Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3814 June 21- July 5 2019 | Page 6

4
FRESHWATER
June 21 - July 5, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 14
John Sherman and his son Kasix show off
a big Delta sturgeon they teamed up to land
during a late April fishing adventure with
Shawn Flading and Greg McElroy.
Photo courtesy of FISHSNIFFER.COM.
FRESHWATER REPORTS
ALMANOR
Big Rainbows Continue To
Blitz Spoons!
CHESTER- Captain Bryan Roccucci
has been putting his clients on incredible
rainbow trout fishing at Lake Almanor. The
hex hatch is underway and the trout are
aggressively feeding.
“We are chasing isolated pockets of
feeding activity that pop up throughout
the morning,” says Roccucci. “When you
get into an area where the rainbows are
feeding the action is incredible and the
trout are red hot. When you hook them
they make crazy runs and toss in some
wild jumps for good measure.”
“We’ve been using spoons a lot
recently and they are working well. At
some point, we’ll have to slow down,
but trolling quickly is working great right
now. The average rainbow is going
about 3 pounds and fish to 6 have been
showing. Occasionally we pick up a king
or a brown, but it’s been mostly rainbows
recently,” Roccucci added.
Fish Sniffer reader Brian Knowles visited
Almanor and had great fishing while
trolling and drifting bait under bobbers.
“I took my canoe up to Almanor. I picked
up 5 big rainbows to 4.11 pounds while
trolling an F-5 frog pattern Flatfish. When
I got tired of trolling I got a few more trout
and some really good smallmouth bass to
about 4 pounds while drifting both crickets
and mini-crawlers under a slip bobber.
I’ve been watching Cal Kellogg’s videos
on YouTube and decided I had to try
Almanor. I’d never been there before, but I
can tell you I will absolutely be back,” said
Knowles.
patches of road for anglers pulling
trailers to watch out for.
French Meadows is a good
bet for trollers and bank
fishermen in pursuit of
rainbow and brown trout.
“I made a trip in my kayak
to French Meadows on a
slow day, but still caught
two fish, a 16 inch rainbow
and a 17 inch brown,” said
Cal Kellogg, Fish Sniffer
Editor. “The rainbow hit
at 15 feet deep, while
the brown hit a
black Maglips
lure at 21
feet
deep.
The
water
temperature
was only
47degrees.”
“I saw a lot of
marks on the graph, but I think
the hailstorm that went through
messed up the bite,” said Kellogg.
“I talked to one guy at the launch
ramp who said he had landed easy
limits of trout on his previous trip
while trolling spoons.”
Kellogg advised anglers
launching out of both launch ramps
to watch for floating woody debris,
including a full size Ponderosa pine.

- Dan Bacher
AMERICAN RIVER
AMERICAN BASIN
Mackinaws Chomping On
Plugs at Hell Hole
Anglers Lay Into Stripers and
Shad
SACRAMENTO – While the solid shad
fishing is drawing the attention of most
anglers on the American River, there is
AUBURN – Boaters trolling with
also a sleeper striper bite for anglers
J-Plugs, Rapalas and other big plugs
willing to spend the time. However,
along the bottom are picking up some
fishermen targeting both species have to
quality mackinaw at Hell Hole Reservoir.
adjust their tactics to accommodate for
“The biggest fish I’ve heard of weighed
the increased releases of 13,000 cfs to
15 pounds,” said Craig Newton at Willfish
the American River below Nimbus Dam
Bait and Tackle. “Most of the macks are in
“A couple of customers reported
the 7 to 8 lb. range.”
catching stripers to 7 pounds while fishing
Anglers trolling stickbaits along the
minnows from a boat below Cal Expo,”
shoreline are also picking up some
said Craig Newton and Willfish Bait and
German browns, Newton noted.
Tackle. “They also caught some shad on
The roads into Hell Hole from both
jumbo minnows.”
Georgetown and French Meadows are
Good numbers of shad are now showing
now open, but there are some rough
from the mouth at Discovery Park up to
Sunrise, reported
Dennis Pfanner
at Sacramento
Pro Tackle. Two
of the top spots
to pursue shad
remain Gristmill and
Harrington’s Access.
“Shad fishing is
Captain Bryan Roccucci really good on the
American from Watt
Avenue to Sunrise,”
said Alan Fong at
LAKE
AMADOR
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• General Store
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Lake Almanor
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Davis Lake
and Almanor
Eagle Lake
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Call for Best Dates – [phone]
Fisherman’s
Warehouse in Sacramento. “Most
anglers are using chartreuse and
champagne plastic grubs with 1/16 oz. to
1/32 oz. jigheads. Fishermen are using the
1/32 oz. heads with split shot and the 1/16
ox. jigheads under bobbers. The majority
of fish are males, with some females
mixed in.”

