Fishing around Shingletown, Lake Shasta, Grace, Nora,and Kilarc

We cleared the weeds,painted the house,planted the garden, cut the walnut trees, now it is time to go fishing again. Started out by taking a charter on Lake Shasta with Ben Raimondi of Fish'in Comfort, (530-238-9789). Ben is the number one  guide on Shasta. He gives you your moneys worth in fish and knowledge. We caught and released limits of trout.  Two things I do not like about Shasta are the cocopods and the too numerous bass.  The cocopods make the trout  have sores all over their body. It does no harm to the meat, but sure makes them unappealing to the eye. As for the bass, they are all over the lake. We put on some BassWax crayfish scent on one of the lures, put it back down and caught two bass in 30 min.  Now I will get lots of hate e-mail , because we ATE them! Bass taste better than trout. Try them. Keep the small 12 to 14 in. sizes. The  lake and fishery will not miss them. The remaining bass will only get bigger. Just remember any large fish of any species should be released to breed. I would rather catch ten  large  than twenty smaller fish any day.

Fish and Game finally gave the OK to plant our local lakes ,Grace And Nora. They put sterile fish in both ponds.  It was worth the wait. The fish are from 10 in. to my personal best 19 in . What is nice about the two lakes is that you can fly fish them both. I finally got  to use my latest bargains from Cabelas. I picked up  a 3wt. Galvan large arbor reel and a matching Sage rod for a super price during the winter . I am not the best fly caster in the land, so Grace was perfect for me . Twenty foot  casts are all that is needed. I have had many 30 fish days on both ponds since. All that is needed is a size 14 to 18 nymph  weighted down with two tin split shots 18” up the 6x tippet. Cast out and drag back just over the bottom.  The take is nothing more than a slight stop.

I even cheated one day when the fish refused to take the fly. I put a black olive Berkley 1“ leech on the fly.  This combo got the trout to bite.  What was nice about this set up was the trout took the combo like a fly.  All were hooked in the jaw, so I could release them with the help of my Brodin Ghost Net, the best release net on the market.

This leaves only Kilarc to report on. We went up to this scenic reservoir during the rains and caught  some small brown trout. Yesterday I went up alone and tried my luck. Lures only caught one small brown. I needed to cast 100 feet out with my fly rod. That was not going to happen. So the old  water bobber filled with split shots and a fly  was the ticket. A size 14 bead head  in any brown or pheasant body on a 6 foot leader did the trick.  The further out you cast the bigger the browns you caught.  The fish were right on the bottom. Two other people were doing the same thing as I was but without the weights.  They fished too  high and caught nothing.  I started out at the crack of noon, full sun, 80 degrees, and crystal clear water, just the perfect conditions for a sun burn. I fished till 2:30. Much to my surprise  I caught fish, big fish.  The largest was 15 inches. These browns were great fighters, leaping two feet out of the air and  then going straight to the bottom.  I caught 18 fish with 7 over 12 inches, 5 0ver 14 inches.  ALL released.  I DO like the taste of brown trout, but these fish look so beautiful, I have a hard time killing them.  It has gotten so bad that I do not like any one keeping one.  But each to his or her own ideals people have to eat,  just let it be planters!

Hat Creek is soon, but after the touristas  go home. Lake trolling for kokanee on Whiskeytown Lake is next cannot wait to go trolling again!!!! 

Regular posts will be the norm.  So remember to keep your leaders light and keep only the F&G planters.

The reel report, fish caught by Ferne reported by Michael.

God Bless!

Good Bye Bay Area, Welcome Shasta County

No new posts for a few months. But for a good reason , we moved to Shasta County, about 20 miles from Mt. Lassen. as the years crept by, the fishing in the Bay Area has gotten worse. Chabot seems to be stocking smaller fish. A couple of years ago you could catch 6 t0 10 pounders regularly. Now a 3 pounder is a whopper. Del Valle is still good , but a boat gets you the most fish. Rental prices have gone up to be very expensive. The ponds in Santa Clara are still fun, but you need to be there when they plant, or else no fish. The last place to remember is Los Vaqueros. This deep lake was going to be the best fishing lake in California. In the beginning it semed to be true. You could catch 30 trout,and have a striper hit your bait almost every time out.Then salmon were added and you could also catch at least 1 every time out. But then something happened. The fish stopped hitting. The algae bloomed. Boat restrictions came into affect. The fish are there but no longer can you catch them in great numbers,or any size. No answers from the water district, no fisheries biologist to test the ecosystem. Nothing but hours of trolling for one or two fish. I hope they get their act together or flood the lake to double the size as is in the future plans. Then there will be no fishing.

So, before that happens we moved. Now we are looking forward to new waters and new lures to try. I have already begun. I tried Berkley Minnow Heads for the first time and they seemed to work in the local lakes. Looking forward to continue to report on the REEL ways to catch fish

God Bless Ferne@ Michael

Testing

Testing a new blog writing program…looks like a fun one!

Smallmouths, Bluegills, Rainbows, Brookies,and Browns

Well the derby is over. Again just like last year when a crappie was my biggest fish, I failed to get a trout over three pounds. This time it was a 7lb 2oz catfish that was my largest fish. I caught about 100 trout, all under two pounds. Too bad the derby was not a cumulative total weight derby.

