Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3823 Oct 25-Nov 8 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
37 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
Tahoe Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 16-17
Vol. 38 - ISS.23
Our
37th
Year
Since 1982
Oct 25 - Nov 8, 2019
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
Lake Davis Produces Big Trout & Bigger Smiles
T
he attention span of a twelve-
year-old is about a tenth of how
long it takes to read the
title of this article, which
can make fishing with my
twelve-year-old son, Jacob, a
painful experience if the bite
isn’t absolutely lights out. So,
when Cal told me about his
incredible trip to Lake Davis
mid-week, I knew I had a
chance to pull off a dad and
son trip that would be remem-
bered for the catching, NOT
the boredom of fishing.
We rolled out of the
driveway with the Duckworth
in tow around 6AM packing
the typical day’s rations of
donuts, Fritos, Oreos, and
buckets of candy and headed up the hill
for Lake Davis. It was a rare calm day
with just the hint of a breeze blowing out
of the South when we slipped the boat off
the trailer into the weedy shallows of the
lake just before 9AM. A few other boats
were already circling,
and the bank was
dotted with
anglers.
Armed
with Cal’s
info from
just a
couple
of days
earlier and
a healthy
box of
tackle, we
dropped
lines and
started
Jake Ward caught a bunch of rainbow trout while fishing at Lake
slow
Davis while trolling from the Fish Sniffer Duckworth with his dad
trolling
Wes Ward. The hot lure for the day was an orange and brass
Cripplure fished in the top 15 feet of the water column.
towards
Photo by WES WARD, Fish Sniffer Staff.
the main body of the
lake.
Davis is shallow, and the weeds often
rods easily. Just to increase our odds, we
grow within 5’ of the surface. Our plan
also dropped a couple of lines a few feet
was to keep our gear just above the weeds, down on each Cannon Downrigger. The
which meant we could topline a couple of initial spread consisted of a Mack’s Lure
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Wes Ward
CONTINUED ON PG 18
My First Lingcod Hunt Aboard The Pacific Dream!
A
s I was reeling harder than I’d
ever reeled before, I heard a man’s
voice over my shoulder.
“No matter how hard you try,” he
muttered, “you’re never gonna catch that
fish...”
I ignored the voice, unwilling to let that
remark break my concentration. Was this
some sort of reverse psychology to get me
to try harder? Or maybe a jab at my
lack of upper
body strength?
After some
time, my arms
eventually
gave out…
and I was
still getting
spooled.
I finally
looked over
my shoulder
and there
stood Captain
Chris Smith,
arms folded,
half smirking
at me.
And that’s when
I realized I was
hooked on the rocky bottom of the ocean
floor.
Disappointed, but relieved to finally get
a break, I handed him my rod so he could
pull me free.
This wasn’t my first rodeo with Pacific
Dream Sportfishing, so I blame my lack
of sleep for not detecting the captain’s
subtle sarcasm sooner.
Their tight-knit, enter-
taining crew is why I
keep coming back for
more.
The goal that day?
Catching my first
lingcod. I didn’t know
what to expect, and I
had done zero research
on the rigs and baits
typically used, so I just
hopped on board and
hoped for the best. I
also put a lot of faith
in the cherry-topped
cheesecake I brought
for the crew, hoping it
would bring me some good luck.
We were warned that there was “going
to be some weather” that day. In other
words, the water was expected to be
rough. Because we had a couple of
young kids on board, Captain Chris
GONE
FISHING
by
Stacy Barawed
Fish Sniffer Field Editor Stacy Barawed used
a frisky rockfish as bait to land her first ever
lingcod while fishing aboard the Pacific
Dream this September.
Photo courtesy of CAPTAIN CHRIS SMITH,
Pacific Dream Sportfishing.
F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK
A common mistake when soaking bait for trout is fishing with a tight line. When a trout feels any kind of
resistance it will likely as not spit out the bait. To prevent spooking trout it is important to have some slack
in the line so any trout that picks up the bait can move off and swallow the bait without feeling anything.
To accomplishing this is to hang a small plastic bobber on the line between the tip of the rod and the
second or third eye. Enough slack is pulled off the reel to allow the bobber to hang down almost to the
ground. When a trout takes the bait and moves off the slack is paid out gradually as the bobber pulls
upward toward the rod. When the line comes tight it’s time to set the hook and begin fighting your prize!
CONTINUED ON PG 25
Special Section
Kayak Fishing
Page 5
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Lake Almanor - Berryessa Lake.............................4
Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoir -
Clear Lake ...........................................................7
Davis Lake - Lake Del Valle................................. 13
Lake Don Pedro - Eastern Sierra................... 14-15
Feather River - Klamath/Trinity Rivers............... 19
Los Vaqueros Reservoir -
Sacramento Area ................................ 20-21
San Pablo Reservoir - Tahoe..............................23
West Delta............................................................ 25
SALTWATER REPORTS
Baja Roundup........................................................... 31
Berkeley - Half Moon Bay.................................28 - 29
Monterey Bay......................................................30
FEATURES
Where...When...How...
TROUT ANGLERS CHALLENGE.........................8-12
BAJA ROUNDUP......................................................31
BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3
CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Cal Kellogg....14
FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Mike McNeilly...............27
GO FOR IT: Staff.........................................................2
HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................6
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT ...................................5
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................16-17
MIXED BAG FISHING: Ernie Marlan........................24
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......26
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Cal Kellogg - fished Lake
Davis from his Hobie Pro
Angler 14 kayak. For trolling
flies and grubs Cal used
one of his signature series
leadcore trolling rods matched with an Abu
Garcia 5500 line counter reel spooled with
one of his Hybrid Leadcore setups. Using
these rigs Cal landed over 50 trout to 3
pounds.
Dan Bacher - fished for
rockfish and lingcod on a
light tackle shallow water
trip to Point Sur aboard the
Kahuna on flat calm seas.
He used a Berkley Ugly Stick GX2 6’ 6”
medium action spinning rod, teamed up
with a Shakespeare GX235 spinning reel
filled with 8 lb. test P-Line CX Premium
Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He fished with
2 oz. Point Wilson Dart Anchovy jigs, 2/5
oz. silver/blue striped Little Cleos and
two hook Sabiki rigs. The 25 people on
the boat landed their limits of rockfish,
including 25 vermilions, and 6 lingcod.
Paul Kneeland - fished
the Big Joe river in northern
Idaho with Peter, Matt,
James, Mark and Bridget
Looney. They caught
cutthroat trout to 18 inches using a 9’, 5
weight Pflueger graphite fly rod with a
Pflueger machined aluminum reel with a
Scientific Anglers double taper floating fly
line, attached to a 9’ P Line flourocarbon
tapered leader with a #14 Prince Nymphs.