- Dan Bacher
BERRYESSA LAKE
Kokanee Salmon Bite Turns
On
WINTERS – After several years of tough
fishing, the kokanee salmon bite has
rebounded at Berryessa this year.
‘On my last three trips, we landed limits
of kokanee in the 14 to 16 inch range, with
a few rainbows mixed in,” said Troy Barr
of -T-Roy’s Guide Service. “The kokanee
are really fat and full of food. The rainbows
range from 17 to 23 inches long.”
“The kokanee are scattered all of over
the lake,” said Barr. “There is no certain
spot they are concentrated in, but I expect
them to start bunching up a little with the
warmer weather.”
Barr has been fishing at 20 to 55 feet
deep with RMT blades with Radical Glow
spinners, Uncle Larry’s spinners, Radical
glow tubes & Apex spoons with Pautkze
fire corn & Mike’s scents.
Big channel catfish are on the chomp
with the warming weather. Just ask Jay
Fossen, who landed a 37 lb. channel cat
while bait fishing on the north end of the
lake, reported Jose Rubio of Sweeney’s
Sports in Napa.
“The catfish are
hitting best in the
mouths of Putah Creek
and other creeks on the
lake,” said Rubio. “They
are falling for smelly
baits, including anchovies, sardines and
chicken liver.”
“Crappie fishing is on fire,” he noted.
“Shore anglers and boaters are catching
limits of crappie while drifting medium
minnows under slip bobbers in Markley
Cove and other coves. The crappie are in
the 1 to 2 lb. range.”
Rubio gave a “pretty good” rating to the
bass fishing. Boaters are catching and
releasing largemouth, smallmouth and
spotted bass in the 2 to 4 lb. range while
using finesse tactics in shallow water.
“Anglers are using drop shot rigs with
Robo Worms in morning dawn and
margarita mutilator patterns, as well as
jigs. Tossing out crankbaits in 10 to 12
feet of water on the east side of the lake
is also productive.”
BULLARDS BAR/
ENGLEBRIGHT
RESERVOIRS
Boaters Bag Kokanee
Salmon Limits
DOBBINS – Bullards Bar Reservoir
remains the surest bet in the state if you
want to catch a ten-fish limit of kokanee
salmon.
“Most of the fish are in the 11 to 12 inch
range,” said Craig Newton at Willfish Bait
and Tackle. “A big fish is 13 inches long.
The fish are still scattered off the points
across the lake.”
“Boaters are picking up their limits while
trolling hoochies and spinner bugs in pink
and orange, tipped with corn, at 20 to 60
feet behind dodgers,” said Newton. “The
larger fish are showing deeper. There is
a morning, afternoon and evening bite for
the kokanee..”
Continued on Pg 8
Salmon • Striper • Trout • Kokanee
Great Fishing for Rainbows,
Browns and Lake Trout!
•Cabins •Campground •Restaurant & Bar
•Fishing Boat Rentals
Call for Information and Reservations
3614
[phone]
40800 Highway 88, Pioneer, CA 95666
www.bearrivercampground.com
• Stripers
• Oroville
Kings
• Stampede
Kokanee
[phone] • [phone]
www.fishbarebones.com
3807