John and I headed for Waters Gulch. We were one of the first boats out of the marina and when we arrived at the Gulch we were the only ones there. That didn’t last long. Soon there were 4 other boats trolling the area. We trolled through the bay and didn’t see any fish rising, or get a bite. The other boats seemed to have the same luck, and soon we were the only boat left. We decided we would troll out of the Gulch and then head somewhere else. I dug through my tackle 1st Place – Kenny & Kenny McDonald, Steve McSween – 25.96 lbs. boxes looking for the 2nd Place – Ed & Mark Grossman, Robert Barnard – 23.32 lbs. smallest spoon I could find. I 3rd Place – Geri & Nick Flanigan – 23.27 lbs. had tried Sockeye Slammers 4th Place – Gary Coe & John Lico – 22.82 lbs. and the small size Excel 5th Place – Pat & Jim Griffith – 22.58 lbs. spoons that are usually 6th Place – Nick Brito & Marc Duvall – 22.02 lbs. deadly, but hadn’t got a hit. 7th Place – Chris & Butch Jacobson – 19.97 lbs. I found a tiny rainbow trout 8th Place – Brandon Copleman. Chris Hoagland – 18.12 lbs. pattern Phoebe spoon that 9th Place – Paul Kneeland & John Brassfield – 18.10 lbs. was only about an inch long 10th Place – Dale Gibbons & Jason Tidwell – 17.47 lbs. and 3/8 inch wide with a tiny 11th Place – Bob Hamilton & Chad Terrell – 16.66 lbs. treble hook on it. Knowing 12th Place – Adam Sanders & John Morgan – 16.37 lbs. the shad were tiny, I figured 13th Place – Julian Westerhout & Rich Crispi – 16.14 lbs. I’d give it a try. I put it 200 14th Place – Doug Philpott & Tim Sellars – 16.14 lbs. feet behind the boat and 11 15th Place – Jack Schultz & Allen Traynor – 15.87 lbs. feet down on the Cannon Downrigger at 1.7 mph. Basshole Bar & Grill, along with many of the participants in the tournament. There was a general agreement – the bite was tough, the moon was full, and trout had been caught from the surface down to 100 feet deep. The one constant was the size of the shad in the bellies of the trout -- they were extremely small, only an inch or so long, and smaller lures seemed to be getting more fish. Saturday morning, we headed towards the “honey hole” we had discovered on Friday. We decided first to troll the rock wall just north of Waters Gulch. I put on a black/ yellow dot small Jakes spoon on the surface and John had a black Speedy Shiner on the downrigger at 10 feet deep. We hadn’t gone 100 yards when we had a double hookup in the open water. We landed 2 fair sized rainbows, and were relieved to know we had half of our weigh in amount in the boat in 10 minutes! We trolled through the same area again with no luck, so we turned the corner into Waters Gulch, and were disturbed to see a half dozen boats already trolling the area. I guess some other folks had found the fish there as well. We moved to the Bass Cove area and caught one nice rainbow, then moved to the Digger Point area. We caught a couple more average rainbows in the open water. John caught 2 of them on a shad pattern Fall Trout Derby Winners As we trolled out of the bay, trout started rising all around us, and my Phoebe rod went off! After a spirited fight, John netted a fat 17 inch rainbow that would go to the weigh in! We turned around and trolled back through the same area, and again my Phoebe rod went off. I grabbed the rod and felt a heavy fish! John slowed the Coastal and grabbed the net. I played the fish gently, realizing the John Brassfield with a colorful 18 inch German Brown caught tiny hooks were not made on a Mack’s Lure Humdinger at 21’ deep at the Shasta Lake for big fish. The heavy fish Trout Derby. Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer staff. came slowly in, not fighting much at all, and I figured I might have another bass. Back at the Basshole for the final weigh Then in the clear water, we both saw a in, we were surprised to see lots of anglers long, thick, silver shadow behind the checking in. The fishing at the lake was motors. Wow!! actually pretty good, in spite of a full moon and Then the big trout figured out it was a lake in transition. hooked and ripped off 25 feet of line. The top six teams all weighed in over 20 After several stronger runs, the trout was pounds for the 2 day, 8 total fish weight. The tiring. I was being extremely careful and Kenny McDonald team won the derby with an gentle with a light drag. The big trout awesome weight of 25.96 pounds! became visible once more and as it neared As always, we had a great time fishing this the back of the boat, John extended the derby, on this wonderful big lake. All the folks EGO net to its full length. in Lakehead who put on the derby are very He started to reach for the trout just as friendly and want everyone to have a good the silver monster turned gently to the time. right --- and the hook popped out!! We We stayed at the comfortable Sugarloaf looked at each other and said “Damn” or Cottages Resort. They offer 16 comfortable something to that effect. It was probably cabins right on the lake, with one, two or 3 the biggest trout either of us had ever bedrooms, full kitchens with utensils and hooked at Shasta. dishes, comfortable beds and bedding, and Feeling chagrined, I obviously wanted great patios with barbeques overlooking to put the Phoebe back out, but John the lake. For more information, call (800) suggested changing the hook – what a 953-4432 or go to www.shastacabins.com. great idea. We took off the tiny treble, For more information on the Fall Trout designed for crappie probably, and Derby, as well as the spring Trout & Salmon replaced it with a larger single siwash Derby, contact Harold at Sugarloaf Cottages or hook. Once more the rainbow Phoebe the Basshole Bar & Grill at (530) 238-2170. went out 200 feet, and again was smacked by a large trout at 11 feet deep. This time we landed the rainbow, obviously much smaller than the one we had lost, and it still weighed in at 3.99 pounds at the end of the day! 2017 Models Are On Sale Now! Powered by Clean, Quiet, Dependable Honda 4 Stroke Outboards. Now available in 2 hp. to 250 hp. 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This month Cal introduced his line of signature series trout and salmon spoons to the Norcal fishing scene. Dubbed “Trigger Spoons” because of their ability to trigger strikes from fresh- water predators, the spoons are sold in kit form. Each spoon is 2 ¼ inches long and ½ inch wide. Big enough to interest trophy fish, but not so large as to intimi- date pansize fish. Trigger spoons come equipped with a prominent strike inducing eye and a premium red treble to close the deal. The spoons can be trolled effectively from 1.6 to 3 plus miles per hour. Sets of six trigger spoons sell for $25 and include these finishes: Copper, Hammered Brass, Chrome, Hot Orange, Hot Pink and Midnight Black. To purchase your set of Trigger Spoons go to: www.fishhuntshoot.com