Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3905 Feb 14-28 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! Sugar Pine Reservoir Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 14 Feb 14 - 28, 2020 Vol. 39 - ISS.5 Our 38th Year Since 1982 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Chasing Oroville Kings! W ell, January is in the books. Unfortunately, I was only able to get out one time to Lake Oroville, but spoke with several people who said the month was amazing and the kings were on the prowl. Thanks to Yuba City local, Rusty Chester, he offered a ride with him on January 27th to see if we could get into the fun. Rusty had already been up there a few times with other friends and since we both had the day off, we decided to give it a go. We arrived at the spillway launch at about 7am, just as the sun was beginning to lighten the sky. We put Rusty’s G3 in the water and headed out to troll in front of the dam. Right away, we noticed a problem, the axle on his downrigger was stripped, so we would have to fish 3 riggers instead of 4. It turns out it’s not going to be a major expense, so Rusty is in luck there. As we began our troll, Rusty told me he had seen reports that some fish had been taken at 30-50 feet, but he has had his best luck at 83’. When I looked at the Lowrance, I could see why; Bait balls and lots of them holding in the 90-120’ range. It looked like a virtual smorgas- bord for kings! Rusty quickly put out what has been working for him, his homemade “Top Coater” dodger trailing a “Christine Special” Brad’s cut plug. Being a Mack’s Pro Staffer, I knew I could find a combo from Mack’s that would do just as well, but Mark Hall boated this big Oroville king on a Wedding I didn’t really know Ring spinner trailed behind a Mack’s Lure Double D anything about the lake (first dodger. time I’d fished this area). Photo by MARK HALL, Mack’s Lure. Rusty quickly put a nice 18” king in the box while I still cycled through a few at the boat, but managed to put 4 my gear looking for that one combo that kings in the box. The largest one came on would get a reaction. I found that combo the afternoon bite and measured in at 3.65 in the Mack’s Purple Haze UV DD pounds and 21 inches long. Dodger, trailing a Barbarian Nightmare That fish inhaled that Barbarian Double Whammy Wedding Ring. Nightmare and wasn’t about to let go of Rusty and I fished in front of the dam its prize. It made several runs, stripping all day with the “Wall” being the best out line and even tried to dive under the producing area. boat. It made a dash for the downrigger For the day, we missed a few fish, lost CONTINUED ON PG 8 GONE FISHING by Mark Hall R Emerald Water, Chrome Trout… portside a trolling fly was working off my hybrid leadcore rig at 5 feet deep. A copper wobbling spoon was swim just under the surface on the starboard side on a spinning rod rigged with 8-pound test. Clearing the cove, I turned up the lake and was just thinking that I was surprise I hadn’t had a bite when the trolling fly got hit, hit again and then hooked a fish. Snatching the rod from the holder I made a crank or two on the reel and felt the fish come off, but I didn’t have time to feel any disappointment. Glancing down I was shocked to see the spinning rod buried and bucking against the fight of a deter- When Cal Kellogg and Lucy visited Rollins Lake on January mined fish. Double hookup! Putting the leadcore rod 22, they experienced outstanding trout action while pulling a copper spoon from Cal’s Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak. back into its holder with ain had fallen overnight and it was chilly. Both the air temperature and the water temperature hovered in the low 40’s. Fingers of fog snaked through the pines on the hillsides above the lake and the surface was dotted with leaves, pine needles and twigs due to a rapidly rising water level. Yet the water itself was nearly crystal clear. The kayak cut though the water silently and the Lowrance unit to my right indicated a speed of 1.8 mph. On the my left hand, I grabbed the spinning rod with my right and peddled forward to keep the kayak from spinning around and tangling my world. The trout put up a strong fight with lots of head shaking, but it was no match for the flex of the spinning rod and I soon had the rainbow beside the kayak. The trout was chrome bright and contrasted bril- liantly against the background of the water. I’d forgotten my net, but the trout looked solidly hooked so I slid it up towards the nose of the kayak and lifted it aboard. The rainbow was a chunky planter that measured about 16 inches long. What a way to kick off the trout season! If you are a regular reader of my trout fishing stories here in the Fish Sniffer or a viewer of my trout stuff on YouTube, you might be thinking I was fishing at some off the grid destination in far northern California. Not this time. The action I just described took place at Rollins Lake, just WHAT’S HOT by Cal Kellogg Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff. F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK When fishing spoons for trout, the first thing to think about is your lure to line connection. Some spoons come with a split ring attached. Other spoons simply have a hole in them. If you tie a tight knot directly to that hole, it will kill a lot of the lure’s action. You can tie on your spoons via a loop knot but tying the knot is a pain, overall you’ll be best served by picking up a small selection of high quality light wire lock snaps. Lock snaps, not snap swivels… CONTINUED ON PG 8 38 Years Serving Sportsmen Special Section KAYAK Fishing: pgs 20 INSIDE Area Reports FRESHWATER REPORTS Almanor - Berryessa Lake......................................4 Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoirs - Davis Lake............................................... 10-11 Don Pedro Lake - Klamath/Trinity Rivers............ 12 New Melones Lake - Oroville Lake...................... 17 Pyramid Lake - Rancho Seco Lake..................... 19 Redding/Red Bluff - Sacramento Area................ 21 Santa Clara Lakes/San Luis Reservoir - West Delta............................................... 22-23 SALTWATER REPORTS Baja Roundup........................................................... 26 Berkeley - Half Moon Bay...................................24-25 Half Moon Bay - Monterey Bay....................... 26-27 FEATURES Where...When...How... FISHING BOAT KICKOFF...................... 6-10,13 BAJA ROUNDUP........................................................27 BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3 CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Kiene’s Fly Shop.18 FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Steve ‘Hippo’ Lau..........26 GO FOR IT: Staff.......................................................16 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................5 KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Kevin Hofer .............20 MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................14-15 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......25 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Cal Kellogg - trolled Jenkinson Reservoir for trout and mackinaw from his Kayak City Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak. Cal used a pair of 7’6” Vance’s Tackle ULT 762 trolling rods topped with Abu Garcia 5500 LC line counter reels. The reels were spooled with 10 lb. moss colored Trilene Big Game line. On the business end, Cal pulled Cripplures and Gulp! minnows teamed with Mack’s Lure Flash Lite Flashers. Cal used Herring Scent Pro-Cure Super Gel on his blades and lures. Paul Kneeland - fished Scotts Flat Reservoir with John Brassfield of Trucksmart stores in John’s 18’ Duckworth. They caught rainbow trout to 14 inches using a Powell Rods 7’ 6” light action graphite rod with a Shimano Calcutta 150 level wind reel loaded with 8 lb test P Line CXX line. He trolled Vance’s red Sockeye Slammers and Vance’s watermelon dodgers followed by a nightcrawler on a #4 Mustad Slow death hook on the surface at 1.5 mph. Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Sugar Pine Reservoir. 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 stripe Little Cleos.