BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): "Saturday was miserable with all of the snow and wind, all day long. The road (S.R. 88) was closed most of the day. In fact, they had an avalanche that almost swept two cars off the road in an area where there has never been an problem with avalanches. Sunday was nicer and there were a few humans out and about."
DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Blizzard conditions all day Saturday kept the fishermen away.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530-993-4683): Fishing continues to be good. Local fishermen have been having tons of success at Lunker Point using nightcrawlers and green glitter marshmallows.
A 5.75 pound rainbow at the dam on Friday, with worms. Boats can be put in at Lunker Point. Dry camping is allowed in unlocked areas.
HINKSON SLOUGH, NEV (on the Mason Valley Wildlife Management Area): Elmer Bull reported, "Last Thursday, there were 4 fishermen (three fly fishing with black Woolly Bugger flies and one with a gold blade Mepps spinner). They were averaging about 1 trout per hour and their largest was a 16-incher."
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported that on Sunday, John Mandoki of Carson City caught a 4.5 pound rainbow from shore with red Power Bait. There was no ice on the reservoir and the paved road from S.R. 4 & S.R. 89 was open.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Doug Busey of Douglas County reported that the fly fishermen in float tubes are using black or green Woolly Bugger flies to catch trout in the 1.5-2.25 pound range.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: Missy Swain at Burke's Market (Closed on Mondays) at Silver Springs (775-577-2750): "It's beautiful, today (Tuesday), but I think that it's the calm before the storm. Saturday, I thought the roof was going to come off from the wind. Then, Sunday, it was beautiful. People have been out fishing and camping, but no one has been checking back with us."
PYRAMID LAKE, NEV: Carla Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store and Pyramid Lake Charters (775-476-0555): "Some people were actually out on Sunday in that bad weather. And then Sunday's weather was good all day.
Fishing has been pretty good for most people. The boats are catching 6-30 fish per trip dependent on the weather and where they are trolling. The fly guys are using black as their primary color, followed by Chartreuse and then, white. Spincasters are using light colors on light days and dark colors on dark days.
A young lady caught an 8-pounder over the weekend.
George is out today (Tuesday).
SACRAMENTO RIVER: Kirk Portocarrero of Outdoor Adventures Sport Fishing, Redding, Calif. (800-670-4448: Water flows are currently at 22,000 CFS. Have been drifting the Redding to Anderson stretch for wild rainbows. Fishing is fair to good. Practicing all "catch and release."
Fishing the slower water and producing many nice rainbows.Fly fishing, using No. 14 or No 16 Prince nymphs, No. 16 Micro Mayfly nymphs and Fox's Poopahs.
SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Kirk Portocarrero: Catching beautiful salmon, from 50 - 100 feet, using shad pattern lures. Trolling around Dry Creek Arm producing nice salmon. Also catching a few salmon around the Little Back Bone area of Lake Shasta. April and May, fishing will heat up for trout and salmon fishing. Houseboaters, take advantage of our boat-to-boat service. We'll pick you up right from your houseboat.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore:
Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters (800-877-1462): "The fishing has been good, when we can get out.
I went out Monday morning, the wind really came up and we had to quit because of some huge waves. I think that if my boat (43 feet long) had been broadside to those monster waves, we would have capsized.
We have been getting our Mackinaw trout early in the morning, and tagging and releasing the smaller ones.
We have been catching lots of fish, but nothing big.
I've been trolling the deep-water area in front of Carnelian Bay and King's Beach with Herring Dodger flasher blades with 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): "Good fishing, when the weather lets us get out. We have been trolling for Macks with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows at depths of 140-250 feet, your best depths. I've been fishing Agate Bay, Carnelian Bay and Sugar Pine Point."
LAKE TAHOE - South Shore: Gene St. Denis: "I've been trolling at places like Ski Run Mound, Ski Run Shelf and Camp Richardson. We have been trolling 180-300 feet deep with silver Herring Dodger flasher blades and live minnows. Toplining has been poor to excellent, dependent on the day.
LAKE TAHOE - East Shore: Gene St. Denis: "The shore fishing has slowed down at Cave Rock Landing. They are getting an occasional Mack."
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775) 266-3550: "Saturday's weather was horrible. Sunday was gorgeous. Boats have been limiting out at the south end of the lake. The trollers have been using Thomas Buoyant lures, trolling from the south end to the east side and catching a lot of smaller trout. The larger fish are going up to about 2 pounds. The shore fishermen are catching some limits from the southwest shore with nightcrawlers. Yesterday, a 3.4 pound fish was caught with an orange tag, so it was worth some money to someone."
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR, NEV: Dennis Dunn at the Wild Horse Resort (775) 758-6472: "The weather is beautiful, the sun is shining and the snow is going away (Monday morning). It has been nice, up here. The temperatures at night have only been about 15-20 degrees.
This last weekend, we had some ice fishermen who caught 5 very nice trout and a whole bunch of perch.
The trout are about 6-8 feet below the ice and the perch are down about 20-30 feet, on the bottom.
Fish for the trout with lures like Kastmaster or with nightcrawler and slowly jig, up and down.
Fish for the perch with small, white-colored, lead-head jigs with a plastic tail, together with a piece of worm, a mealworm, a cocktail shrimp or a party-sized marshmallow on the hook. Drop your combination down to the bottom, bring it up about 1-2 turns on the reel handle and slowly jig, up and down.
The best place is still near the island."