BISHOP, CALIF. AREA: Gary Olson of the Bishop Creek Resorts (760-873-4484):
Intake No. 2: Doing well with rainbow Power Bait and Salmon eggs. We are starting to hear success with Velveeta Cheese, also. Panther/Martin lures or white Trout Teasers on a bobber getting good reviews.
North Lake: Continues to do well with nightcrawlers and Power Bait. Float tubers are having great success with olive Matukas and some good action with green bodied Mosquitoes and Sierra Bright Dots on the surface.
South Lake: A 6-pound, 6-ounce rainbow on rainbow Power Bait, a 6-pound, 1-ounce rainbow on a Thomas Buoyant lure and a 5-pound, 5-ounce rainbow on a Lip Ripperz lure. The fishing has been great. Trolling with a gold Kastmaster was the hit on Saturday. Shore fishing good with rainbow Power Bait or nightcrawlers. Red/gold Thomas Buoyants lures have been great behind the island and trolling with long green Streamers.
Bishop Creek: Running fast now but the fishing continues to improve. Lots of fish coming out with several large Alpers and some nice DF&G trophies. Nightcrawlers and Salmon eggs working best. Still finding a hole or nice little eddy is the key. Great areas near Table Mtn. Campground up to Tyee Bridge.
Backcountry: The trail is pretty good to Ruwau now and the lake is almost ice free. Great fishing with surface flies or Kastmaster lures. Green Lake is open with the fishing
starting to improve. Black Gnats or worms are best.
BISHOP, CALIF. Patti Apted of the Lake Sabrina Boat Landing (760-873-7425):
Sabrina Lake: Was great for most anglers. All we saw were pan-size fish, but lots of them. All but one larger fish stayed in hiding Ð the one being lured out of hiding on Salmon Eggs, tipped the scales at 4-1/2 pounds. The lake is rising about 2-1/2 to 3 feet a day and it won't be long until we are full. Worms or eggs worked the best for the still fisherman. For the trollers, flashers with a worm or small spoon lure such as a Thomas Buoyant brought in quite a few fish. Also, just pulling an olive Matuka or olive Woolly Bugger fly has worked well for the trollers. DF&G stocked Monday with a few fish tipping the scales at 3 pounds.
BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): The road is now open but I've had no fishing reports.
BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF: Jim Reid of Ken's Sporting Goods Store (760-932-7707) (at 11 a.m.): Doing real well, mostly from boats, not from shore. A lot of 3-4 pounders, mostly from boats still fishing or fly fishing.
CARSON RIVERS, CALIF: East Carson River: West Carson River: Dave Kirby: Fishing real strong, the water is clear and running good with lots of fish. This morning (Monday), Leo Lindsey of Dayton caught a 11.75-pound rainbow on rubber Salmon eggs. Yesterday, Pat Redick of Minden caught a 4.5 pound rainbow on a nightcrawler.
CONVICT LAKE, CALIF: Michelle West of the Convict Lake Resort (800-992-2260): A 6.64 pound rainbow on green Power Bait from the north shore, a 5.77 pound rainbow on Lemon Twist Power Bait from the south shore, a 5.24 pound rainbow on a nightcrawler from the south shore and a 5.15 pounder on a Thomas Buoyant lure from the south shore.
CRATER LAKE, CALIF. (Near Kit Carson Pass): A report of a fly fisherman catching and releasing 75 brook trout in one day, last week.
FEATHER RIVER, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, Redding, Calif. (800-670-4448): Oroville to Yuba City: Fishing is extremely slow, low water levels. River flows 2,500 CFS. Catching a few King Salmon at the outlet. The current limits for Kings is 1 salmon per person. July 16, you are allowed 3 Kings per person.
FEATHER RIVER, CALIF: Dave Jacobs/Hank Mautz (Professional Guide Service) (800-355-3113) or (530-365-8140): Anglers can expect much tougher fishing conditions with lower flows and high water temps. Many salmon have moved upstream in the low flow section of the Feather where flows are only 600 CFS with much colder water temps. Anglers can expect a better bite as conditions improve with higher flows in the future. Best salmon bite has been early in the morning or late in the evening. Shad fishing has also slowed due to the high water temps as many shad have already spawned for the year.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported that Doug Yamane of Los Altos, Calif. caught a 8.5 pound rainbow on a bead-head Hare's Ear fly on Saturday.
