Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3803 Jan 17- Feb 1 2019 | страница 15

FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 3
Jan 17 - Feb 1, 2019
FOLSOM LAKE
Trollers Battle Rainbows,
Kings
SACRAMENTO – Trollers are
landing a mixture of rainbow trout
and landlocked king salmon at
Folsom Lake this winter.
Jerry Lampkin of TNG Motor
Sports Guide Service reported 6 king
salmon and 6 rainbows landed by
four anglers, including his nephew
Ryan Rabain and his son, Zane,
and nephews Chance and Nathaniel
Hartell, on his latest trip on Folsom
“The fish were all ‘cookie cutters’
in the 12 to 13 inch range,” said
Lampkin. ”We trolled from the
surface to 40 feet deep in the North
Fork with a variety of lures. We did
best with the pina colada pattern
GVS spinners and pink hoochies
and Wiggle Hoochies.”
Mike Cunningham at Willfish Bait
and Tackle confirmed the improved
rainbow trout and king salmon action
while top line trolling at Folsom Lake. Big trout are on the chomp at Lake Amador. This huge lightning trout was landed on December 15.
Photo courtesy of LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ, Lake Amador.
“Boaters are landing the rainbows
while trolling with Rapalas or
nightcrawlers behind dodgers in
an indicator.”
the north and south forks,” according to
KLAMATH RIVER
“The fish are spread out through the
Cunningham. “Anglers are also picking up
runs,
so work the holes over good and
a few king salmon while trolling Speedy
Winter Steelhead Are Hitting
grind ‘em till you find ‘em. The Klamath
Shiners at 25 to 50 feet deep. The best
River has been the most consistent
lure colors are white with red dots and cop Plugs, Eggs and Flies
KLAMATH GLEN – Winter steelhead
fishery, with 10 to 15 half-pounders and 2
car. Anglers are picking up some holdover
are starting to make a presence in the
to 4 adults up to 5 pounds a day,” Gomez
rainbows in the 16 to 22 inch range.”
lower Klamath River., with both adult
explained.
Fishing pressure for black bass has
steelhead and half pounders showing.
Gomez has been fishing both the Middle
been light. “An unconventional method
“Ironhead Guide Service has been
Klamath in the Happy Camp area and
that you might try for bass at Folsom is
fishing the Klamath the last couple
further downriver in the Orleans stretch.
trolling along the shoreline in 10 to 20 feet
weeks and has brought a few fresh fish
of water,” he tipped. “Use Rapala Shad
over the rail.,” said Mario Gomez. “The
Raps in red crawfish colors.
Chetco and the Smith are a little behind
The lake is holding 315,261 acre feet
schedule right now due to a lack of rain,
of water, 32 percent of capacity and 66
so I’m focusing efforts on the Klamath
percent of average. The lake level is
KNIGHTS LANDING
River as long as the weather remains the
389.77 feet in elevation.
Anglers Working for Stripers,
same.”
A 5 mph speed limit remains in effect
“The fish have been having a hard
on the entire lake. The low water ramp at
Sturgeon
time resisting a side drifted yarn and
Granite Bay and the Hobie Cove ramp at
RIO LINDA – Although some sturgeon
egg presentation, and a back trolled
Brown’s Ravine are the only 2 ramps in
are being hooked in the Sacramento
steelhead plug has also been triggering
operation at this time.
River in the Knights Landing area, the
some tight line strikes,” he disclosed.
best action is still at the Mothball Fleet in

- Dan Bacher ”Fly fishing has been dredging up a few
Suisun Bay.
fish as well with a 20 foot leader under
Dan Cordell landed a 59 inch sturgeon
HOW TO
By Cal Kellogg
versatile and effective blades you can run!
With standard “herring” dodgers you are
limited in terms of speed. If you troll them
much above 1.5 mph they start to spin, but
that’s not the case with Sling Blades. You
can pull them up to and beyond 2 mph
without issues and
if you want to slow
down to traditional
SAN PABLO
SHADOW
“kokanee speeds”,
RESERVOIR CLIFFS LAKE simple put a bend in
the blade to give it a
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bit of a humpbacked
look. Test the bent
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blade at the speed
DEL VALLE RANCHO SECO you want to troll
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and adjust accord-
ingly. And don’t
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flat configuration.
CAPTAIN
Fished flat out
JAMES of the package for
NETZEL trout, Sling Blades
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feature very little
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drag. Not only does
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this mean you’ll
feel the fight of
the fish better, but
We also fish Folsom,
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Donner, Stampede, Boca,
fish because they
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can’t create much
Sacramento River.
leverage between
themselves and the
blade to pop the
hook loose.
I’ve run and
continue to run
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13
while soaking ghost shrimp at the fleet.
Greg Clay also landed two stripers
weighing 12 and 6 pounds while fishing
ghost shrimp at the fleet, reported Tim
Boggs of Elkhorn Outdoor Sports.
“A couple of oversized sturgeon have
been reported from the Knights Landing
area, but I haven’t heard of any keepers
caught there over the past couple of
weeks,” said Boggs.
Dave Lewis bagged a 36 inch sturgeon
while using a sardine in the Elkhorn area.
Other anglers have reported catching
catfish in the 2 lb. class on a variety of
baits in the Verona region.

