Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3904 Feb 1-14 | Page 14

12
Jan 31 - Feb 14, 2020
FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 25
- Dave Hurley
FRESHWATER REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 11
LOS VAQUEROS LAKE
OROVILLE LAKE
cont.
to offer the best action at Los Vaqueros
Reservoir as trout plants continue. The
latest plant of 2,000 pounds of rainbows
took place on January 2, 2020.
Los Vaqueros is holding 148,808 acre
feet of water, 93 percent of capacity,
and the water surface temperature is 62
degrees.
Some big fish are showing in the
catches. Just ask Yekam El Nakar, who
caught two 7 lb. and 9 lb. trout while using
mini jigs.
“Shore anglers are doing the best while
using garlic scented PowerBait followed
by night crawlers.,” according to the Los
Vaqueros Marina staff. “Trolling is doing
fairly well, especially in the backs of
coves. On days the winds allow rental
boats to get out, we have seen a number
of limits, as well as anglers with just a
couple of fish.”
“Striper fishing is decent, with both
shakers and legal sized fish being caught
from around the reservoir. Cut anchovies
or shad are the baits of choice, fished
either from shore or a boat. Cowboy Cove
and Howden Cove seem to be the hot
spot for stripers. Just a reminder, stripers
need to be 18 inches or more to be legal.”
The trails on the North Side of the lake
have reopened for fishing and hiking.
Some of the trails on the North side,
around the shore of Penn Cove, are
closed until further notice, but you can still
hike the ridges.
NEW MELONES LAKE
Bass Abundant, Lacking in
Size
ANGELS CAMP - The turnover at
New Melones is beginning to take place
in certain areas, but the bass have yet
to move into the shallows; however, the
numbers of spotted and largemouth bass
are climbing out of the deep water.
The best action remains on the bottom
in water as deep as 80 feet, and the big
one right at the boat at one point, but
still managed to attain a limit by 9:30.
After that, the bite died in our area so we
ventured out toward the main body in
hopes of upgrading.
At 10:00 we hadn’t had any more bites,
but we did have one thing: SUN! I was
finally able to feel my toes and relieve
some of the tension in my shoulders...and
sometimes, that’s all you need.
Landlocked Chinooks on Bite
John Roco of San Francisco took a trip to Lake Chabot this December and landed this
incredible 7.3-pound rainbow.
Photo courtesy of the LAKE CHABOT MARINA, Lake Chabot.
swimbait bite has yet to occur. If the
lake finally turns over, the big bait bite
should take off as the next few months
are traditionally the time for trophy
spotted and largemouth bass out of this
reservoir.
John Liechty of Xperience Fishing
Guide Service said, “We are catching a
good number of bass, but the size has
been limited. Every once in a while, you
are able to find a 3- to 4- pound bass,
and at least we are getting bit with more
frequency. Everything has been deep
with our best action from 40 to 55 feet
with plastics on the drop-shot working
best. The bass have kind of moved up
a bit, but they aren’t found in any real
numbers above 25 to 35 feet. “
“I have caught bass as deep as 80
feet, and they are hugging the bottom
right now as we aren’t even seeing them
on the graph, but we are hooking fish.
When they are glued to the bottom,
I switch to a short 6- to 8-inch leader
GONE FISHING
continued from page 1
Just before noon, my money-winning
worm got snagged in some rocks and I
was forced to break it off and tie on a new
one. The prior day, I had picked up some
more Big TRDs at the new Fisherman’s
Warehouse in Fairfield - this time in the
Green Pumpkin Goby color. Water clarity
was only around 4-6 feet, and since I
was still targeting deeper water I wanted
to stick with darker colors; I hoped the
addition of gold and
purple flake in this
new bait would gain
some attention.
It did, and I
was finally able
to replace the
smallmouth in our
livewell - but that
improved our total
weight by only a
pound. With just
two and a half
hours left, and
nineteen other boats
competing, I knew
we would have to
step it up in order to
earn a check.
I typically fish
Largest Trout Stocking Program
the ned rig fast and
North of Sacramento
erratically, hopping
it off the bottom to
Call for Reservations
Lakefront
gain attention get
RV
reaction strikes.
Camping
www.collinslake.com
This wasn’t working
P.O. Box 300 . Oregon House . California 95962 3904
during the later
• Trout
• Bass
• Crappie
• Bluegill
• Catfish
800-286-0576
above the drop-shot weight, and it will
make all of the difference. I use my
electronics to determine leader length,
and I prefer small plastics on the 2.5- to
4-inch range. Browns and greens in
crawdad patterns along with shad are
working best,” noted LIechty.
