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Topics - SaltyTherapy

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Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Whiskeytown Blue Moon Report

« on: August 29, 2023, 11:04:13 AM »

With the full or near-full moon, morning bites tend to be slow and evenings/afternoons tend to be better. Bite patterns have been all over the place day-to-day. No one lure producing, it’s a different preference everyday. Nighttime lows are cooling down the lake, water temps 74F in AM and 77 midday high. Starting to notice fish on a surface bite when sun isn’t overhead but haven’t dialed in a surface pattern. Some are clearing the water a full foot! Lots of bug hatches, thermocline and plankton blooms less prominent. Lots of schooling activity but they’re moving around constantly. Not too many solo fish and the deep channels aren’t holding as much. Fires up north creating smoky mornings until winds reverse in the late morning. It’s pretty bad. Caught my first 19” fish this year but admittedly an inch of that is just kype. Fish having a faint color, we should see more color during this next moon phase. It’s going to start cooling down and getting possibly stormy soon. Hot depth is 25-55ft with a lot of room for error in depth. They want slower speeds no matter the offering, 1.0-1.3 mainly. 15-17” is mostly the average size. I have no idea why the copepods have not been present the past month but I’ll take it! It’s been a much slower bite this past moon phase but hopefully that turns on the aggressive males soon. We have 1 more phase before they fully color up and lose scales, stay tuned.

General Fishing Tips / Kokanee Advanced Tackle Breakdown

« on: August 10, 2023, 12:37:23 PM »

Buckle up for a long one. As promised to multiple people. I would recommend watching SpiltMilt on youtube about Kokanee basics, as that's my bread and butter and most of what is preached is considered the gold standard of advice. That being said, kokanee fishing is a fishery of nuance and details. Like a best-of-7 playoff bout, or a chess match, it's a game of adjustments. Sometimes the difference between limiting and skunking is a single bead, or a single weird decision made on the water. It doesn't take fancy gear, and I've come to realize that even the cheapest of garage sale gear will more than get the job done if attention to detail is regarded. See more on that later. Disclaimer: everything I say is a generalization of the 9 lakes I've caught kokanee from all within norcal over many many sessions. As with every rule in nature, there is always exception. I will also be focusing on trolling, as jigging is another story in regards to tackle.

Bait
Corn
I only use two brands: Del Monte and Jolly Green Giant white shoepeg corn. DO NOT attempt to use any of the larger, yellow, sweet, or creamed corn. It's not going to work. They need to be small as to not throw off the action of any lures. Straight out of the can, I will drain them in a strainer, and mix with NON-IODIZED salt, whatever I have on hand. I leave it in a strainer over a bowl in the fridge overnight to firm up a bit. This helps the corn possibly survive short strikes and drive-by's. PLAIN CORN will catch fish just like that. Sometimes on a side-by-side comparison, fishes just as well as scent-added corn. As for scents, I will sometimes use white sugar and/or MSG in the dry brine/straining process in the fridge. I have not noticed a difference, but it's just something I've always done if I had the time. Why corn? I've asked a biologist about the corn, and it is speculated that amino acids in the corn mimic some of the amino acid scents in the plankton that kokanee primarily feed on. As MSG is a salt-form of glutamic amino acid, and solubilized in water, makes sense to add. But I have not thoroughly tested this theory. Early in the kokanee season, I will tend to go lighter on additional scent. I might add anise, krill oil, shrimp paste, or vietnamese fish sauce. But as the season progresses, the fish start to (generally) prefer tuna oil from a can and garlic salt. I've not had much luck with fresh garlic. Bottled scents work great too, I just don't like to spend the extra money when I have lots of stuff on-hand to scent. When packaging corn for the season, I will make several different baggies and label them. I will also divide the canned tuna into half of the bags as scent, but also as an option to stuff inside of a brad's kokanee cut plug if I decide to run that lure. After a day of fishing, I can usually throw my corn back in the freezer and keep fishing it until gone. Sometimes they will get a little mushy, in which case I'll drain, salt, and then refreeze for like-new.
Maggots
Will work great during the winter when it's colder and they are more lethargic. But I cannot understate how gross it is during summer heat to have runaway maggots crawling all over the area between my legs as I'm trying to bait up my lures. They can sometimes produce great on a crappie jig or small spoon with a single hook during the spring or fall schooling times. I'd much rather use:
Berkeley Gulp Maggots
I recommend cutting them in half. These are a great fallback bait to keep in the tackle box with bottled scent (don't add scent until you're ready to fish them, as scent can cause spoilage). I will usually cut them in half as the full size can throw off action of smaller lures like wedding rings or spinners. Can also be used to soak up the previously mentioned kitchen ingredient scents, but also risk spoilage if kept too long unrefrigerated. There have been times when these saved my fishing day when I forgot my corn at home and didn't want to make the round trip back. IF YOU FORGET YOUR BAIT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL CALL A PREMATURE SKUNK SESSION (ask me how I know). Bait is critical to this fishery, and attention to it will serve you well. I never bait more than 1 per hook, and sometimes will forgo the back hook if the bite is shy. More bait is counterintuitive here, as it hurts action. When putting corn on the hook, try to make sure the core of the corn is still inside the outer husk, that you're going through the side of the corn (longwise vs. flat side), and that the open end of the corn is not front-facing. Mushy corn should be simply discarded.

Line Twist
I feel this needs its own little section. From whatever main line I'm running, I always tie 24" minimum of 12-15lb mono or fluoro on a beadchain swivel to my terminal tackle. I'll often have a pool noodle of just beadchain leaders pretied and ready to go if my line gets kinked. Doesn't happen as often as with trophy trout fishing, but for freshwater trolling THIS IS A MUST. Ball bearing swivels will still tangle your line after enough time, and have failed me in the past. Only traffic frustrates me more than line twist. Some old heads use trolling rudders, but I prefer to have as little drag on my line as possible when fighting kokanee for hookup ratio reasons.

