Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3825 Nov 22- Dec 6 | Page 6

FRESHWATER
Nov 22 - Dec 6, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 25
FRESHWATER REPORTS
ALMANOR
Trout Key on Smelt!
CHESTER - Trout fishing at Lake
Almanor is a good news, better news
proposition. Right now, the fishing is
good, but the weather is stagnant. The air
temperature has consistently been 10 to
15 degrees above normal and there has
been little stormy weather. The surface
temperature is in the middle fifties. As a
result, the trout have not been spurred
into the intense pre-winter bite we typically
see this time of the year.
When the weather changes significantly
we should see a rapid acceleration in the
bite and the fishing should shift from good
to great.
Currently Almanor’s trout are spread
out and feeding primarily on pond smelt.
Trollers are hooking 5 to 10 trout per day
while trolling smelt imitations in the top 20
feet of the water column. Most of the fish
are rainbows that run 2 to 4 pounds, with
a few bigger showing up here and there.
Bank anglers working the Hamilton
Branch area and the coves near the dam
are hooking 3 to 5 rainbows per outing
while soaking various baits, but most
of the trout they are hooking are DFW
planters.
Shifting gears, the Lake Almanor Fishing
Association announced this week that
they have stocked their trout cages with
50,000 Shasta Lake rainbows. These
fish will be provided with a high protein
diet all winter while they get accustomed
to their new home. Come April they will
be released into the lake to fend for
themselves in Almanor’s forage rich
waters.
LAKE AMADOR
Trout Plants Begin with Cooler
Weather
IONE - Fall trout plants have begun at
Lake Amador – and anglers are already
catching some big trout from shore and
boat.
“We released 500 pounds of cutbows on
October 30,” reported Elizabeth Lockhart
at the Lake Amador Resort. “I saw a few
trophies in the 10 lb. class, which you can
clearly see in the video that we posted on
our Facebook page. It’s huge.”
LAKE
AMADOR
Trout Planted Seasonally!
Then on November 6, the resort planted
another 600 pounds of cutbows.
Big fish honors go to Kyle Robello
from Sacramento, who caught a 5.72 lb.
cutbow with a Kastmaster from
shore.
The current lake level is 34
feet from full and the surface
temperature is 63 to 64
degrees and going down
with these cooler nights.
The launch ramp is open.
“We will discount our day
use fees from $10 to $8 until the
water levels come up a bit, maybe
until later this month,” said Sandy
Lockhart. For more information,
call [phone].

- Dan Bacher
AMERICAN RIVER
Nimbus Hatchery Fish
Ladder Open Now
RANCHO CORDOVA – The biggest
excitement on the American River is
that the salmon ladder at the Nimbus
Fish Hatchery opened on Monday, Nov.
4, signaling the start of the spawning
season. Most anglers reported slow
fishing on the river for salmon before the
upper stretch of river closed on October
31.
California Department of Fish and
Wildlife (CDFW) hatchery workers opened
the gates in the ladder at 10:30 a.m. and
took an estimated half-million eggs during
the first week alone in an effort to ensure
the successful spawning return of fall-run
Chinook salmon.
The three major state-run hatcheries
in the Central Valley – Nimbus Fish
Hatchery in Sacramento County, and
hatcheries on the Feather River in Butte
County and the Mokelumne River in San
Joaquin County – will take approximately
24 million eggs over the next two months
to produce Chinook salmon for release
next spring.
Each hatchery has a viewing area
where visitors can watch the spawning
process. The visitors’ center at Nimbus
Hatchery includes a playground with
replicas of giant salmon. Nimbus Hatchery
is open to the public free of charge from
8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and 9
a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. For more
information about
spawning schedules
and educational
opportunities at
each hatchery,
please visit the
CDFW website at
www.wildlife.ca.gov/
fishing/hatcheries.
There are
209-274 -4739
7500 Lake Amador Dr., Ione, CA 95640
WWW.LAKEAMADOR.COM
Salmon • Striper • Trout • Kokanee
BERRYESSA LAKE
Boaters Target Smallmouth
Bass with Spoons
WINTERS – Boaters using spoons
are catching and releasing big numbers
of black bass at Berryessa this fall, while
trollers are picking up limits of quality
rainbow trout. A lot of the bass are
suspended at 15 to 20 feet deep as they
feed on threadfin shad.
“Most of the bass being caught on
spoons are smallmouths, with some
spotted bass and largemouth bass
mixed in,” said Alan Fong at Fisherman’s
Warehouse. “Anglers are casting out the
¾ oz. Blade Runner spoons and working
it back to the boat. They are also vertically
jigging with the 1-/3/4-ounce Blade
Runner spoons.”
“The largest smallmouths are in the 3 to
4 lb. range,” noted Fong. “The best area
to target the bass is on the east side of
the reservoir about
half way up the
vineyards.”
“Today two buddies
of mine really lit
up the trout,” said
Furnished
Fong. “They landed
Cabins from
ten trout in the 15 to
22-inch range while
$60 per night or
trolling with Shad
$360 per week
Raps at 10 to 20 feet
in the main body.
Awesome
Shore fishing
• Trout Fishing
should be picking
Rentals — Real Estate — Lots & Land
For Reservations and info:
[phone]
[phone] • [phone]
3807
up at Berryessa as the fish move into
shallower water with the arrival of the
fall turnover. Try fishing with minnows
under bobbers, inflated nightcrawlers and
PowerBait for the best results.