“There are some parts of the lake that
have turned over like the river arm and in
the back of Coyote Creek, but the main
lake has yet to turn over. We have been in
the fall pattern for some time, but I predict
we will get around a month of the winter
pattern when the reaction bite improves.
There are still sections of the lake at 55
degrees, and I think it has to do with the
lack of conveyor belt action with the lake
levels remaining steady. There has been
minimal water movement as the water
releases will help the lake turn over.,” he
concluded.
Trout trolling remains very slow with the
occasional large rainbow taken, but the
numbers are lacking.
hours, so I switched to a slower,
dragging presentation. I got a couple
more bites, but lost them a few feet
from the boat. On our way back to
the dock, we revisited the area where
we had success earlier in the day; my
partner was able to cull one more fish
before our time ran out.
I heard some grumbling about the
cold weather and tough conditions as
I walked to the weigh station. Nice
to know we weren’t alone! There are
always teams who manage to have
great success, however, so I was
excited to watch the results.
And that successful team turned out
to be the last team to weigh in. Our
Tournament Director, Jerry Lawler,
announced he had a big fish to weigh,
in hopes of winning one of the checks
awarded for the two biggest fish of the
tournament.
And it was indeed impressive! His
4.83-pound largemouth knocked a
3.21-pounder, caught by Dick Moore,
into second place.
To add insult to injury, Jerry and his
partner, Shannon Mason, weighed a
13.35-pound bag, knocking Dick and
partner Kris Sisto into second place
overall with their total of 11.35 pounds.
Luckily, we are a learning club that
promotes friendly competition so all
the ribbing was done in jest. We’ll see
how this plays out next month as we’ll
find ourselves right back at Berryessa
for our January tournament.
OROVILLE – If you want to catch some
big landlocked king salmon, head to Lake
Oroville.
On his first trip this year to Oroville, Rob
Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service
reported topnotch fishing for quality
Chinook salmon.
“Steve and I had a great day at Oroville
banging out kings while trolling with the
kokanee series cut plugs, with Pro-Cure
bloody tuna to spice it up a little,” said
Reimers. “We caught a total of 12 fish,
keeping 10 fish in the 18 to 24 inch
range,” he stated. “We fished mostly
around the dam at 55 to 85 feet deep but
also near the Bidwell Canyon Bridge.”
On the next trip that he made with
Jimmy Downs, they ended up with 3 big
fish up to 23 inches and 5 smaller ones in
the 12 to 13 inch range.
“We tried different areas all over the
lake, including Potter’s Cove, to the left
and right of the bridge and near the dam,”
he stated. “There were big wads of bait
on the fish finder, so the fish were all very
fat.”
They found the best action while trolling
with Brad’s Cut Plugs in the Lady Em and
Fatal Attraction colors.
Anglers are continuing to find typical
winter bass fishing on Oroville, with most
of the fish weighing around 1-3/4 pounds.
Anglers are doing best while dragging
plastics, Senkos and tubes and fishing
Ned rigs and jigs at 20 feet deep. The
water temperature remains in the fifties.
The Spillway Boat Ramp is open to the
public seven days a week from 6 a.m. to
8 p.m. Please note the trail head parking
area does not open until 8 a.m., according
to California State Parks.
Oroville is holding 3,537,577 acre feet
of water, 57 percent of capacity and 94
percent of average. The lake level is
783.82 feet in elevation.
- Dan Bacher
PYRAMID LAKE
Trollers, Bank Anglers Battle
Big Lahontan Cutthroats
RENO – Boaters and shore anglers are
hooking some huge Lahontan cutthroats
at Pyramid Lake while fishing an array of
offerings.
“The water temperature is now 40
degrees,” said Sam Shallow of Deep
Water Guide Service. “On my last trip, I
trolled up north in really shallow water at
10 to 20 feet deep off couple of shelves at
1-1/2 to 2 miles per hour.”
“I’m going on and off the gas hard, trying
to make the troll as erratic as possible.
We landed 11 cutthroats ranging from 8 to
14 pounds in the Hell’s Kitchen area,” he
stated.
“Shore fishermen are doing pretty well
on the south end,” Shallow noted. “They
aren’t catching the numbers that boaters
are, but one fly fisherman reported
catching and releasing a 26 pounder
last week. Fly fishermen are using flies
and indicators in the Block House area.
The guy who landed the big fish reported
using a balance leech/Chironomid.
Combination.”
If you want to fish Pyramid Lake, but
don’t know anything about the lake it
would be wise to hire a guide and Captain
Sam Shallow is a top choice. For more
information or to book your trip, give
Captain Sam a call at [phone].
- Dan Bacher
QUARRY LAKES
Large Rainbows Lead
Horseshoe Winter Angling
CONTINUED ON PG 17