VOL.39 • ISS. 18
FRESHWATER
August 21, 2020
11
CAMANCHE LAKE
cont.
Service put two clients
onto limits of holdovers
to 5.2 pounds running
brass/red or gold/red
Speedy Shiners at depths
from 35 to 60 feet in the
main river channel.
Bass fishermen have to
be on either early or late
to avoid the recreational
boat traffic. The lake held
at 67 percent.
- Dave Hurley
plastic worms, nightcrawlers, Rat-L-Traps
and soft plastic frogs.”
Brown bullhead catfish are showing
all over the lake. Anglers are employing
nightcrawlers, prepared catfish dough
baits and other baits to entice the catfish.
For bluegill, Graham recommended
fishing worms and PowerBait off Camp
Five and Eagle Point.
The boat ramps are open and all three
docks are in the water. The Forest Service
Campgrounds are open.
Lake Davis is holding 58,673 acre feet
of water, 71 percent of capacity and 93
percent of average.
- Dan Bacher
CLEAR LAKE
Boaters Target
Largemouths
Early and Late in
Day
CLEARLAKE - Largemouth bass fishing
is still solid at Clear Lake, but it is not as
good as it was a few weeks ago.
“The best time for fish now is early and
late in the day,” advised Bill McDaniel of
Limit Out Bait and Tackle. “There is still
a top water bite early in the morning and
late in the evening. During the day, the
fish can be found off the rockpiles and
deep docks. Boaters are fishing Senkos,
drop shot rig and creature baits and deep
crankbaits in crawdad and threadfin shad
patterns.”
With the warm weather, anglers are
still catching good numbers of channel
catfish throughout the lake. “The fish are
not showing in shallow water in the Clear
Lake Keys – they’re biting in deep water,”
he said.
He recommended tossing out
anchovies, mackerel, chicken liver and
other cut baits for the cats. Many of the
cats are 10 pounds and bigger.
Likewise, if you want to catch crappie,
your best bet is to fish small jigs,
swimbaits and minnows in deep water,
particularly around docks and other
structure.
The key to success for bass, catfish,
crappie and bluegill on the lake at this
time it to find the cleaner water that has
the least accumulation of algae.
- Dan Bacher
located a school, so we baited up and dropped our
lines.
This was my first halibut trip of the season, and I
was ready for that muscle-pulling fight that comes
when a good one chomps the line. After a short
while, I detected my first bite, reeled down, and took
the rod out of the holder. Whatever I had hooked
didn’t feel too heavy, so I figured it was a shaker
and that I’d be dropping my line back down pretty
quickly.
To my surprise, what surfaced was a sand shark –
my first! A shark trip was already on my to-do list for
this year, so I was extremely excited about hooking it
and looked forward to the opportunity to hunt down
some bigger ones later in the season. Halibut was
the agenda for the day, however, so back into the bay
went my line.
Not even ten seconds later, my line was hit while
my bait was on the descent. I felt that all-too-familiar
tug, and immediately knew this wasn’t another sand
shark. It was heavy, not too erratic, and, more importantly,
a keeper! Scott the deckhand quickly grabbed
the net and scooped up the boat’s fifth keeper of the
day, and I was on the board by mid-morning with a
27-incher.
The action slowed down a bit after that. There was
definitely no shortage of fish, as we had no problem
locating schools; it was just a challenge getting the
bigger ones to bite. To switch it up a bit, Captain
Victor was trolling at Collins Lake this July when he pulled this huge 10-pound trout out of 40 feet of water.
Photo courtesy of THE COLLINS LAKE RECREATION AREA, Oregon House.
COLLINS LAKE
Couple Scores Big on
Rainbows!
OREGON HOUSE - Most anglers have
been reporting slow trout fishing at Collins
Lake lately, but that didn’t deter Robbie
Dunham and his wife on a four day trip to
celebrate her birthday.
“We fished two days and relaxed the
other two days,” said Dunham. “Each
day we caught our limits, 10 rainbows, by
10:30 a.m. while trolling Speedy Shiners
at 35 to 50 feet from the base of the dam
to mid-lake. We caught most of the fish
near and around the dam.”
They trolled the lures at 2.8 to 3.0 mph.
The trout ranged from 1 to 4 pound, with
most in the 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 lb. class.
