Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3903 Jan 17-31 2020 | Page 20

by Cal Kellogg 18 FRESHWATER Jan 17-31, 2020 FRESHWATER REPORTS: CONTINUED FROM PG 17 ROLLINS LAKE Fish Willing, But Few Anglers Trying…. COLFAX - Fishing isn’t wide open at Rollins Lake or Scotts Flat Reservoir, but if you are looking to hook a few bass or trout these lakes are a viable option. Better still few anglers are fishing, so you’ll have plenty of elbow room. “I took my kayak up to Rollins Lake last week and had a pretty good outing,” reported Fish Sniffer Editor Cal Kellogg. “I launch at Long Ravine and trolled my way out pulling Yakima Bait Mag Lips. One plug was chrome and blue and the other one had a frog finish.” The chrome plug got hit twice at the mouth of Long Ravine. The first fish didn’t stick. The second fish turned out to be a 12-inch rainbow. I worked the mouth for a while longer without any more action, so I continued up the Bear River Arm. I hooked the third fish of the day in the Gooseneck. It turned out to be a 15-inch brown trout. At that point I was pretty excited, but after two more hours of trolling without another strike I switched over to bass fishing,” said Kellogg. “I tried crankbaits without results, so I switched over to a quarter ounce black jig tipped with a black grub. By casting to steep rocky banks and working the jig down the face, I was able to pick up 4 spotted bass. Two of them were under 12 inches, but the other two each went about a pound and a half. All in all, it was a fun day on the water and save for one guy focus on cold water crappie in the canals and sloughs of the Sacramento area. “Anglers are picking up crappie while fishing jigs and minnows in the Cross Cut Canal below Verona,” said Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacramento Pro Tackle. “This is also the time of year when trollers begin picking up crappie while trolling for trout at Lake Camanche.” Other good areas to look for crappie including Lisbon Slough and the Sutter Bypass. They key is to find the fish where they are schooled up this time of year. The Port of Sacramento and Deep Water Channel These happy anglers hit the Delta with Captain James Netzel and rounded up limits of stripers while drifting jumbo continue to kick out minnows. Photo courtesy of TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE, Loomis. stripers for shore and boat anglers. “Fishermen were catching stripers ranging from 4 to 8 pounds, but now most SACRAMENTO AREA bank fishing at Free Loaders Cove I didn’t of the fish are in the 3 to 4 pounds, in the Crappie Hitting in Local see another person,” Kellogg concluded. port,” said Barnes. “Trollers using Yo- At Scotts Flat Reservoir, both bank Canals Zuris and other worms, tipped with plastic anglers and boaters that make the effort worms, are landing stripers. Spooning SACRAMENTO – During the winter, are hooking rainbow trout in the 9 to 14- with Blade Runner spoons is still good in many anglers turn their attention to striped inch class. Bankies are soaking standard the port, but bigger fish are being taken in bass fishing in the Port of Sacramento baits, while the lone boater that reported the channel. The fish in the channel have or steelhead fishing on the American to us said he’d hooked 3 rainbows on an been chasing schools of threadfin shad.” and Feather rivers, but other fishermen orange Kastmaster. HOW TO while you roll you won’t be worried about that big 20-foot hunk of aluminum following you that costs exponentially more than even the most expensive fishing kayak. I’ve run a bunch of sponsored heavy aluminum sleds and I loved every one of them because they are incredible fishing machines. What I didn’t love was the 2 hours of pre-trip prep time and the two hours of post trip clean up time. I also didn’t really like doing daily chores with a massive boat in my driveway that always seemed to be blocking the easiest line of travel. And of course, I really didn’t love it when my transmission exploded while I was trying to back a huge 21-foot-deep hulled aluminum up a steep driveway! With my kayaks, there is little stress or prep. Most of the stuff that isn’t in the kayak already is stored in a big plastic tote. I can hit the road pretty much instantly when the opportunity arises. These days I have a modified utility trailer that allows me to carry two kayaks. It can also be converted into a tent for extended road trips! For the ultimate in simplicity you can easily carry a fishing kayak in the bed of your truck or on a roof top rack if you run a wagon or SUV. During the winter a lot of western reservoirs are drawn down in preparation to receive spring run-off. That leaves a lot of launch ramps