Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3825 Nov 22- Dec 6 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! 37 Years Serving Sportsmen Collins Lake Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 14 Nov 22 - Dec 6, 2019 Vol. 38 - ISS.25 Our 37th Year Since 1982 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Top Spots For Late Fall & Early Winter Trout Action! W hen is the best time of the year for trout fishing? Is it during the month of April when the ice breaks in the high country and stream trout season kicks off on most waters? Perhaps it’s early summer when the trout are lean and hungry and access is great? I’ve casted and trolled my way through more than four decades worth of trout seasons and for me, the fall and early winter offer some of the best and most exciting fishing for both numbers of fish and trophy size trout. Being a full-time fishing writer and video creator, in any given trout season I’ll visit several dozen different waters, yet there are a core group of waters that I’ve got inscribed on my mental checklist that I know will produce outstanding fishing this fall and winter. Here’s a short list of lakes that are sure to provide excellent trout action, yet be warned this list is incomplete at best. California is jam packed with outstanding trout destinations and there is no way I can touch on all of them in the space available! Lake Shasta Shasta is one of my favorite lakes. With a capacity of 4,552,000 acre feet, more than 30,000 surface acres and over 365 miles of shoreline Shasta is the state’s largest reservoir and also one of Cali- fornia’s richest lakes in terms of angling opportunity. Day in, day out, threadfin shad are the primary forage for Shasta’s gamefish. In the summer the shad are deep and so are the trout. You can do well when the weather is hot, but you’ll need good downriggers and a top of the line sonar unit for the best results. In the fall, the lake transitions. The surface, cools the bait and the trout scatter and the trout fishing gets tough for a period of time. As the surface temperature continues to decline, the bait starts to reform and trout start keying on those schools. That’s when things start to improve and that’s the kind of action we are seeing at the big lake right now. A dreams. I was looking to put my wife Gena on her biggest ever rainbow. I’d gotten a 7 because you know the next strike could pounder at the lake last October and now produce the rainbow or brown of your it was her turn. 90 minutes earlier she’d success- fully battled a 3 pound-ish rainbow to the net that had grabbed a naked threaded night crawler rolling 18 feet deep off the downrigger. It was a very nice hard fighting trout, but nothing special by Almanor standards. I was sort of scratching my head at the moment because we hadn’t been able to draw another strike despite the fact that the marks on the sonar Cal and Gena overcame tough conditions and screen looked great, with both mechanical failures with team work and patience bait and hard marks in evidence. to land this impressive 5 plus pound Lake Almanor My spread consisted of a rainbow. The trout grabbed one of Cal’s signature threaded worm working at 18 series Trigger Spoons. FEATURES Where...When...How... Big rainbows like this beauty are common fare for anglers fishing New Melones Reservoir during the fall and winter. Photo courtesy of GOLD COUNTRY SPORTFISHING, Oakdale. Typically, the near surface action starts well offshore, but continued declines in water temperature cause the baitfish and the trout to move in tight to the CONTINUED ON PG 16 feet, one of my signature Trigger Spoons in chrome running at 8 feet off a hybrid leadcore rig and a smelt pattern trolling fly working at 12 feet off another hybrid leadcore outfit. “The worm got hit,” I thought. “Maybe I can get something going by rigging up a second worm and running it near the surface behind a set of silver Yakima Bait Rooster Trolls?” I’d finished digging through my tackle bag, located the Rooster Trolls and was just about to tie on a slow death hook when I saw the hybrid rig armed with the spoon slam down violently. A half second later I saw something slash through the surface chop throwing whitewater and then a massive football shaped rainbow rocketed out of the water clearing the surface by a good two feet. I snatched the rod, worked the reel and passed it to Gena. “Fight this fish gentle. It’s a really big trout,” I instructed as I positioned Gena WHAT’S HOT by Cal Kellogg Photo by GENA RUSH, Fish Sniffer Staff. F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK Area Reports SALTWATER REPORTS Baja Roundup........................................................... 27 Berkeley - Half Moon Bay...................................24-25 Monterey Bay......................................................26 Mechanical Drama, Stiff Wind & A Big Rainbow for Gena! lmanor was being its usual self, tough but promising. Promising INSIDE FRESHWATER REPORTS Almanor - Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoirs......4 Camanche Lake - Eagle Lake................................8 East Delta - Klamath/Trinity Rivers...................... 12 Los Vaqueros Reservoir - Pardee Lake............... 17 Pyramid Lake - Sacramento Area................... 18-19 San Pablo Reservoir - Tahoe............................... 21 West Delta............................................................ 23 GONE FISHING by Cal Kellogg Special Section KAYAK Fishing: pgs 20 Flashlights are great in some situations, but they have one major limitation. In most cases to direct the beam of light, you’ve got to be holding the light in your hand. If it’s dark and you’ve got knots to tie, a shotgun to load or a coffee pot to prepare a flashlight isn’t going to be that helpful since you need both hands free to get these jobs done quickly and efficiently. This is where LED headlamps shine! A headlamp puts the light source on your head, freeing your hands. Where you look is where the light shines. Decent units allow you to adjust the angle of the beam. CONTINUED ON PG 12 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE.......................... 4-6,9,10 BAJA ROUNDUP........................................................27 BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3 CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Cal Kellogg.......... 11 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Steve ‘Hippo’ Lau..........25 GO FOR IT: Staff.........................................................2 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................5 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Cal ..........................20 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................14-15 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......22 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - fished Sugar Pine Reservoir from his 14’ Hobie Pro Angler kayak. For trolling Trigger Spoons and Cripplures Cal used two of his signature series leadcore trolling rods matched with Abu Garcia 5500 line counter reels spooled with his Hybrid Leadcore rigs. Cal landed several planted rainbows during his half day trip to the lake. Paul Kneeland - fished Eagle Lake with Bridget Looney in the Fish Sniffer Rogue Jet 21’ Coastal. They caught rainbow trout to 22 inches and 4.5 pounds, using a Lamiglas Fish Sniffer special 7’6” ultra light graphite rod with a Abu Garcia Revo MGX Extreme level wind reel loaded with 6 lb test Yozuri TopKnot fluorocarbon line.. They trolled bright orange and yellow Jay Fairs Flies with Rooster Tail Trout Spray off the Canon Downriggers at 7 feet deep at 1.8 mph.. Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Spicer Reservoir. He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6” medium action spinning rod, teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel filled with 6 lb. test P-Line CX Premium Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He fished with rainbow Berkley PowerBait, 1/8 oz. gold and black Panther Martins and 2/5 oz. gold/red stripe Little Cleos. Dan coated his baits and lures with Bloody Tuna scent Pro-Cure Super Gel.