VOL . 36 • ISS . 15
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
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REDDING cont . Guide Service . “ My clients have been getting about 30 fish to the boat per trip . The wild rainbows are running from about 8 ounces to 3 pounds with the occasional fish over 3 . Live crickets have been the hot bait recently now that the trout are feeding on insects .”
Mike Bogue of Mike Bogue ’ s Guide Service has also been enjoying great trout fishing on the Sacramento River in the Redding area . Mike starts out the day back trolling small plugs and then experiments with both roe and single salmon eggs as the day goes on . This allows Mike ’ s clients to explore both shallow feeding areas and deep holding areas .
Salmon season will kick off on the Sacramento once again on July 16 . If you are planning to fish during the opening week , give your guide a call and lockdown your spot !
RIO VISTA
Hot Weather Keeps Striper Anglers Off Water
RIO VISTA - Angling interest dwindled over the last week due to rising temperatures and rough water .
Very few anglers searched out the Rio Vista area for striped bass this week , according to Craig Kamikawa at Fisherman ’ s Warehouse in Sacramento .
“ There was a small spurt of really good action down by the Isleton Bridge last week . Everyone is thinking a lot of those fish were downrunners coming from the Feather River ,” he related .
“ If that ’ s the case , we should see another burst of fish , but they ’ ll probably come at the worst possible time - when no one is there and looking ,” he added .
For bait anglers , Kamikawa recommended giving the San Joaquin River a try and fishing tucked into the shoreline on the North Bank below the Three Mile Slough Bridge . “ Those fish are usually residents with a few downrunners in the mix ,” he tipped .
- Roland Aspiras
SACRAMENTO AREA
Stripers Are Biting , But Fishing Pressure Very Light
SACRAMENTO - Fishing pressure on the Sacramento River in the metropolitan area has dwindled with the arrival of a record heat wave . Nonetheless , the few anglers getting out early in the morning before the heat becomes intolerable are finding some solid striper action .
One local angler reported catching regularly limits of keeper stripers while shore fishing with sardines in the river in the early morning hours above Swabbie ’ s Restaurant & Bar , located above the Elkhorn Boat Launch Facility . Most of the legal-sized fish being caught are spawned out downstream in the 18 to 25 inch class . As usual for this time of year , the shaker fish outnumber the keepers .
“ The fishing for stripers and shad was good out of Discovery Park before the heat wave ,” noted Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacramento Pro Tackle . “ However , hardly anybody has been going out fishing on the river in the hot weather
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Dustin Pestana caught and released several West Delta sturgeon on June 17 , including this fish .
Photo courtesy of FISHSNIFFER . COM .
and with all of the recreational boat traffic .”
On Saturday , July 1 , the California Department of Fish and Game ’ s “ Fishing in the City ” program and the Fulton El Camino Recreation and Park District will host a free fishing instruction clinic from 8:30 a . m . until noon at Howe Park in Sacramento .
The pond will be stocked with channel catfish and there will be free loan of rods , bait and tackle . The park is located off Howe Avenue at Cottage Way . Fishing clinics are fun for all ages and reservations are not required . Since July 1 is also a designated “ Free Fishing Day ”, fishing licenses are not required for all anglers throughout California on that day . All other regulations still apply . For more information , call ( 916 ) 358-2872
- Dan Bacher
SAN PABLO RESERVOIR
Take Your Pick Of Trout , Catfish Or Crappie
EL SOBRANTE - Anglers are enjoying a summer angling cornucopia of rainbow trout , channel catfish , black bass and crappie at San Pablo Reservoir .
“ We are still seeing trout brought in , in the early morning and the late afternoon ,” reported Marcella Shoemaker of the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company . “ There are still a lot of shad is the water , so your best bet is to use a lure that resembles shad . Fishing down by the dam is your best bet , as that is where the lake is the deepest .”
“ Catfish , crappie and bass are also biting ,” she tipped . “ Chicken liver , anchovies or nightcrawlers are your best bets for catfish . Crappie will bite on a redworm , Crappie Nibble or an Atomic Teaser .”
The lake level is 309.4 feet above sea level and the surface water temperature is 71 .
Mt . Lassen stocked 1,200 lbs of rainbow trout in the lake on June 15 . The lake management also stocked channel catfish the week of June 26 .
- Dan Bacher
SANTA CLARA VALLEY LAKES
Calero And Chesbro Kick Out Crappie
COYOTE - Bass anglers continue to catch spawn bass tactics , while others seek out crappie .
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The crappie bite continues to run strong at several of the area lakes in the Silicon Valley according to the pro anglers at Coyote Bait and Tackle .
