FRESHWATER
26 January 14 , 2022 VOL . 41 • ISS . 1
Patty was trolling gold and copper backed spoons on gorgeous Lake Shasta when she landed this beautiful rainbow trout .
Photo Courtesy of Rob Hower
John Brassfield and his cousin Morgan with a pair of nice rainbows from Davis Lake .
Photo by Paul Kneeland , Fish Sniffer staff
Steelhead fishing was on fire for this lucky angler who caught and released several steelhead while fly fishing the Trinity River .
Photo Courtesy of Bill Schmunk
Rick Tietz , of Sacramento , was fishing a Blade Runner Spoon when he caught this quality catfish !
Photo Courtesy of Rick Tietz
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
CONTINUED FROM PG 23
MOKELUMNE RIVER cont .
Dam with near-freezing temperatures first thing in the morning . Jerry Neuberger reported for the group , “ A number of smaller trout / steelhead were landed and released . The sunny weather brought out quite a crowd , at least 50 people in the lower parking lot , some fishing and some just visiting the Delta Fly Fishers pavilion offering coffee and hot chocolate , donuts , chili , and hot dogs to any eager anglers passing by . A few of the anglers launched kayaks from the unimproved ramps and drifted the river down to the haul-out point at Clements .” Bill Smith , Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery manager , said steelhead numbers to date are better than last year with 185 adults and 151 half pounders trapped . Last year the hatchery saw 149 adults and 37 half pounders to 6 pounds . The hatchery has taken 115,000 steelhead eggs
( 360 ) 607-8511 since mid-December . He also said the hatchery ended up with 5.6 million fall Chinook salmon eggs , in addition to receiving 2.4 million eggs from Nimbus Fish Hatchery to meet their egg and salmon smolt production goals . Information : ( 209 ) 759-3383 .
- Dan Bacher
RIO VISTA
Anglers Drift Live Minnows for Stripers
ANITOCH - Jeff Soo Ho of Soo Hoo Sportfishing , his deckhand , and four others caught limits of stripers in the 4 to 6 pound range while drifting live minnows and mudsuckers on his latest fishing adventure on the Delta on the San Joaquin River above the Antioch Bridge . “ We got the fish we needed and came in ,” said Soo Hoo . “ My previous trip also produced 6 limits .” Information : ( 925 ) 899-4045 . Anglers in search of white sturgeon will have to work hard for them . “ The fish are still spread out ,” said Zack Medinas of Gatecrasher
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Fishing Adventures . “ There are no real concentrations at this time .” On Saturday , the five anglers aboard his boat hooked three and landed two sturgeon measuring 60 and 52 inches while using eel and salmon roe at Buoy # 34 and Suisun Cut , reported Medinas . Information : ( 925 ) 497-7171 .
- Dan Bacher
SACRAMENTO AREA
Striper and Sturgeon Action Picks Up
SACRAMENTO – Over the last couple weeks we have seen significant rainfall that has contributed to flows in the rivers and San Joaquin Delta that turned on the Sturgeon and Striper bite . The amount of weight needed to keep the bait still has varied over the past few weeks due to water flows . Lots of the debris from the rising water levels that kept anglers out of some areas has already pushed through the system and have cleared up for the most part . Anglers try to keep dry as they brave the cooler weather by wearing waterproof boots and raingear . Dressing in layers , heaters , and hand warmers are a few of the tricks being used to stay warm . Top areas have consistently been Suisun Slough , Montezuma Slough and Grizzly Bay area on ghost shrimp , roe , cut baits like herring , shad with a range of scents to spice up the offering . Boats are marking good quantities of sturgeon in the system just inside the mouth of Grizzly Bay . Pittsburg , and Rio Vista has also been producing for boaters . Bank anglers are having success from Belden Landing , Sherman Island , Brannan Island , Rio Vista , and Liberty Island . Just recently as the flows have slowed some , the Sacramento River has slowed and began to produce some Stripers
and Sturgeon as well . The stripers have been caught on cut anchovies , Sardines , pile worms , shad and grass shrimp . The sturgeon are falling mostly for ghost shrimp , with some on grass shrimp and combos that include pile worms , bloodworms , herring , nightcrawlers and roe . Merritt Landing in Clarksburg Flats areas has seen some nice Sturgeon for anglers fishing through the night . Sturgeon are showing up in Garcia Bend , Broderick , Elverta and as far north as Knights Landing . Also , the Sacramento River has seen the evidence of the start of a Striper bite . The Sacramento Deep-Water Channel ( DWC ) has recovered from the recent dredging a little over a month ago . Anglers are catching Stripers on mudsuckers and minnows . They are using a combination of live bait from the bait store and bait caught on worms while they fish . Boaters are drifting or slowly trolling live bait and bank anglers are bottom-fishing on a sliding setup or 3-way swivel . On occasion anglers are experiencing Stripers boiling on shad or other baitfish and catching fish on plastic swimbaits . These fish are usually in the “ schoolie ” size range from 16 ” -24 ”. There have been some sturgeon taken on ghost shrimp , eel and roe in the DWC in December , but fishing has slowed in the past week . Early Crappie anglers are looking for schools of fish in their annual cold-weather crappie holes in Clear Lake , Berryessa , Amador and New Melones . Either the anglers are staying tight lipped and are not sharing pictures or the bite has not quite turned on . – Sedrick Ghoston , Ghost Bait and Tackle