Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3820 Sept 13-27 | Page 15

LAKE DEL VALLE
cont.
They are being caught just before Swallow
Bay and near the dam,” he tipped.
“This last month we had a total of 750
pounds of catfish planted in the lake,”
he added. “The catfish like the Narrows,
Swallow Bay and all of the coves with
structure. Nightcrawlers, anchovies and
sardines have been the top baits for the
cats.”
The bass are holding in deeper water,
hanging around rock points, weed lines,
drop offs, and any structure you can find.
Lots of smallmouth in the two-pound
range are hitting baits, drop shots, and
grub jigs. Trollers can catch the smallies in
Heron Bay in about 15-foot of water while
using panther martin spinners.
If you want crappie and bluegill,
he recommended using red worms,
nightcrawlers, and little jigs.
The first plant of 750 pounds of rainbow
trout is scheduled for the week of
September 9-13.
EAGLE LAKE
Trouters Experience Great
Trolling!
SPALDING - Two weeks ago Tim Noxon
of Fish Traveler Guide Service related that
anglers fishing Eagle Lake were getting
limits and near limits depending on the
day. At this point, not much has changed.
The rainbows are still biting and anglers
13
Sept 13-27, 2019
FRESHWATER
VOL.38 • ISS. 20
are reeling in solid numbers
of 2 to 4-pound trout.
30 feet has been the best
depth for trollers working
over 40 to 50 feet of water.
The fish are chomping on
minnows, so hardware in
the form of spoons has been
the best offering. Needlefish,
Speedy Shiners, Cripplures
and Dick Nites are all taking
fish.
If spoons aren’t working,
break out the 2 inch grubs
and threaded worms.
Reduce your speed to 1 mph
and you should be able to
trigger a few strikes.
The area near Shrimp
Island has been consistently
booting out fish as has the
deep-water offshore of the
Eagle’s Nest.
As the nights get longer
and cooler look for the trout Danny used a PowerBait to tempt this stringer of big Collins
Lake rainbows this August.
to begin moving toward the
Photo courtesy of the COLLINS LAKE RECREATION AREA,
surface. Based on the bite
Oregon House.
right now, things should
get very exciting this fall
when the trout return to the
surface.
EAST DELTA
Tim Noxon, the legendary Eagle Lake
Largemouth Bass Are Top
fishing guide of Fish Traveler Guide
Late Summer Quarry
Service, is back on the water and putting
clients on big hard fighting Eagle Lake
STOCKTON - It remains very hot in
trout! If you’d like to experience the best
the Central Valley and throughout the
that Eagle Lake has to offer, book a trip
Delta, and largemouth bass are the most
with Tim and get your Eagle Lake rainbow
desired species during these final days
on!
of summer. The bass are holding under
To reach Tim, dial [phone].
shade in current, taking advantage of the
coolest water available. The punch bite
has been the best in the hot weather.
Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor,
reported excellent largemouth action
with the ima Finesse Popper in the early
mornings before switching over to the ima
Squarebill in craw patterns along with the
Pit Boss. He said, “You have to stay with
the hatch right now, and the key is to stay
in the strike zone as long as possible and
always around current. You have to watch
the weeds more right now as the weeds
have to be bent over and moving right
now for the correct amount of current. The
bass are holding in the spaces between
rocks and tules, and we are still picking up
around 20 to 30 bass per outing to around
6 pounds.”
Vince Borges of Vince Borges Outdoors
has been scoring best by punching the
weeds with two different patterns – the
Reaction Innovation’s Kinky Beaver in
Bloody Mary without a skirt because of its
thinner profile or the Sprayed Grass with a
skirt in bluegill patterns as the skirt bulks
out the lure.
He said, “We are seeing small bluegill
scattered in the hyacinth or primrose, and
there are also crawdads under the mats.
I use a 1.5-ounce tungsten punch weight,
but if I can go lighter, I will. The better fish
are around the points in open pockets
in deeper water to 6 feet. There is also
a good mid-day topwater bite with the
Reaction Innovation’s Vixen in bluegill, the
Yozuri Pencil in bone, or the Yozuri Noi-Z
in golden shiner all working. These are
walking-style baits.
Kris Huff of Stockton put together a solid
limit including a huge largemouth bass
Continued on Pg 14
HOW TO
Join us for a unique experience
that will keep
your family
coming back
year after year!
