Up-To-Date and Published Locally ... By Sportsmen ... For Sportsmen !
Lake Oroville Map Feature
MADE IN U . S . A
See Page 20
40 Years Serving Sportsmen
Vol . 41 - ISS . 1
Our 39th Year
Since 1982
“ The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen !” INSIDE
Area Reports
Toughing it Out for Winter Trout F or us die-hard trout trollers , winter can be a tough time . We see good planting numbers at the foothill reservoirs , but reports can be spotty . Heavy rains will muddy up reservoirs , making soaking Power Bait a better option than trolling at most locations . For those of us determined to troll , what are the options ? Lake Camanche is located just downstream from Lake Pardee . It ’ s fed by controlled flows that keep the main lake from getting muddy , even after a big rain storm .
WHAT ’ S HOT by Jack Naves
After several weeks of heavy rains , I made a last-minute plan to hit the water on December 30 .
High rivers and cold water temperatures convinced me to switch my plans from fishing the delta , to instead trolling for trout at Lake Camanche . I hadn ’ t fished Camanche in about a year , so I reached out to the one guy that knows trout fishing at the lake better than anybody – Robbie Dunham . Robbie is the trolling guru of Lake Camanche , and he guides on the lake under Koke Machine Guide Service . When he said he was free to join me on a last-minute invite , I scrambled to get the trolling gear dusted off . My rods sitting in the garage were still set up for kokanee , so I had to do some late-night rigging to get ready for the trip . The next morning , I was on the road by 5:00 am , twisting through the hilly terrain of gold country . I reached the Lake Camanche north shore facility near Ione at about 6:30 am . It was still dark out , and really cold ! The lake had been rising from recent
Linging in the New Year on the Flying Fish
T his season was a tough one to put lingcod on the deck on the central coast of California . Boats were lucky to land a couple on a trip , and typically none for most of the season . As it goes with certain seasons as the fish move in and out the fish counts reflect either banner years of lings
Amy Wellenkamp was fishing aboard the Flying Fish and using a Madame Lure Nubula Colored Sand Dab swim bait with a 3oz jig head when she caught this lingcod . Photo Courtesy of Flying Fish Sportfishing
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or a mere fraction of the previous year ’ s numbers and sometimes a few years of smaller counts of lings in a row . As it has been in this area the last couple of years . However , this year ’ s counts did not intimidate Captain Wayne Bilcha of the Flying Fish from targeting these sought after catches on the second to last day of the 2021 rockfish season . There was a method to his reasoning … the anglers he had onboard that day . In November Jon Takahashi , owner of The Fishing Armory , booked this charter on the Flying Fish . He sent out his invites and filled the trip , with very experienced anglers . When Captain Wayne checked out the manifest for the trip , he approached Jon and suggested with the amount of talent on board that we head for the shallows and attempt to catch limits of lings . Something the Flying Fish hasn ’ t accomplished in two years . Why did Captain think we could do it now ? He had already done his homework and scouted out the area , but what he discovered is the lings were not biting the typical
GONE FISHING by Amy Wellenkamp
Robbie Dunham of Koke Machine Guide Service hoists two steelheadquality rainbow trout at Lake Camanche on December 30 . These fish will put on an acrobatic display when hooked , and the firm orange fillets provide excellent table fare when properly prepared back at home . Photo Courtesy of Jack Naves
ganoin setup with shrimp flies and squid , they were going after the swim baits . Now Captain Wayne had a boatload of experienced anglers who could wield a swim bait and catch these gators so he wanted to go for it . I was very pleased to learn the news about us targeting these shallow water lings as Ernie Marlan was onboard with me that day . We hadn ’ t fished a trip together in this region where we specifically targeted lingcod in the shallows . I had been sharing stories with him about this being my favorite style of rockfish trip and now was able to share this experience with him . We set up our strategies and tackle the night before , rigging our light rods , adding plenty of swimbaits and a few jigs to our tackle backpacks . We were ready . Arriving at the landing in time for the sunrise , and the fishing buzz was in the air . Seeing familiar faces and meeting new anglers , we were all excited to get out on the water . Once
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January 14 , 2022
FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Amador - Lake Berryessa ............................. 16 Camanche Lake - Colins Lake ............................ 17 Davis Lake - Feather River .................................. 18
Folsom Lake ......................................................... 19 Los Vaqueros Reservoir ...................................... 22 Mokelumne River ................................................. 23 Rio Vista - Sacramento Area ............................... 26
SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley / Fisherman ’ s Wharf - Monterey Bay ....... 30 Monterey Bay .......................................................... 32
FEATURES
Where ... When ... How ...
GO FOR IT : Staff ........................................................ 4 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ................................ 20-21 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION : Dan Bacher ....... 27
STAFF TACKLE
What We ’ re Using
Ernie Marlan - fished the Central Coast beaches for surf perch and halibut . He was able to catch some quality surf perch on a 9ft Phenix Trifecta 6-12lb teamed up with a Van Stall reel spooled up with 20lb FINS Windtamer Braid . The lure of choice was a Calissa Jerkbait in sardine color .
Paul Kneeland - fished Pyramid Lake with John Brassfield of Trucksmart stores in the Fish Sniffer Rogue Jet 21 Coastal . They caught Lahontan cutthroat trout to 9 1 / 2 pounds , using an Okuma 8 ’ 6 ” SST steelhead Rod with an Okuma Cold Water SS line counter reel loaded with 10 lb test Soft Steel line . They trolled 4 inch Silver Horde and Lyman plugs in brown and blue / white colors and Silver Horde spoons behind Vance ’ s Cannonball flashers , trolling off Canon Downriggers at 10 to 30 feet deep and 2.7 mph .
Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Folsom Lake . 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 and 1 / 8 oz . gold and black Panther Martins .