ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Try fishing the Spar Buoy area north of Big Cove, where several brown trout from 4 to 7 pounds were caught. Crickets with mealworms, or double crickets off the bottom saw good results early, but after 7:15 a.m. when the sun hits the water, it shuts down. White or yellow jigs, just off the bottom, when the sun hits the water or in the afternoon can also produce some solid strikes. There's tons of bait fish moving in and out and they can delay the bite, but if you stick it out it can really pay off.
BISHOP, CALIF. AREA:
Sabrina Lake: Rick and Patti Apted of the Lake Sabrina Boat Landing (760-873-7425): What a day for Tom Edgerton from Queens Creek, Arizona, he landed a beautiful 5 pound Alpers on an Earthworm (the kind you dig up in your yard). Nicholas Lawrence (7 years old) caught a 4-1/4 lunker on Power Bait.
Fishing or maybe I should say catching picked up a bit this weekend. There were lots of people fishing and quite a few of them were catching and it seemed that nightcrawlers was the best bait all around. Fishing the inlets with Power Bait or nightcrawlers - you know the standards. Flashers and a nightcrawler or Olive Woolly Bugger was working for the trollers. Shore anglers were using the 3 standards - nightcrawlers, Power Bait or Salmon eggs. And those dam fishermen were seen using nightcrawlers and Power Bait. Drifting was still high on the catch ratio especially those that were using nightcrawlers or Power Bait. We got a load of DFG fish on Thursday and a load of Alpers on Saturday. The lake is down 4 feet from spill.
BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): Blue Lakes were fair. Lower Blue is full of water, Upper Blue is down. Trollers are dragging small lures or worms. Shore fishing was tough at Upper, and at Lower, they were using worms floated off the bottom.
BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF: Randy Picton (760-932-7001): Same report as last week: Despite low water levels in the Marina its self, boat rentals are still available and private launching is easy at the "Bath Tub".
Fishing remains consistent, very good to excellent for fish up to 2 1/2 pounds. Crawlers and or floating bait remains the ticket.
Trolling is good between the narrows and the dam with Rapalas, Buoyant, and crawlers behind small flashers.
Fly fishers are doing well with Midge, Damsel and bait fish imitations as well as Scuds, Leach patterns, and San Juan worms.
CAPLES LAKE, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported that there were about "8,000" people fishing at Caples due to the dropping water level.
CARSON RIVERS, CALIF:
East Carson River: Todd Sodaro and Chad Machado of the Carson River Resort (877-694-2229): The county planted yesterday (Sunday). Some of the plants were 8-10 pounds. The state planted last week and the county, the Friday before. We have wall to wall fish. In the last 7-10 days, we have about 30 photos of fish running from 3 pounds to 9 pounds. They are using Salmon eggs or nightcrawlers. The water is average for this time of the year.
East Carson River: Dave Kirby reported that Mark Flores of South Lake Tahoe hiked to the river from the airport and caught a nice 12-inch rainbow on a No. 14 Parachute Adams fly.
West Carson River: Dave Kirby reported: The water is very low and very clear. It was planted by the county on Sunday and there were some large fish taken. Ty Bryson of Sacramento caught a 5.5 pound rainbow on a Panther Martin lure. There was one limit of five 3-pounders.
DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Well, it's finally happened. With a steady rainbow bite that seemed would never stop, the summer doldrums have finally set in. The Dog Days of Summer are here and fishing is slow. Best bet for shore fishermen is the deep water channel of Honker and Grizzly Campground. For best results fish early and late. Boaters have had most success when anchoring and still fishing off the bottom with Power Bait or inflated nightcrawlers dressed with Berkeley Trout Dip.
FEATHER RIVER, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): There were still some fresh Steelhead being caught in the Low Flow Section on nightcrawlers and small Nymphs like Pheasant Tails under indicators. Most of the Steelies being caught have been 14 to 18 inches long, plus a sprinkling of adults up to 5 or 6 pounds. There were a few striped bass being caught at the Shanghai Rapids on swimbaits, sardines and topwater lures.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530-993-4683): Trout fishing has been steady this week, especially at the dam. Jacob Boomsma, age 9, from Reno, caught four nice rainbows there, using nightcrawlers. They weighed 1-1.5 pounds each. Kayla White, also from Reno, caught a 1.5 pounder at the dam with Salmon eggs. Small Needlefish and orange or rainbow Power Bait have also been working well this week.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Lots of campers and fishermen, but fishing has slowed some. Most anglers are managing to catch 1 or 2 rainbows. Catfish are plentiful all around the lake; even trollers are catching some of the cats. Troll deep or cast to shore, keeping bait off bottom.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR, NEV: Missy Swain and Shirley at Burke's Market at Silver Springs (775-577-2750): The water is still going down. It is dropping constantly. We are down to 47,800 acre feet. We still have fishermen and we are still selling them worms and minnows. The must know that this is one of the best kept secrets in Nevada.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): The Upper Sacramento is fishing well from Box Canyon down to the lake. The best fishing is in the morning and evening, with some mid-afternoon lulls. There are tons of Midges (blacks and olives) all over the rocks, and some good Caddis hatches and tiny May Flies after 7:30 am. The most productive fishing has been Nymphing from daybreak to about 2:00 p.m., more Nymphing from 5:00 to 7:30, and some dry fly action after that. There are lots of fish rising right before dark, but they're being particular, so matching the hatch is important. Most fish seem to be keying in on small dark Caddis. For Nymphs, brown micro May Flies, Prince Nymphs, and big bird's nests.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIF: Dave Jacobs (Professional Guide Service) (800-355-3113):
Rainbow Trout: Fishing for wild rainbow trout from Redding downstream below Anderson has remained good for trout guides both on conventional spin and fly gear. River releases from Keswick Dam near Redding have dropped to 10,500 CFS. Trout guides are reporting good fishing for wild rainbow trout 1-3 pounds with the occasional big trout of 4 plus pounds from Redding downstream near Red Bluff. Depending on which section of river you fish will determine which baits are best. Many trout have been over 16 inches with some in the twenty plus inch class. 15 to 20 plus trout hook-ups a day a real possibility this time of year. Boats cannot pass the Cypress bridge construction in Redding from 7,000 CFS and up. Side drifting small Glo Bugs in various egg color combos and/or live cricket or crawlers with a Quickie Puffball have worked well. Back trolling small Hot Shot 50's or small K-4/K-5 Kwikfish in various color combos can also be very effective.
