FRESHWATER
28 July 6 - 20 , 2018 VOL . 37 • ISS . 15
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
CONTINUED FROM PG 17
QUARRY LAKES cont .
caught a monster channel catfish ( not weighed ) while fishing a shrimp with the shell on by Fishermen ’ s Row .
Joaquin Gutierrez also landed a rainbow while fishing from his boat on Horseshoe Lake . He was using a red and gold spoon .
Reminder : the use of lead fishing tackle is prohibited at Quarry Lakes . You can exchange lead tackle at the kiosk in a “ 1 for 1 ” trade for stainless steel weights .
- Dan Bacher
RANCHO SECO LAKE
Largemouth Bass , Sunfish Offer Top Summer Sport
HERALD - The Sacramento Municipal Utility District ’ s Rancho Seco Reservoir , a scenic 160-acre year-round recreational facility nestled in the rolling countryside of Sacramento County between Galt and Ione , is a great spot to target largemouth bass , redear sunfish and crappie this summer .
There are big bass available on the
Liam landed and release this incredible Crowley Lake rainbow during a June outing . Photo courtesy of SIERRA DRIFTERS GUIDE SERVICE , Bishop .
lake , as evidenced by the recent catch and release of a 10 lb . largemouth . The angler hooked the fish while using a plastic frog , according to Dee Sawyer of the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company .
Besides frogs and other top water lures , anglers can hook largemouth bass at Rancho Seco while using Senkos , other plastic worms , jigs , swimbaits and crankbaits .
Rancho Seco is a lake with the potential for producing a state or world record
largemouth bass . The lake has the three characteristics needed to produce record class fish : Florida-strain genes ; conditions that allow the fish to reach large size ; and a good food source , particularly planted rainbows .
The lake also features good populations of redear sunfish , black crappie and bluegill , along with channel catfish . Fishing for all four species is best for boaters , float tubers and shore anglers in the spring and summer .
On August 16 , 2015 , Brad McGarity of Galt set a new California state record for “ hybrid sunfish ” when he landed a fish weighing 1 pounds , 4 ounces and measuring 11 inches long and 11.25 inches in girth at Rancho Seco .
Trout fishing will resume in the fall when the water temperature cools down and rainbow trout plants begin .
Fishing at the family-oriented facility , operated by the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company in conjunction with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District , ( SMUD ), is available year-round .
For more information about the Rancho Seco Recreational Area , call 209-748-2318 or visit http :// www . rockymountainrec . com / lakes / lake-rancho-seco . htm or https :// www . smud . org / en / about-smud / community / recreational-areas / rancho-seco-lake . htm
- Dan Bacher forward to tangling with some halibut and bass .
As Captain Jonathan motored out of the Berkeley Marina and our deckhand / commercial halibut angler Greg Brown gave a seminar on fishing technique near the bait tank we spotted the first sign of trouble . Jonathan had planned to make an early halibut stop right near the old Berkeley Pier , but the water was muddy … really muddy . The big tide , combined with a stiff 20 plus knot wind had stirred up the bottom and severely impacted visibility . Muddy water and live bait fishing don ’ t go together . Halibut and bass feeding in the bay rely on their vision to locate the bait . If they can ’ t see your live anchovy , you aren ’ t going to get hit .
Well offshore from Berkeley , Jonathan
GONE FISHING continued from page 1
Rancho Seco Recreational Area
Stay and play !
Open year round with RV sites , waterfront campsites and BBQ ’ s . You can rent electric and row boats , kayaks , and paddle boards for more water fun !
• Wet a line
• Hike a trail
• Pitch a tent
Visit smud . org / RanchoSeco or call 1-800-416-6992 .
© SMUD 1223-17
• Launch a boat
• Have a picnic
located a strip of water that seemed to have a little better clarity so we dropped our baits in . We got a couple halfhearted bites on that drift , but no fish were hooked .
“ Roll up your lines folks ,” Jonathan announced over the boat ’ s microphone . “ We ’ ve got to go find some better water .”
To make a long story shorter , the only fishable water we could locate was up north at Paradise . It was a small area and just about every boat fishing that day ended up there .
The fish were biting and we immediately started landing and releasing big numbers of undersize bass and halibut , but there were very few keeper size fish mixed in .
As the day went one the wind blew
Rancho Seco Recreational Area is located 25 miles south of Sacramento at 14960 Twin Cities Road in Herald , CA .
80
N
1-5
From Sacramento , take Highway 99 South to the Highway 104 exit . Go East on Highway 104 , 15 miles , to the Rancho Seco Park exit .
Park Operator
Sacramento
99
Twin Cities Rd .
104 harder and harder and we kept on landing shakers . Once in a great while a small keeper would show up . Our anglers had a good time , but when we headed in around 4:30 our score for the day was pretty dismal , consisting of a handful of schoolie stripers and a few halibut just over the 22 inch minimum .
With more wind in the forecast for the next day and an even bigger tide predicted we knew we needed to change things up .
Captain Chris Smith was at the dentist on June 14 , but the 15th both he and Jonathan were aboard the boat .
“ We are going to bounce around a lot today ,” Chris announced . “ We are going to hit some central bay rocks to see if they are holding some stripers and we ’ ll also sneak outside and work the coast for a couple hours for rockfish and lingcod . We ’ ll do whatever it takes to find some action .”
After leaving the marina Friday morning we shot over to the bait docks in
Vicinity Map
Herald
Clay
Clay Station Rd .
Park Entrance
Rancho Seco Recreational Area
San Francisco and then Captain Chris piloted the Happy Hooker under the Golden Gate Bridge and up the north coast . It was rough and windy offshore , but calm enough to fish along the coast .
We pushed north for about a half hour and then stopped on some rocks in 40 to 50 feet of water . Down the live anchovies went and a mix of black and brown rockfish started coming over the rail . Jonathan , Greg
With slow halibut action inside the bay , the Happy Hooker ventured beyond the Golden Gate on June 15 for a mix of rockfish and lingcod .
Photo courtesy of HAPPY HOOKER SPORTFISHING , Berkeley .
and I worked the deck , baiting hooks , laughing with anglers , bagging fish and gaffing the occasional keeper lingcod .
In all we spent about 2 hours working the rocks . When the tide changed and the weather came up around 11 o ’ clock we headed back into the bay with half limits of rockfish and 7 keeper lingcod in the box . With some meat for our anglers to take home , it was time to start the search for halibut and stripers !
On the way in Chris talked to some skippers that had opted to stay inside the bay and the reports were pretty bad . We ’ d made the right call heading outside .
Despite the tough conditions , we put a handful of keeper bass and a single halibut into the box in the afternoon . One of the afternoon highlights was watching an old fishing buddy of mine named Joe Schwark Jr . battle a massive stingray to the boat that we estimated at around 80 pounds . What an epic give and take fight that was !