Docks
and Boat
Slips
Available
RV Sites • Cabins • Tent Sites
Free WiFi • Rec Room • Grocery Store
• Gas • Diesel • LPG • Laundry
www.EagleLakeandRV.com
Corner of The Strand and Palmetto Way
Spalding, California
3809
GREAT FISHING
AT CAPLES LAKE!
Bob’s spinners hook fish in Alaska, on
the Rogue, on the Columbia and on the
Sacramento River in California.
Beyond the Toman Spinner’s unique
blade shape they offer a long list of other
advantages including a low alloy brass
blade that retains its flash over the long
haul because it resists corrosion. The
paints are UV enhanced powder coats that
resist chipping, fading and scratching. The
hooks are not only high quality and razor
sharp they are also rigidly mounted and
aligned for maximum hooking success
when that big king comes knocking.
Running a close second in effectiveness
to spinners are T-50 Flatfish. Flatfish need
no introduction to Golden State salmon
junkies, because they’ve been hooking
trophy fish for decades. Like spinners,
Flatfish can be trolled anywhere from 1 to
3 plus miles and hour, although a speed
of 1.5 to 2.2 seems to work best in my
experience.
Flatfish come in
3813
a long list of UV
enhance finishes.
For fishing the Delta
By Cal Kellogg
and Sac Valley fishery, favorites include
chrome/chartreuse, chartreuse, hot pink,
orange and pearl. Just remember confi-
dence means everything, so pick out a few
colors you have confidence in and fish
them hard!
When using Flatfish you’ll want to wrap
them with bait. A thin strip of sardine fillet
is standard, but adding a bit of crawfish
or prawn meat can make a big difference
when the salmon are playing hard to get.
If you’ve never wrapped a lure before
using miracle thread, it takes a bit of
practice, but when the lure works properly
beside the boat you’ll know you’ve done
the job correctly. See the illuatration with
this article for more information on plug
wrapping.
Rolling baits like Brad’s Cut Plugs
have come on strong in recent years and
they can be deadly, but you know me,
I’m a dirty bait angler. I run Brad’s lures
at times, but as likely as not if I want a
rolling bait you’ll find me rigged up with
plug cut herring. Real meat is tough to
beat!
Okay let’s put these rigs into the water
on Highway 88 at Carson Pass
• Cabins and
Lodge Rooms
• Fishing Tackle
• Camping
Supplies
• Marina
• Boat Rentals
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
• Trout
• Bass
• Crappie
• Bluegill
• Catfish
Largest Trout Stocking Program
North of Sacramento
Lakefront
RV
Camping
Call for Reservations
800-286-0576
www.collinslake.com
P.O. Box 300 . Oregon House . California 95962
3820
continued from page 11
and troll. Sinker selection is based on the
amount of flow, but let’s say the flow is
average so you start out with a 3 ounce
sinker snapped on a rig armed with either
a plug or spinner. To catch salmon while
trolling the Delta you want your lure near
the bottom, so with the boat moving 1.5
miles per hour lower your rig slowly down
until you feel the sinker hit the bottom and
then bring it up one turn of the reel. With
the lure near the bottom, put the rod in a
hold with the drag set fairly loose and the
clicker engaged.
You should be able to see or feel the
rhythmic action of your lure on the rod
tip. As you troll keep an eye on both the
rod tip and the depth finder. If the water
gets deeper let out more line, if it gets
shallower retrieve line. Check your gear
frequently for leaves and other junk.
Your line should enter the water at a
steep angle. If too much line is scoping
out behind the boat, that means you need a
heavier sinker.
Salmon will hit a lure moving with
or against the current. Naturally when
trolling against the current the boat can
move slower and the lure will still work
well. When moving with the current
you need to be moving faster than the
surrounding water for the lure to work.
I prefer trolling against the current
whenever possible.
Some salmon strikes are savage, while
others are more subtle with the rod just
gradually loading up as if you’ve hooked a
large piece of debris. The most important
thing is to stay cool and not jerk the rod
out of the holder until the rod is really
doubled over or the fish begins head
shaking which is signaled by a series of
sharp jabs that typically yank the tip down
a foot or more several times in quick
succession. At this point the salmon is
hooked. Slip the rod out of the holder and
fight your fish!
And by the way, make sure you have a
net big enough to net a salmon. I’ve had
more than one reader come to me with
stories about doing everything right, only
to have big 30 plus pound kings escape
because the trout or striper net they had
aboard simply wasn’t big enough to scoop
a 40 inch 14 inch wide salmon….Ouch!