So let's talk Terminal Tackle, the real meat and potatoes of this whole thing. It ALWAYS pays off to tie your own custom terminal tackle rather than the off-the-shelf stuff. They always cut corners somewhere and it's never the right leader length pre-tied. It's also much more expensive.
Hooks
I used to use Gamakatsu octopus or wide-gap hooks. Then started using drop shot and even small circles. I've settled upon Owner Mosquito hooks in size 2 and 4 for both kokanee and trout and after much trial and error, have decided that these are my hook of choice. I buy them in large 40 packs or in as large of a quantity as I can get them. Depending on what lure I'm running and what grade of koke I anticipate catching, will run double 2's, double 4's, or a 4 behind a 2. The latter option is chosen when using a vibrating or wiggling lure (one with its own action). There was a time I swore by treble in the back as an adjustment to poor hookup ratios. I've since capitulated. Owner mosquitos have the best hookup ratios IN MY EXPERIENCE. However, if it's the kind of day where every single bite seems to come unpinned within seconds, NO HOOK WILL GUARANTEE YOU 100% LANDING RATE. Losing fish is part of the game some days. And that's okay.
Lure Types
So everyone knows hoochies. I'd recommend watching SpiltMilt's video on colors at depth. I prefer pink, and always want something other than a plain solid color. Little bit of sparkle, or a gradient contrast, or SOMETHING that isn't uniform. UV/glow is a good choice especially in lowlight conditions or fishing >30ft down. In poorer clarity, these can often prevail. P-Line is my go-to, sometimes goldstar makes some good glow ones (seem to glow better than competitors), rocky mountain tackle is meh, and I'll take Paulina Peak when I can get it (not very often in CA). Make sure you trim the skirt of the hoochie so that the front hook eye is inside the skirt, but the hook is outside of it. This can be accomplished with beads. More on that below. It's also a great idea to add a small wiggle bill in front of the hoochie, with the bill tip inserted into the head of the hoochie. I like them over wiggle discs, which do more of a rotating/spinning action on the hoochie and can lead to frustrating tangles. I subtract a bead to account for the added plastic inside of the hoochie head when tying up. Another alternative to hoochies would be micro shrimps, tied the same way. I'll post the brand I use.
Apex lures are great. I suggest retying with custom hooks and customizing leader length. A stiffer line tends to work better with apex. There are a number of knockoffs and similar styles, I don't discriminate by brand here. Solid colors over shiny ones in my book.
I will make my own two-hook spinners, usually with 1-3 beads and a spinning apparatus placed in front. These are great low-profile choices during the early season. There are 3 main spinners I use: Colorado blades (gold or silver) on a clevice, mack's smile blades, and spin-n-glo in the mini variety. Make sure you tune your smile blades by bending them inwards or outwards to achieve a wobbling action on whatever lure you run behind it, be it wedding ring or hoochie. I DO NOT use in-line metal spinners, can't seem to get them to work right. I will also usually downsize hooks for wedding rings and spinners as these are more sensitive to the action being nerfed by big baits. If you are using a spinner in front of a hoochie or other bait, remember to add a bead between that and the bait so that it will spin properly.
Brad's KCP's are also a great choice but I often see them tied up wrong. Tie the hooks first, add the beads (to space lure out from hooks), and thread the line through the rubber band. VOILA! no more lost rubber bands. Can't tell you how many of them I've lost until I had to borrow some from a guide on the water and he showed me what I was doing wrong. I see my local bait shops routinely sold out of extra rubber bands as people don't really seem to know this trick. I almost always thread the leader through the outermost hole of the KCP, as more action is usually better for this lure and kokanee. If you break off this lure, it tends to be the most expensive of tackle to lose.
Flies have gotten more attention in recent years, specifically trolling flies. I will note that while the flash and colors and patterns can be amazingly intricate and beautiful, big fish will really tear em up after a while and unless you tie your own, the hooks tend to suck and makes it hard to make a 2-hook rig. I'd like to see someone attempt a good one. Probably won't be me, though.
Spent a lot of time trying to source good beads. I've come to realize that the BEADMAN in redding right next door to Headwaters Kayak shop has an amazing selection. I'll post my haul below. They have an entire section dedicated to fishing beads. Every color you'll need, glass to metal, sizes, stacker beads (which help immensely with vibrational lures vs. several loose beads), and especially egg beads for drifting. Sometimes, the color of the bead will be the singular difference in buying a bite. I will often put a single UV, gold, or silver bead as the last terminal bead in the lure and that will be what the fish key in on. No more spending a small fortune on "fishing" beads in packs from the bait shop. They also withstand the 110F+ redding heat a lot better than the "fishing" bead brands. I've noticed the latter will melt in my truckbed after a few hours in the sun. That can really hurt your lure's action depending on application.
Leader
If the lure has no action of its own, ALWAYS less than 2 lengths of the dodger. That will depend on what kind of dodger you run. Ideally 1.25-1.5x the length. If it has its own action, 1.75-2.5x will do. You want that thing moving behind the dodger. I like to describe three types of lure action you're looking for: stop-and-go action (longest leader), walking-the-dog action (kind of resembles a good topwater action), and erratic. Wiggle bills tend to imitate erratic. As is always the rule, test your lure beside the boat at intended speed and find out for yourself. The stop-and-go is a good choice when fish are shy, or during early season, or when toplining. Sometimes erratic action can spook fish. Sometimes it weeds out the small ones. As for leader material, KOKANEE DO NOT DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN FLUORO AND MONO. However, I tie all my leaders in 10-15lb fluoro for 2 reasons: (1)It's slightly stiffer, meaning that more action is imparted to the lure from the dodger, and (2) i will use these lure for trout sometimes, and trout absolutely discriminate on leader material. To each their own.
For dodgers, I primarily use 3.5-4.5" sling blades. IN MY EXPERIENCE, dodger color doesn't matter as much as flash and action. Gold vs. Silver, and how fast/wide that thing wags is the most critical factor. I wouldn't break the bank on a dodger collection unless you come across a garage sale and can get them for the cheap. Ford fenders have much more drag and have a surface planing problem during toplining and speed-ups. But they can be effective at depth. Gang troll flashers have too much drag and don't impart action, but they can work with lures that have their own. Not my preferred by any means. You can certainly use them to moderate success. I like willow leaf styles, but sometimes the drag can be a bit much on them. Make sure you TUNE your dodgers by bending them 2/3 down the side so that they have a wide, pronounced swing at your intended speed.

