Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3902 Jan 3-17 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! 38 Years Serving Sportsmen Mokelumne Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 16-17 Vol. 39 - ISS.2 Our 37th Year Since 1982 January 3-17 2020 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Boy Scouts Trek to Lake Camanche For A Weekend Of Fishing & Camping! A t least once a year, my son’s Boy Scout Troop plans a fishing trip. For the last couple of trips, there has been a lot of fishing, but not much catching due to weather, wind, full moons, or any other excuse we fishermen have for getting skunked. Little did we know, our luck was about to change as we rolled into the North Shore of Lake Camanche one Friday evening in late November. It was just after dark when we arrived at the camp site. We were perched on a small hill with a 270-degree view of the lake and almost a ¼ mile of shoreline all to ourselves. The facilities and layout of the group camping site were perfect for our large group of boys and adults. It was cold the first night, but we woke to a beautiful sunrise with only a hint of a breeze. There was an urgency around camp to prepare breakfast and clean up so we could start getting lines in the water. The plan for the day was simple. We set out an arsenal of rods along the bank with either sliding sinker rigs or bobbers tipped with night crawlers and PowerBait to accommo- date boys on the bank while smaller groups of scouts took turns trolling the main body of the lake in the Fish Sniffer Duckworth. By 9AM, every scout had a rod in hand, or holder, either on the bank or in the boat. It didn’t take long for the bank anglers to score first with a very nice 18” rainbow on PowerBait while the boaters paced around looking for signs of life to drop the gear on. Within 30 minutes, several healthy sized rainbows Jimmy caught his first ever trout when the Boy Scouts visited Lake Camanche. The fish grabbed PowerBait fished in 10 feet of water. Photo by WES WARD, Fish Sniffer Staff. I Caught My First Sturgeon! started preparations. “It’s for your safety,” Virginia advised with a grin. Zack attached a cheesecloth bundles filled with salmon roe to the hooks, and Virginia masterfully cata- pulted them into the air, strategically placing lines from ten different rods. That accuracy comes with a lot of practice and is no easy feat considering there are 20-ounce sinkers at each ends of each line. “My guess is that we’re in here because Zack wants to protect his secret recipe,” Michael laughed. “He’s taking it to his grave!” Once we were all set up, we were allowed back on deck. I had just started digging into some smoked salmon my cousin had Stacy Barawed headed out with Captain Zack of Gatecrasher Sportfishing brought on and landed her first ever sturgeon. The fish was safely released after the photo was snapped. board for our y cousin Michael and I had reserved spots aboard the Gate- crasher well ahead of sturgeon season. Our Sunday finally came, and we met at the Pittsburg Marina, wide-eyed and toting enough food to feed an army. It was a gorgeous, clear morning, and by 7:30 am we were off and running towards Grizzly Bay. Once anchored, we were politely quarantined to the cabin of the 28-foot Farallon while Captain Zack Medinas and Deckhand Virginia Salvador Photo by STACY BARAWED, Fish Sniffer Staff. F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - Berryessa Lake.............................4 Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoir - Camanche Lake ............................................7 Clear Lake - Davis Lake Lake Del Valle.............. 14 Del Valle Reservoir - East Delta.......................... 19 Eastern Sierra - Oroville Lake........................ 20-21 Pyramid Lake - Sacramento Area ............... 22-23 Santa Clara Valley Lakes/San Luis Reservoir - Tahoe.........................................................25 West Delta............................................................ 27 SALTWATER REPORTS Baja Roundup........................................................... 30 Berkeley - Bodega Bay.......................................28-29 Half Moon Bay - Monterey Bay....................... 30-31 Where...When...How... by Wes Ward M INSIDE FEATURES WHAT’S HOT CONTINUED ON PG 25 Special Section Kayak Fishing Page 5 trip when I heard the captain yell. “Rod four! STACY, YOU’RE UP!” Cracker crumbs flew out of my lap as I shuffled as quickly as I could towards the starboard side of the boat. The tip of a rod in the back corner went from a gentle flick to a full on bend, so out of its holder it came and the battle began. This fish was, in a word, ANGRY! I was forcefully pulled to the right, and nearly everyone on the boat pitched in by removing seven other rods out of their holders and lifting them out of the way to avoid a tangled-up mess. When I could, I planted my feet in attempt to gain some semblance of control. Other times, I felt I had no control. This fish was hooked, and it definitely wasn’t happy about it. Sixty seconds later, it had me cornered - the right side of my body was GONE FISHING by Stacy Barawed CONTINUED ON PG 24 Most trout anglers rely on trout lures closely matching the small baitfish average size trout in the 8 to 14 inch range most often eat. That’s why lures, from 1 to 2 1/2 inches in length are so popular among trout anglers. Will lures in this size range catch big trout? Sure, but not very often because the biggest trout in most waters target larger prey, this is why minnow plugs in the 4 to 10 inch range are king when it comes to tempting trout of trophy proportions. SPORTS EXPO PREVIEW..............................8-13, 15 BAJA ROUNDUP......................................................30 BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3 CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Kory Van........14 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Steve ‘Hippo’ Lau..........29 GO FOR IT: Staff.........................................................2 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................6 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Kevin Hofer ...............5 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................16-17 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......26 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - fished Folsom Lake with Wes Ward from the Fish Sniffer 18 foot Duckworth Advantage Sport. For trolling worms, flies and spoons Cal used two of his signature series leadcore trolling rods matched with Abu Garcia 5500-line counter reels spooled with his Hybrid Leadcore system. Using these rigs Cal and Wes landed several rainbow trout to 16 inches! Paul Kneeland - fished Rollins Lake in the Fish Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coastal. He caught rainbow trout to 14 inches and spotted bass to 12 inches using using a Powell Rods ultralight trigger stick with a Shimano Calcutta 150 level wind reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Hybrid line. He trolled “cutthroat” Tasmanian Devils and “Red Racer” Speedy Shiners off the Canon Downriggers at 10 feet deep and 2.4 mph. Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Folsom Lake. 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, nightcrawlers and 2/5 oz. gold/red stripe Little Cleos.