Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3826 Dec 6-20 | Page 6

4 FRESHWATER Dec 6 - 20, 2019 VOL.38 • ISS. 26 This youngster was fishing at Lake Amador on November 20 when this huge rainbow took his bait! Photo courtesy of the LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador. FRESHWATER REPORTS ALMANOR Trout Action Remains Steady CHESTER - Fishing at Almanor is very good, but not great. This is primarily due to the weather. A storm or two and a cold snap will improve the fishing a great deal. Currently, anglers are enjoying very pleasant weather with chilly mornings and warm afternoons. The trout remain scattered across the top 20 feet of the water column. Pond smelt are abundant, so the trout have plenty available feed. As a result, it takes some patience and searching to find areas with trout that are willing to feed. Most of the fish being landed are rainbows in the 3 to 5-pound class, but larger fish are possible. Smelt imitating spoons, flies and plugs are the best offerings. Gulp! Minnows are also working. Jiggers working off Plumas Pines have gotten some good size rainbows while working Gulp! Minnows on jigheads. Bank fishing is fair to good near the dam. That area was planted a few weeks ago and there are still good numbers of trout hanging around. PowerBait, salmon eggs and worms will all draw strikes. Fly guys working from float tubes have been having fun in Geritol Cove tempting planters with a variety of small streamers. pounds every week starting in late October,” said Elizabeth Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort. “The fish are our cuttbows, mixed with some big Lightning Trout. So far this fall we have planted a total of 1750 pounds and we will plant again this week. We will continue stocking the trout at least through Memorial Day as long as water temperatures remain favorable.” “Fishing is pretty good,” she said. “We’re hearing mainly from shore anglers, who are doing best while fishing firetiger Kastmasters and garlic-scented PowerBait in the main body off the dam and near the spillway. Boaters are also picking up some trout in Jackson Creek while trolling with Kastmasters.” Their annual trout derby will begin on November 29 and run through March 8. The one-time derby entry fee is $7.00. Tagged trout will be released and every tag will be a winner, with prizes including fishing tackle, boat rentals, camping passes and other items. Two tag winners will each receive $500 checks in a drawing on March 8. For more information, call (209) 274-4739. Anglers are also catching and releasing largemouth bass while throwing top water lures. For catfish in the 8 to 10 lb. range, anglers are tossing out mackerel, chicken liver and other cut baits in the coves. - Dan Bacher Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle in Auburn. “The biggest I’ve heard of weighed 25 pounds.” The staff at Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American has done three spawns of fall Chinook salmon so far this season. “The numbers of salmon we are seeing in the river are great,” said Greg Ferguson, fish habitat assistant. “We’ve taken 1,437,239 eggs to date and have trapped 2173 adults and 606 jacks and jills.” The hatchery has a viewing area where visitors can watch the spawning process. The visitors’ center at Nimbus Hatchery includes a playground with replicas of giant salmon. Nimbus Hatchery is open to the public free of charge from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. For more information about spawning schedules and educational opportunities at each hatchery, please visit the CDFW website at www.wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/hatcheries. - Dan Bacher BERRYESSA LAKE Lake’s East Side Produces Bass on Drop Shot Rigs LAKE AMADOR Anglers Battle Big Cutbows, Lightning Trout IONE - Trout anglers are bagging some big cutbows, along with some Lightning Trout, released by Lake Amador staff from the lake’s on-site hatchery. “We’ve been planting 500 to 600 AMERICAN RIVER Lower River Kings Challenge Anglers RANCHO CORDOVA – Anglers are still reporting tough salmon