Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3905 Feb 14-28 | Page 3

Up-To-Date and Published Locally... By Sportsmen... For Sportsmen!
Sugar Pine Reservoir Map Feature
MADE IN U.S.A
See Page 14
Feb 14 - 28, 2020
Vol. 39 - ISS.5
Our
38th
Year
Since 1982
“The Magazine for West Coast Sportsmen!”
Chasing Oroville Kings!
W
ell, January is in the books.
Unfortunately, I was only able to
get out one time to Lake Oroville, but
spoke with several people who said the
month was amazing and the kings were on
the prowl.
Thanks to Yuba City local, Rusty
Chester, he offered a ride
with him on January 27th
to see if we could get into
the fun. Rusty had already
been up there a few times
with other friends and
since we both had the day
off, we decided to give it
a go.
We arrived at the
spillway launch at about 7am, just as the
sun was beginning to lighten the sky. We
put Rusty’s G3 in the water and headed
out to troll in front of the dam. Right
away, we noticed a problem, the axle on
his downrigger was stripped, so we would
have to fish 3 riggers instead of 4. It turns
out it’s not going to be a major expense,
so Rusty is in luck there.
As we began our troll, Rusty told me
he had seen reports that some fish had
been taken at 30-50 feet, but he has had
his best luck at 83’. When I looked at the
Lowrance, I could see why;
Bait balls and lots of them
holding in the 90-120’ range. It
looked like a virtual smorgas-
bord for kings!
Rusty quickly put out what
has been working for him,
his homemade “Top
Coater” dodger trailing
a “Christine Special”
Brad’s cut plug.
Being a Mack’s Pro
Staffer, I knew I could
find a combo from
Mack’s that would
do just as well, but
Mark Hall boated this big Oroville king on a Wedding
I didn’t really know
Ring spinner trailed behind a Mack’s Lure Double D
anything about the lake (first
dodger.
time I’d fished this area).
Photo by MARK HALL, Mack’s Lure.
Rusty quickly put a nice 18”
king in the box while I still cycled through a few at the boat, but managed to put 4
my gear looking for that one combo that
kings in the box. The largest one came on
would get a reaction. I found that combo
the afternoon bite and measured in at 3.65
in the Mack’s Purple Haze UV DD
pounds and 21 inches long.
Dodger, trailing a Barbarian Nightmare
That fish inhaled that Barbarian
Double Whammy Wedding Ring.
Nightmare and wasn’t about to let go of
Rusty and I fished in front of the dam
its prize. It made several runs, stripping
all day with the “Wall” being the best
out line and even tried to dive under the
producing area.
boat. It made a dash for the downrigger
For the day, we missed a few fish, lost
CONTINUED ON PG 8
GONE
FISHING
by
Mark
Hall
R
Emerald Water, Chrome Trout…
portside a trolling fly was working off
my hybrid leadcore rig at 5 feet deep. A
copper wobbling spoon was swim just
under the surface on the starboard side on
a spinning rod rigged with
8-pound test.
Clearing the cove, I turned
up the lake and was just
thinking that I was surprise
I hadn’t had a bite when
the trolling fly got hit, hit
again and then hooked a fish.
Snatching the
rod from the
holder I made
a crank or two
on the reel and
felt the fish
come off, but
I didn’t have
time to feel any
disappointment.
Glancing down I was
shocked to see the spinning
rod buried and bucking
against the fight of a deter-
When Cal Kellogg and Lucy visited Rollins Lake on January mined fish. Double hookup!
Putting the leadcore rod
22, they experienced outstanding trout action while pulling a
copper spoon from Cal’s Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak.
back into its holder with
ain had fallen overnight and it was
chilly. Both the air temperature
and the water temperature hovered in the
low 40’s. Fingers of fog snaked through
the pines on the hillsides above the lake
and the surface was dotted with leaves,
pine needles and twigs due to a rapidly
rising water level. Yet the water itself was
nearly crystal clear.
The kayak cut though the water silently
and the Lowrance unit to my right
indicated a speed of 1.8 mph. On the
my left hand, I grabbed the spinning rod
with my right and peddled forward to
keep the kayak from spinning around
and tangling my world.