So let's talk rod and reel. That will depend on what descending tactics I'm using. I run 3 rod types: Eagle claw featherlight kokanee rod 7' for toplining. It has great action, but my complaint is that it has memory from storage if you keep the rod tip at an angle. Not ideal. Okuma SST Kokanee rod for leadcore and lead weights. Has better backbone to deal with bigger fish and heavier gear. And Ugly Stik Ultralight and med-light action rod for heavier lead weights and dipsey divers. I used to use a Cousin's tackle rod that got messed up for downrigger fishing. However, the low price of aforementioned rods and their ability to take abuse has convinced me of the former. For reels, I use linecounters for lead weight and toplining, which is critical, and cheap level wind reels for leadcore. For dipsey divers, I use a heavy duty bass reel or my bigger linecounter spooled with 30lb braid. I much prefer my Okuma Coldwater lowprofile linecounter to my daiwa lexa. Just feels much more ergonomic especially on my cork handles (I like cork as opposed to synthetics). As for cheap reels, I use a bunch of abu garcia ambassador 6000 reels i got 6 of from an old man's garage sale for $5 a pop still in the package from who-knows-how-many-decades-ago. The drag is crap and tends to slip a lot, but that's actually an advantage to landing kokanee. I spool them up with plain mono or more commonly hybrid leadcore rigs with varying topshots of mono between 5'-65' in length for various applications.
For a net, don't need to get fancy. Whatever works for you, but rubber nets are always better with salmonoids if releasing, and won't get you 2-hook rigs all tangled up in the material. I like to situate my net on the bow of the kayak.

Descending tactics
Toplining is pretty simple stuff; pure mono, 12-15lb. Sometimes I'll splice in a 1/4 or 1/8oz sliding egg weight on a pretied section to get my stuff just below the surface if the dodger is having trouble planing at speed.
Leadcore is my bread and butter most of the time. Look up Cal Kellog's hybrid leadcore rigs. I use 18lb suffix leadcore, and use between 3-5 colors on my hybrid rigs. I've determined true depth by accidently snagging bottom multiple times with each rig so I know pretty confidently how deep I am at varying speeds. For most typical koke speeds (1.1-1.4mph), buys me 6-7' of depth per color. It can make it difficult to deploy once you have kinks in your line, if your terminal tackle doesnt have enough drag behind the boat, or you're deploying it at too slow a speed. Usually I will speed up to 2.0-2.5mph to deploy my leadcore quickly. It takes patience. I usually change out my leadcore every season, or when the kinks in the lead line start making my rig a hot mess to deploy. But theoretically you can run these for a long time. Sometimes leadcore will get more bites at the same depth than downrigger or lead weights. Sometimes I'll get bites while I'm deploying the leadcore, more so than mid-deployment for other tactics.
Lead weights are pretty popular with kayak anglers now, and for good reason as I've thrown out my lake troll due to downriggers just being too much of a hassle for me. Trolling tables can be found online, with varying degrees of accuracy. I use straight mono, 15lb for lead weights. Clip weights (SpiltMilt has good info on clips) are popular too but I've lost a lot of lead and clips on big fish. Once they push the 15-16" range, a swinging 3-5oz weight beside the boat while fighting a fish and trying to grab the weight has smacked me straight in the face and made me see stars. I just use the sliding rig, but I normally will tie a 15-20lb rubber snubber (or bumper). The snubber helps with hookup ratios immensely. It's an old school tactic and some see as "uncool" for some odd reason.
I have some old posts about Dipsey Divers from a year or two back that I won't rehash here. If someone wants to link it, go ahead. Or just search for dipseys on the forum. Mostly straight braid to a clip that attaches to the dipsey. Always run a snubber after a dipsey, especially with kokanee. The advantage is that dispeys actually help me land more kokes than lead weights when they're fired up. It discourages them from jumping, they tend to swim with it more, and it helps buy bites sometimes when I pop the clip and let it slowly plane up the the surface. Dipseys take some learning curve, and the only true way to dial them in is to catch fish on it. Don't recommend you try it as a first outing for kokanee until you've started catching on other methods.

Adjustments
Like earlier stated, a tough bite is a chess match. During full moon phase is typically very tough. As is during spawning cycles. Color, action, attractants, flash, size of lure, speed, scent/bait, depth, and variability/erraticness of trolling patterns are all factors to consider. Sometimes trolling with the wind/current is preferred over trolling against. Sometimes the opposite is true. Let the bites guide your actions. The same rules may not even apply the next day at the same lake. As a general rule, if I've been doing the same thing for 30mins, am confident I am presenting the bait to fish, and not had a hit, I make some adjustment. But one should not remain static and hope that the fish decide to change their mind. That rarely works unless you're very confidently dialed in. Most of the time, the first adjustment should be to make erratic S-weaving type turns when trolling. If the fish are following the lure (and they will very often follow but not strike for long distances), often it is a sudden slowdown that will convince them to bite.