Salmon Season Update:
All Central Valley rivers are now closed to salmon fishing to protect the Sacramento River Fall Chinook Salmon. The Salmon season will re-open on November 1st and remain open until December 31st, 2008. Angler's will be allowed one salmon per person and Salmon fishing will be allowed from the Red Bluff Diversion Dam downstream to Knight's Landing.
SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Fair fishing continued in the mouth of the Dry Creek and Arm for both salmon and trout. The best bite has been from 36 to 100 feet deep. Try from the Bridge Bay to the dam, for rainbow trout. Waters Gulch has also been producing as well for both trout and bass. Reaction baits, fished early and late in the day, are finding "small" bass. For the warmer, mid-day fishing, try grubs, dart-headed worms, or drop-shot worms in green pumpkin or other dark colors, fished deep, out to 30 feet as bass are suspended.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore: Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552): Fishing has been very tough to good for Mackinaw, because of the full moon. We have been trolling 100-300 feet deep. We locate the fish on the fish finder and then troll Dodgers and a live minnow in a "Figure Eight" pattern, bouncing the bottom. I've been trolling at Cal/Neva Point and at the Tahoe City Shelf.
LAKE TAHOE " South Shore: Gene St. Denis: I've been fishing at Ski Run Shelf. Trolling 50-250 feet deep with Trophy Stick lures.
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck and Linda Fields at the Topaz Lake Marina (775-266-3550): Lot of water skiers and jet skiers. Beautiful weather. Water is slowly dropping.
UPPER TWIN LAKE, CALIF: Annett's Mono Village (760-932-7071): Velveeta Cheese worked for Greg Holdridge for two rainbows, weighing at 3-pounds, 5-ounces and 3-pounds. Dana Judd from Carson City used a nightcrawler for his 3.75 pound rainbow caught in upper Robinson Creek. Salmon Peach Power bait worked for Jim Seales of Gardnerville for his 4.5 pound rainbow. Power Bait and nightcrawlers working best. Kokanee Salmon have begun their run.
VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF: Carolyn Webb of the Virginia Lakes Resort: Just how much greater can the weather get up here? A couple more weeks of this and I'll think I'm in heaven, of course I am. No major downturns of weather are predicted and the only down side is that it slows up the fishing and we also have that big beautiful full moon to curse, so all you have to change is your tactics by fishing deeper and getting more creative.
Big fish for the week were taken by Leo Koenig of Pico Rivera, with a 2-pound, 10-ounce on Rainbow Candy Gulp, Stacy Lau, age 9, of San Marino caught her first ever trout of 1-pound, 1-ounce on Salmon Peach Power Bait, and Demarco Garcia of Covina used Salmon eggs to pull in his 2-pound, 12-ounce Alpers.
Inflated crawlers on the bottom are still taking limits along with Salmon eggs.
Brass fire Hot Shots and the red/gold Buoyant are still holding fast in the number one spot, with the gold prism Super Duper as second.
Backcountry waters are slowing down as the heat drives the high country trout into deeper water, under logs and debris to relief of the pounding sun. Try small dries and Midges should get a lot of action, and bring along some of those home grown garden worms for the fish/hike.
Roadside waters are doing well on a variety of flies including the Doc's Twin Lake Special in black or olive, trout candy No. 10, red throated Matukas, and small Zebra Midges under a stimulator or Humpy. Olive Elk Hair Caddis, gray hackle Peacock, Western Coachman and a few Emergers will make for a fun day of dry fly fishing on both Big and Little Virginia.
Trumbull has been doing well on worms, Salmon eggs and marshmallows, the yellow glittery "stinky" type, bring some of them to dress up your offering.
WALKER RIVERS, CALIF: East Walker River: Advised not to fish due to the low and warm water.