out of the water. This is of no consequence to the kayaker. Simply drive down to the shoreline and launch. If the shoreline is too rough, snap the wheels on your ‘yak and walk it down. It’s that simple and since that launch ramp is closed, you’ll likely have that part of the lake all to yourself! Kayak Trout Attack! Before we trout fish or even step into the water get that life jacket on and keep it on. Dead men don’t catch trout! Enough said. In the summer, I run a small crank downrigger for controlled depth trolling. It VOL.39 • ISS.3 By Cal Kellogg continued from page 5 works great, but isn’t needed in the winter when the trout are up. When it’s cold, I run one rod spooled with mono for top line trolling and a light leadcore outfit that will get me down to 25 feet. My kayak is so stealthy that I spend most of my time on lakes trolling and exploring backwater areas where I’d never take a big boat. Yet there are other approaches that will put lake and reservoir trout on the stringer too. If you find a concentration of fish, plugging for them with spoons and spinners is a no brainer and I’ve had many productive days drifting worms and live minnows beneath slip bobbers. That is the ultimate stealth presentation! When it comes to western trout fishing you can’t overlook rivers and tailwater fisheries. Some of these fisheries hold massive trout that feed throughout the winter months. Despite this fishing pressure on most rivers is exceptionally light on winter days. Now if you haven’t done much river fishing for trout from boats using conven- tional gear you probably are envisioning the kayak drifting along as the angler “side drifts” bait or flies much like a steelhead guys present roe from a drift boat. That method will absolutely produce trout, but a much more exciting option is back trolling lures. Back trolling works like this. Using your peddles or paddle, the kayaker keeps the craft moving downstream as a SLOWER PACE, than the river is flowing. Behind the kayak the angler trails a lure, typically a small plug, that works against the flow of the current. In shallow water, some plugs dive deep enough that you can basically topline them a set distance behind the kayak and they will dive into the strike zone. If that isn’t an option you can run a three-way rig and attach small sinkers that range upwards from a half ounce to get the lure down into the near bottom strike zone. When I back troll, I drop my kayak’s peddle system into reverse so all the action in out in front of me. The peddles working with the rudder allow me to walk my plugs into some awesome spots. In closing, if you want to bring a new level of stealth, simplicity and satisfac- tion to your trout fishing, I encourage you to check out kayak fishing. Many kayak shops have “get acquainted” days where you can jump in a variety of different kayaks and take them for a test spin. When you do get afflicted with the kayak bug, remember safety always comes first. I always wear my PFD with my personal rescue beacon attached and if I’m going to be out in low light conditions I always run an LED strobe light off the back of the ‘yak. With Pro Bass Fisherman Jason Cordiale Learn Progressive Techniques for Bass On The Delta, Clear Lake & Berryessa ALL SKILL LEVELS WELCOME www.jcbassfishing.com jasoncordiale79@gmail.com Drift Minnows or Toss Topwater Baits for Main Lake Stripers COYOTE – If you want to hook striped bass this time year at San Luis Reservoir drift live minnows in front of the Trash Racks and in Portuguese Cove, advised Josh Mesa at Coyote Bait and Tackle. “A few anglers are also hooking fish while throw top water lures such as Zara Spooks, Pencil Poppers and ripbaits,” said Mesa. “Shore anglers are catching fish on anchovies, pileworms, chicken liver and anchovies.’ The O’Neill Forebay is also kicking out stripers averaging around 20 inches for baml anglers tossing out cut baits under the bridge. Coyote Lake crappie fishing is the best bet now for anglers fishing the Santa Clara Valley lakes. “Fishermen are hooking the crappie with redworms, Mini Jigs and two inch swimbaits,” said Mesa. Fishing at Calero, the only local lake open to boaters, is “very slow,” said Messa. Anglers are picking up a few bass while working deep-diving square bill crankbaits. Anderson is producing a few bass weighing 1 to 2 pounds for bank fishermen. CONTINUED ON PG 19 Blodgett Lake • Rancho Cordova, CA Fishing & Hunting At It’s Finest! JC BASS FISHING GUIDE SERVICE (925) 216-2757 SANTA CLARA VALLEY LAKES/SAN LUIS RESERVOIR 3811 Annual Family Membership Pass Starting At Only $150 Over Stocked With Bass, Catfish, Bluegill & Crappie. Dove & Goose Hunts Available! (916) 423-1771 WWW.SACFISHING.COM 3817