Pictures to follow.

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Whiskeytown Kokanee Report

« on: August 04, 2023, 04:07:48 PM »

Big changes come with each full moon phase. This last week was slow pickings for big fish. Only getting next years fish it seems, in the 12-15” range. Not ideal sizes but a good sign for next year. Copepods sparser which is interesting. Maybe all those boats thinning the herd density is affecting parasite transmission?
Seeing signs of schooling pretty good. Some areas in open water hold less or no fish. It looks like the big marks on the FF are schooling up shallow and beginning their staging for the spawn. They’ll go lockjaw for a while before busting wide open later this and next month.
Locations posted. This is where I search for early fall pattern staging fish. 76.5F in am, peaks at 78-79F. Thermocline 25-30ft, hot bite is 35-50ft. Using sliding weights primarily, 4oz 45-65ft back and 5oz 35-55ft back. 3.5 colors leadcore still producing, I was kind of waiting until they got deeper down before stripping it off for the season but can’t justify it if it’s still catching good sizes. Seems the big ones are almost always shallower than the small schools. Near structure seems to be a better bite for me. As the spawn approaches, oak bottom area should start to hold lots more fish.
Hot lures: pink and orange apex, pink wedding rings (sometimes), brads KCP with tuna in pink UV, and pink wiggle hoochie (although producing less currently). On a wide open bite, doesn’t really matter what you’re using. Giant pikeminnow s and trout taking my shallower offerings, honestly a big pain.
Wake boaters are annoying the s*** outta me started at noon. Doing donuts in the no wake 5mph, swamped and almost flipped the yak coming within 15 yards of me twice today. Saw a couple other kayaks and paddle boarders get flipped by them too. Almost ran over my leadcore lines while cutting close behind me (wonder what leadcore on a prop would do...). Saw some guys get into it with a horde of jet skiiers at the launch (pwc’s banned at this lake thank god). They tried to launch 6 of em to the protest of literally everyone. Rangers just watched the whole thing go down. It’s a s***show some days.
Tuna oil corn with garlic salt or garlic bloody tuna bottled scent is what I’m using. I promise I’ll have that advanced tackle breakdown soon, it’ll be a long one.

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Stampede report on the water

« on: July 25, 2023, 10:36:01 AM »

After yesterday’s yard sale at MBK, needed an ego boost. Grabbed the koke and trout gear, bleached out the inside of the yak for the inspection, and let it dry in 95F sun.

Launch at 6:30, limit by 8:30. Started the day 1 for 6 right outside the launch in 40fow. 2 colors leadcore on one, 3 on the other. My usual whiskeytown setups. Pink wiggle hoochie proceeded to go 3 for 10. Dinks everywhere short striking and shaking the hook. That’s Dink activities for you. Biggest at 12”, smallies at 8”. Thermocline at 17-20’, running my lines below by a few feet. Once the sun came over the mountain switched to 3.5 colors and 4oz @70ft back. They’re all over the water column, bigger ones deep down. Surface temperature 70.5 in AM, now 71.25. Fish progressively getting deeper. Vibration is the ticket today. Now trying for cutthroats, lost one at the boat 14” shallow trolling plugs off the bank. Just accidentally hooked a 14” koke on my last pass so I’m hanging up the gear. Never in my life would I have thought I’d hook a koke on a barbless mag lip. Turns out just lifting em without a net is the best way to release. Now just going for a paddle to find a nice bank spot to chill.

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Whiskeytown brief update

« on: July 19, 2023, 04:17:00 PM »

Surprised thermocline hasn’t gone further down get. Lots of leftover cold water down deep from cold and wet winter. All patterns are about a month or two behind schedule, but that’s to be expected. Best action between green bridge, brandy, and the dam off the main channels. Thermocline 25-30ft down, same pattern, kokes kyping a little but still cut clean. Copepods and some lamprey spots, but no osprey claw marks on them this year. Best bite is 30-45ff range, 4.5 colors leadcore and/or 4-5oz 35-65ft setback. Staying away from traffic due to my setbacks. Lots of boat traffic. Time to start brining fillets for the freezer.

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Whiskeytown Report

« on: June 17, 2023, 11:00:36 AM »

Getting warm out there and the rest of the snow is gone from Mt. Shasta-Bally. That’s usually my cue that the bite is about to take off for Kokanee. 73F water temps in the AM, 78 by midday, slightly colder water in whiskey creek and oak bottom. Not much of a surface bite with the thermocline 15ft down. Most fish holding in the 30-55ft range off structure, some in open water but not as much. Most fish coming on 3-4 colors leadcore. Lead weights 2-4oz and various setbacks not working for some reason. Bite goes on and off throughout the day. Pink wiggle hoochies with some silver flash and apex koke killers behind 6” sling blade the only thing that’s working. But easy pickings once the offerings are dialed in. Not getting any bites on any other offerring(wedding rings, kcp’s, purple/black/orange/UV/chartreuse hoochies/spinner hoochies/spoons/spin n glo’s and various dodger types and sizes). Trust me I’ve thrown the whole tackle box at them for the better part of 2 weeks. Most bites I’m getting right below the thermocline and the fish have to be enticed to go up from their holding at depth. I anticipate that the kokes and thermocline will descend a few feet per week, and they should be wide open fishing in the deep parts of the old river channel. For now, I’m hitting structure in 30-60fow off points and islands.

Size ranges a lot this year compared to the last 2 years. I’m getting a few dandy chunky 15-17”ers, slightly bigger than last year, but also a lot of short young of the year 10”-12”. Those are kind of annoying and the meat isn’t quite as orange or firm. It’s been sort of a mixed bag with sizes this year and with water temps warm I’m not releasing any. Copepods on just about every fish but only 2-5 ish by the fins. None in gills. Some planter 14-18” bycatch rainbows that are a nuisance too. They were bigger and cleaner during the winter months as bycatch. .

