Fish report for Oct. 12, 2016
Lake Don Pedro
The Future Pro Tour event is this Saturday and is expected to draw around 70 teams. Mike Gomez of the Bait Barn in Waterford said, “There are a few decent fish with the larger bass coming on jigs. The bass had moved up into the shallow water, but they have gone back down into deeper water with the recent hot spell. The cooler temperatures this weekend could bring them back up once again.” There have been few trout or king salmon trollers heading to the lake, but once the lake turns over near the end of November, the fish should rise to the surface, leading to improved action. The lake held at 65 percent of capacity and 765 feet in elevation. Call: Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Gary Vella, 209-652-7550; Bait Barn, 209-874-3011.
MClure Reservoir
Few fishermen are heading to the lake with the launch ramp conditions requiring a long trip back up to the Barrett Cove South Ramp. The lack of scheduled tournaments on the lake is another factor. The bass should be there, but there have been few reports due to the low number of anglers. Catfish are still an option with frozen shad, sardines or anchovies from the shorelines with muddy, sloping banks. The lake dropped 4 feet to 737.33 feet in elevation and 36 percent of capacity. Call: A-1 Bait, 209-563-6505.
MSwain Reservoir
The planters from the Merced Irrigation District’s Trout Derby last weekend have scattered throughout the lake and are heading toward the Exchequer Dam up the river arm. The best action is in the early mornings or late evenings with Power Bait, inflated nightcrawlers or Kastmasters near the Brush Pile, Handicapped Docks or along the marina. Trolling is best in the river arm with Wedding Rings tipped with a nightcrawler behind a flasher, blade/’crawler combinations or Kastmasters in blue/chrome at depths to 20 feet. Call: McSwain Marina, 209-378-2534.
New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch
John Liechty of Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp said, “The lake is kicking out some big 3- to 5-pound holdover rainbow trout, and although fishermen are not catching a bunch of fish, the ones landed are extremely healthy. The rainbows are gorging on shad over the deepest portions of the lake where the water temperature is coolest. As the surface temperatures continue to drop, the lake will start to turn over, and the fish will move towards the shallows. Right now, trollers are finding the fish at depths from 70 to 90 feet with shad-patterned lures. Bright-colored lures are working best on overcast days while natural patterns are best on sunny days.” Bank fishermen should start to find rainbows within the next few weeks. Glory Hole Sporting Goods in Angels Camp will hold a Catfish Derby in November with registration at $10/angler. A total of three fish may be weighed in per angler during business hours at Glory Hole Sporting Goods, and there is 100 percent payback for the top three places. The heaviest two fish out of the three weighed in will be calculated as the contestant’s total weight. Liechty added, “We are seeing some big catfish being caught, and we hope to see some giants come to the scales during the month of November. Now is a good time to go out and scout out some of those catfish holes. Many of the biggest catfish will be caught on frozen fish. Shad, mackerel and anchovies are all good choices for bait. Use miracle thread to keep your bait secured to the hook. Catfish have very poor eyesight and will feed by smell. Add some Mike’s Lunker Lotion or Power Bait catfish attractant to your bait or use scented catfish bait. The bass bite has been a bit slow, and many anglers are struggling to catch fish. There is an abundance of shad, and the fish are feeding in short bursts and then resting. Finding actively feeding fish is the key to catching a bunch. The lake is full of healthy 2-pound spotted bass and has some giant largemouth as well.” The crappie bite has slowed, but as the water cools, the slabs will concentrate around the mouth of creek channels. The Glory Hole launch ramp will remain on the dirt until the lake rises during the winter months. A courtesy dock is available. The draw-down of the lake has slowed, but the lake dropped slightly to 863.41 feet in elevation and 22 percent of capacity. Call: Glory Hole Sports, 209-736-4333; Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Sierra Sport Fishing, 209-599-2023.
