NORCAL FRESH REPORTS

NORCAL Storms slow Sacramento River fishing just as stripers start to make a showing…Trinity…more BY JIM JONES/WON Staff WriterPublished: Mar 11, 2010

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Northern Cal BUD NEVILLE Reports BY BUD NEVILLE/WON Staff Writer SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento River was dropping, but still muddy with lots of debris; however, anglers were catching quite a few sturgeon and even the occasional striped bass. “They’re starting to pick up a few stripers, and sturgeon fishing has been real good at Lisbon Slough,” said Yee Vang of Broadway Bait Rod and Gun. “I’ve been getting lots of texts from my buddies about all the oversized sturgeon they’ve been catching in Lisbon Slough. One of our regulars, Thao Vang, caught a 62-inch sturgeon, a long and skinny male, on pileworms. It’s a zoo out there though. They’re using ghost shrimp and pileworms on a double hook setup.” Vang said they’re getting a few stripers at Bryte’s Beach on bloodworms and sardines, and a few in the Port on minnows. Bob Bradbury of Johnson’s Bait and Tackle said that sturgeon fishing was good from Verona upstream. Mike Gearly of Yuba City caught a sturgeon at Verona on ghost shrimp, and Bradbury said that quite a few were being caught all the way to Colusa. He said the river has dropped 8 feet, but is still muddy. Most ramps in the region are now open with the exception of the Tisdale Ramp. “We’re going to talk to the Board of Supervisors this week,” he said. “What good is it to have a perfectly good boat ramp if you can’t use it?” Steelhead fishing on Trinity River challenging but rewarding BY JIM JONES/WON Staff Writer DOUGLAS CITY— Steelheaders shouldn’t expect to catch a half a dozen fish a day on the Trinity these days, but there are some nice, bright adults moving into the Douglas City area according to Liam Gogan of Trinity River Outfitters, and very few anglers trying for them. “I fished a couple of days this week and averaged two adult wild fish landed — nice fish,” he said. “We’re working hard, but there’s virtually no traffic, and the river is in beautiful shape, flowing around 750 cfs at Douglas City.” Gogan said he thinks he’ll be able to squeeze another three or four weeks of worthwhile steelhead fishing out of the season. Steve Stippler from Santa Rosa landed the biggest steelhead of the week, a beautiful 9-pound wild fish, on a No. 12 poxy back Hare’s Ear. The other productive fly for the week was something called the 20 incher, a peacock herl stonefly. He said that, because there’s not been much precipitation, the Trinity is in good shape down to the South Fork. On the Klamath, Tom Wilson of Spey-Geean Point Lodging and Guide Service located about a mile downstream of the mouth of the Trinity below Weitchpec, said that that stretch of river is experiencing a fresh run of adult steelhead. And, steelhead fishing continued to be productive between Iron Gate Dam, and Happy Camp. Bass coming alive in Calero and Anderson BY JIM JONES/WON Staff Writer COYOTE — It's just a bit early, but it looks like spring is springing and the birds and bees — and bass — are starting to feel frisky. Which means, of course that bass fishing is improving, and fish are moving up in the water column. Mark Tineda of Coyote Bait and Tackle said that bass at Anderson Reservoir still haven’t gotten very much into the mood, but, fishing at Calero has really perked up. At Anderson, fish are still relatively deep, and are responding mostly to slowly worked soft plastics. Drop-shotting, Carolina-rigged plastics and dragging jigs in water 15 to 25 feet deep are the way to go. If the nice weather continues the reaction bite should take off soon, though. It’s a different story at Calero. There, the fish are definitely moving up as they get in the mood to spawn. Tineda said that decent anglers working Senkos and jigs in 10 to 15 feet deep water — perhaps even shallower — should score several bass an outing weighing 3 to 5 pounds. There’s no word on anything happening at Uvas or Chesbro reservoirs. A large pothole in the road by the campground is keeping vehicles away from the water at Coyote Reservoir. Folsom Lake still producing lots of trout and salmon BY JIM JONES/WON Staff Writer GRANITE BAy — Anglers using basic trolling techniques continued to catch limits and near limits of trout and salmon at Folsom Lake last week. Bass fishing continued to improve as well. “We’ve been doing about the same every time out,” said Jerry Lampkin of TNG Motorsports Guide Service. “We got 16 today. It was good in the morning, but slowed about 11 a.m., then picked up again around 1 p.m.” Lampkin said the same approach he’s been using the past couple of weeks continued to score. He’s trolling Speedy Shiner’s and Yo-Zuri Pins Minnows on downriggers about 20 feet deep and toplining a J-7 Rapala in Hot Steel about 150 feet in back of the boat. The trolling speed is set at 3 mph. He said the catch has been divided evenly between king salmon and trout, and the fish have been ranging to 17 inches. The lake is about midway up the ramp at Granite Bay, and rising a little over a foot a day. Lampkin said he’s been getting almost all his fish between Granite Bay and the Dam. Not much has been happening on the Brown’s Ravine side. “I’m starting out before I even leave the 5 mph zone,” he said with a laugh. As for bass, they are continuing to come closer to the surface. The reaction bite is picking up a bit, but most fish are still lethargic and have been responding better to slowly worked baits: drop-shotted plastics in Morning Dawn and Aaron’s Magic, for example. Minnows drifted with a small weight, and under a bobber have also been effective.