I haven’t found any kokes or kings in Shasta yet this year but with boat traffic horrendous this summer so far I’ll be staying slightly away for now. It’s about this time last year when the Shasta bite went wide open. Heard they’re 35-55ft down off structure in the lower basin of the lake. 75f surface temp and 80 by midday. Trout seem bigger this year and more browns in the mix. German variety.

Picture is mixed fish from the last 2 days of hunting. I’ll post today’s limit later once I get around to cleaning them. Limits by 8am, on the water by 6:30. Brandy creek. The parking lots and beaches are starting to crowd up by 9 on the weekends.

Safety First / Lower Sac Kayak Incident

« on: June 04, 2023, 09:57:53 AM »

https://krcrtv.com/news/local/man-rescued-from-sacramento-river-in-redding-after-being-caught-under-water

Flows are up and they’re cold. And with record runoff and snowmelt doesn’t look like that’ll change anytime soon. Word thru the grapevine is this guy didn’t make it. Hear stories of accidents with kids inner tubing down the river in town every year, makes me nervous just thinking about it. Still awaiting the details on this case.

Tight lines,

General Fishing Tips / Faulty Promar Ambush Net

« on: April 17, 2023, 01:35:56 PM »

Bought a new trap from bass pro when I was cruising thru town. After I got home (2.5 hr ride in the truck bed), noticed two of the weldings for the upright bars came undone. I was fiddling with it while rigging and had already made crab plans to go the very next day. But 15 mins into my drive, I noticed the net loose and flopping in the wind in my rear view. So I pulled over and abandoned mission. The net had halfway slipped off the frame and had not been fully stitched at the bottom, shearing off about 1/3 of the bottom fiber stitching and loosely hanging out of the back of the bed. Luckily no one was on the road with me in the AM.

Never even dropped in the ocean. Admittedly sat in the back of the truck in the box for a few days still Un-inspected until I was rigging up the day before.
Anyone have any similar experiences?

Edit: for clarity

General Talk / Bay Area Seafood Markets

« on: March 08, 2023, 06:13:33 PM »

Going to be in the area this weekend, not sure I'll be able to bring the yak down or have time to forage but I have a request from the SO to pick up some fresh sand dabs, and maybe some seasonal live invertebrates. Any idea where those can be purchased in the bay area, preferably in the south bay/SJ area?

Thanks,
Mike

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / HKUP striper/sturg 3/2-3/3

« on: February 28, 2023, 08:26:53 PM »

Will be in the delta area for a few days with the yak, weather looks like a good break. I skunked at China camp 2 weeks ago halfway to pump with some big tides and clear skies, but none of the shops had any shrimp then so I tried to make do with sardines and nightcrawler. Not even a nibble. Will be giving it another go with lightly cured kokanee roe and frozen ghost shrimp.

Thinking China Camp again, or belden's, maybe pitt or antioch area marinas on QRAS soaking bait. Will probably troll striper gear around at slack and when moving spots, but hopes are low with the cold/stormy front and water temps. Any info appreciated, company welcome. Planning to do a 9AM, ride the midday tide change, off before dark. Will bring some extra roe if someone wants to tag along. VHF 69 as per usual. Coming from family in the sac and/or livermore area.

Shoots,
Mike

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Shasta lake bridges and submerged structure

« on: March 26, 2022, 01:33:02 AM »

Most located off the Sac river arm between Sugarloaf and the bottom of the sac arm. The hot spot to visit the closest bridge and tunnel to sugarloaf is located about 1/2 mi south form the launch. Official sugarloaf closures happen at 140’ drawdown, but kayaks can manage thru the mud and dirt down to about 160-180’ somewhat comfortably. If I were to recommend a drawdown, it would be at about 145’-155’ down from crest to visit the bridges. Going thru the tunnel is a little sketch especially if boats are coming thru and waking. Sounds like a great way to die getting splatted against a submerged tunnel on Shasta. At about 160, the bridges become completely exposed above the water line. At about 120’, completely submerged. Many prop strike marks on the bridge to indicate plenty of boats had ruined trips. Cool little trip to do to watch when the Shasta levels start dropping from their current levels at 126’ down. Right off the I5. Currently catching record grade pikeminnow, decent mid-sized Shasta trout, and chunky bass not too far from the bridge on either side. Water temps are low 50s to mid 50s but getting to 58 in spots when the sun is out and weather is warm.

General Talk / Frozen Shad Shortage?

« on: August 21, 2021, 10:39:41 PM »

Been to every bait shop between Sacramento and Redding and haven't been able to find any frozen shad for weeks. Ventured into the delta and found some at a gas station freezer section. Was told by a few people that there is a widespread shortage up north. Anyone have any idea if that's true, or where I could find some?

Places to Launch and Camp / Shasta Lake Breakdown and Summer Report

« on: August 05, 2021, 03:21:09 PM »

It's a hard body of water to fish from kayak, compared to other lakes and for a lot of reasons. It's kicked my butt plenty of times in 2020, and I'm finally dialing the fish's number this year in 2021. That isn't to say the drought conditions haven't had its challenges. Most of my fishing is concentrated on the chrome species: rainbows, browns, kings, and kokes. I occasionally bass fish, but my preference is trolling and covering water for salmonoids. That's especially important on such a big lake. Since this breakdown will cover a lot of information, I'm going to format it chronologically from the last season up until now with some geography, then techniques. Spoiler alert: The thermo fishing is HOT in the main body, and will be steady until end of september. Thermo bite is the easiest to score from a kayak, and requires the least amount of water to cover. It does, however, require the most amount of hardware.