- Dan Bacher
BULLARDS BAR/
ENGLEBRIGHT
RESERVOIRS
Target Spotted Bass with Drop
Shot Rigs
• Hiking
• Biking
• Relaxing
• Stripers
• Oroville
Kings
• Stampede
Kokanee
www.fishbarebones.com
eight state-run salmon and steelhead
hatcheries, all of which will participate
in the salmon spawning effort. These
spawning efforts were put in place over
the past half century to offset fish losses
caused by dams that block salmon from
historic spawning habitat.
Once the young salmon reach 2 to 4
inches in length, one-quarter of the stock
will be marked and implanted with a coded
wire tag prior to release. CDFW biologists
use the information from the tags to chart
their survival, catch and return rates.
EAGLE LAKE
CABIN RENTALS
• Cafe • RV Park • Waterslide
• Campground • Disc Golf
• General Store
Cafe Open Seasonally On
Friday, Saturday & Sundays
Maribeth Noxon landed this incredible 4 plus pound
rainbow while fishing at Eagle Lake on October 18.
Photo courtesy of FISH TRAVELER GUIDE SERVICE,
Spalding.
www.eaglelakeheritage.com
DOBBINS – Spotted bass fishing should
improve as the water cools down and the
fish go on their fall feed.
Anglers should use drop shot rigs with
Robo Worms, jigs, and Blade Runner
spoons for the bass. Boaters have
reported catching mostly smaller spotted
bass in the 10 to 14 inch class lately, but
the larger fish that Bullards is known for
should start showing soon.
Adult kokanee are spawning or have
already spawned in the tributaries of
Bullards Bar and other northern California
reservoirs. You can hook the smaller
“next year’s kokanee” while trolling with
hoochies, tipped with white corn, behind
dodgers at Bullards Bar, but virtually
nobody is doing it.
Trolling or tossing out spinners and
spoons in the river inlet for wild rainbows
is worth a try, but again, nobody is trying.
Fishing pressure is also light at
Englebright Reservoir. Rainbow trout
are available for anglers trolling with
nightcrawlers, spoons and spinners
behind dodgers or flashers. You can also
hook an occasional wild brown while
trolling with Rapalas and other stickbaits
in the river arm.
Bullards Bar is holding 640,941 acre feet
of water, 66 percent of capacity and 119
percent of average.
Englebright Reservoir is holding 65,534
acre feet of water, 94 percent of capacity
and 112 percent of average.
Continued on Pg 8
Lake Almanor
Now Booking
Fall Trout at
Eagle Lake
Lake Almanor
Lake Davis
a
nd Eagle Lake
Bucks Lake
Captain Bryan Roccucci
Lake Tahoe
www.BigDaddyFishing.com
Call for Best Dates – [phone]
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