Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3902 Jan 3-17 | Page 6

4 FRESHWATER Jan 3-17, 2020 VOL.39 • ISS. 2 FRESHWATER REPORTS ALMANOR Stormy Weather, Tough Fishing Reported at Lake Almanor We received a little over two inches of precipitation over the past two days with a mixture of heavy rains and a little snow. Add to that a couple of feet of snow since Thanksgiving weekend and our 2019/20 winter is quickly making up for a mild and dry fall. Lake level is currently at 4485’ that is the same as December 2018. Fishing pressure is light with a few fishermen targeting fish in the coves. PowerBait and crawlers remain the top options for bank fishermen. There have also been some fly fishermen targeting fish in Geritol, Kiddie and Roadside Coves from boats and tubes when weather permits. There has been minimal boat traffic on the lake and fishing has been tough at best. It’s that time of year and while fishing can be good at times, finding them is difficult. We are getting a little break in the weather this week it may be the last opportunity to fish Almanor for a while. The Canyon Dam boat ramp remains open and most of our snow has dissipated with the warm rains-John Crotty, Quail Lodge. LAKE AMADOR Trollers Land Big Amador Cutbows IONE – Plants of big, bold cutbows from the lake’s on-site fish hatchery continue to go into Lake Amador, providing anglers with some hard battles on light trout gear. The lake rose 6 feet, due to inflows from the recent storms. “It looks like we’re going to get a week of good weather, so we decided to get a LAKE AMADOR load of 700 pounds of cutbows in early,” reported Elizabeth Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort. “We are currently 30’ from full and the surface water temperature is dropping fast. This has brought most of the trout into the top 5’, which always means great fishing! Get ready for a fight with these toads, most are all 6-9 lbs. in weight.” Brittany Puente of Stockton and her family, including little Colton, caught 10 big trout, including 5 with tags, while fishing in a boat on a recent trip to the lake, noted Lockhart. Daryl Carter of Sacramento also reported solid fishing on his latest trolling adventures at Lake Amador. “I took out TJ and Kristin to Amador on December 11,” said Carter. “TJ bagged his first trout ever at 4.44 lbs. and Kristen landed a 7.74 lb. trout, a fish worth kissing. Although it rained a bit, it was light. It was a great day indeed with great people.” T.J. caught his fish on a Trigger spoon at 9 feet and Kristen landed hers on a Doctor spoon while toplining at the mouth of the Jackson Creek Arm. On a previous trip, Carter reported catching a trout weighing 7 pounds, 14 ounces, that vies for this personal best trout with a fish the same size caught at San Pablo Reservoir 15 years ago. Carter also landed two other trout weighing 4 and 2 pounds while trolling a Doctor Spoon in his boat. There are also some crappie available at Amador for patient anglers. “One angler caught 8 crappie while fishing off the dock by 11 a.m. one morning,” said Debbie Grayson, also at the Lake Amador Resort. AMERICAN RIVER Steelhead Show in Lower River 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 Bait & Tackle 3816 Visit The Mother Lode Region’s Official Fishing Tackle Headquarters Today For All Of your Inland Fishing Needs! RANCHO CORDOVA – Steelhead are showing in the river in increasing numbers as we near the opening day of steelhead fishing in the upper section of river on January 1, 2020. Anglers can hook steelhead while fishing plugs and roe from boats or while drifting roe, jigs and nightcrawlers or tossing out spinners Trollers, Lure Tossers Lay into Rainbows WINTERS – Trout fishing continues to be very good at Lake Berryessa, with trollers and lure tossers reporting catches of quality holdover rainbows. “The trout are chasing shad,” said Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle. “The anglers who are casting out lures such as Rapalas and blade baits to boiling trout are hooking limits of rainbows. The fish average 15 to 18 inches long and go up to 22 inches long.” Furnished Cabins from $60 per night or $360 per week HOOKD4LIFE.COM RODS • REELS • LINE • FROGS • SWIMBAITS • JIGS BAIT • HOOKS • SPINNERS • TERMINAL TACKLE • HARDBAITS • SOFT PLASTICS • SPECIALS • CLOSEOUTS & MUCH MORE! Awesome • Trout Fishing • Hiking • Biking • Relaxing Visit us on your way to: Camanche, Pardee, Amador, Rancho Seco, New Melones And More ! 106 East Main Street, Ione, CA 95640 ARE YOU FEELING LUCKY? BERRYESSA LAKE EAGLE LAKE CABIN RENTALS WIDE SELECTION • GREAT PRICES • YOU SAVE! (209) 790-5100 and Little Cleos from shore at Riverbend Park, the Gristmill, Howe Avenue, Watt Avenue and Paradise Beach. “Anglers are hooking a lot of smaller steelhead in the 12 to 13 inch range below Riverbend Park while drifting nightcrawlers and roe,” said Alan Fong, manager of Fisherman’s Warehouse. “Other anglers have reported catching a few steelhead in the 4 to 8 lb. range while throwing out Little Cleos with single hooks.” A few anglers are chasing striped bass on the lower American River from the Business 80 Bridge to the mouth at Discovery Park. “They’re using 4 to 5 inch Keitech swimbaits on jigheads for schoolie stripers,” said Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle. “The fish aren’t big – a 24 incher is a large one.” The staff at Nimbus Fish Hatchery continues to see relatively good numbers of salmon this year, in spite of the tough fishing and lack of success by most salmon anglers on the river this season. “This year it took less time when the ladder was opened to get enough salmon to spawn than in previous years,” said Gary Novak, Nimbus Fish Hatchery manager. “The last time we spawned, it only took 20 minutes to get 500 fish that we needed for spawning purposes. In previous years, it might take hours for us to get our fish.” The hatchery this year has taken around 1400 pairs of kings for spawning this year to date. “We’ve taken 7.6 million eggs and plan to take nearly 9 million to meet our production goals,” said Novak. “We’ve seen about 15 steelhead to date, including 7 adults up to 38 inches.” - Dan Bacher SUPERSTITIOUSLURES@GMAIL.COM SUPERSTITIOUSLURES.COM 3809 Rentals — Real Estate — Lots & Land For Reservations and info: (530)825-2131 www.eaglelakeheritage.com Shelby Muhlbeier landed this huge 7-pound Lake Don Pedro king salmon while trolling an Uncle Larry’s Spinner in 72 feet of water this fall. Photo courtesy of UNCLE LARRY’S LURES, Sacramento. Trollers are also hooking limits while topline trolling with Shad Raps and Scatter Raps in the main body at 30 feet deep. Bank fishermen can also pick up some beautiful rainbows now while tossing out minnows and nightcrawlers under bobbers in Markley Cove and other coves Continued on Pg 7 JC BASS FISHING GUIDE SERVICE With Pro Bass Fisherman Jason Cordiale Learn Progressive Techniques for Bass On The Delta, Clear Lake & Berryessa ALL SKILL LEVELS WELCOME www.jcbassfishing.com (925) 216-2757 jasoncordiale79@gmail.com 3811 Salmon • Striper • Trout • Kokanee • Stripers • Oroville Kings • Stampede Kokanee (530) 272-7137 • (530) 263-4451 www.fishbarebones.com 3807