Delta/Stockton
Schools of salmon continue to move through the Delta, and Tony Lopez of Benicia Bait said, “There was a report of 26 salmon landed at 1st Street in Benicia on Monday.” This new school should be headed upriver quickly. Johnny Tran of New Romeo’s Bait and Tackle in Freeport said, “Salmon fishing has been consistent, and the coming cold front should push up more salmon. There have been fish in the 20- to 30-pound range brought to the shop on a consistent basis, and jigging with P-Line Laser Minnows or Slammer Minnows, trolling with Silvertron spinners or tossing Flying C’s from the shorelines are working best.” Field scout Andy Doudna of Oakley was the winner of the Rio Vista Bass Derby and Festival with a striped bass right on the 29.5-inch target length. Doudna is the organizer of the coming Addathon Sturgeon Derby out of Antioch on Nov. 5-6. He said, “This year, we had the best weather with no wind and warm days providing fishermen the flexibility to fish anywhere they wanted. The derby started out on Friday morning at 6 a.m., and the water clarity was good for the most part for trolling, and we saw very little grass in the system. The challenge was working the smaller tides throughout the day with the best tide movement at night. The fishermen had their work cut out for them, as there were many smaller fish in the 20- to 25-inch range. The smaller tides were perfect for trolling, as the stripers were able to feed throughout the entire tide instead of just the beginning or the end of the water movement. The small tides did make for challenging conditions for those entered in the sturgeon category, as sturgeon prefer more water movement in order to feed. We saw an unbelievable number of shaker sturgeon everywhere on the smaller tides with the larger sturgeon taken at night on the larger tides from Rio Vista west to the Big Cut with grass shrimp and lamprey eel combinations. The boat pressure affected the striper action throughout the weekend, and many striper fishermen found the best action at night with less boat pressure.” Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, was the director of the Best Bass Tournament’s Tournament of Champions over the weekend out of Russo’s Marina. He said, “We had 192 participants, and the team of Ron Howell and Bob Miller took home the top prize of $20,000 out of the $51,000 in prize money distributed. The shad population is thick in the San Joaquin River, and the ima Little Stick in bone or ‘All About Shad’ is on fire. We had 50 keeper stripers out of 132 caught and released on Monday using P-Line Laser Minnow spoons, the Optimum Bubba shad swimbaits or the Little Stick on topwater. The important thing to do is keep the topwater lure in the strike zone longer. Twitch it and let it sit.” Numbers of bass are good, but the weights are down with the water temperature needing to drop in order for the reaction bite to improve. A number of salmon have been landed by bass fishermen throwing crankbaits on the San Joaquin River, but salmon are off limits on the San Joaquin. In the Antioch area, Steffen Masters of Lost Anchor Bait in Antioch and McAvoy’s Boat Harbor in Bay Point said, “The winds have died down, and many fishermen came out over the weekend. We saw a number of stripers ranging from 10 to 30 pounds using live bait. Our shrimp boat should be back on the water by Tuesday, and we expect to have live grass shrimp in the shop during the week.” The first major sturgeon derby of the year, the Addathon IronMan Derby, is coming to Antioch on Nov. 5-6. Call: Randy Pringle, 209-543-6260; Intimidator Sport Fishing, 916-806-3030; Captain Steve Mitchell – Hook’d Up Sport Fishing, 707-655-6736
San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay
Steve Newman of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis reported good action for school-sized stripers in the main lake at depths from 20 to 40 feet with deep-diving crankbaits or plugs in ghost minnow patterns. He said, “There are no monsters, but there is a solid grade of fish taken with the shad patterns.” Roger George of Roger George Guide Service said the bite through last Friday was good, then tumbled over the weekend. “There were a ton of boats out Saturday – over 50 – looking for boils, but almost everyone left by 10 a.m. it was so tough,” George said. “The fish went deeper overnight, and I had to search for new spots to fish, too. We managed to catch /release 16 fish to 26 inches on Saturday and 14 on Sunday in the same range. It was hard fishing with some sporadic flurries of action in several different spots. The big issue is finding active biting fish. I think the fishing slowed due to a small front that passed through the area, which usually affects them.” He also noted game wardens told him they are giving out a lot of tickets for undersized fish and some big over-limits at both lakes. In the Forebay, small fish are the rule, but the weed growth is down, making for easier fishing conditions. Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported good action with blood worms, pile worms or anchovies near Check 12 in the forebay. The main lake has climbed to 25 percent of capacity. George and Meng Xyong will do a seminar at the Sportsman’s Warehouse in Fresno on San Luis, O’Neill Forebay and California Aqueduct techniques on Oct. 15 from 2-4 p.m. Pre-register at 559-261-2900 or 238-fishing@sportsmanswarehouse.com. Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle, 408-463-0711; Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com, 559-905-2954; San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay wind conditions, 800-805-4805.