Spring 2020:
Spent a lot of my time covering water by the dam, learning how to roll bait and present lures deep. Spring and fall transition periods are notoriously difficult for finding fish consistently. With no thermocline established, the marks were all the way from the surface down to 80ft in April and May and surface temps varied in some areas. Probably skunked 3/4 trips out, deepening my resolve. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different downrigger alternatives, like Dispey/Deep six/Jet divers, dropper weights, and planars. The shad, the main forage that fuels the entire lake, were absent in a lot of areas and were definitely not well schooled up. The main body is where the turnover supposedly happens last in the spring, and the first in the fall. With that info, I was hoping a late turnover bite would produce fish mostly on top. I was wrong. Scattered all over the sonar, I had low expectations and results.

Summer 2020:
The water level was nearly full, a huge contrast to this year's drought. With access at full capacity, the skiiers and pleasure boaters had a great summer, witnessed by the lack of overflow parking capacity on a regular basis. After nearly becoming a speedbump after a few close calls several trips in a row, I gave up fishing most of the thermocline season to chase higher altitude and better weather. Big mistake. Thermocline bite was hot last year on its regular tune, and I missed out. I'll cover the intricacies of thermo bite in the summer 2021 section.

Fall 2020:
After discovering the hard way that turnover/transition bites make for a very tough chrome experience, especially in the main body, I shot up the arms. Hirz, Jones, and Antlers in search of bass. Jones was the money. Flooded stumps on the drop shot/jig, flooded coves that boater's can't get into due to sunken tree risks, Jones was the money for bass. Definitely the most amount of detailed structure within paddling distance of the launch. I had a little bit of luck with fresh planters rainbows in the 10-14 inch grade, some with parr marks. No good size holdovers to be seen, and marks were difficult especially at jones. Fall was when i started to notice we were in for a winter drawdown as the launches got longer and longer. But I had no idea it was about to get as bad as it currently is now. The dirt launches started opening up along the concrete ones at Centimudi and Jones, allowing for easy shore parking for bank fishermen and kayak launches. No more fighting lines and competing with boats for launch, but the low water launches weren't entirely in effect then.

Winter 2020/21:
After thanksgiving, the surface temp started rapidly dropping into the 50's. Once the temp went under 60, I started thinking about topline trout fishing. My thoughts were kayak had the advantage with stealth factor, and with trolling floating line I would be able to work structure in a much more intimate way than any boat could. The main tactic I saw was planar board combos among boaters, and I experimented a little with in-line planar boards but never fell into favor. Winter was when I started donning my ocean wetsuit, as frost on launches and eventually snow in town forced me to seriously consider hypothermia. The nice thing about winter bite is the morning and evening bites don't usually produce, and the midday when temps are warmest (especially if surface <48F), and I'd sleep in and launch at 10AM, off by 3PM. Curiously, not many trollers out in the winter. Most fishermen I saw launching were bass boats gearing up for tournaments, not many targeting the chromes besides off-season guides.
Most of my winter success came from the mouth of Squaw Creek arm down to Bridge Bay point, where I would sometimes launch. I've had conflicting pricing of kayak launching at bridge. Sometimes they charge my $5, sometimes $15, one time $7 (?). Sometimes I launch dirt under the I5 bridge when it's crowded, most of the times launch main when water level was still relatively up and traffic was light. I would tell them where I plan to launch, and I guess sometimes it affected the price...? It's a private marina not covered by the annual pass, but they do sell an off-season winter pass.
All in all, winter was tough. Numb extremities, hydroflasks filled with hot beverage, occasional slipping on the launch, and chafed thighs from wetsuit under thermals under splash gear. I averaged some nicer holdovers in the 16-20 inch range, but overall slim pickings and 2/3 trips skunked on target species. The bonus was that I did notice bass boats giving me all the tips for their species while I'm struggling with mine. Up until about christmas, the bass guys were consistently coming back to launch with big smiles and stories.
As the snow and winter doldrums set in, the temp dropped under 50 and in some places, under 45. I could not mark a fish to save my life, nor pull a bite. Frustrated, I gave up in january in search of easier bites. What I did discover was a bank fishing bite I wouldn't have expected. Fisherman's point by the dam has a year-round supply of planters that just hang around the launch cove between Centmudi, Fisherman's, and the orange buoys in front of the dam. Since Centmudi is one of the more popular destinations for planting historically, there are truckloads of marks feeding on surface forage in the dead of winter. As the rainbows gear up for spawn, it has been speculated that they return to the launch where they were imprinted upon planting in search of spawning water. All the find is fishermen's point and locals armed with the "Shasta Fly", a mini marshmallow tipped with crawler, powerbait, or roe.

Spring 2021:
With my winter strategy refined, I hit the first days of spring like the early days of winter: toplining aggressive baits midday close to shore in search of big fish. When the surface temps went above 50, I started pulling big plugs and spoons faster and faster as the temps heated up. Once they got above 60 in the main body in march, I switched from bridge/packers area back to jones for the rumored plankton blooms. In short, I didn't find a damn one. The trollers I spoke to at jones said they're past arbuckle. Well, that's quite a hike from the jones launch. I searched for 2 months for the rumored Pit arm plankton blooms that attract mid-sized holdover trout, and mainly found bass on the troll. Some decent thickness 14-16inch pit river strain rainbows, but nothing to brag about. Same deal as every other season I've fished the lake before: cover miles of water. Occasionally I'd find a cluster with several fish but marks were highly scattered. Ego in check, I spent most of april making kayak modifications and dialing in gear for the summer bite. I was determined after a year of trials and tribulations to have one day where I'd put the whomper on the fish.

