ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Trolling from the Dorado Inn down to the Hamilton Branch, several fisherman caught and released 14 fish with ultra-light leadcore in the top 15 feet, with a gold and florescent-red floating Rapala (No. 7) about four and a half colors out. Suspended bass can be found farther out around the outlet towers, where they take refuge in the shade and come out when bait comes by. Make shorter casts, and don't bother going to the bottom, fish are hitting on the drop in the top 12 feet.
BISHOP, CALIF. AREA:
Sabrina Lake: Rick and Patti Apted of the Lake Sabrina Boat Landing (760-873-7425): Fall definitely is in the air and on the mountainside. Lots more reds, golds, yellows, and oranges are dotting the landscape around Lake Sabrina. The blue sky hasn't been so blue these last few weeks with the smoke from the Tehipite Fire which started back in July. It's pretty much in the middle of the Sierra Nevada range and just burning until the snow and rain put it out sometime in October, but it is making it look a bit like So Cal on a 'good' smog day.
Fishing this week was pretty much the same as last week. Those fishing and those catching. One group doing lots of catching were friends, Scott Chattuck of Hesperia, Phillip Petteruto of Apple Valley, Nick Bryson of Barstow and Ryan Wadsley of Hesperia. When asked what they caught their limits on - their response - EVERYTHING from Kastmaster to nightcrawlers to Thomas Buoyants to Salmon Eggs to Flies to Power Bait/Gulp.
So what was working for those catching? That would be fishing the inlets with nightcrawlers, Salmon Eggs or Power Bait/Gulp. Trolling flashers with a nightcrawler or using Leadcore with a Thomas Buoyant. Shore fishing with Power Bait/Gulp or nightcrawlers or you might try an olive Woolly Bugger and a bubble. The best fishing still is just sitting and drifting using nightcrawlers or Power Bait/Gulp and enjoying the colorful surroundings. Temperatures have dipped a bit to the mid 60s for highs and the low 40s for the lows at the lake.
BLUE LAKES AREA, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): The two lakes had a pretty fair weekend. Best from float tubes or boats. Shore fishing was tough.
BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF: Randy Picton (760-932-7001): Beautiful fall weather has cooled the surface temperatures and brought the bigger fish to a feeding frenzy. This past week provided mixed bags of browns and rainbows 2 to 4.5 pounds. Fishing remains very good to excellent for boaters, floaters, and shore fishers. Best results are had with floated crawlers or green/yellow floating bait. Boaters off of Rainbow and Rocky Points, shore fishing best around the Bathtub to the dam. Fly fishers getting best results with fast sink line with Perch, Marabou, and Damsel patterns. Boat rentals and launching at the "Tub" with boats up to 21 feet having no problems.
CARSON RIVERS, CALIF:
East Carson River: Todd Sodaro and Chad Machado of the Carson River Resort (877-694-2229): The water is the same as it has been for the last five weeks. The fishing has been great. Lots of big ones coming in. Lots of catchables. Our biggest this week was 6-pounds, 5-ounces caught on Salmon eggs.
West Carson River: Dave Kirby reported: The water is extremely low and very clear. Difficult fishing.
DAVIS LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Plenty of limits reported here. Trolling Dick Nite copper redheads and green Woolly Buggers has been working well. Many fish running up to 2 pounds. Free fishing clinic set for Saturday, Sept. 27. No license required and tackle loaned to those who need it.
FEATHER RIVER, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Fishing for striped bass was good below the rapids at Shanghai Bend, and they were taking streamer flies, Pencil Poppers, jigs, and minnows. Steelhead fishing was slow, although the Low Flow Section was packed with salmon. Snaggers were targeting them at the Outlet, unfortunately, using jigs and spinners.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Wiggin's Trading Post at Chilcoot, Calif. (530-993-4683): Fish have been plentiful. Fishermen have been catching their limits, using nightcrawlers and Power Bait: Rainbow and Chartreuse. Trolling had been good with fishermen using various lures: Dick Nites, Roostertails.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Fishing good on the north and east sides of the lake for rainbows 12 to 15 inches. Both nightcrawlers and a variety of lures have been working for anglers fishing from shore or trolling most areas around the lake.
HEENAN LAKE, CALIF: A fly fisherman, last Friday, caught and released 16 Cutthroat trout. He was fishing in his float tube in the deeper "Blue Water" and using a purple Woolly Bugger with white legs.
HINKSON SLOUGH, NEV: Elmer Bull: Two people fished for two hours and caught two small bass.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR, CALIF: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station (530-694-2930): Still murky. Fairly quiet over the weekend.
KINNEY RESERVOIR, CALIF: Sunday: The water level was very low and there was a cold wind blowing. Four fishermen caught a nice stringer of average-sized rainbows and brookies on inflated nightcrawlers. They were fishing from shore on the far end.