Half Moon Bay
Rockfishing remains the top story out of Half Moon Bay with the occasional salmon taken out in front of the harbor. Second Captain Michael Cabanas on the Huli Cat reported good action for rockfish on his recent trips, and John Yang of San Mateo landed a bonus 22-pound halibut on the first drop of the day on a swimbait. The Huli Cat is taking Dungeness crab/rockfish combination trips starting with the crab opener Nov. 5. The recreational rock crab season is currently closed north of Pigeon Point in San Mateo County due to high levels of domoic acid. Call: Happy Hooker, 510-223-5388; Captain Roger Thomas, Salty Lady, 415-760-9362; Emeryville Sport Fishing, 510-654-6040.
Monterey/Santa Cruz
The big news is the school of bluefin tuna that have shown up outside of the point at Monterey. Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Sport Fishing said, “They just showed up 3 to 4 miles out of the point, and we saw them jumping on our whale-watching trip as the tuna were feeding on the surface and jumping all around along with thousands of dolphins and a good number of whales. The tuna appear to be in the 40- to 50-pound range, and they are of the catchable size. A few boats have been out there trying.” Rockfishing remains very good with limits and a healthy ling cod count using live squid. They have room throughout the week for rockfish, but the coming weekend is sold out. Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surfcasting said, “Marine weather was mild and sea conditions very forgiving this week, enabling area anglers to fish to their heart’s content.” Rockfish are holding steady along most of the rocky and reef areas in Monterey Bay. Big halibut are still making an occasional appearance, and we are starting to see a hint of winter-style fishing with an uptick in ling cod catches as well as the delicious little sand dabs. Reefs inside the Santa Cruz Mile Buoy are holding an increasing number of ling cod. Keith Williams from Mariposa took a kayak fishing adventure and hooked up two nice lings along with a half-limit of blacks and brown rockfish. Being out for pure sport, Williams released all his fish. Bigger lings are in the mix these days as well, with good catches reported from Capitola Mile Reef and nearby Surfer’s Reef. Danny Finkel fished out of Capitola on Monday and nailed a 20-plus-pound flatty near the SC3 Buoy using a live jack mackerel, according to Ed Burrell of Capitola Boat and Bait. Todd Fraser of Bayside Marine keeps a comprehensive overview of fishing reports for the Santa Cruz area. On Sunday, he reported, “There have been some nice striped bass caught near Manresa and near Pleasure Point. The striped bass are biting on chunk sardines.” Last Wednesday, Fraser added to his weekly log, saying, “The inshore fishing was good near Davenport and Five-Mile beach for halibut and ling cod. The local areas near Natural Bridges produced some nice rockfish. There were some quality sand dabs caught in 100 feet of water near Three-Mile beach. The winds were light, and the swell is small. The weather is expected to stay nice for the weekend.” Call: Chris’ Landing, 831-375-5951; Bayside Marine, 831-475-2173.
San Francisco Bay
Salmon action has slowed considerably over the past week. Out of Sausalito, the New Rayann reported four salmon to 22 pounds Monday for 10 anglers trolling from Buoy 1 to Double Point. Salmon fishing in the area ends Oct. 30. Party boats are heading to the Farallon Islands, which is typical for this time of year. Captain Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker took out 23 fishermen Saturday for limits of rockfish and 15 ling cod, including a huge Boccaccio rockfish estimated at 15 pounds. He has plenty of room for the first two weeks of the sport Dungeness crab season, and the combination trips are going for $130/angler with crab-only trips Tuesdays and Wednesdays for $90. The 10-crab limit has been a big incentive for fishermen to head out on a party boat. Captain James Smith of the California Dawn has also been working the islands for limits of big rockfish and near limits of ling cod. Captain Trent Slate of Shelter Cove Sport Fishing has been heading to honey holes up the coast for ling cod to 24 pounds along with huge black rockfish. He will be running crab/rockfish combination trips starting Nov. 5 on his original boat – the 27-foot World Cat. Inside the bay, Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Bait and Tackle in San Rafael reported the “anemic” tides have contributed to poor action and minimal fishing interest. He said, “The tides change in the middle of the coming week, and the action should improve. Ninety-nine percent of our striped bass are small with most fish in the 10- to 20-inch range.”
This story was originally published October 11, 2016 at 4:15 PM with the headline "Fish report for Oct. 12, 2016."