The Best Lures for Los Vaqueros

For the last four years we have been trolling Los Vaqueros, and seeing which lures catch the most fish. Now for the results: The number one lure by a large margin was the Cripp Lure from Shasta Tackle in the Silver Scale pattern. This metal spoon has caught Stripers, Trout, Bass, Sacramento Perch,and King Salmon. It is the go to lure for us.

Up until this year the number two lure was a J5 broken back rapala in gold. This lure was the best at catching King Salmon. With the Kings growing to 16+ inches, the time for the Rapala is near.

Another Rapala is our third choice, the J8 X-Rap also in gold. This lure can be top-lined or run out on lead -core. It almost always catches the biggest trout of the day.

This year we have been trying new lures. So far the best have been the Michigan Light Stinger Spoon in dark colours, The Apex 2inch lure in dark or shad colours, and the Tomic Lures in black or shad colours.

Many other lures have caught fish like Cast Masters in Silver or Gold, Lucky Live Pointers in Silver and a small no name caterpillar which just catches salmon.

All of these lures are run out on leadcore with a10 foot leader,to ten to twenty feet deep. We troll at about 2.5mph, and go to about 10 different spots in the lake. All of these spots are nearsunken road beds, humps and deep banks. We use a portable depth finder to locate depths and fish. I have even tried a down rigger to get to those salmon deep on the bottom.

This is what works for us. Let us know what works for you. God Bless.

Stripers,Jewlery, and the $50.00 Fish at Los Vaqueros

With no money for catfish for fish and game to put in the South Bay, I decided to go for the trout that the East Bay is beginning to put in their lakes. With the weather only in the low 100's, it seemed like the perfect time. The winds at Los Vaqueros were gentle for the first time in two months so at the crack of 10:30 We went out to troll Los Vaqueros. After stopping at a quilt store, got out on the lake for that cool afternoon bite. I wanted to try some of the Lake Shasta tackle to see if it was as productive down here. No downrigger as 95% of the fish are caught in 10 to 20 feet of water.That depth is easy to fish with lead core line.

I put on flashers, dodgers, spinners and all of those Canadian hand crafted lures. These were trolled around the lake for two hours with no luck. So off comes the jewlery and out go the lures with nothing but scent. It was all of five minutes when the shad coloured Tomic plug gets hammered. The fish is on for a few seconds then shakes off. But the damage is done , the fish has crossed two other lines and we now have a huge tangled mess with lead core and leaders and lures all together. So we set out to the deep water and start to untangle the mess. Finally were back in business. Soon a fish hits an apex in purple and dark pink, so I look in the box for a spoon that has those colours. I find a Michigan Lite Stinger Spoon in that colour pattern,( I have all kinds of colours in this spoon since it caught the12.44lb. rainbow at Del Valle,), I think that I now have the magic colour. Not long after the apex gets bite. As I am about to net the 2.5lb. trout, I notice a tag on it's back. So in the cooler it goes. What is the tag for? We will see later.

At 3:30 pm we are trolling along watching the birds when the little old antique pole starts to sing out. Ferne takes the pole and I turn the boat to the fish. The fish just keeps peeling out the drag. I start winding in the other lines so I can go after the fish. By this time the fish has taken out over 125 feet of lead core and is into the backing. I go after the fish before it spools us. The fish finally stops and we get some line back. The fish is now near the boat, than it turns and dives down toward the bottom 89 feet below. We still do not know what kind of fish it is. But we do know that it is BIG. Finally pumping the rod Ferne gets the fish to the surface. The fish sees the boat and goes bezerk. Another 10 minutes pass before the net closes in on a perfect 10.50lb striper. The fish had taken the Michigan Stinger spoon and would not let go. I opened it's jaws and found that the spoon was clamped to the jaws. The hook had not penetrated the jaw. It just fell out! We quickly snapped some photos. Ferne said that the striper was too beautiful to kill. I agreed. It fought to good to be killed so we put it back in the lake to fight another day.

After that it was trolling in, catching another trout on the way When we got in we found out that the tag was worth a 1\2 day boat rental worth up to $50.00. The striper on the digital camera was worth a whopper mug and a picture on the wall. So get a camera, and snap a picture of your trophy. You can then let it go to fight another day.