RED LAKE, CALIF: Dave Kirby: The water is still murky, but fish are being caught. One angler caught a limit from shore on Saturday, but nothing really big.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): The River continued to cool and fishing continued to improve with waders picking up trout on small dark Caddis patterns. Fish short lines with plenty of weight.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, CALIF: Dave Jacobs (Professional Guide Service) (800-355-3113):
Rainbow Trout: Fishing for wild rainbow trout from Redding downstream below Anderson has slowed for the time being for trout guides on conventional spin gear. River releases from Keswick dam near Redding are 7,500 CFS. Guides are reporting fair 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. Most rainbow trout have been over 16 inches with some in the twenty plus inch class. 15 to 20 plus rainbow trout hook-ups a day a real possibility this time of year. Fall salmon are moving upstream and trout fishing will only improve through September and October. Boats cannot pass the Cypress bridge construction in Redding from 7,000 CFS and up. Trout fishing has been best side drifting small Glo Bugs in various egg color combos and/or live cricket or crawler's with a Quickie Puffball. Trout fishing has also been good by back trolling small Hot Shot 50's or small K-4/K-5 Kwikfish in various color combos.
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. Very large Fall Salmon have been seen this year and very large Salmon could be returning for the late Fall fishing season as reported by Sacramento river salmon guides.
SILVER LAKE, CALIF: Dave Kirby reported the fishing was good early in the morning from a boat, trolling spoons, for rainbows up to 2-pounds.
SHASTA LAKE, CALIF: Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500): Same as last week: Bass fishing improved, with a few more 2 and 3 pounders in the mix, as well as increasing numbers of spots where anglers could find fish all day. Darter-head worms and drop-shotting are working during the day. Reaction baits, swimbaits and the topwater bite, produced bass in the mornings and evenings. Dry Creek is still holding fish and has been good for both salmon and trout, though the salmon are a lot deeper. The area around the dam has been good for a few quality trout, as had Toupee Island. The best trout bite starts around 36 feet down and goes to 100 feet deep, with the better fish down deeper.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore: Gene St. Denis of Blue Ribbon Charters at South Lake Tahoe, Calif. (530-544-6552): We have been trolling 100-250 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 Dollar Point and Cal/Neva Point. We fish early and have caught several limits. The Macks are running up to 10 pounds.
TOPAZ LAKE: Chuck and Linda Fields at the Topaz Lake Marina (775-266-3550): The lake will close to fishing on Sept. 30 and remain closed until Jan. 1, 2009.
UPPER TWIN LAKE, CALIF: Annett's Mono Village (760-932-7071): Orange Power Worms landed three rainbows for Dan Gough from Tehachapi for a total weight of 14.5 pounds. Diana Forman caught a 5-pound, 7-ounce rainbow on a silver/orange Kastmaster. A Woolly Bugger caught a 5.75 pound rainbow for Justin Bystrom from Coleville. Alpers added 300 pounds of rainbows and browns last week and we continue to add from our private ponds.
VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF: Carolyn Webb of the Virginia Lakes Resort: Fishing is still going strong in the high country, even up to the last Frog Lake. A small weather system went through and dropped a bit of rain on Tuesday, and that was the last of the system. We are expecting more rain, but doubt if that will happen as the a.m. and p.m. temperatures are not low enough for snow, and wind is needed to drop the temp to for snow to happen. It's only fall and still early, no worries yet!
Nightcrawlers and salmon peach Power Bait are still the top baits for the week, with Zeke's gold taking a close second. Gold Kastmaster, black Roostertail, red/gold Buoyant, and the size "O" Mepps Black Fury have done the honors in the lure category.
DFG is still stocking, and I have to commend them for their efforts this summer under adverse conditions with fuel, equipment and logistics. It's been a real bear for them, and I hate to see them criticized under any condition. Tim Alpers stocked some special 15" plus rainbows from Conway Ranch along with a small surprise.
Flies at the top of the list would be Doc's Twin Lakes Special in dark olive, or the olive Woolly Buggers and a Hare's Ear dropper, Prince Nymph, Sowbug, Zug Bug and a Bird's Nest in olive. Dries working are the Griffith's Gnat, Gray Hackle Yellow, Black Ants and Gray Hackle Peacock. Most tubers are stripping, and doing well, but when that magic moment arrives for dries, they never seem to be on the water.
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR, NEV: Dennis Dunn at the Wild Horse Resort (775) 758-6472: Jimmy Chaffe got the fall season going with a 27-inch, 7-pound, 9-ounce brown on Sept. 19. Fishing is fair due to barometer fluctuation. Water temp is dropping and the tribe has cut down on water flow. The lake is starting to clear up and the fish are beginning to cruise the shorelines.