Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3911 May 2020 | Page 2

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen! Collins Lake Map Feature MADE IN U.S.A See Page 12 Vol. 39 - ISS.11 Our 38th Year MAY 2020 Since 1982 “The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!” Special Covid-19 Digital Edition It’s Spring Striper Time: Here’s How To Get Your Bass On! I n terms of Delta striper fishing, there is a long-standing debate whether trolling, casting or soaking bait produces more stripers over the course of the year. In terms of total numbers, I believe that bait fishing has the edge, but when the water is clear and the temperature is in the 60’s it is tough for bait anglers to keep up with trollers and pluggers. With the spring running hitting its stride right now, this is a great time to learn or at least review the basics of trolling and plugging for delta linesides. Now if I had to choose between trolling and plugging and excite- ment was the criteria, I’d choose plugging every time, yet if overall productivity and consistency was the measure trolling would get the nod. This being the case let’s get started by considering trolling. In days gone by, the typical delta troller used a short stiff “meat stick” rod teamed with heavy 25 to 30-pound monofila- ment. This rig was tipped with a spreader rig. A large minnow plug was rigged on the top of the spreader and a leadhead jig worked off the bottom of the spreader. Now while this tackle arrange- ment was certainly effective, it greatly muffled the fight of all but the largest bass. Today light rods, braided lines and single lures are in vogue. Not only are these rigs effective, but they make the fishing fun even if the bass are not huge. Stripers might hit a variety of different trolled lures, yet you can limit your lure selection to two different models without hurting your success rate. For shallow work in water that is 6 to 9 feet deep, Bomber Long A’s are the way to go. At times when it is necessary to work deeper water, say from 12 to 16 feet deep FEATURES Where...When...How... Gone fishing by Cal Kellogg T 38 Years Serving Sportsmen CONTINUED ON PG 14 Spring is a great time for hooking trophy size stripers like this incredible fish. Be sure to catch and release these big girls to ensure the future of the sport! Photo courtesy of DELTA PRO FISHING, Elk Grove. Shasta Lake Fishing Adventure!! this, Lake Shasta and most of the National Forest lakes are still open to fishing and launching a boat. All the campgrounds and picnic areas are closed, but at least you can fish! I have journeyed to Lake Shasta twice in the last 3 weeks and been able to catch some nice trout. John Brassfield and I went up first and stayed at Sugarloaf Cottages in Lakehead for a couple days. We arrived about noon to find the lake is in great shape, only about 35 feet from the top and clear and beautiful. The weather was just perfect, cool in the morning and warm in the afternoon with a nice light “trolling “breeze. The first day we launched the Rogue Jet Coastal 21 and fished all over the lake trying to Fish Sniffer publisher Paul Kneeland with the largest trout he find any concentration of has ever landed at Lake Shasta, a 26 inch, 7-pound brown! fish, with no luck! We By PAUL KNEELAND, Fish Sniffer Staff. he corona virus has turned the world upside down, for everyone in the world! In our business and in our neck of the woods, one of the main problems has been the closing of boat ramps and many of the private and public lakes in Northern California. As I write managed to catch a few rainbows, and I landed a nice 18-inch king salmon in the gooseneck area of the Sacramento arm. Most of the rainbows came trolling the surface behind Big Jon planer boards. Our best lure was a black/white and red Tasmanian Devil trolled at 2.3 mph. The king salmon came at 50 feet on a Red Racer Speedy Shiner at the same speed. We fished the mouth of the McCloud, the Silverthorn area, Digger Bay and the Dam, and even Dry fork with not much success. John did land 2 rainbows to 16 inches on a 2-inch black shad pattern Lyman plug. About 6 pm we headed back up the Sacramento arm to our cabin at Sugarloaf. To respect What’s Hot by Paul Kneeland F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK CONTINUED ON PG 16 Wash Your Hands! Don’t Touch Your Face! See Page 3 for an update about the Fish Sniffer and Coronavirus Freshwater Report............................................. 3 Catch & Release - Fly Fishing................................9 Fish Sniffer Update on Covid-19..........................3 Freshwater Report............................................. 4 HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................6 MAP Feature: Dan Bacher...............................12-13 Saltwater Report...............................................19 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......18 Trout Season Report......................................... 9 STAFF TACKLE What We’re Using Paul Kneeland - fished Shasta Lake with John Brassfield of Trucksmart stores in the Fish Sniffer 21’ Rogue Jet Coastal. They caught rainbow trout to 18 inches and a fat 26 inch german brown, using an Okuma 8 1\2 foot light action SST graphite rod with a new Okuma Coldwater low profile line counter reel loaded with 10 lb test Soft Steel line.. They trolled Silver Horde Kingfisher Lite spoons in orange/nickel and white/nickel both on the surface with Big Jon sideplaners and off the Canon Downriggers at 40 to 50 feet deep and 2.3 mph. Cal Kellogg - with COVID 19 concerns and a long-term power outage at his home due to snow, Cal didn’t hit the water this week, but he did spend some time rigging gear. He spooled up an Abu Garcia 5500 LC with a hybrid leadcore rig utilizing 20 lb FINS braid backing, 3 colors of 15lb Sufix leadcore line and a 17 pound 60-foot top shot of Yo-Zuri TopKnot Fluorocarbon. Dan Bacher - shore fished for rainbow trout at Lake Amador 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 chartreuse Berkley PowerBait, nightcrawlers and 2/5 oz. gold Little Cleos.