Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3908 Mar 27- Apr 10 | Page 14

12 Freshwater Mar 27-Apr 10, 2020 Freshwater reports: Continued from pg 11 estimated 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 feet long, that he unhooked at the side of the boat on his first sturgeon venture of the season. “The fish hit a ghost shrimp/nightcrawler combination while I was anchored at night above Colusa,” he said. “There are a ton of fish up here – you can see them jumping around you.” Tim Boggs of Elkhorn Outdoors in Rio Linda confirmed the improving sturgeon action on the Sacramento River. “Fish are being caught at the airport hole south of Verona, at Verona, at Knights Landing and above Colusa,” he stated. “Shore fishermen are reporting catching mostly oversized fish, along with a few keeper- sized fish. Anglers are doing best while tossing out eel/nightcrawler and ghost shrimp/nightcrawler combinations.’ ‘The striped bass fishing is also improving as the weather warms up,” said Boggs. “Anglers today reported catching stripers in the 8 to 10 lb. range at Verona while fishing bait at night.” - Dan Bacher Los Vaqueros Lake Monster Catfish Lead Spring Angling Parade LIVERMORE - While rainbow trout are providing the most consistent fishing at Los Vaqueros Reservoir, it was two giant catfish that took Fish Sniffer big fish honors over the past couple of weeks. Daniel Amarillas of San Jose bagged a 12.84 lb. channel cat while fishing a nightcrawler from a boat. Toni Garcia of Redwood City also landed an 11.05 lb. catfish while fishing an anchovy on the anchor in the middle of the lake, reported Patrick Alain of the Los Vaqueros Marina. “We just received a plant of 1000 pounds of Mt. Lassen rainbow trout today,” noted Alain. “Boaters are doing best on the trout while fishing PowerBait. However, two anglers just came in with their limits of rainbows after fishing from shore.” The top spots for shore anglers to target trout are the South Cove, the pier near the marina and the Rockwall. The biggest trout caught lately was a 6.7 lb. rainbow fooled with rainbow PowerBait. Striper fishing remains most productive lower than normal weights. Bass fishing requires quite a bit of work for success, and the best fishing is occurring on the bottom from 5 to 45 feet. John Liechty of Xperience Bass Fishing Guide Service said, “It’s been a struggle, and you have to work hard as the conditions haven’t changed for a while. Our best action has been surprisingly enough with small plastics on a drop-shot over bluff walls, 45-degree banks, and in creek channels. The drop-shot is out fishing everything right now, and I think it is because the bass have seen so many jigs and shakey head over the past year.’ “The drop-shot with a 3-inch plastic on 6-pound test seems to be able to trick the bass and entice a strike. We have been consistently finding bass in the 2.5- to 3-pound range, Doug hit Lake Amador on February 28 and caught this impressive rainbow while soaking PowerBait in the lake’s and I put in a 14-pound Jackson Creek arm. limit this past week which Photo courtesy of THE LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador. would have been a solid weight during last week’s tournament. Instead off the pier near the marina. Most of of 30 to 50 fish days, we are working the fish are undersized and must be hard for 20 to 30 fish days. The water released, but anglers are also catching a temperature is 59 degrees, and the bass handful of keepers on anchovies. should be up, but they are still holding Los Vaqueros is holding 148,273 acre in deeper water. The creek channels are feet of water, 93 percent of capacity. starting to get stained from the dropping For real-time information on the water levels, and a mud line is forming,” weather conditions, call the Marina at said Liechty. 925-371-2628. Gene Hildebrand of Glory Hole Sports, Los Vaqueros will host its annual said, “ With the water temperatures spring Trout Fishing Derby in April. hitting 60 degrees, the bass are in spawn Anglers who catch the three largest trout mode, on beds, and many being caught will win!. More details on participation have that soft belly indicating they have and prizes care coming soon. already spawned out and occasionally seeing a bloody tail on female and males both due to fanning and females just dragging their tails on rocks with the New Melones Lake heavy bellies. With a steady increase in the bass bite, anglers are getting bit on Hard Work Required different presentations and you should for Bass Success be ready to change it up. In the mud line ANGELS CAMP - Bass fishing was along the shore from the boat traffic, brutal at New Melones during the chatterbaits or spinner baits are best recent Wild West Bass Trails Pro/Am while in windy conditions with some chop and the struggle was reflected in the far on the water, topwater lures, swimbaits, How To nice because with the premium leadcore the sheath is bonded to the lead so well that I struggle to worm the sheath back for By Cal Kellogg knot tying. With this rig I put on a lure or bait and run out all the leadcore. Then I spool the braid backing off and keep track of how much line I’m putting out using the