- Dan Bacher
LOS VAQUEROS
RESERVOIR
Big Striper Leads Catches
BYRON – Although most of the stripers
hooked at Los Vaqueros Reservoir are
undersized or keeper fish in the 18 to 22
inch range, there are some big stripers
that can be found in the lake.
For example, Robriso Estero managed
to land a 12.26 lb. striper while soaking
PowerBait.
To target stripers, bait fishing with
anchovies or shad remains the most
effective technique, either from shore or a
boa. Just a reminder: stripers need to be
18 inches or more to be legal.
The catfish bite has slowed down.
The last notable catfish catch was in
December when Yekam El Nakar and
his buddy caught limits of catfish using
anchovies in South Cove, but anglers
haven’t weighed in catfish over the past
couple of weeks.
The trout fishing has also slowed down,
though anglers continue to bag some
quality rainbows while soaking Power Bait
in the South Cove, near the marina, off
the Rockwall and in Cowboy Cove.
The water level is currently at 148,000
acre feet. With the cooler days and windy
weather the water temperature is floating
between 56 and 58 degrees depending on
the time of day,
CONTINUED ON PG 16
continued from page 9
Sling Blades in all sizes from the small
4 inchers all the way up to the monster
9 inch models, but it’s the 6 incher I run
most often even for kokanee. The size and
action of that 6 inch blade just feels right
to me and I catch a lot of fish behind it.
For trout, I keep things simple in terms
of dodger color and run with a chrome
version, typically chrome/green or
chrome/blue.
For kings and kokanee, I’ve done really
well running the pink glow pattern and the
orange/gold.
Overall my all-time favorite Sling Blade
pattern is the diamondback copper melon
finish. I’ve caught countless big rainbows
and some magnum size kings using that
blade, including a huge 28 inch king the
late Allen Bonslett and I landed while
trolling at Folsom Lake several years ago.
Sling Blades are also offered in many
different UV finishes, which have proven
to be very effective in deep water.
Mack’s Lure Ball Troll Downrigger
Attractor
The Mack’s Lure Ball Troll is a new
product that makes a lot of sense. If you’re
not familiar with the traditional ball troll
concept it works like this. You run a set of
flashers on your downrigger ball and then
using a stacker clip you run a lure or bait
above and just behind the flashers working
off the ball.
This method works but it’s somewhat
cumbersome. Mack’s Ball Trolls are
innovative. They consist of a set of 26
inch long flashers tipped with a down-
rigger release. This eliminates the need for
a stacking clip and when you drop your
gear down you never have to worry about
the flashers floating up and tangling your
line. If you’ve never experienced that kind
of tangle, I can assure your it’s a lot fun…
LOL!
Now before you get the idea of attaching
a release to just any old set of flashers,
that won’t work. Think about it. When
you attach your fishing line to a release,
drop down to the desired depth and then
load the rod against the clip that release is
held up at a nearly vertical angle.
If you pull a standard set of flashers up
vertical the blades won’t rotate. They are
designed to be trolled on a horizontal path.
Mack’s Ball Troll flashers are designed
to work at a vertical or nearly vertical
angle because each willow leaf blade
is attached to the main cable via a snap
swivel. When you load your rod against
the clip, the ball troll comes up at a steep
angle with three blades rotating off of it.
Since the blades are attached using
snap swivels you can swap the blades
out, changing colors and sizes or you can
remove one or two blades for a subtler
presentation to match the temperament of
the fish.
Mack’s Lure At The Sacramento ISE
Show
If you’d like to see the lures and blades
I’ve mentioned as well as the rest of the
outstanding gear in the Mack’s Lure line
up, drop by the Angler West TV booth No.
3440C at the Sacramento ISE Show. There
you can meet Angler West host Justin
Wolff and he’ll tell you all about how
Mack’s Lure products can help you catch
more and bigger fish!