Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3718 Aug 17-31 | Page 16

16 Aug 17 - 31 , 2018

FRESHWATER

VOL . 37 • ISS . 18

FRESHWATER REPORTS :

CONTINUED FROM PG 11

EAGLE LAKE cont . have been lost so far and none of the local camp grounds have been burned either .

Despite the fact that the fire has yet to burn any buildings , Spalding is still in danger . The winds have been swirling and as a result the fire ’ s path has been tough to predict .

The Fish Sniffer has a lot of friends and clients living in Spalding . They are in our thoughts and we are hopeful that the fire will be under control soon . Hopefully the focus will be back on fishing for Eagle Lake trout soon !

EAST DELTA

Delta Black Bass Attack Frogs

STOCkTON - The San Joaquin-Delta is on the upswing for both striped bass and largemouth bass , and the first of the two specialty frog tournaments held out of Russo ’ s Marina was a success with 140 adult fishermen along with 10 juniors participating in The Ultimate Frog Challenge 4 .

Dan Mathisen of Dan ’ s Delta Outdoors in Oakley teamed with Mark Kirkpatrick to represent Pro-Z Tackle , and they won top frog honors for the first time , wresting the trophy from River2Sea for the first time . Mathisen said , “ Every manufacturer has the opportunity to enter a team to represent their product , and we were fortunate to find action with the smaller Pro-Z Popping Frog . We had to make an adjustment to the smaller frog , and due to the size of the hooks on the smaller version . We figured out the pattern on day two as the bass are holding around open water with current as there are not enough weeds to hold them . There were some around sparse tules , and most of the participants ran into the south Delta .”

Randy Pringle , the Fishing Instructor , reported on the black bass bite . “ Most of the bass are sitting in the eddy side of the current , and they aren ’ t chasing bait very far from the current so you have to keep your bait in the strike zone as long as possible ,” he said . “ Frogs are a good option in open water since they are just topwater surface plugs , but most fishermen want to work them over the mats and around grass or tules .”

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For striped bass , Clyde Wands , shallow trolling expert , was out on Tuesday out of Antioch , and he said , “ I went out with Dave Houston , and we launched out of Antioch since this is where we have been fishing . We got in to fish , and there were four or five in the 5-pound range , but the wind came up and the grass broke loose . We were fishing from the Antioch Bridge to Eddo ’ s , but there are more stripers further up the river with a 36 pounder caught and released at the Peacock on the main San Joaquin .”

“ There are only around four of us trolling for stripers right now , but there have been a number of 20-pound stripers landed this year . There hasn ’ t been much happening on the Sacramento River side for some reason with most of the larger stripers coming up the San Joaquin River ,” Wands concluded .

- Dave Hurley

EASTERN SIERRA

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Teo and his brother spent some time soaking PowerBait in Los Vaqueros Reservoir ’ s Cowboy Cove on July 15 and nailed full limits of rainbow trout . Photo courtesy of the LOS VAQUEROS RESERVOIR RECREATION AREA ,

Livermore .

BRIDGEPORT - “ Bridgeport Reservoir is fishing very well still in spite of the warmer water . It does seem though that a lot of fish have moved out of the channels and over and out to deeper water ,” reported Jim Reid of Ken ’ s Sporting Goods .

“ There are lots of fish hanging out in the Rainbow Point area as well as out in 15 to 25 feet of water in the middle of the lake . We haven ’ t heard anything from the area down near the dam or from any

Nestled between shore anglers lately .

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PowerBait , crawlers , and pinched crawlers

Livermore and Mice Tails have off Vasco Road all been doing well for the bait anglers . We haven ’ t heard any noise from the fly anglers lately but it might be a matter of doing some deep

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stillwater nymphing to get into those fish off of Rainbow Point ,” Reid speculated .

“ There have still been a few anglers having success trolling between Rainbow and Paradise Shores with crawlers , Thomas Buoyants and small Rapalas . You ’ ll need to keep an eye on you gear so it doesn ’ t get weeded up and if you do this you should be able to bag some good fish ,” Reid tipped .

“ Twin Lakes are holding their own with the fly anglers and bait anglers doing the best . The trolling is fairly tough but if you hug the shoreline in slightly shallower water you should be able to bag some fish with Needlefish , crawlers and Thomas Buoyants . Bait anglers are using pinched crawlers , inflated crawlers , Mice Tails and PowerBait while fly anglers are going with Twin Lakes Specials , matukas , wooly buggers , seal buggers , soft hackles and pheasant tails . Robinson Creek below Lower Twin also kicked out an 11 pound rainbow this week . This was a Bridgeport Fish Enhancement Foundation tagged fish ; what a whopper ,” Reid exclaimed .

FEATHER RIVER

Salmon Fishing Best Below Outlet

YUBA CITY – ThDue to warm water temperatures on the Feather River , the king salmon are shooting up river to below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet .

“ There isn ’ t a lot of fishing pressure on the river because it ’ s hot , humid and smoky ,” said Aaron Searcy at Star Bait and Tackle . “ Most of the folks salmon fishing below the outlet are shore fishing with spinners . The fish are mostly in the 10 to 20 lb . range .”

The daily bag limit is only one fish and the possession limit is two fish this season . For more information , go to : https :// www . wildlife . ca . gov / regulations

A few anglers are also throwing swimbaits and top water lures early and late below the Shanghai Rapids for

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resident stripers measuring 18 to 24 inches long , along with an occasional larger fish . Searcy hasn ’ t heard of any anglers hooking up steelhead lately on the Feather or Yuba rivers , although more steelhead should move into the system with the arrival of the main rod of fall Chinook salmon .

- Dan Bacher

FOLSOM LAKE

Speed Trollers Pull Out Rainbows

SACRAMENTO – Although fishing pressure has been relatively light on Folsom , the boaters getting out early in the day are hooking some quality rainbow trout , including at least one monster fish .

“ A customer showed me a photo of a 14 lb . rainbow that he reported catching at Folsom Lake ,” said Alan Fong of Fisherman ’ s Warehouse . “ I asked him if he weighed it on a certified scale . He told me he didn ’ t – his wife cut it up so they could eat for dinner .

Most of the rainbows being hooked now continue to be in the 12 to 18 inch range . Anglers are hooking the fish while fast trolling with Speedy Shiners and other lures in the main body and forks .

“ Trollers are picking up rainbows to 20 inches and king salmon to 4.9 pounds while using Speedy Shiners at 55 feet deep in the river channel ,” confirmed Craig Newton of Willfish Bait and Tackle in Auburn . “ The best trolling speed is around 2.7 mph .”

Largemouth , smallmouth and spotted bass are now in their summer pattern at Folsom Lake . That means to fish top water lures and other reaction baits early and late off the main lake points .. Then during the day , fish Robo Worms and other plastics off rockpiles and humps at 25 feet deep and deeper .

Folsom Lake is holding 651,865 acre feet of water , 67 percent of capacity and 93 percent of capacity . The lake is 434.21 feet in elevation .

- Dan Bacher

KLAMATH RIVER

Trollers Experience Hit & Miss Salmon Fishing

SACRAMENTO – Boaters trolling anchovies , spinners and Kastmasters in the Klamath River estuary continue to experience hit and miss fishing for springrun and early fall run Chinook salmon .

“ Salmon fishing is pretty good ,” said Jerry Lampkin of TNG Motor Sports Guide Service . “ We caught four adult fish weighing 15 , 15 and 8 pounds yesterday , along with

CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Dalton caught several largemouth bass when he visited Lake Pardee on July 7 including this fat fish . Photo courtesy of the LAKE PARDEE RECREATION AREA , Lake Pardee .