line counter. Depending on how much backing I have out and the speed of the troll, I can reach down to depths of 25 to 30 feet or perhaps a bit more. When using this rig not only can I adjust my depth quickly by simply letting out or Nestled between Los Vaqueros Los Vaqueros Brentwood Reservoir Reservoir and Livermore off Vasco Road Nestled between Brentwood and Livermore off Vasco Road Now Catching First STRIPED Time Anglers BASS Welcome! Beautiful TROUT Spring Wild Flowers CATFISH • SALmON • TROUT LARGEMOUTH BASS • STRIPED BASS The New Marina • Building CATFISH & Boat Rentals • NOW LARGEmOUTH BASS OPEN!!!! VOL.39 • ISS. 8 (925) 371-2628 Los Vaqueros Recreation Co. 9990 Los Vaqueros Rd. Byron, CA, 94514 $25 boat rentals every Monday thru Friday www.NORCALFISHING.COm A Contra Costa Water District Facility retrieving line, I can also work the rod at critical times and give the rig some extra life and action. This comes into play when working shoreline structure while fast trolling spoons or Rapalas. If I’m working fish holding deeper than about 30 feet I’ll go with downriggers, but at times when the fish are from the surface to 30 feet deep I really like to use the leadcore. Clearly simplicity is one of the corner stone attributes of modern leadcore trolling, but I believe it also offers anglers an added level of stealth. Let’s face it downrigger weights and cables make a lot of disturbance when they come through the water. I’m convinced that sometimes this disturbance is good because it attracts fish. At other times, I don’t think it helps or hurts, yet I’m certain there are times when that disturbance puts fish off. This is 2907 3125 Custom 23’ Rogue Jet Cpt. Jerry Lampkin – 25 years of experience fishing Salmon, Steelhead, Stripers, Trout & landlocked Kings on the Feather, Sacramento, American Rivers and Folsom Lake (non holidays) 3802 Oroville Lake Big Kings Challenge Boaters OROVILLE - Boaters are not landing big numbers of landlocked king salmon at Lake Oroville, but the ones they are landing are quality fish. “Two locals, Bill and George, reported landing five big kings and losing four while trolling on a recent trip with Bret Brady of Bare Bones Guide Service,” said Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle. “Two of the fish were over five pounds and the fish averaged around 4 pounds.’ The anglers bagged the kings while trolling with glow hoochies behind dodgers at Oroville. The top areas to target salmon are the dam and the Bidwell Canyon Bridge. Bass anglers are finding solid action while fishing drop shot rigs, jigs and plastics at Oroville. Austin Weagant placed first in the latest high schoolers’ bass event with a 17-1/4-inch spotted bass. Ethan Leininger placed second with a 16-1/2-inch bass, according to North Valley Tackle and Pro Shop, The Spillway Boat Ramp is open to the public seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Please note the trail head parking area does not open until 8 a.m., according to California State Parks. Oroville is holding 2,150,617-acre feet of water, 61 percent of capacity and 94 percent of average. The lake level is 796.33 feet in elevation. - Dan Bacher CONTINUED ON PG 17 continued from page 5 Now Booking American River Steelhead and Folsom Lake Trout Drift Boat Trips or glidebaits are best. “The most successful presentations during the Wild West Bass Trail were soft plastics such as Robo Worms, Yamamoto Senko’s, Baby Brush Hogs, and Grubs on shakey heads, jigs, and dropshot along with success using underspins and a 2.5” Keitech trailer,:” Hlldebrand stated. The Angels Cove launch ramp is closed, and the fish cleaning station remains closed at Angels Cove with water line breaks interfering with operations. The lake is currently 79 percent of capacity. - Dave Hurley T.N.G Motorsports Guide Service (530) 320-0884 • www.tngmotorsports.com especially true of big experienced fish. Leadcore allows you to reach moderate depths with a lot less disturbance you can with a downrigger. Leadcore isn’t invasive. Its weight is distributed over its length, so it glides through the water very quietly with zero vibration. So, what sort of offerings do I pull off my leadcore outfits? Truth be told I pull all the same stuff I pull off downriggers. One day it might be a set of flashers trailing a worm for trout or a Wedding Ring for kokanee. The next time out I might be rolling shad or pulling spoons for trout and salmon at Shasta. In the past, I’ve been teaming my leadcore outfits with Sep’s Side Planers with great success. I simply spool out all three colors of leadcore, attach the planer where the braid backing begins and then walk the rig off the side of the boat before putting the rod in one of the upper rocket launcher rod holders. This is a super stealthy way to go and I pretty much only troll this way with three different offerings, rigged shad, rigged worms or a trolling fly teamed with an ActionDisc. Beyond that there’s not a lot more to know. Leadcore trolling is one of those core techniques that you should master. It’s super simple to use, but it’s also super deadly… If you’d like one of my signature series yellow leadcore rods, go to www.FishHuntShootProductions.com.