fishing in the section of the American open to fishing from the SMUD powerline at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park to the mouth. “The salmon are rolling everywhere in the lower American, but they’re not biting,” said Alan Fong of the Fisherman’s Warehouse. “Some shore SUPERSTITIOUSLURES@GMAIL.COM anglers using beads are catching salmon SUPERSTITIOUSLURES.COM in the Howe Avenue 3809 area,” reported ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? LAKE AMADOR Trout Planted Seasonally! • Cafe • RV Park • Waterslide • Campground • Disc Golf • General Store Cafe Open Seasonally On Friday, Saturday & Sundays 209-274 -4739 7500 Lake Amador Dr., Ione, CA 95640 WWW.LAKEAMADOR.COM Lake Almanor Now Booking Fall Trout at Eagle Lake Lake Almanor Lake Davis and Eagle Lake Bucks Lake Captain Bryan Roccucci Lake Tahoe www.BigDaddyFishing.com Call for Best Dates – (530) 370-1001 WINTERS – Anglers are picking up both good numbers of black bass and rainbow trout at Lake Berryessa this fall. Larry Hemphill, fishing guide, guided two older gentlemen at Berryessa on his latest trip, finding good numbers of bass in the afternoon. “I don’t say much about my clients, respecting privacy,” said Hemphill. “But one of them was the most senior I have ever guided -- 90 +and could cast like he was mid 20’s - no kidding! And he set the table, catching a keeper bass on his first cast. I have now seen it all as a 36 year guide!!” “We moved around the lake quite a bit and found the very clear water everywhere. We really couldn’t find any big schools of bait fish, though we only went up to mid-lake. We wound up with several nice bass of all three species. The biggest was 2-3/4 lbs. We were drop- shotting Robo Worms and dart heading Yamamoto grubs. The best five were only about 10 pounds total,” he said. Bait & Tackle 3816 Visit The Mother Lode Region’s Official Fishing Tackle Headquarters Today For All Of your Inland Fishing Needs! WIDE SELECTION • GREAT PRICES • YOU SAVE! HOOKD4LIFE.COM RODS • REELS • LINE • FROGS • SWIMBAITS • JIGS BAIT • HOOKS • SPINNERS • TERMINAL TACKLE • HARDBAITS • SOFT PLASTICS • SPECIALS • CLOSEOUTS & MUCH MORE! Visit us on your way to: Camanche, Pardee, Amador, Rancho Seco, New Melones And More ! (209) 790-5100 106 East Main Street, Ione, CA 95640 Salmon • Striper • Trout • Kokanee • Stripers • Oroville Kings • Stampede Kokanee (530) 272-7137 • (530) 263-4451 www.fishbarebones.com 3807 “We did find a lot of bass in the wood on the east side and did well in the afternoon. Maybe should have tried topwater there in the early morning,” he concluded. The water temperature was 61-64 degrees. “Trout fishing is still really good at Berryessa, but hardly anybody is fishing now,” said Alan Fong of Fisherman’s Warehouse. “Boaters are picking up the rainbows while top line trolling with Speedy Shiners and Rat-L-Traps in the main body of the reservoir. The fish average 15 to 20 inches long.” - Dan Bacher CAMANCHE LAKE Shore Anglers Nail Rainbows BURSON – The recreation area is now receiving weekly trout plants. To date, Camanche has been planted three times with Mt. Lassen trout, with 3600 pounds split each time between the North Shore Marina, South Shore Marina, and the South Shore Pond. Another plant of 2700 pounds was slated to go in the recreation area at press time. The fish have been rainbows, along with 500 pounds of Lightning Trout each plant, according to Izzy Guerrero, Lake Camanche general manager. A total of 10,800 pounds has been released since the end of October. Shore anglers have been fishing Kastmasters, PowerBait and nightcrawlers from the north shore off the furthest point from the day use area and off the south shore along Chevron Point leading up to the Eucalyptus day use area. The South Shore Pond is also a great spot to fish. Bass fishing enthusiasts also reported catching several trout to 8 pounds while drop shutting with plastics during the Yak- A-Bass kayak tournament on Saturday. Robbie Dunham of Koke Machine Guide Service went trolling with plastic grubs recently with John and Diana Stockton Continued on Pg 7