CARSON PASS REGION cont .

landed two yesterday evening while fishing from a boat ,” said Jeanette Frazier of the Lower Bear River Resort . “ Jason Norton also landed a 3-1 / 2 lb . mackinaw while trolling with a Tasmanian Devil .”

The resort ’ s annual trout derby is held on the second weekend of June every year . This year it will be held June 9 and 10 . Both shore and boat anglers will vie for $ 1000 in prize money , along with other prizes . Anglers must pre-register – call ( 209 ) 295- 4868 for details .

The CDFW also planted Silver Lake with 2,000 pounds of ¾ lb . rainbows on the same day they stocked Lower Bear .

The Caples Lake Resort is expected to open the second or third week of May . The lake features rainbow , brown and mackinaw trout for anglers to pursue . For more information , call ( 209 ) 258-8888 .

CLEAR LAKE

Hefty Largemouths Are Hitting

CLEARLAKE – Some larger bass are now showing in the catches at Clear Lake now . Just ask Dave Burruss at Clear Lake Outdoors , who this May landed an 9.73 lb . largemouth , his personal best .

“ I caught the fish from shore on a Cool Baits Underspin lure ,” Burrussa explained . “ I was only fishing for 20 minutes when the big fish hit .”

Burrussa noted that a lot of quality bass have been reported lately . These include some largemouths in the 8 to 9 lb . class caught by anglers fishing Underspins , jerkbaits , Lucky Craft LV500s and Brush Hogs on Texas rigs , particularly from the Narrows down to the lake ’ s southern end .

Crappie actin is still “ pretty good ” for anglers fishing small live minnows and crappie jigs off the Library , State and County parks . The fish are holding at 3 to 4 feet deep in 6 to 8 feet of water , although you can expect the fish to move into deeper water as the weather heats up . The fish are big ones averaging 1-1 / 2 to 2-1 / 2 pounds , noted Burruss .

- Dan Bacher

COLLINS LAKE

Trollers Prosper As Trout Move Deeper

OREGON HOUSE - The surface temperature at Collins Lake is inching into the upper 60s and as a result the trout are gradually moving into deeper water . Shore anglers are still hooking fish , but the best areas are those that give immediate access to deep water . Shallower areas like the swim beach are not producing well for bank bound bait soakers .

On the other hand , trollers that are able to work water that ranges from 10 to 25 feet deep are hooking trout that range up to 6 pounds while pulling shad imitating spoons and Rapalas . Fish Sniffer editor Cal Kellogg and Fish

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These boys hit Lake Amador on May 7 and smacked three full limits of trout while fishing from the bank with PowerBait !

Photo courtesy of the LAKE AMADOR CAFÉ , Lake Amador .

Sniffer webmaster Wes Ward hit the lake a few days ago and found both trout and bass chasing mature shad . While trolling around the breaking shad the duo caught several trout and bass to 3.5 pounds .

Toward the end of the day , Cal and Wes went to the back of Elmer ’ s Cove to shoot some photos and encountered more shad action in shallow water . Using poppers and walking baits they caught several spotted bass averaging about 2 pounds each . The surface action lasted for about 45 minutes . “ It ’ s not that common to find topwater bass action in the middle of the day when there is zero chop on the water . The shot of topwater action that Wes and I experienced was super exciting while it lasted . I was surprised to see mature shad active and on the surface this early in the season . Shad pattern lures are a must right now because both trout and bass are targeting shad ,” said Kellogg .

Upcoming at Collins , anglers can expect the bass and trout action to continue and the panfish and catfish action should begin heating up in the very near future .

The lake is full and spilling . The water remains stained but clarity is improving weekly .

on Highway 88 at Carson Pass

OPENING IN MAY !

COLUSA / KNIGHTS LANDING

Take Your Pick : Stripers or Shad

COLUSA – Striped bass fishing continues to be solid on the Sacramento River from Colusa to Knights Landing , while shad fishing is heating up .

“ There are a lot of fish showing from Grimes to Colusa ,” said Scott Kittle of Kittle ’ s Outdoors . “ The fish are mostly keepers in the 20 inch class , along with plenty of shakers and a few larger fish to 15 pounds . The fish are hitting just about anything , including swimbaits and other lures early and late in the day and live minnows and cut baits the rest of the day .”

“ The shad fishing is also going strong in the Colusa for anglers fishing shad jigs and flies on the gravel bars ,” he added .

“ The striper fishing is good , although I wouldn ’ t call it red hot ,” reported Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob ’ s Guide Service . “ On my last trip the three anglers landed limits of stripers in the 19 to 23 inch

Ken Salvi caught this 4 lb , 24 inch German brown in July 2017 near Emigrant Creek . For information , call ( 209 ) -258-8888

www . capleslakeresort . com

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We also fish Folsom , Oroville , Donner , Stampede , Boca , Lake Tahoe and the Sacramento River . range while drifting jumbo minnows . We started out at Boyd ’ s Pump on the Feather and then decided to fish the Sacramento out of Tisdale to finish the day .”

DAVIS LAKE

Trollers Nail Rainbow Limits

PORTOLA – Trout fishing has busted loose for trollers at Lake Davis as the weather warms up .

“ The trollers are limiting out within two hours ,” said Jeanne Graham of the J & J ’ s Grizzly Store and Camping Resort . “ Guide Ed Dillard reported catching the rainbows at 10 to 15 feet deep , while another troller out today reported catching them at down to 30 feet deep . The fish are scattered all over the lake .”

The anglers are doing best while using copper red head Dick Nites and Needlefish in red dog frog and green dot frog patterns . The fish are ranging from 17 to 24 inches long .

“ The shore fishing hasn ’ t been as good as the trolling , but they are hooking quality trout while fishing nightcrawlers and PowerBait off Camp Five and Mallard Cove ,” said Graham .

Graham hasn ’ t heard any fly fishing reports , nor any reports of black bass and sunfish landed lately .

Lake Davis is holding 82,214 acre feet of water , 99 percent of capacity and 123 percent of average . All of the boat ramps are open .

Frenchman Lake is holding 56,189 acre feet of water , 101 percent of capacity and 121percent of average .

- Dan Bacher

DEL VALLE RESERVOIR

Top Water Action Heats Up

LIVERMORE – The top water bite for black bass has ignited at Lake Del Valle .

“ The calm breeze and partially overcast sky made it easy to see what the fish were after on Saturday , “ said Jeff Cooper , regular angler at the reservoir . “ Giant

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