Summer 2021:
May. Downrigger installed. Dipsey and Deep Six divers dialed in for the season. No more floating line or leadcore hybrids, just plain braid. Water level was already 100+ft. down, compared to almost full at this time the year before. I had spent the past year researching the nuances of thermocline bite, and was prepared to bring it, full send. Hirz, antlers, and now Packers closed. My options were Sugarloaf, Jones, Centimudi, and competing with boaters at the private marinas. Since Centmudi is 7mins away from my driveway, I figured I'd save on gas. Low launch in effect, making for an easy kayak shore launch away from boats.
In May, the thermocline was starting to establish near the dam, but only in shallow coves with significant warming. Once the June 100F weather kicked in, the thermo really starts to establish. Already in May, I was seeing decent shad marks in the lower lake, but not in concentrated balls. Once June kicked in, the shad came en masse. But I was still not seeing consistent large marks underneath. The fish slowly started trickling in, and so did the upgrade in size. What I wasn't prepared for was losing 2 downrigger balls on my newly installed outfit on my first trip. Then another on my second trip. And another on my 3rd. Eventually I just uninstalled it, running solely divers. Interestingly, that's the same thing I'm noticing from PB's and guides on the lake. The meta in town right now is definitely Dipsey Divers. I had a few good fish every other trip in May, scored decent holdovers 3/4 trips in June, and limits in July.
It wasn't until the 4th weekend that the bite really kicked off. No fireworks in this county, but there was underwater. It also coincided with the beginning of fire season up here, scaring most people off the water that hadn't been previously deterred by low water levels. "Smoke on the water" playing from skiiboats in the background of smoky water and orange sun. Since the 4th, it's been limits fishing for boats, and big fish on every kayak trip out. Limits style fishing has backed off a little in August as the fish are gorging up, and the parasites are starting to show on just about every fish. They seem to be a lot worse on the small planters.

Kokanee have started sporadically showing up in the lower lake, but with their spawn approaching I'm hesitant that they'll make their way down to the dam in significant numbers. Their size is excellent, easily the largest kokanee in California. Currently 17-19" now, and I've heard some rumors of 20" with a few landed in front of me from local boats that would push 20. Talking with guides at the launch, they almost exclusively get them from the I5 bridge up the mccloud arm to Hirz Bay and back, often mid morning when the trout and king bite die. They've been reportedly very consistent in the 35-55ft range all summer. Interestingly, the guides are not using corn. The combos are often small spoons like Dick Nite, behind a 3-6" dodger and some sort of gel scent. The alternative is hoochies, but are run much less frequently. I suspect my lake of success has partly been because of running snubbers and simply not seeing or missing late the kokanee bites.
The King bite this year is very spread out. In years past, they have been concentrated from the dam to dry creek arm, my usual stomping grounds. Guides are getting them halfway up the Sac arm, to ski island, to squaw arm and mouth of mccloud. The amount of deep king marks is nowhere near as concentrated as my stomping grounds in Trinity Lake and much less shallow, and my King success (or lack) at shasta is indicative of the bite in that area now. I've only had 2 kings all year from Shasta, and will be switching from rolling shad to rolling anchovies as I desire lock-king flesh.
The rainbows. Meat and potatoes fishing. In May, they were 25-45ft down, in June 35-55ft, July 40-65, and now 50-100ft down. Scoring every trip, and BIG fish. Broken several personal bests last month. Pics to follow. The fresh planters stay near the surface, even in hot weather and warm water, chasing surface activity. It's interesting to see parasite-ridden rainbows with parr marks eating flies in July at 10AM in 85F surface temp and 99F ambient air in 150+fow while their holdover brethren 3x their size are schooling shad 65ft below them.
Browns typically show up later in the thermocline, and have their own spawning patterns in the Mccloud arm where the majority spawn. Spring toplining with aggressive plugs is what the guides swear by, and 10lbers are the target. A small minority of browns spawn in the Pit arm, and virtually none in the sac arm (info by hearsay). My luck hasn't been too good with them, and they will be my early spring target next year hopefully, along with the kokanee class of 2022 (assuming water levels will let us launch Hirz)
Interestingly, I am catching bass on the troll in 30-50ft right now chasing shad. The trout are a bit below the bass, and I know I need to go deeper if 2-3lb spots are tugging at my presentation. There are days when I'll catch 2-3 spots for every rainbow on the troll.

Tactics:
Toplining
Pretty simple stuff. I experimented with in-line planar boards, and found that just paddling close to shore with floating line allowed for a much more controlled troll lane with much less drag and much more peace of mind. I would usually put my floating line closest to shore, and run my other rod with 1-2 colors of leadcore down on the deeper side. Hoochies and big blades, slow plugs like mag lip 2.0 and 5.0 flatfish, shad spoon imitations, and soft plastics behind blades. Occasionally ran a trolling fly. Pretty standard stuff. If you're targeting spring browns in the mccloud arm, then rapalas via the guides. Did that 3 or 4 times with no success.
Plankton bloom fishing in April and May up the Pit arm can be productive toplining or down only 10-15ft. Didn't score this year or last, but I'd consider it if you're boat-in camping arbuckle or are way up the pit arm early morning.

