Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3713 June 9-22 2018 | Página 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
Oroville Lake Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 18
Vol. 37 - ISS.13
Our
36th
Year
S
Since 1982
June 8 - 22, 2018
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
Justin Lucas Talks Summer Bass Tactics!
ummer is a great time to target bass.
Sag-bellied largemouths and smallies
slide into predictable post-spawn patterns
that allow savvy bass fans to enjoy great
fishing on a variety of lakes virtually
across the U.S.
and southern
Canada.
Berkley pro
Justin Lucas
knows the drill.
The lifelong
bass junkie
earned his
stripes on the
diverse fisheries
of northern California, and currently
crisscrosses the continent competing on
the Bassmaster Elite Series.
“Summer patterns are pretty
universal,” he explains. “It’s a matter of
identifying the best combinations of food,
cover and structure that a particular lake
has to offer, and then figuring out the most
effective presentations for fishing each
situation.”
To help anglers nationwide savor more
hookups this summer, Lucas offers a trio
GONE
FISHING
Courtesy of
Berkley
of his favorite strategies for putting bass
in the boat.
No. 1 Green Party
“Largemouth bass love vegetation,
from shoreline slop to offshore
weedbeds,” he says. “If conditions are
right, they’ll set up in the grass and stay
there all summer.”
One of Lucas’ pet presentations for
plying productive salad is a relatively
flat-bodied bug- or beaver-style soft
plastic like Berkley’s 4½-inch Havoc
Change Up.
“It’s perfect for flipping into weedy
cover,” he explains. “The split tail and
wriggly appendages give the bait plenty
of bass-attracting action, both on the
drop or when you barely shake it.”
Lucas typically rigs the Change
Up Texas-style on a 4/0 Heavy Cover
Berkley Fusion19 hook. “It works really
well on a jig, too,” he notes. “Go with the
system you’re most comfortable fishing.”
When Texas-rigging, he threads a
¼- to 1-ounce sliding sinker on 20-pound
Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon
mainline, ties on the hook and pegs the
T
ramp, up to the dam and across the dam
to the east corner without so much as a
touch. Now we were trolling
side by side, cutting across
open water headed for the
mouth of Elmer’s Cove.
“I don’t know what hap-
pened. I’m running the same
gear I was running the other
day and I killed
them,” I said to
Wes.
At that exact
moment, my
spoon got
tagged hard
and the Vance’s
trolling rod
bent double as
[phone] www.dragonsportfishing.com
leadcore line
melted off the
spool. I peeled away from
Wes and a puff of breeze
helped me spin around. I
reeled hard and never lost
contact with the trout.
Wes was doing his best
Fish Sniffer staffer Wes Ward caught several bass and trout while fishing
Collins Lake from his Hobie Outback Kayak this May including this big to catch me so he could
chrome bright rainbow.
shoot some video. The
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Almanor - American River.....................................4
Berryessa Lake - Carson Pass Region................10
Clear Lake - Colusa/Knight’s Landing ................15
Davis/Frenchman Lakes - Folsom................. 16-17
Jackson Meadows - New Melones Lake.............20
Pardee Lake - Rollins/Scotts Lake............... 22-23
Russian River - Santa Clara Lakes....................25
San Pablo Reservoir - West Delta................ 26-27
SALTWATER REPORTS
Berkeley - Bodega Bay.........................................30
Half Moon Bay - Peninsula Shoreline.............. 32-33
Where...When...How...
California native Justin Lucas has earned nationwide
fame for his ability to target big bass.
Photo courtesy of JUSTIN LUCAS, Berkley.
sinker tight to the knot. “I like throwing
this rig on a 7½-foot, heavy baitcasting
outfit,” he says, explaining the setup
engenders pinpoint pitches and total
control over the presentation, while
CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
trout turned out to be a determined 2
pound rainbow that gave up just as Wes
rejoined me.
“Dude, I don’t know
what happened right there,
but somehow I got tangled
in your second line. I’ve
got big coils of your green
Trilene everywhere,” Wes
laughed.
After releasing the fat
rainbow into my cooler,
Wes and I figured out the
tangle and we were soon on
our way.
For another half hour or
so, we made circles in the
area where I’d hooked up.
When no more action devel-
oped we made our way up
into the narrows and made a
pass under the power lines. Those power
lines give up a lot of good trout, but not
on this day. We had no bites and there
wasn’t much action on our sonar units.
Heading back down the lake we
intended to make a pass down the Swim
Beach, but we never made it that far.
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Cal Kellogg
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
Special Section
Baja Roundup
PGs 34-35
FEATURES
Trout, Bass & Ice Cream…Back to Collins Lake!
he fishing didn’t start off as hot as
it had when I’d visited Collins with
Jason Graves and Andrea Kukulka a cou-
ple weeks before.
On this early May trip, Fish Sniffer
webmaster Wes Ward was my partner.
Wes was in his Hobie Outback kayak
while I was in my Hobie Pro Angler 14.
We’d trolled all the way from the launch
36 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
Rep. Calvert Introduces
Rider Banning Lawsuits
Against Delta Tunnels
See Page 28
TROUT & KOKANEE JOURNAL ..............6-9, 11-13
BAJA ROUNDUP...............................................34-35
BASS FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Randy Pringle.............. 14
BULLETIN BOARD................................................... 4
FISH SNIFFER HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg..................... 5
GO FOR IT: Staff..................................................... 24
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Matt Mayes............ 28
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR...................................... 3
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher.............................18-19
SALTY TIPS: Steve “Hippo” Lau............................. 26
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher..... 28
WHAT’S HOT SALTWATER: Aspiras and Kellogg ...... 31
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Paul Kneeland - fished Indi-
an Valley Reservoir with Brid-
get Looney in the Fish Sniffer
21’ Rogue Jet Coastal. They
caught rainbow trout to 21
inches and 3.2 pounds using
Daiwa DXS 8’ light action IM-7 graphite trigger
stick rigged with the new Daiwa Lexa 100 Line
counter reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Topknot
line. They trolled chartreuse/red dot Excel and
Red Racer Speedy Shiner spoons off the Can-
on Downriggers 20 to 60 feet deep at 2.5 mph.
Cal Kellogg - fished Oxbow
Reservoir for trout. For tossing
a slip bobber/bait combo he
used a 6’6” Cousins FSP 652
fiberglass rod. A 7’6” Cousins
SSP 750 graphite rod was
used for working a water bobber/fly combo.
Both rods were teamed with Abu Garcia Car-
dinal SX 30 spinning reels spooled with 8 lb
moss green Trilene Big Game Line. For lead-
er material Cal used 8 lb. Vanish fluorocarbon.
Dan Bacher - fished for land-
locked king salmon at Lake
Oroville with Rob Reimers of
Rustic Rob’s Guide Service,
Gary Adkins of Yuba City and
Carrie Hodges of Loma Rica.
They used Cousins kokanee series KC 801 –
1TG 8’rods, teamed up with Abu Garcia 500
LC reels filled with 12 lb. test P-Line Fluoro-
clear line. They landed a total of 20 fish to 18-
1/4 inches, including 18 kings and two rainbow
trout, while trolling with Brad’s Kokanee Series
Cut Plugs in a variety of colors behind Shasta
Tackle Sling Blade dodgers. Tuna in oil and
ProCure Bloody Tuna went inside the plugs.