Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3823 Oct 25-Nov 8 | Page 10

8
Oct 25 - Nov 8, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 23
Nor Cal Trout Anglers Challenge
NorCal Trout Anglers Challenge Tournament Of Champions
To Take Place At Collins Lake November 2 & 3! by Cal Kellogg
W
hile many folks think of
Collins Lake as a spring trout
fishing destination, the impoundment
also offers outstanding action during
the fall months. When the Northern
California Trout Anglers Challenge
Tournament of Champions is held
at Collins Lake on November 5 and
6, the trout bite for big holdover
rainbows should be red hot.
There will be a long list of prizes
up for grabs at the Collins Lake TOC
including a beautiful boat, motor, and
trailer.
To catch a limit of handsome fall
trout at Collins Lake you likely won’t
have to do anything fancy, basic tactics
should work just fine.
When it comes to soaking bait off
the bank at Collins worms work,
but dough bait is king. PowerBait is
the tried and true standard in color
schemes like rainbow, chartreuse and
orange, yet other dough concoctions
work too. I’ve enjoyed excellent
results while soaking PowerBait and
Zeke’s Sierra Gold at the lake over the
past several years.
If sitting and soaking bait isn’t your
style, but you still want to fish off the
bank hiking and casting is the sport
for you. Fall and winter trout tend to
concentrate just under the surface near
the bank, making them a prime target
for bank bound pluggers. When I plug
at Collins, I typically carry a pair of
spinning rods with me.
One is armed with a quarter ounce
blue and chrome Kastmaster. The
other is rigged with a water filled
bobber trailing a black woolly bugger
streamer fly. Some days they want
that flashy Kastmaster. Other days
they want the fly and on the best days
they’ll eat both with gusto!
Trollers score well at Collins and
with a fleet of comfortable and afford-
able rental boats, anyone can troll the
lake whether they own a boat or not.
What to pull? I’ve literally spent
hundreds of hours trolling Collins
Lake over the past decade and I’ve
TROUT
TACKLE!
Kingfisher Lite Spoons
caught hundreds of trout on dozens
of different offerings. I think that any
standard trout trolling offering will
take some trout some of the time at
Collins, but based on my experience
there are a pair of offerings that will
hook trout almost all of the time.
These are the Kastmaster and minnow
plugs like Yo-Zuris and Rapalas.
Collins Lake holdovers feed on shad
and a quarter ounce Kastmaster in
chrome, chrome/blue or chrome/green
does an outstanding job of imitating
the forage as do chrome and blue
Cripplures.
In terms of minnow plugs I stick with
either black over silver or rainbow
patterns in 1.5 to 3 inch models. With
both of these lures I like to keep
trolling speeds fast in the 2 to 2.5 mph
range.
You can learn more about Collins
Lake and their facility that includes
a store, marina, camp sites, RV sites,
rental cabins and more by visiting
them online at
www.collinslake.
com.
For questions
about the tourna-
ment or to register
call Angler’s Press
[phone]. On
line at www.angler-
spress.com.
Gold Star/Yamashita Squid
for Big Pyramid Trout!
Silver Horde Plugs
Dodgers
Coho Killer Spoons
SILVERHORDE.COM – [phone]
AVAILABLE AT THESE FINE RETAILERS:
Bayside Marine
Santa Cruz [phone] Coyote Bait & Tackle
Coyote [phone]
Hi’s Tackle Box
San Francisco [phone] Discount Mart Bay Tackle
El Cerrito [phone]
Will Fish Tackle
Auburn [phone] Sacramento Pro Tackle
Sacramento [phone]
Fisherman’s Warehouse
Sacramento [phone]
Manteca [phone]
San Jose [phone]
Petaluma Sport & Dive
Petaluma [phone]
JD Auto Gone Fishin’
Sand City [phone] Outdoor Pro Shop
Cotati [phone]
Jerry’s Marine & Tackle
Atascadero
[phone] Englund Marine
Crescent City
[phone]
West Marine
Select Locations Englund Marine
Eureka [phone]
Sponsor Support For NTAC Tour
Strong!
If you’ve ever attended a NorCal
Trout Anglers Challenge event in the
past, you know that a lot of tackle and
bait is given away. Without the tour’s
extensive sponsor list these special
giveaways wouldn’t be possible.
Gone Fishin’ Marine of Dixon has
come forward as an NTAC sponsor
again this year and will have a strong
presence at tour events.
Thomas Lures, Silver Horde,
Yo-Zuri, Mack’s Lure/Shasta Tackle,
Hot Spot/Apex, Rapala, Luhr Jensen,
Pro-Cure and Dick Nite Spoons
will be providing an array of lures,
dodgers, scents and more.
Yakima Bait has jumped into the
fray once again and is providing all
manner of baits including the tried and
true Rooster Tail and Flatfish that have
been killing trout for decades.
Berkley is providing line, bait and
more.
Pro-Cure Bait Scents is also a part of
the NTAC team in 2019, so you’ll be
seeing Super Gel and other products at
events this season.
Last but not least, the team at Fish-
erman’s Warehouse are on board. If
you want gear tailored to our local
fisheries, Fisherman’s is a great place
to go!
When it’s time to
purchase gear,
please remember
these manufac-
turers and retailers
that have stepped
forward to
promote the
great sport of
trout fishing
across
northern
and
central
Cali-
fornia.