Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3901 Dec 20-Jan 3 | Page 13

S Dec 20, 2019 - Jan 3, 2020 FRESHWATER VOL.39 • ISS. 1 11 by Cal Kellogg Want Big Trout? Give My Soft Plastics & Trolling Fly Kits A Try oft plastics occupy and important spot in my tackle arsenal. Soft plastics like my Trigger Grubs and Shad Tubes can be trolled across a spectrum of different speeds, they offer a great baitfish like silhouette, they feel real when fish grab them and they are well suited for use with Pro-Cure Super Gel scents. Both my Shad Tubes and Trigger Grubs come in sets of 25 encompassing 5 different colors and include a pair of either signature series Diamond Back or Mini Sidewinder Dodgers. Moving on, over the past few years I’ve become a big believer in trolling flies. Trout don’t see flies as often as they see spoons and minnow plugs. As a result, trolling flies are a great tool for landing trophy trout. I spent a lot of time putting together a 10 fly kit that encompasses flies of various shapes and colors for both WHAT’S HOT imitating baitfish and for trigger reaction strikes. Just in the last month, my flies have produced trout to 3 pounds from a diverse list of lakes including Lake Shasta and Lake Davis. In addition to 10 flies my trolling fly kits include a compartment box and Action Discs. To check out all the gear I’ve touched on and more, go to www. FishHuntShoot.Com. continued from page 1 long chrome bright rainbow with a broad square tail. I was elated, but the morning’s excitement was far from over. By the time I got the trout on the stringer, the shotgun unloaded, the second line retrieved and most of the weeds out of the kayak, I’d drifted about 150 yards south of the island and was out over deep water. My plan was to head back over to the island to work the This big Lake Davis rainbow blasted one of Cal’s tui chub pattern flies trolled shallows, just over the top of the weeds at 1.5 mph. Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. but I’d Hooked Up! Here we see Fish Sniffer Editor Cal Kellogg battling a tail-walking Lake Davis rainbow. Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. barely gotten the lines out when the orange surface fly got slammed for the 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. WINTER SALES EVENT! Affordable Selection • EZ-Financing • Call Now! Qwest Pontoon Boats From 13 To 28 Feet Electric or Gas RAIDER BOATS FROM 18 TO 30 FEET WE MAKE IT WORTH THE DRIVE. CALL NOW FOR DETAILS! Gregor Boats From 12 To 22 Feet The Perfect Boat For The Bay, Ocean And Inland Fisherman. ALUMACRAFT BOATS FROM 14 TO 20 FEET Trade-Ins Are Welcomed! This Isn’t Grandpa’s Gregor! Come See Why We Make It Worth The Drive. All Boat Packages Are Affordably Priced And Easy To Finance. Call Now! (916) 652-1660 3320 Boyington Rd. at Penryn in Loomis, CA 3901 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 third time of the morning and it felt like a jumbo. The trout blitzed back and forth and exploded out of the water putting on an impressive surface display. I was pumped! I kept the pressure on, ground the kayak in a slow semi-circle and wore the trout down enough to slide the impressive 22 incher into the net. I’d been on the water for less than an hour and I had two monster rainbows on the stringer. When you visit Lake Davis in November you expect good action, but the day was shaping up to exceed all my expectations. As the day went on I continued catching both medium and jumbo sized trout and mid-morning I peddled off on a side adventure when I spied some Canadian geese on a distant shoreline. I ultimately got within longish range of the geese, but being a horrible wingshot, I missed and missed again. The smoker would be full of trout fillets, but there wouldn’t be a goose in the oven! When all was said and done I end the day with 17 trout to the kayak and kept a full limit that included four big bad rainbows between 20.5 and 23 inches. Flies were the hot lure and orange was the hot color. I only got one strike and one fish on the tui chub fly, but it was the 23. By mid-morning I was running two orange flies and I never changed offerings after that. I had one slow period around noon when the lake went glassy, so I pulled up to the island for a bowl of cereal and a nap in the sun. When I felt the first puff of afternoon breeze I slid the Hobie into the water and got back to work, hooking and fighting trout until the setting sun forced me back to the Mallard Cove launch ramp.