God Bless, Michael

Lake Shasta "smoking" fishing report

The fires were burning but the fish didn't care. Thats because they could not get burned at 75 feet under the water. We took a trip to Lake Shasta to learn about downrigger fishing. Hired a guide, Ben Raimondi of Fish'in Comfort(530)238-9789, and took off at 6am in his 25 foot pontoon boat. It took all of five minutes before we got to the spot and set up. The fish were fifty to ninety feet down. Sent down the first downrigger to ninety feet with a ball flasher attached. That is a string of flasher blades run off the downrigger ball. The bait in this case Apex lures are run just above the flashers. The second downrigger was set at sixty feet with Shasta Tackle Sling Blades and Criplures in UV blue, and Sling Blades and Kokanuts in Pink. A second rod was sent down on a Shasta Tackle ShuttleHawk ten feet above the first rod. So we have lures at eighty,seventy,sixty, and fifty feet. Then Ben adds a slider to the top rod . A slider is a small lure attached to a short leader attached to a snap swivel. This is then snapped on the line and the lure travels down to the bow in the line half way between the other lure and the surface.

Now we wait. Not for long , the deep rod pops off the downrigger and the first fish of the day is on. Up comes a nice two pound rainbow. Minutes later a two pound salmon is netted. This action continues for the next few hours with mixed sizes of rainbows ,salmon and a kamloop trout,or native rainbow, brought to the boat to be added to the cooler or released.

I learned a lot about downrigger fishing from Ben. He was a wealth of information and really knows Lake Shasta. I even found some new lures Apex and Weetads which I got online to try in the lakes around here. Learned that the scents which I use are important for the lures and the attractors. They make a local scent called BassWax which all the local guides use. It worked better then the Pro Gel I use. If you want to try BassWax. you can order it online.

The next post will tell how well I learned the lessons of downrigger fishing when I take the Big Jon to the local lakes. So long for now and pray for rain. God Bless, Michael

CAGI Sonic Fish Attractor

I took a month off of blogging to test the CAGI Sonic Fish Attractor. I wanted to make sure that it was worth the price. Well, here are the results. You be the judge. I fished Los Vaqueros and Lake Del Valle. I got ten to one bites in Los Vaqueros with the CAGI. Went to Lake Del Valle twice and the results were amazing. I put a J7 broken back Rapala 24inches back of a green CAGI and let out 6 colours of lead core, about 32 feet deep ,right at the thermocline.I then put down various lures on the down rigger at the same depth. The lead core got so many bites that I took off the down rigger and put out another lead core pole with another CAGI attached.The final score, 43 confirmed hits on the CAGI and 5 hits on the down rigger. It appears that the fish hit the CAGI sometimes as I would get a solid hit and then nothing. So I say if you want to try one go to Cabela's, they have three colours to chose from, I am partial to green.

I also started to use a Big Jon downrigger. I like the idea of fishing at exact depths for those summer fish. It gets hot here in the Bay Area and the water gets catfish warm. I finally caught my first trout on the downrigger.It was a three pounder caught on a Fish with Gary spinner in an orange bead pattern 12inches behind a matching orange dodger. I found out that I need a special ultra light pole to get the proper load on the downrigger. That was why I missed all the fish. So new tackle is coming.

Catfishing is still slow. They are still on the spawning beds. Went out after trolling with a jar of Kokanee Corn and cast the rocks. It is just like bass fishing. You see a fish guarding a nest and cast your corn there. It gets attacked and you drag the catfish off the bed . Just like bass fishing you let the fish go to protect the nest. Soon it will be catfish season for those 2lb. fryers. Yum I can not wait! Until then I will continue eating those 12lb. trout patties. God Bless

Big Trout at Lake Del Valle

As stated before no pictures of small fish. So what happens? The fish gods smiled on us. It might be because we took no bananas for lunch. The hours finally paid off, or it was the superior skill of the crew; or a combo of them all. After two hours of trolling with one small fish caught and numerous hits, the back reel's drag started to scream. No big deal as I sometimes leave the drag very loose so I can pretend that any fish on seems like a monster. Ferne takes the rod and I control the boat. Since I think it is a small one, I leave the other rods in the water. After two minutes of not being able to gain any line , I suggest tightening the drag. It was tight. So guess what? We have a good fish on.By this time the other poles were going every which way. So I put the motor in neutral and the fight was on. It took five minutes of delicate fighting to get the fish to the net. All I heard from Ferne was,"SH-T THAT IS A HUGE FISH!" The fish was hooked by one hook in the very tip of the top jaw. Any slack and it would be gone. Good angling skill and a little luck The fish was brought to net. Only one line was caught in the motor and no other tangles. A good Job done!

The fish weighed 12 pounds and 4.44 ounces! It was caught at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Michigan Stinger light spoon in Alewife pattern. It is sort of a black shad colour. The spoon is ultra thin and light which kept the hook in the fish's jaw. A cast master would have pulled out the hook.

I have been using a new small plastic "fish caller." It was part of the rig that caught all the fish that day. I will show the item and name it when I think it is worth the $10.00 price tag it carries. So far it brings in more fish but not more strikes. I will use it more and give an update. I hate to suggest using a $1.00 product that costs $10.00, unless it does what it advertises to do, catch many more fish.

God Bless and Good Fishing for now.