Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3615 July 7-21 2017 | Page 18

18
July 7 - 21, 2017
MAP FEATURE
VOL.36 • ISS. 15
Stampede is in great shape for boating and fishing this year, since it is full to the brim.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
S
Stampede Is Full And The Kokanee Are Biting
tampede Reservoir, situated on the
Little Truckee River northeast of
the city of Truckee on the east slope
of the Sierra Nevada, hosts a diverse
array of fish species ranging from La-
hontan cutthrorat trout to smallmouth
bass, but the kokanee salmon that
thrive in this reservoir draw the most
anglers every year.
Stampede is notable in my angling
career for being the coldest place I
have ever fished. In December of
2011, Ernie Marlan, Fish Sniffer staff-
er, and I fished with Rick Kennedy,
then the owner of Tight Lines Guide
Service, for mackinaw. As we drove
to the reservoir after existing Inter-
state 80 at the Hirschdale Road exit,
the temperature gauge dropped to 1
degree below zero.
It wasn’t much
warmer at the
lake. We
launched
the boat
on an
ice-coated
ramp as the
steady wind kicked up waves. The res-
ervoir wasn’t iced over yet because of
the persistent wind, but I remember the
spray instantly freezing on the wind-
shield as we went across the lake.
Fishing was tough; we hooked four
mackinaws, but each one came off.
Only the heated cabin prevented us
from shivering in the icy cold.
On June 21, I fished the lake again
at a time when northern California
was faced with record heat rather than
record cold. This time I fished James
Netzel, who bought Tight Lines Guide
Service in 2013. Netzel has been
experiencing a great year season for
kokanee at Stampede.
We were both glad to escape the
brutal heat wave of the Sacramento
area to enjoy the much more pleasant
Sierra weather. The temperature at the
lake was a cool 44 degrees when we
launched the boat.
I first fished Stampede in 1990
when the reservoir was renowned for
its huge kokanee averaging 2 pounds
each. Since that time, the size of
Stampede kokanee has bounced up and
down, with some years producing fish
in the 15 to 18 inch range and other
years producing a smaller grade of
fish.
This year anglers are seeing
“tons of fish in the 13 to 14
inch range,” but they have
to work their way through
smaller fish to catch bigger
ones in the 14 to 16 inch
class, said Netzel. This year
his biggest kokanee to date
measured 16-1/2 inches
long.
“We’ve had no problem
catching limits of kokanee, along
Captain James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide
Services shows off two hard-fighting
kokanee caught while trolling at Stampede
on June 21.
Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Russ Cipriani, Lucy Cipriani and Griffin Cipriani of Novato proudly display their limits of
kokanee taken on a trolling adventure with Captain James Netzel on June 24.
Photo courtesy of TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE, Loomis.
with one or two Lahontan cutthroat
trout in the 16 to 18 inch class,” Net-
zel noted. “The CDFW is now plant-
ing the lake with the cutthroats instead
of the rainbows.”
We got on the lake at 6:00 a.m.
“I’m going to fish the area around the
boat ramp because that’s where a lot
of kokanee have been showing,” he
noted.
He put out his Cousins Tackle
kokanee rods, teamed up with Abu
Garcia Ambassadeur 5500 LC reels
spooled with Fins 40G 25 lb. test line
tipped with Gamma 12 lb. test fluoro-
carbon leaders. They were rigged with
Powerful Pink Radical Glow Tubes,
Micro Hoochies and Paulina Peak or-
ange and pink hoochies behind RMT
and Paulina Peak dodgers. We also
trolled with homemade Apex-type
lures, tipped with white corn, soaked
with tuna oil and garlic flavored Pro-
Cure.
Netzel prefers to troll at a very
slow .8 to 1 mph. He believes this
slow trolling speed increases his catch
rate over those anglers who troll the
same lures faster.
Earlier this season, Netzel trolled
down at 20 to 30 feet deep, but lately
he has been trolling at 25 to 65 feet
deep. He lowered the kokanee rigs
down to 30 to 50 feet deep on our trip.
For the next couple of hours, we
experienced fast action on kokanee
while enjoying the cool mountain air.
We caught our limits of fish in