Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3906 Feb 28- Mar 13 | Page 10

8 FRESHWATER Feb 28-Mar 13, 2020 FRESHWATER REPORTS: truck down to the shoreline, and bank fishermen were tossing into the plant location as well as boaters trolling through the recently-planted rainbows. Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service said, “I have been hammering Camanche for the past few weeks, and the bite has been hit or miss. Some days you get them, and some days it is very tough. I had three good days this week, but I went back on Saturday for one trout with another three strikes. We have been running Speedy Shiners or grubs. Bass fishing remains a challenge with the best action in deep water with plastics or jigs as the reaction bite remains absent for the most part. The Wild West Bass Trails will be making their entry into the kayak fishing scene with their first kayak bass tournament on the lake on March 22. Camanche is holding at 71 percent of capacity. - Dave Hurley CONTINUED FROM PG 4 BISHOP AREA cont. up river as the month of February comes in. It’s turning out to be a drought month ahead so the river banks are almost dry. The deep pools and undercut banks all have fish in them. Egg patterns, leeches, Pheasant Tails, Assassins, and SJ Worms have been hooking some great fish,” Loe concluded. BULLARDS BAR/ ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIRS Trollers Lay Into Scrappy Kokanee DOBBINS – Although the fish are not big, you can find a lot of action on kokanee salmon while trolling at Bullards Bar Reservoir this time of year. Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer Editor, and Wes Ward, Fish Sniffer Staffer, limited out on kokanee while trolling at Bullards Bar Reservoir on a trip to the reservoir. “Most were 8 to 9 inches long,” Kellogg said. “Anywhere from 30 to 90 feet, there were massive schools of kokanee.” They found the best action on pink Mack’s Lure hoochies, behind 6 inch pink Sling Blades and pink smile blade Wedding Rings. The most productive corn was white shoepeg corn with pure anise on it. “We saw spotted bass on the graph right under the balls of kokanee,” he added. “They were stalking them like muggers.” “We caught limits of kokanee for two anglers on my last two trips to Bullards Bar Reservoir,” said Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service. “We hooked most of the fish at 50 to 60 feet deep while trolling at 50 to 60 feet deep with the Sugar Mama-colored Brad’s Kokanee Cut Plugs. We kept fish ranging from 10-1/2 to 12-1/2 inches, along with releasing a bunch of little ones.” Bullards Bar is holding 635,505 acre feet of water, 68 percent of capacity and 110 percent of average. Trollers are picking up holdover rainbows at Englebright Reservoir, according to Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle in Auburn. Your best bet is to troll worms behind dodgers with 150 to 200 feet setbacks. Englebright Reservoir is holding 66,219 acre feet of water, 95 percent of capacity and 103 percent of average. - Dan Bacher CLEAR LAKE Ken Terry fished Lake Amador on January 26 and landed a five fish limit of trout. All the fish were over 3 pounds and his biggest trout was this huge 11.3-pound rainbow. All the fish came on Speedy Shiner Spoons. Photo courtesy of the LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador. CAMANCHE LAKE Trout and Bass Challenge Boaters BURSON – Trout plants continue at Lake Camanche, with a total of 36,000 pounds planted to date. The latest plant of 2400 pounds included 1200 pounds stocked at the North Shore Marina, 600 pounds planted at the South Shore Marina, and 600 pounds stocked at the South Shore Pond. Robbie Dunham of Koke Machine Guide Service took out Al Chambers of Placerville this week for rainbows to 9 pounds, 2 ounces running grubs in open water at slow speeds from 1.5 to 1.6 mph on his GPS unit. “The water has been cold at 51 degrees in the morning to 53 degrees in the afternoon, and the bite has been a challenge in the cold water. I will be staying on the lake through March until switching between Lake Pardee for kokanee and trout and Camanche for the big rainbows. It is really fun to tug on these larger fish.” After the most Mark Morrison fishing Guide Service recent plant at the North Shore, a Salmon, Stripers, Trout, American Shad crowd followed the NOW BOOKING STRIPER TRIPS 1-6 people - Full day trips Fishing gear supplied Sacramento, American and Feather rivers BOOK EARLY S! FOR BEST DATE 3904 VOL.39 • ISS. 6 916-308-3228 3826 markmor14@gmail.com markmorrisonfishingguideservice.com Salmon • Striper • Trout • Kokanee Lure Tossers and Minnow Drifters Lay Into Largemouths CLEARLAKE – Whether you fish lures or drift live jumbo minnows, now is a prime time to fish for largemouth bass at Clear Lake. “Great bass fishing is available at Clear Lake,” reported Mae Erceg at Clear Lake Outdoors. “The fishing is picking up with the warming weather. There are good numbers of bass available on the north end of the lake, while the south end is producing better quality fish, but not numbers. We recommend fishing the midlake so you have best of both quantity and quality.” “Boaters are fishing the deeper water with Underspins, A Rigs, jerkbaits and crankbaits,” Erceg said. “In shallower water, Underspins, squarebills and jerkbaits are working as well.” “Anglers are hooking fish in 8 to 10 feet of water on the north end, off drop offs such as Henderson Point and Shag Rock in the mid lake and off Frazier Point and Pirates Cove on the south end,” she stated. “Kayak anglers are also catching bass in the Clear Lake Keys.” Crappie fishing is also beginning to improve, with fish in the 1 pound range showing in the Buckingham and Holiday Cove areas. The fish are moving around in schools. Anglers are fishing with a variety of small jigs and swimbaits for the slabsides. “The catfish bite is hit and miss; the largest fish we’ve heard of lately was a 13 pounder that a young man, Wyatt, caught while fishing at the County Park,” added Erceg. Bob Myskey of Bassin’ With Bob Guide Service reported solid minnow fishing for Trout • Kokanee • Catfish Large & Smallmouth Bass Crappie • Bluegill • Sunfish Store • Campsites/RV sites Marina • Boat Launch New Boat & Motor Rental Fleet Call for Information & Reservations (800) 416-6992 (530) 272-7137 • (530) 263-4451 www.fishbarebones.com 3807 COLLINS LAKE 2020 Trout Plants Begin Early! OREGON HOUSE – Rainbow trout plants began earlier this year than planned, due to mild weather and clear water conditions.. The first 1000 pounds of Mt. Lassen Trout went into the lake on January 30 and the second plant of 1500 pounds of CDFW rainbows went in on February 6. The lake is being planted every week now, with a big increase in trout catches as a result. “Anglers fishing with orange Power Bait have been catching the fish left and right by the bridge,” said Sheri McCutcheon of the Collins Lake Resort. Big trout honors go to Justin Hatanaka of Sacramento, who landed three trout weighing 8-3/4, 6-1/2 and 3-1/4 pounds while trolling with Silver Kastmasters on a recent angling adventure. Tom Ives of Browns Valley bagged a 5 lb. 10 oz. rainbow while trolling by the power lines with a Rapala. Addison of Yuba City landed a 4-1/2 lb. rainbow while using green PowerBait by the dam. Black bass, sunfish and crappie reports have been scarce lately, since most anglers are concentrating on the trout fishing. Fishing for these species will improve as the water temperature rises on the lake in the coming weeks. The lake level is 20′ from full and the surface water temperature is 50 degrees. - Dan Bacher DAVIS LAKE Hefty Rainbows Available Through the Ice PORTOLA – Fishing reports on Lake Davis have been few and far between since John and Kelly Pato’s tenth and last ice/winter fishing derby was held on February 1.. “Remember that the ice is not officially monitored. It is up to you to decide if it is safe or not,” according to J&J’s Grizzly Store and Camping Resort. Lake Davis is holding 63,019 acre feet of water, 76 percent of capacity and 106 percent of average During the derby, a total of 91 people competed and 30 people weighed in fish, according to the Patos. Anglers vied for first, second and third place in the derby. A combination of length and weight on any one fish determined the score. Justin Jensen of Reno won first place with a 23 inch rainbow weighing 3.09 pounds. He won a 4 foot tall trophy and $200. Blake Pato of Portola finished in second CONTINUED ON PG 11 Reopens On Feb. 13, 2020 GREAT Fishing for: • Stripers • Oroville Kings • Stampede Kokanee bass on recent trips to Clear Lake. “ It was a cold, windy start to Doug’s trip today, along with trying to find a spot to fish with a 158 tournament boats fishing the lake,” said Myskey on Facebook. “Doug still managed to put 21 fish in the boat in a four hour time frame and then we wrapped it up. It was a live bait trip and it was needed, since half the field of the tournament group failed to weigh in full limits.” - Dan Bacher 4900 Stony Creek Rd. Ione www.rockymountainrec.com Now Booking DELTA STRIPERS All Bait & Tackle and Fish Cleaning Furnished Call for Information – (916)284-9236 Capt. Chris Ditter 3906