“We saw a few kayaks out fishing on the
lake, but we didn’t seen any of them hook
up trout while we were fishing,” he noted.
“This was our first time ever at Collins
Lake,” said Dunham. “The facilities were
very clean and the staff were helpful. We
had a very relaxing time there, although
the weather was a little hot.”
The water level at Collins Lake is 28
feet from full and the surface water
temperature is 82 degrees. For more
information, call (530) 692-1600.
GONE FISHING continued from page 1
James replaced my 4-oz. sinker with a 1-oz weight.
That seemed to do the trick, because I was able to
land my second halibut shortly thereafter. Having
reached my limit early in the day, I felt comfortable
taking a break to enjoy a breakfast burrito of my
own.
Not wanting to waste any more time, I got back at
it, hoping to catch a striper to complete a trifecta. I
eventually hooked into something insanely erratic
that pulled me across the rail to the right, much to
the dismay of the two anglers beside me. Fast on
their feet, they picked up their rods and shuffled
around me to avoid a tangled mess. What surfaced
was a bat ray, always a fun surprise when fishing the
bay!
Once the bite died completely, we took off for
Sausalito, pausing every now and then for a few
quick drifts. As we approached the coast, the fog
had cleared and we finally had some sun to enjoy.
I lost a couple of fish in this area, but my rail
buddies did well here. Although plenty of shakers
were released, this location allowed us to surpass
twenty keeper halibut for our group.
At the end of the day, I couldn’t complain about
catching three different species and going home with
a big bag of fresh filets. I’d call that a successful
start to my salt season!
Watch the video on my YouTube channel, Stacy
Goes Outside.
DAVIS LAKE
Trout Action Best Early in Day
PORTOLA – Bank anglers who toss
out PowerBait in garlic scents and
nightcrawlers early and late in the day are
experiencing the top trout fishing at Lake
Davis at this time.
“Shore fishermen who fish off Mallard
Cove and the points near Honker Bay are
catching some limits of quality rainbows,”
reported Jeanne Graham at the J and J
Grizzly Store and Camping Resort. “They
brought in nice rainbows in the 20 to 23
inch this week.”
Trolling has slowed down. Ed Dillard
of Dillard’s Guide Service reported 2 to
3 trout per trip while trolling with Baby
Simon lures at 25 to
30 fee deep.
“The black bass
fishing is great,”
said Graham. “The
top areas to fish are
the north end from
Lightning Tree to
Mosquito Slough
and from old Camp
Five to Eagle Point.
Good numbers of 3
to 5 pounders are
still being taken.
The top baits are
LAKE
AMADOR
Trout Planted Seasonally!
• Cafe • RV Park • Waterslide
• Campground • Disc Golf
• General Store
Cafe Open Seasonally On
Friday, Saturday & Sundays
3721
209-274-4739
7500 Lake Amador Dr., Ione, CA 95640
WWW.LAKEAMADOR.COM
GREAT FISHING
AT CAPLES LAKE!
on Highway 88 at Carson Pass
• Cabins and
Lodge Rooms
• Fishing Tackle
• Camping
Supplies
• Marina
• Boat Rentals
EAGLE LAKE
Deep Trollers Report Limits by
10 Most Mornings
SPALDING - We are trolling spoons
in red/gold and red dot frog patterns in
around 40 feet of water between Wildcat
Point and Shrimp Island. There is a short,
sometimes intense bite from legal fishing
time (an hour before sunrise) to sunrise.
We have had multiple hook ups during
this period. After that, the bite slows a bit
but we usually have limits by 10 AM. Best
trolling depths are 15 to 25 feet deep.
Downriggers and lead core both work for
trollers.
I have also been noticing many fish
“working” the surface before sunrise and
have caught fish trolling as shallow as
7 feet deep at this time of the morning.
These fish are feeding on Tui Chub
minnows which are moving away from
shore and out into the main body of Eagle
Lake. Surface temperature is 72 degrees
but the trout will feed heavily on minnows
Continued on Pg 12
Ken Salvi caught this 4 lb, 24 inch German brown near Emigrant Creek.
For information, call (209)-258-8888
CAPLES LAKE RESORT
P.O. Box 88, Kirkwood, Ca 95646
www.capleslakeresort.com
3813