Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3721 Sept 28- Oct 12 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
Lake Del Valle Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 16
Vol. 37 - ISS.21
Our
36th
Year
Since 1982
Sept 28 - Oct 12, 2018
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
Top Bassers Weigh in On Best Fall Baits
S
ummer sped by, but autumn offers
ample opportunities to hook up with
big numbers of beefy
bass on lakes, rivers
and ponds across the
continent. To help
make this your best fall
yet, we asked a handful
of top pro bassers to
share their favorite
lures for fall bassin’.
GONE
FISHING
perch calls for a
watermelon pattern
with gold
flakes, with a
dab of orange
from dye or
a permanent
marker for
good measure.
Ike rigs The
Jerk weightless
on a 4/0 or 5/0
offset hook and
fishes it near
the surface
with a series of
This big largemouth smashed a Berkley Dredger crankbait.
Photo courtesy of BERKLEY FISHING.
tantalizing twitches
and falls. “The Jerk
darts in a different
¼-ounce tungsten dropshot weight,” he
direction every time you twitch it, which
says, adding that braided mainline and
attracts fish,” he says. “On the drop, it
a fluoro leader is hard to beat, though
shimmies like a dying baitfish. Every two
he eliminates the swivel in favor of an
or three twitches, throw in a longer pause
Alberto knot.
to let The Jerk work its magic.”
When dealing with smaller baitfish and
Palaniuk’s Money Maker
bottom-hugging bass, Iaconelli says a
Brandon Palaniuk helped Berkley
3-inch PowerBait Pro Twitchtail Minnow
design the Havoc Money Maker, and
is a great alternative to The Jerk.
“Nose-hook the Twitchtail on a dropshot says he reaches for the 4 1/2-inch
CONTINUED ON PG 21
rig, with a size 1 hook and 3/16- to
Courtesy of
the Berkley
Fishing Team
Ike’s Minnow Magic
“It’s a tough call
given all the great
baits to choose from, but if I was limited
to just one, it would be The Jerk from
Berkley’s Havoc lineup,” says iconic
bassman Mike “Ike” Iaconelli. “Baitfish
are key to fall bass location and behavior,”
he explains. “Soft, fluke-style minnow
baits like The Jerk mimic this forage and
are phenomenal for both largemouths and
smallmouths.”
Color matches the predominant baitfish.
“If bass are feeding on shiners, shad
or smelt, go with Pearl White or Disco
Shad,” he says. When sunfish are on the
menu, shades of watermelon or green
pumpkin get the nod. Matching yellow
Trout, Trout & More Trout!
T
he fabled Sierra Nevada
wind had come up early
and now it was really
blowing. The surface
of the lake was covered
in white caps and all
the power boaters had
long since thrown in
the towel and their
boats were back on
their trailers.
Trolling into the
teeth of the wind I
had to peddle steadily
to maintain 2.5 miles
per hour. If I got off
the peddles even for
a second the wind
would catch the bow
and the Hobie Pro
Angler would start to
spin around. At times the kayak
would ride up on one roller, slide
down the back side and the next
roller would break across the bow,
covering the front hatch with white
water that flowed back into the
self-bailing cockpit.
Despite the big wind and big water, my
Labrador Lucy and I were
pretty comfortable and dry.
And of course, we were both
wearing lifejackets just in case.
Testing the big kayak in
rough conditions was fun and
games, but the focus of the
adventure was exploring new
areas of the lake and catching
trout. The exploring was going
well, but the trout catching was
pretty slow when I spotted a
unique bank.
The bank was very steep
and dotted with stumps. It
reminded me of the big bluffs I
like to fish at Lake Shasta. The
sonar revealed that the bank
fell quickly to the river channel
that was under 90 to 130 feet of water.
Presently I started marking arches along
the face of the bank about 25 feet down.
I had a copper Speedy Shiner working 75
feet behind the kayak off my Scotty down-
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Cal Kellogg
The rainbows at Lake Don Pedro are running big and
holding deep. Before long they will relocate to the
surface.
Photo courtesy of GOLD COUNTRY SPORTFISHING,
Oakdale.
36 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
CONTINUED ON PG 22
Cost Estimates to Repair Oroville
Dam Spillways Mushroom to $1.1
Billion – Will the Same Happen
with the Delta Tunnels?
See Page 20
Special Section
Baja Roundup
PG 30-31
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Almanor - Lake Berryessa........................... ...........4
Bullards Bar/Englebright Resv - Lake Davis.. 12-13
East Delta - Don Pedro Lake .............................. 14
Eagle Lake - Los Vaqueros Reservoir............ 18-19
New Melones Lake - Sacramento Area.......... 22-23
San Pablo Reservoir - West Delta.................. 24-25
SALTWATER REPORTS
Berkeley - Bodega Bay.........................................26
Half Moon Bay - Peninsula Shoreline............ 28 - 29
FEATURES
Where...When...How...
RIO VISTA STRIPER DERBY.............................. 8-11
BAJA ROUNDUP...............................................30-31
BASS FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Mark Fong............... 25
BULLETIN BOARD................................................... 3
FISH SNIFFER HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................... 15
GO FOR IT: Staff....................................................... 6
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Wes Jones .............. 5
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher.............................16-17
SALTY TIPS: Hippo Lau.......................................30
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher..... 20
WHAT’S HOT SALTWATER: Dan Bacher .............. 27
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Cal Kellogg - trolled French
Meadows Reservoir for
trout with his wife Gena.
The duo trolled from their
Kayak City Hobie Mirage
Drive powered kayaks. Cal utilized
several 7.5 foot Vance’s Tackle spiral
wrapped E Glass trolling rods. The rods
were matched with Abu Garcia 5500 Line
Counter reels spooled with 10 lb moss
green Trilene Big Game line. Using these
rigs teamed with a Scotty Lake Troll
downrigger Cal caught rainbow trout to
18.5 inches while pulling copper Speedy
Shiners.
Paul Kneeland - fished
Folsom Lake with John
Brassfield in John’s 18’
Duckworth. They caught
rainbow trout to 14 inches
using a Powell Rods ultralight trigger stick
with a Shimano Calcutta 150 level wind
reel loaded with 8 lb test Yozuri Hybrid
line. They trolled silver Kastmasters and
“wonder bread” Speedy Shiners off the
Canon Downriggers at 60 feet deep and
2.4 mph.
Dan Bacher - fished
for rainbow trout at Lake
Valley Reservoir. He used a
Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6”
medium action spinning rod,
teamed up with a Shakespeare GX235
spinning reel filled with 6 lb. test P-Line CX
Premium Flourocarbon Coated Line. He
fished with chartreuse Berkley PowerBait,
1/8 oz. gold and black Panther Martins
and 2/5 oz. gold/red stripe Little Cleos.