We decided to take a trip up north to see what we could catch in the many streams and lakes in Lassen co. The snow had melted and the streams were running. Our first stop was Shingletown, about 25miles East of Redding. Where does one go to find out about local fishing spots? Why the bakery of course. Stocking up on the largest donuts I have ever seen, I got the info. Two small lakes, Nora and Grace, were the local secret spots. Drug Ferne out of the quilt shoppe and on to Nora. Stopped at Nora which is only 4 acres and saw some small fish but no where to fish so on down the road to Grace, a 7 acre lake. Here we saw fish rising every where. Put on the 1/16 oz Wyld spinner and cast out. Soon a fish was on! The first fish of the trip was a beautiful Brown trout. A couple of rainbows later we headed on down the road with 3/4 of the donuts left.

Our plan was to drive to Burney, about 45 miles north and use the motel as a base camp. Driving past Hat Creek we arrived in Burney. Checked in and then out to fish the Wild Trout section of Hat Creek, barbless hooks only. Mother nature had other ideas. We no sooner rigged up when thunder and lightning lit up the sky. We were fishing right next to a METAL BRIDGE. Lightning? not a good mix so we got the heck out of there! Driving back, hail and wind and rain made sure we did not go back. We did manage to take some pictures of the locals.

The next morning we went to Burney Falls, the Eight Wonder of the World. Within two miles you can fish for planted trout, totally wild trout and warm water species like bass and blugills. We did it all. First we went to see the falls and then drove 1 mile to Lake Britton. Here we walked around the shore and saw that the Smallmouth Bass were on their nests. Not having any plastics in the tackle box , I dug out some Rebel Cat'r Crawlers, a one and a half inch sinking worm imitation. WE cast out and let it sink on the beds. Soon I had a nice two pounder on. Caught a few more , Ferne even got her first Smallie . It was the biggest of the five we caught. I even caught a giant bluegill bigger then any I have caught in 45 years!

After going swimming for a lure stuck in a log we went trout fishing. First we tried the planter section above the falls. Had two on but nothing sticking. So we went to the Wild Section. The fly fishermen had beaten the waters for two hours before we go there and did not get a thing. I was not expecting anything when I tied on the 1/4 oz barbless Wyld Spinner . I picked a spot where the river flowed under a tree. I made ten casts and nothing. I was ready to let Ferne try but I did not want to go swimming for the lure stuck in a tree where it would no doubt land, so I make one last cast. I got a hit! I was so surprised that I did not set the hook. I made another cast and ,FISH ON!!! A perfect 13 1/2 in Brook Trout came to shore to be photoed and released. After that we hiked and enjoyed the flora and fauna. It was getting to be lunch time so back to the motel and then out to try to catch a fish at Hat Creek.

We chose to go to Cassel a stocked section of Hat Creek, not near a metal bridge. After finding the right location near the bridge we started to catch rainbows, nothing big but great fighters. Ferne caught her rainbow,and I caught a few dozen before kissing the last rainbow good bye.

A great short trip, lots of fish, lots of photos, and lots of giant donuts. (It took us two days but we ate them all.)

Until we loose ten pounds, God Bless

Ferne @ Michael


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SPINNERS RULE!!!!!!

As promised, I took a trip to Del Valle and Chabot this week. Tuesday I went to Del Valle and did some trolling around the dam and the Marina. I fished with broken back J5 Rapalas and those CAGI attractors on one pole and The Wyld Spinners on the other. It was slow . So slow that I only saw two other boats come and go. The Fish Sniffers must have told everyone the bite was off. After two hours it was a draw, one fish on each pole. The wind came up and I motored back to the Marina. Three boats were anchored in front of the Marina. I put out both poles and waited for about two minutes before the first hit, on the Wyld Spinner. The trout just loved the spinner. I caught ten in about two hours with twice as many hits. The other pole with the Rapala got nothing!Then it stopped. The fish turned off . I released all the trout and said that the next fish was coming to dinner with me. Finally the Rapala got a good hit and a nice pink meated 2!/4 pounder was the main attraction for dinner. Final total,11 for the Wyld Spinner. 2 for the CAGI Rapala combo. Del Valle trout love Wyld Spinners.

Today went to Chabot for three hours. I started out with the same two set ups as Del Valle. I put out the poles and waited. I trolled for fifty feet when the pole with the Wyld Spinner started to sing out. I grabbed the pole and held on. The fish was heavy, very heavy. Was it a derby winner? After about 10 minutes of fighting the fish, I had my answer. It turned out to be a 7lb. 2oz. channel catfish! Not the derby winner, and no camera to record the catch. So back into the water it went. The spinner was still perfect. Not a bent hook or spinner shaft,GOOD spinners. For the next two hours it was ,Wyld Spinners out fishing the Rapalas 8 to 1!!! The only thing negative thing about the Wyld Spinners was no whoppers. The bigger fish came on the Rapalas, but 8 to 1, I'll take that any time. The batteries on the motor were getting low and the wind really came up, so back home I went . Another victory for the Wyld Spinners. Here is the link for the spinners, try them, they work for me.

Until the next whopper photo,

God Bless, Ferne @ Michael