“ The coves at just about all of the lakes have crappie and you can get them on minnows or jigs under a bobber about three to four feet . Calero and Chesbro are still
SHADOW CLIFFS LAKE
Anglers Keep Nailing Trout In Deep Water
PLEASANTON – Trout plants at Shadow Cliffs Reservoir are over until fall – but don ’ t despair - channel catfish plants are in full swing .
The park district planted 750 pounds in the lake the week of June 12 and another 500 pounds the week of June 26 , reported Joe Sullivan of the East Bay Regional Park District . While the catfish action is expected to pick up with the hot weather , anglers have still been focusing on rainbow trout while fishing deep water . The water temperature has risen to over 70 degrees . The lake water is clear , with the visibility ranging from 10 to 15 feet deep .
Sam of Pleasanton caught his limit of trout bait fishing early in the morning . On the following day , a boater caught his limit of lighting trout in one hour while bait fishing near the middle if the lake .
M . Gutierrez of San Jose caught his limits of rainbow trout early in the morning while using PowerBait by the 1st dock . Finally , R . Samuels of Tracy caught 2 lighting trout while fishing left of the boat launch with pumpkin PowerBait .
SHASTA / WHISKEYTOWN LAKES
Schooling Bait Improves Trout Trolling
REDDING - Spring trout fishing at Lake Shasta is always a little hit and miss until maturing shad minnows start schooling . The schooling bait concentrates the trout and as a result the trolling bite becomes a lot more consistent . That ’ s exactly what is happening at the big lake right now . The shad are forming into bait balls and the trout are feeding heavily .
“ I took my first ever trip to Lake Shasta last week and we did well on rainbows that weighed up to about 3 pounds ,” reported Captain Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing . “ Since I ’ d never fished the lake before , I figured it was a good idea to troll quickly and cover as much ground as possible .
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3615 the best lakes ,” said Jason Dominici .
Bass anglers continued to make use of finesse and reaction baits for bass .
“ Crank , spinner and chatter baits in the morning , drop down to a drop shot or carolinarig during the day . That ’ s been working for Calero and Anderson . The mats are just starting to show at Calero , but the bass aren ’ t quite sticking to them yet .”
Catfish interest remained slow , according to Dominici .
- Roland Aspiras
July 7 - 21 , 2017
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I started off fishing the Sacramento Arm and never left . We caught a nice rainbow about 200 yards into our first troll and it was on . The trout were relating to pods of bait and they would really go after a shad imitating spoon trolled quickly .”
Changing gears , post spawn bass fishing is productive at Shasta . The spots are holding 15 to 30 feet deep during the day , but move shallower during low light periods . Overall a Mother ’ s Finest worm rigged on a drop shot set up is the top offering , but poppers , walking baits and crankbaits are scoring fish early and late in the day . The average spotted bass runs about a pound , but fish to 4 pounds have been landed in recent days .
As of press time , Lake Shasta was 8 feet from maximum pool and dropping slowly .
At Whiskeytown Reservoir , limit style kokanee fishing is creating excitement . The fish are averaging 14 plus inches and range up to 17 . A variety of lures are hooking fish , but Brad ’ s new Cut Plug kokanee lures seem to be about the best offering going with orange being the top color . Apex lures , hoochies and Sling Blade dodgers and Wiggle Hoochies are also producing results .
Of course , anglers are tipping their lures with corn and soaking the corn in scent . Pro- Cure herring , bloody tuna and predator scents are all working well .
SOUTHERN OREGON ROUNDUP
Diverse Opportunities On Tap In Southwest
ROSEBERG - Whether you want to fish rivers , lakes or the ocean , you ’ ll find plenty of early summer action in southwestern Oregon .
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife is reporting that spring Chinook fishing is good in the North Umpqua . Shad fishing has been good on the Umpqua River too .
On the Lower Rogue , spring Chinook fishing continues to be good , with boats and even bank anglers picking up fish on a regular basis .
Summer steelhead are just starting to make their way through the lower river . With the higher flows , plunking may be a good option to pick up these early returning fish .
The first summer steelhead arrived at Cole Rivers Hatchery recently , so both summer steelhead and spring Chinook are available for upper river anglers . Fishing for spring Chinook has been slow to fair since relatively few Chinook have made it to the upper Rogue so far . Anglers are reminded that only hatchery Chinook with clipped adipose fins may be retained . Due to low returns of spring Chinook salmon to Cole Rivers Fish Hatchery , the popular “ Hatchery Hole ” has been closed to all fishing through July 31 . The fishing deadline has been moved downstream 1,200 feet . This closure is necessary to help ensure Cole Rivers Fish Hatchery collects enough Spring Chinook to meet future production goals .
Moving on to lake fishing , trout fishing has CONTINUED ON PAGE 19
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