VOL.39 • ISS. 14
FRESHWATER
June 26, 2020
19
FRESHWATER REPORTS:
CONTINUED FROM PG 27
NEW MELONES RESERVOIR cont.
Needlefish in pink at 45 ft. deep.
“Bass angling has been good thru early morning
with a top water bite going on,” said Hildebrand.
“Boaters are using different crankbaits, chatterbaits
and ripbaits. Jigs and plastic baits also producing
some good action as the morning sun warms up the
surface water temperature.”
“Nice crappie have been reported in different areas
of the lake using live minnows, Crappie jigs and Gulp
Crappie Nibbles,” noted Hildebrand.
For catfish, Hildebrand recommended soaking
cutbaits, chicken livers, and Berkley Catfish bait. Fish
the narrow muddy coves near the shoreline. Take
advantage of driftwood jams in coves.
New Melones Reservoir lake elevation has been
on the decline, dropping 11 feet in the last 30 days.
Current elevation is 1028.80 and 62.20 from full. The
water temperature is 78 degrees. and rising.
Glory Hole boat ramps:
Highest ramp is in water from 1088.00 to 1025.00
Medium ramp is in water from 1028.00-to 940.00
Tuttletown boat ramps:
Highest ramp in water from 1088.00 to 1031.00
Middle ramp in water from 1036.00 to 942.00
Angels Cove boat ramp:
Only one ramp- it’s in water from 1088’ to 975’
OROVILLE LAKE
Trollers Battle King Salmon
OROVILLE – Landlocked king salmon fishing is “off
and on” at Lake Oroville, reported Craig Newton at
Willfish Bait and Tackle.
“Guide Brett Brady of Bare Bones Guide Service
ended up with two limits of kings ranging from 2
to 6-1/2 pounds on his latest trip to Lake Oroville,”
said Newton. “He was using Brad’s Kokanee Cut
Plugs at 80 to 90 feet behind Pro Troll Flashers and
Slingblade dodgers.”
“On my recent solo venture to Oroville, I ended up
landing 3 out of the 4 salmon that I hooked,” said Newton.
“I trolled with white hoochies behind Pro Troll Flashers at
80 to 90 feet deep. I hooked two of the fish by the dam
and the other two by the Bidwell Canyon Bridge. The fish
ranged from 2-1/2 to 4 pounds.”
“Your best bet is to use white/pearl and green/pearl
hoochies and other lures at 50 to 80 feet deep,” said
Newton. Anglers are picking up the salmon at the dam,
Bidwell Canyon Bridge and in the Limesaddle Arm.”
What is open now?
• Vehicular access to all day-use facilities such as
parking lots, boat ramps, restrooms and trails
• Camping is available at all individual family
campsites. Floating Campsites and Group Campsites
are not currently available as part to mitigate the
spread of COVID-19. To make a reservation, visit www.
ReserveCalifornia.com or call 800-444-7275. For more
information about camping, visit www.parks.ca.gov/
COVID19Camping.
• Bidwell Canyon and Lake Oroville Marinas are open
with some restrictions. Please contact the appropriate
Marina for the most current information and please plan
your visit accordingly.
Bidwell Canyon Marina (530) 589-9175 www.
bidwellcanyonmarina.com
Lake Oroville Marina (530) 877-2883 www.
lakeorovillemarina.com
Lake Oroville is currently holding 2,445,249 acre feet of
water, 69 percent of average and 83 percent of capacity.
- Dan Bacher
PARDEE LAKE
Trollers Slam Abundant Kokanee Salmon
IONE – Trolling for kokanee salmon is attracting the
most angling attention at Lake Pardee at this time, due to
the abundance of landlocked sockeyes found on the lake
this season.
Alan Fong, manager of Fisherman’s Warehouse in
Sacramento, and a friend and his girlfriend found topnotch
kokanee fishing during Fong’s latest trip to Pardee.
“We lost 15 fish and boated 17 kokanee, most of them in
the 12 to 13 inch range. We trolled orange hoochies and
homemade Apex lures, tipped with white corn, behind small
Sep’s silver dodgers at 35 to 60 feet deep.,” said Fong.
Mount Lassen Fish Farm continues to plant trout every
week in Pardee. The latest plant consisted of 1000 pounds
of Rainbow Trout and 1000 pounds of Lightning Trout.
The Pardee Marina/Camp store and the Pardee Cafe
will be closed for now, so come prepared.
Nightcrawlers, trout dough bait, and ice are available for
sale at the front gate. Gate hours are 5:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m. The lake is holding at 98 percent of capacity.
- Dan Bacher
RANCHO SECO RESERVOIR
Summer Is Time for Bass and Panfish
HERALD - The Rancho Seco Recreation Area is
currently open for day use and hard sided RV camping.
Fishing in the lake has switched over from trout fishing to
targeting warm water species including largemouth bass,
redear sunfish, bluegill, crappie and channel catfish.