Thermocline fishing
Lost too much money in downrigger gear on shallow points that come up out of nowhere in these low levels. It's all dipsey divers for me. Typically the action is poised between the bottom of shad schools and the top of the 'cline. Higher up is easier action than lower down most of the time. What has been very interesting for me this summer is how I've fished Dipsey divers. I'll attach pictures of my rig below. On a slow turn, your sonar can mark how deep your dipsey diver is. I'll slowly send it down, making sure to not tangle my rig. I'll set it about 3ft above where I want to run it, put it in the rod holder, and the additional slack with make it go the last 3ft. I can mark my diver most of the time if it's shallower than 100ft and slower than 2mph. Typically won't run divers shallower than 35ft. It's super fun to see fish on the screen shoot up from the thermocline, 40+ ft vertically up to 55ft of water, check out my lure for a cool 15s, sometimes short strike, then shoot back down. I get to see the follows, the takedowns, the timid fish and short strikes on my screen just like video game fishing. Even with a narrower cone setting. It's awesome. 7/10 fish I catch i will see on the sonar right before or as they strike. But it's the ones that surprise you that are the most fun.
My general rule for divers now is, I attach a snubber if I expect to catch >12-16" fish, and especially if they fight hard. I've broken a RAM mount on a feisty takedown and cost me a $250 combo (I leashed it to the base of the RAM mount, fml). Snubbers are absolutely necessary for these large and fast fish. Shasta trout have been known to blitz the shad and are said to be the fastest trout in CA from the guides, anyway.
Leaders are now upgraded to 12-15lb. I've broken off way too many fish in June on 10lb for me to feel comfortable with anything less than 12. 30lb braid direct to diver, 3-5ft 15lb leader from diver to main attractor, then 12-18" leader to lure, 12lb fluoro. Even with 12lb sometimes, the leader will snap in the net 25% of the time when the big fish does their last dance.
The observation from guides and myself has been the fish prefer a much slower presentation this year than in years past. under 2mph most of the time, and rolling bait at 1-1.5. That means big aggressive spoons and baits are out. I've mainly been running hoochie and tubes/blade tipped with chovy fillet, rolled bait, Brad's KCP with canned tuna sauce, Dick Nite, and chrome/bronze plugs. Occasionally will run needlefish, trolling flies in minnow patterns, and soft plastics. For guides, small spoons and varieties of Brad's KCP's are the money for clients, along with fire brined shad rolling.
I had really good action in June on soft plastics, from grubs to mini paddle tails. The trouble was they would survive 1 bite, and the tail would be gone. I tried rigging them with stinger hooks behind, but was afraid that was killing the action. All in all, I gave up on soft plastics as it was costing me a fresh pack or more every day on the water. I've been going to Fishen Hole bait shop on the Dam blvd. for skinny grubs $0.10 a piece. Been shopping for the right grubs for over a year and finally found a pourer in town that does them just the way I like. However, they don't stand up to these big and toothy fish even if they produce at every other lake I go to. And I'm not too keen on polluting more plastic in the lake that provides my drinking water, so I've fully given up on the stuff here.

Centmudi route:
I have a go-to morning route most morning outings at the Dam, especially if I'm feeling lazy or tired or not all that ambitious to make the trip to Dry Creek or Big Backbone. I have a route hugging the East shoreline to Digger Bay, working the south point of the bay where it's a deeper drop off and tightly schooled shad all summer long. I'll work the bay, then move to the (previously) submerged islands right outside the bay entrance jutting out to the middle of the lake. This is where I see the most gear lost. I'll weave the islands' channels, work the outside, and fish deeper water on my way back to the launch. Can do in about 3hrs, and produces at least 1-2 big trout every time. I like to work structure, even when fishing deep. For fear of losing downrigger balls, it's a path avoided by boats mostly. I also like that it stays in the shade until about 8:30AM, which is a huge advantage on persistent 100F+ days in Redding where it's swim time by 9AM (feels like 90F). Staying cool and avoiding burn have been the bane of my existence so far. Evening bite I'll follow the same route sometimes too, but without the shade advantage.

TLDR: Thermocline fishing at Shasta is intense, although not following traditional summer patterns. Hot bite will continue for another 1-2mo, hopefully with enough water to repeat next year.

Places to Launch and Camp / Trinity/Whiskeytown Lake Drought Launches/Bites

« on: July 18, 2021, 08:15:29 PM »

Not my video, but informative drone shot and recently updated with launch status. Currently, Minerville is the only public launchable option for boats on Trinity (unsure of Trinity Center but officially open, although reportedly very muddy). I've been skinny launching at Fairview by the dam for several months now. Boats have been able to skinny even after they stopped servicing up until the beginning of June. Still able to wheel a kayak down the low water launch, possibly for another 15-20' drawdown. Current is 104+ft down. Stuart fork has been producing most of the chrome species so far this year, that launch might be doable still for a kayak. Lot of dirt to get to the water, though, and that Trinity mud is no joke.
The decreased access is making it excellent for having the lake to myself. Noticed an uptick in Lewiston visitors, mostly from boats that weren't prepared for the levels and using Lewiston as a backup option. Not too many seem to know how to fish that body effectively, especially with a motor. Kayaks should have no problem for the rest of the year on Trinity and lewiston is a breeze no matter what. Can't say the same for boats.
Haven't hit whiskey yet this year, but the trout plants are paying off in the 14-16" grade for locals I hear, and it's much more lowkey and shallow trout fishery than Shasta, especially up the arms. Almost full everytime I pass the 299 on my way to Trinity/lewiston. The kokes are slightly smaller than last year's grade according to reports, 12-14" down from the 13-15" I got into last year. Not as many parasites it seems this year. Nice. But the scoop on that is that all the guides and locals are hitting the Mccloud arm of Shasta for big kokes, this year marking the first good grade out of the lake. And man are they BIG. Seen a few possible 20" kokes hauled in on trout gear by PB's. With the massive 20"+ trout and 24"+ kings and 16"+ kokes, a mixed bag is enticing, especially since the former 2 species seem highly scattered in the lake this year. The pressure is light on Whiskey every time I pass. Even Shasta has light pressure this year with all the bad press about levels and intimidating dirt launches for the uninitiated.

Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) / Shasta Lake Levels

« on: July 07, 2021, 12:56:32 PM »

Low. Hot. Smoky. Fishing red hot multispecies, only to improve.