Up-To-Date and Published Locally ... By Sportsmen ... For Sportsmen !
Vol . 36 - ISS . 15
Our 35th Year
MADE IN U . S . A
Since 1982
35 Years Serving Sportsmen
SEE OUR NEW BAJA ROUNDUP SECTION ON PAGE 28
“ The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen !” INSIDE
Area Reports
Kokanee Power Lake Pardee Derby Features Kokes , Bows , and … Channel Cats ?
During a recent striper trolling adventure with the Fish Sniffer ’ s
own Cal Kellogg , we hooked a very large fish which unfortunately turned out to be a sturgeon . While Cal may have thought he had the striper of the lifetime on the end of his rod , in the end it was something totally unexpected .
A similar scenario unfolded several times during the recent Kokanee Power Lake Pardee Team Kokanee Derby on June third . As my family and I targeted kokanee on a warm Saturday morning , my downrigger rod got slammed . I battled the hard-fighting , head-shaking fish , thinking that I may have a really nice kokanee to add to our weight total .
As my wife Gina swung the net into position , I could see a rosy stripe down the side of the fish . At that point , I knew it wasn ’ t a kokanee , but instead a rainbow trout ! It was not the targeted species , but a nice fish for the cooler none the less .
WHAT ’ S HOT by Jack Naves
LAKE ALMANOR : CATCH AND RELEASE THE HARD WAY !
Bryan Roccucci of Big Daddy ’ s Guide Service has been putting his clients on some fantastic Almanor trout this June . This impressive brown was fooled with a threaded worm on June 20 . Photo courtesy of BIG DADDY ’ S GUIDE SERVICE ,
Quincy .
Catching trout while targeting kokanee is not too uncommon , but Lake Pardee still had a few surprises up its sleeve . Later that morning , we ended up landing a third , more unexpected species of fish .
This year , my derby experience began on Friday , June second , which was the day before the derby . I hadn ’ t fished Pardee much this year , and decided that some pre-fishing to scout out my usual locations were in order . On Friday , I was fishing with Kirby Desha and his daughter Raina .
We had a great day on the water , landing fifteen kokanee and losing fifteen fish by 2:00 pm . The scouting paid off , and I discovered that most of the fish were in the south half of the main lake . We had managed to catch two kokanee over fifteen inches long , and I could only hope to duplicate those kind of results the next day when it counted .
On derby day , the team of my wife and I arrived with our two children Grace and Adam , who would be competing in the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Bryan , Larry , Anthony , Gene and I had endured hours of cold , wind
and nasty chop , but now Larry was hooked up and from all indications he was into something big . The fish wasn ’ t running or headshaking and truth be told it probably didn ’ t realize that it was even hooked .
The trout simply swam slowly back and forth , some 200 feet behind the boat . Larry ’ s downrigger rod was bent sharply against the unseen bulk and despite the fact that he turned the reel smoothly and methodically no line was being gained or lost .
It was several minutes into the “ fight ”, when the fish came to life . Our captain , Bryan Roccucci had gone into the boat ’ s canvas cabin to grab something and Larry was looking down at his reel when the fish bolted ,
GONE FISHING by Cal Kellogg
Stampede Lake Map Feature
See Page 16
Grace Naves shows off what turned out to be the Youth Division ’ s 3rd place kokanee during the Kokanee Power Derby at Lake Pardee .
Photo by JACK NAVES , Fish Sniffer Staff .
but since I was shooting video I saw everything .
The fish dug in hard with its tail and ran out to the port side in a crescent shaped blitz that ended in a wild jump .
The fish looked bright yellow and massive against the slate grey water and I felt an instant surge of adrenaline .
“ Whatever you do Larry don ’ t pump the rod or mess with the drag . Just reel . That ’ s a really big fish and it ’ s got a lot of fight left in it ,” I exclaimed .
Instantly Bryan was back on deck and he asked , “ How big Cal four or five pounds ? Bigger ? Rainbow ? Brown ?”
“ It ’ s big , at least 5 pounds and honestly it looked like a big yellow carp . That got a laugh from everyone including Larry , but I continued , “ It ’ s got to be a brown .”
Larry hadn ’ t done much downrigger trolling for trout , but he knew how to handle a fishing rod . He stayed patient
CONTINUED ON PAGE 10
Delta Stewardship Council Approves Amendments Promoting Delta Tunnels
See Page 25
July 7 - 21 , 2017
FRESHWATER REPORTS Lake Almanor - Lake Berryessa ............................ 4 Bullards Bar / Englebright Lakes - Davis / Frenchmans Lakes ...................................................... 8-9 Del Valle Reservoir - Feather River ................ 10-11 Folsom Lake - Lake Oroville .......................... 12-13 Lake Pardee - Southern Oregon Roundup .... 14-15 Tahoe / Donner Lakes - Wild Horse Reservoir ....... 19
SALTWATER REPORTS Berkeley & Emeryville - Bodega Bay ..................... 29 Fisherman ’ s Wharf - Shoreline Peninsula ...... 30-31
FEATURES
Where ... When ... How ...
BAJA ROUNDUP .................................................... 28 BULLETIN BOARD ................................................... 4 COOKIN ’ YER CATCH - Paulette Kenyon ............... 12 FISH SNIFFER HOW-TO : Cal Kellogg ..................... 7 GO FOR IT : Staff ....................................................... 5 LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ...................................... 3 MAP FEATURE : Dan Bacher ............................. 16-17 RV LIVING - CLIFF WOOLARD ................................ 2 SALMON JOURNAL ..................... 18,20-24,26-27 SALTY TIPS Steve “ Hippo ” Lau .............................. 29 SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION - Dan Bacher .. 25 WHAT ’ S HOT SALTWATER - Cal Kellogg .............. 31
STAFF TACKLE
What We ’ re Using
Cal Kellogg - Hosted the Annual Couple ’ s Challenge aboard the California Dawn . For light tackle live bait drifting , Cal used a Fenwick 7 ’ 5 ” Aetos casting rod paired with an Abu Garcia Orra Inshore baitcaster with a 7.1:1 gear ratio . The reel was spooled with 30 lb FINS braid . Cal caught several halibut on the combo , but none of them were keepers .
Paul Kneeland - fished Pyramid Lake , Nevada with Bridget Looney in the Fish Sniffer 21 ’ Rogue Jet Coastal . They caught Lahontan cutthroat trout to 4-1 / 2 pounds using a using a new Lamiglas Kwik Series 8 ’ light action Composite trigger stick rigged with an Daiwa ICV15 Accudepth level wind reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Topknot flourocarbon line . They trolled a chartreuse 4 inch Apex and chartreuse / orange dot Silver Horde spoons behind Vance ’ s cannonball flashers off the Canon downriggers at 25 to 55 feet deep and 2.4 mph .
Dan Bacher - fished for rainbow trout at Rollins 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 Flourocarbon Coated Line . He fished with Berkley chartreuse glitter and fluorescent orangee PowerBait on # 14 gold Eagle Claw hooks rigged with 4 lb . test Berkley Trilene 100 % Fluorocarbon leaders on sliding sinker set-ups . He also tossed out 1 / 4 and 1 / 8 oz . Yakima Bait Rooster Tails in Brown Trout , Fire Tiger and Rainbow color patterns .