Park hours have been restored to seasonal standard 7
AM – 6 PM (Monday – Sunday)
Social distancing rules are in effect and no groups
larger than 10 may congregate in the park. Also there is a
maximum of 120 vehicles allowed into the facility at a time
to limit crowding and promote proper social distancing.
The park will close once this number is reached.
Social distancing rules are in effect. Maintain 6 ft.
between you and those around you.
Any type of group gatherings are not permitted.
Most restrooms are open with the exception of the
beach area.
The beach is closed and fenced off. Swimming is not
allowed.
Showers are closed. There is no tent camping available
at this time.
Permitted activities include hiking. fishing, kayaking/
boating (Boat rentals are available), a dog park and
pcnicking (BBQ). RV sites are active with reservations.
Rancho Seco Recreational Area is a 400-acre park
overflowing with recreational opportunities including
camping, boating, fishing, swimming and wildlife
viewing. The 160-acre lake is fed by the Folsom South
Canal and is a great year-round day or overnight
getaway located in California’s Central Valley, just 25
miles from downtown Sacramento.
For the latest information on the status of fishing and
CONTINUED ON PG 22
HOW TO By Cal Kellogg continued from page 5
when I’m pulling plugs I like to keep the speed up.
As a result, I’m very excited about the Mag Lip 2.0 and
2.5 from Yakima Bait, that I’m told will run up to 4 miles
per hour.
I just got a selection of these plugs from the legendary
Buzz Ramsey and he speaks very highly of them. The
next time I hit a trout lake or river, I will be getting a
Mag Lip wet.
Buzz tells me that the plugs have an erratic action that
he describes as “skip beat”. That sounds perfect to me.
I’m a big believer in erratic action creating strikes.
The Mag Lip 2.0 will dive to 5 feet, while the 2.5
can hit 8 feet deep. Mag Lips come in a wide range of
different colors from Frog on the dark end to baitfish
metallic on the light end and there is every color in
between including orange and pink.
No. 3: Flashers And A Threaded Worm
If I had to pick my all-time most consistently productive
trolling set up, I’d have to go with the old-school
flasher and worm presentation. Not only does this rig
catch trout, but it also illustrates that those dang trout
aren’t quite as smart as we give them credit for being…
“Hmmm I’m a little hungry,” says Mr. Trout. “Look
at all those shiny whirling metal blades…What’s that
behind the blades? A night crawler, spinning through
water at an oh so unnatural 1.5 miles per hour. I think
I’ll grab at that worm and hit it time after time until I get
hooked by that No. 6 baitholder that I can clearly see.”
In all seriousness that’s about the shape of it. It doesn’t
look right and it doesn’t seem right, but a set of flashers
teamed with a dirty old worm catches wild trout and
planters, rainbows, browns macks and more.
So, what flashers am I running this season? I’ve spent a
lot of time playing with Vance’s flashers and love them,
but this year I’m going to field test a couple new sets of
flashers. One set is the Mack’s Lure Flash Lite flashers.
Flash Lites are very innovative in that they don’t use
metal blades. Instead the blades are made of Mylar and as
a result the flashers weigh very little.
The other flashers I’ll be using are Rooster Trolls from
Yakima Bait. These flashers come in 4 different sizes
and make use of the same blade that makes Rooster Tail
spinners so deadly.
No. 4: Dodger And Hoochie
For a long time the only time I rigged up with a dodger
and hoochie was when landlocked salmon were on the
menu, particularly landlocked kings.
I’ve caught a lot of big salmon pulling hoochies behind
dodgers, but I’ve also caught a lot of hefty rainbows and
spotted bass on this deadly rig too.
As an aside, I can think of several instances when I’ve
found mixed pods of spotted
bass, king salmon and rainbow
trout holding around bait in
open water. I’ve found these
fish while looking for kings
and interestingly when I’ve
found these species schooled
together the fish have always
tended to be large.
A few years ago, Paul
Kneeland and I found bait
about 60 feet deep off one of
Shasta’s big islands. In three
passes, I caught a rainbow, a
spot and a king on a watermelon
Sling Blade trailing a
blue and white hoochie. All
three of those fish were over
3 pounds. Paul had a 3ish
pound spot, a big rainbow and
something big that bolted at
the boat and tossed the hook.
Back to the hoochie and
dodger. When I say hoochie
I’m including both traditional
hoochies and hoochie like
baits such as Ace Hi flies and
Kok-A-Nuts. These baits sort
of represent the nexus of the
hoochie and the trolling fly.
Anyhow when you put a
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hoochie 2 to 3 dodger lengths behind a blade you’ve got
a terrific baitfish imitation that has a very attractive pause
and pulse action.
Bright colored hoochies work and so do baitfish colored
models. I start out with baitfish colors, but some guys
troll bright pink most of the time and hook just as many
fish as I do…But I like to think the ones I catch are
smarter...LOL
Get some hoochies. Run them behind dodgers. Catch
anything that gobbles baitfish in open water…It’s that
simple, sometimes…LOL!
BOB
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