The trout put up a strong
fight with lots of head shaking,
but it was no match for the flex
of the spinning rod and I soon
had the rainbow beside the
kayak. The trout was chrome
bright and contrasted bril-
liantly against the background
of the water.
I’d forgotten my net, but the
trout looked solidly hooked so
I slid it up towards the nose of
the kayak and lifted it aboard.
The rainbow was a chunky
planter that measured about
16 inches long. What a way to
kick off the trout season!
If you are a regular reader of
my trout fishing stories here in the Fish
Sniffer or a viewer of my trout stuff on
YouTube, you might be thinking I was
fishing at some off the grid destination in
far northern California.
Not this time. The action I just
described took place at Rollins Lake, just
WHAT’S
HOT
by
Cal Kellogg
Photo by CAL KELLOGG, Fish Sniffer Staff.
F ish S niffer T IP OF THE W EEK
When fishing spoons for trout, the first thing to think about is your lure to line connection. Some
spoons come with a split ring attached. Other spoons simply have a hole in them. If you tie a tight
knot directly to that hole, it will kill a lot of the lure’s action. You can tie on your spoons via a loop
knot but tying the knot is a pain, overall you’ll be best served by picking up a small selection of
high quality light wire lock snaps. Lock snaps, not snap swivels…
CONTINUED ON PG 8
38 Years
Serving
Sportsmen
Special Section
KAYAK Fishing:
pgs 20
INSIDE
Area Reports
FRESHWATER REPORTS
Almanor - Berryessa Lake......................................4
Bullards Bar/Englebright Reservoirs
- Davis Lake............................................... 10-11
Don Pedro Lake - Klamath/Trinity Rivers............ 12
New Melones Lake - Oroville Lake...................... 17
Pyramid Lake - Rancho Seco Lake..................... 19
Redding/Red Bluff - Sacramento Area................ 21
Santa Clara Lakes/San Luis Reservoir
- West Delta............................................... 22-23
SALTWATER REPORTS
Baja Roundup........................................................... 26
Berkeley - Half Moon Bay...................................24-25
Half Moon Bay - Monterey Bay....................... 26-27
FEATURES
Where...When...How...
FISHING BOAT KICKOFF...................... 6-10,13
BAJA ROUNDUP........................................................27
BULLETIN BOARD.....................................................3
CATCH & RELEASE - FLY FISHING: Kiene’s Fly Shop.18
FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY: Steve ‘Hippo’ Lau..........26
GO FOR IT: Staff.......................................................16
HOW-TO: Cal Kellogg................................................5
KAYAK FISHING SPOTLIGHT: Kevin Hofer .............20
MAP FEATURE: Dan Bacher...............................14-15
SPOTLIGHT ON CONSERVATION: Dan Bacher......25
STAFF
TACKLE
What We’re Using
Cal Kellogg - trolled Jenkinson
Reservoir for trout and
mackinaw from his Kayak City
Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak.
Cal used a pair of 7’6” Vance’s
Tackle ULT 762 trolling rods topped with Abu
Garcia 5500 LC line counter reels. The reels
were spooled with 10 lb. moss colored Trilene
Big Game line. On the business end, Cal
pulled Cripplures and Gulp! minnows teamed
with Mack’s Lure Flash Lite Flashers. Cal used
Herring Scent Pro-Cure Super Gel on his
blades and lures.
Paul Kneeland - fished Scotts
Flat Reservoir with John
Brassfield of Trucksmart stores
in John’s 18’ Duckworth. They
caught rainbow trout to 14
inches using a Powell Rods
7’ 6” light action graphite rod with a Shimano
Calcutta 150 level wind reel loaded with 8 lb
test P Line CXX line. He trolled Vance’s red
Sockeye Slammers and Vance’s watermelon
dodgers followed by a nightcrawler on a #4
Mustad Slow death hook on the surface at 1.5
mph.
Dan Bacher - fished for
rainbow trout at Sugar Pine
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
Fluorocarbon Coated Line. He fished with
rainbow Berkley PowerBait, nightcrawlers and
2/5 oz. gold stripe Little Cleos.