KINNEY RESERVOIR, CALIF: Dave Kirby said two fishermen reported that on Sunday, they caught 9 nice fat rainbows from shore with nightcrawlers.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: Missy Swain at Burke's Market (Closed on Mondays) at Silver Springs (775-577-2750): It was a busy Holiday. There were an estimated 12,000-17,000 people. The weather was beautiful. Lots of fishermen but no one is reporting back to us. They are catching lots of White Bass, using bright colored jigs, Roostertail lures, minnows (when available) or worms. If you come out here, bring lots of mosquito repellent. They are so bad, we can not even sit outside at night.
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Closed to Lahontan Cutthroat Trout fishing until Sept. 1.
SACRAMENTO RIVER: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, Redding, Calif. (800-670-4448): Water flows are 13,500 CFS.
Drifting the Redding to Anderson stretch for wild rainbows.
Fishing is excellent with 15-40 fish days, average size is 12-18 inches, several over 20 inches.
Fly fishing, using Stone flies, Micro Mayflies, Pheasant Tails, Bead Head Copper John and egg patterns.
Spinfishing, using Flatfish lures.
SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero: Fishing for the beautiful King Salmon on the Sac Arm has been quite slow this past weekend. Trolling, 60-100 feet deep, using shad pattern lures to entice these nice fish, producing a few , but not like the last week.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:
Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters (800-877-1462): "We have been getting our Mackinaw trout early in the morning. I'm tagging and releasing the smaller ones. We have been catching lots of fish, up to 5-6 pounds, but nothing super big.
I've been trolling the deep-water area in front of Carnelian Bay and King's Beach with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades with live minnows or large Apex lures."
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:
Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters and Tahoe Trophy Trout at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552): "Fishing has been good. We have been trolling at 180 feet with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows. I've been fishing Cal-Neva Point and the Tahoe City Shelf.
LAKE TAHOE - South Shore: Gene St. Denis: "I've been trolling at Ski Run Shelf and Camp Richardson. We have been trolling at 160-250 feet with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows.
LAKE TAHOE - East Shore: Gene St. Denis: "Trolling has been fair to good for Macks 2-7 pounds. Trolling 150-250 feet deep with Dodgers and live minnows."
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775) 266-3550: Jim O'Banion of Smith Valley planted 27 fish (150 pounds) on Saturday as a donation to Topaz Lake. Those fish averaged about 5-6 pounds, They ranged from 3.5 pounds to 10-11 pounds. Not much fishing with all of the jet skis and the water skiers. The shore fishermen are catching some fish on the southwest corner with nightcrawlers. Boats are anchoring where the river comes in and catching their limits in about a half day with nightcrawlers or Chartreuse Power Bait. The North end has been real quiet.
VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF: Carolyn Webb of the Virginia Lakes Resort: Another spectacular week of fishing. How does spectacular get better, it's just great. Fish and Game stocked Thursday, and Alpers showed up on Friday for a bonus weekend. Little Virginia and Big Virginia have been hauling in poundage and it's been hard to flip burgers and weigh fish. Worms, nightcrawlers, yellow Power Bait, lures, Lip Rippers and teasers will promise a nice fight. A 7-pound, 13-ounce rainbow on a Kastmaster lure, a 7-pound, 2-ounce rainbow on a Kastmaster lure, a 6-pound, 8-ounce rainbow on a pink Berkeley Gulp, a 6-pound, 4-ounce rainbow on a lure and a 6-pound, 1-ounce rainbow on Power Bait.
WALKER RIVERS, CALIF: Jim Reid reported:
East Walker: Running at 730 CFS and fishing very well. A 26-inch rainbow caught and released on an olive Matuka fly.
West Walker: Still high but coming down to about 1,100 CFS. Some success in the slower, deeper pockets.
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR, NEV: Dennis Dunn at the Wild Horse Resort (775) 758-6472: "It rained last night (Tuesday), it is nice and cool and cloudy. The reservoir is full. The fish turned on the last 10 days and everyone is going home with limits. Some nice fat fish (rainbows and cuttbows up to 6 pounds) are being caught. The fishermen are using Mormon Crickets as they are all over the lake and the fish are feeding on them."