Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3825 Nov 22- Dec 6 | Page 18

16 Nov 22 - Dec 6, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 25 GONE FISHING shoreline looking for the warmest water they can find. This is the time when boaters can troll shoreline structure with great success and bank anglers prosper while soaking bait under slip bobbers and fan casting with shad imitating lures. While the surface bite is improving daily, it seems like we are a few weeks away from the trout and bait moving toward the banks due to the warm storm free fall we’ve had. Yet fall weather patterns are notoriously fickle so things could change abruptly. It’s November after all! Lake Almanor Lake Almanor sits practically in the shadow of Mount Lassen near the town of Chester, California at an elevation of 4,500 feet. The lake boasts robust numbers of both brown trout and rainbow trout. The average trout goes about 3 pounds. Fish that run from 4 to 6 pounds are common and double digit fish are caught every season. At this point, Almanor’s browns spawn naturally in the lake’s tributaries. Rainbows spawn successfully too, but their numbers are also bolstered by DFW trout plants and a pen project which takes hatchery trout and holds them in pens within the lake for nearly a year. These fish are giving a high protein diet and they grow fast. When the pen rainbows are released they are husky 2 to 3 pounders that are fully acclimated to the lake, so a high percentage of them survive. In terms of forage, Almanor features a robust population of pond smelt, big numbers of crawfish and extensive insect hatches including hatches of huge inch long hexagenia mayflies. While Almanor is full of big trout, the avail- ability of forage makes hooking the lake’s browns and rainbows very challenging. In the fall, Almanor’s rainbows will be largely finished with eating insects and will be targeting pond smelt, but with huge numbers of smelt available don’t expect the trout to be push overs. Success at Almanor demands, patience and prospecting. I never expect limits at the lake, but I know if I put in my time and pay close attention to detail I have a chance at boating a monster. A couple weeks back my wife got a 5 plus pound rainbow at the lake and last fall I got a 7 plus pounder. My long-standing goal has been to land a 10 plus pound wild rainbow and in my opinion, short of traveling to a destination like Alaska, Almanor offers the best chance for achieving my goal…Monster swim at Almanor! New Melones Reservoir Situated behind New Melones Dam on the Stanislaus River is New Melones Reservoir. When the lake is at full capacity it encom- passes 12,500 surface acres. Trouters that visit the lake find big numbers of big rainbow trout and some very elusive, very large brown trout. New Melones is a shad lake, so shad pattern lures are the way to go for trollers and bank continued from page 1 casters. If you’re in a boat, use your sonar to find the bait and you’ll be well on your way to find the rainbows. Bank anglers enjoy great action at New Melones from late fall through spring tossing standard dough baits, inflated worms and casting with spoons such as Kastmasters and Cripplures. There is a group of dedicated live bait anglers at Melones that catch their trout by drifting live minnows below slip bobbers. When that bobber dips, it could be a rainbow, brown, bass or even a channel cat! Lake Tahoe The Tahoe Basin represents a lot of very different things to many different people. It is a land of alpine ski runs, in fact the world’s elite winter athletes traveled to the basin in 1960 to compete in the Winter Olympics. The basin is a place where high rollers ply the gaming tables in high rise casinos and a place where million- aires come to play. When I think of the Tahoe Basin I think of the lake that is its name sake and the massive trophy trout that reside there. Nowhere except perhaps in Alaska, the Northwest Territories or the Great Lakes do you have as good a chance of hooking a 20 plus pound trout as you do at Lake Tahoe. From a physical standpoint alone the lake is an amazing spectacle. Lake Tahoe sets at an elevation of 6,225 feet and is roughly 12 miles wide and 22 miles long. The lake holds 122,160,280 acre-feet of water that covers a surface area of more than 193 square miles. Lake Tahoe boasts a maximum depth of 1,637 feet, making it the tenth deepest lake in the world. Tahoe provides fishing for mackinaw, rainbow trout, brown trout and kokanee salmon, but the real attraction is the size of the trout it produces. Tahoe holds mackinaw in excess of 30 pounds, brown trout in the middle teens with the promise of fish beyond 20 pounds and double digit rainbows. “Mackinaw are the apex predator within the lake. Macks greatly outnumber both browns and rainbows and this shows in the catches,” relates Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters. Top lining and deep water trolling are the two basic approaches to catching trout at Lake Tahoe. For numbers of keeper size macks, deep water trolling is the way to Big numbers of rainbows like this incredible fish are on go. Use your sonar to find the the menu for anglers that visit Lake Shasta during the late fish and then grind on them, fall and winter. Photo courtesy of ROBERT HOWER, Redding. trolling slowly until you start hooking fish. monofilament tipped with an 8-pound Deepwater macks aren’t picky. fluorocarbon leader. Basically, you are trying to show them something that looks like a 2-inch minnow moving slowly. Lures slathered with a good shot of gel based scent work best. Located just 35 miles north of Reno, Top lining at Pyramid Lake is home to some of the Tahoe is always best sport fishing on earth. Discover exciting because it’s the approach all that Pyramid Lake has to offer. that produces huge macks, browns and ‘bows. The tradeoff is that toplining is very hit and miss. Stormy days and periods of low light during late spring and early summer are great times for speed trolling big minnow plugs in Tahoe’s shallows. Discover Pyramid Lake Online at: Rainbow trout and kokanee colored www.pyramidelake.us plugs work the best. Most anglers run the Follow us on Twitter and “like’ us on Facebook plugs back 200 to 3822 300 feet on 8-pound Discover Pyramid Lake Powered by Clean, Quiet, Dependable Honda 4 Stoke Outboards. Now available in 2 hp. to 250 hp. Models... the right outboard motor for any boating need. GREGOR SALES EVENT Affordable Selection • EZ-Financing • Call Now! We Make It Worth The Drive! GREGOR 18’ & 20’ EAGLE Spacious • Stylish • Stable • Durable • Economical This Isn’t Grandpa’s Gregor. It’s Classy, Rugged, Lightweight But Heavy Duty! GREGOR 17’ & 20’ OSPREY GREGOR 15’ & 16’ TALON Trade-Ins Are Welcomed. Call Now For Details. Don’t Wait For The 2020 Boats Shows. Call Now For A Great Deal! If you want huge rainbows and browns Lake Almanor is a great place to head, but be warned the fishing is seldom easy at the North State trout factory. These fish were caught during a fall outing with Bryan Rocucci. Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY’S GUIDE SERVICE, Quincy. GREGOR SPORTSMEN 16 & 18 WT All Osprey Packages Are Affordably Priced And Easy To Finance. Call Now! (916) 652-1660 3320 Boyington Rd. at Penryn in Loomis, CA 3825 For optimum performance and safety, read the Owner’s Manual before operating your Honda Marine Product. Always wear a personal flotation device while boating. www.auburnoutboardmarine.com