Trout lead winter angling parade at Collins, Camanche and Amador lakes
OREGON HOUSE - Winter trout fishing is in full swing on Northern California foothill and Mother Lode lakes. Lots of anglers have been getting out fishing from shore and boats during their days off during the holidays.
Collins Lake: Cal Kellogg of fishhuntshoot.com gave the trout fishing at Collins Lake, located in the Sierra Nevada foothills between Marysville and Grass Valley, a “B” grade. Since the trolling is so slow with the cold water temperatures, he and his clients have been fishing for the trout while tossing out PowerBait anchored up in the boat close to shore.
“Trolling for trout is extremely tough,” Kellogg said. “I have been fishing PowerBait while anchored off about 50 feet off shore for the best success.”
Steven Greenley of Shasta Lake and Richard Burman of Pacifica caught 10 rainbows ranging from 3 to 10 pounds on Kellogg’s latest guided trip. The fish are very shallow; their deepest fish was in 4 feet of water and the shallowest fish was in 2 feet of water.
“When the guy set the hook on the 10 pounder, the fish catapulted right out of the water,” said Kellogg.
“As soon as we detect a bite, we open the bail on the reel. On that 10-pound fish, the line just stopped after we let it out with the open bail. The trout are just sitting there in the water; they're not cruising around. But when we hook up, the fish fight like crazy,” he said.
Kellogg and his guiding partner, Wes Ward, have been using green garlic PowerBait from their pontoon boat. He also advised shore anglers to use PowerBait in shallow water.
“You need to look at the pitch of the bank. The key is to not put the bait in water deeper than six feet,” he tipped.
“You should change your spot every 45 minutes if you don’t have results,” he added. “The fish are holding all along the bank where the water is shallow and warmer.”
Due to the recent storms, the lake level is coming up rapidly. “The lake rose 1 foot when we were on the water that day,” Kellogg stated.
The water level is 45 feet from full and the surface water temperature has gone down to 47.8 degrees.
The lake got stocked with 1,000 pounds of trout from Mt. Lassen Trout Farm on Dec. 22, making for a total of 10,000 pounds of trout placed this fall and winter. Regular trout stocks will continue into May. Information: (530) 692-1600.
Lake Camanche: Large weekly trout stocks continue at Lake Camanche on the Mokelumne River. On Dec. 22, Mt. Lassen stocked 900 pounds of rainbows at the South Shore Main Ramp, 900 pounds at the South Shore Trout Pond and 900 pounds at the North Shore Main Ramp.
Big fish honors go to Gary Yarbrough, who caught a 10.37-pound rainbow on "the blind squirrel,” his infamous boat on the main lake, according to the Lake Camanche Recreation Company. Wayne Dawson also caught an 8-pound rainbow on the main lake.
On the latest trip on Camanche by Robbie Dunham of Koke Machine Guide Service, two anglers caught 10 rainbows ranging from 1.5 to 4 pounds. They trolled with plastic grubs from the mouth of the Narrows to the dam from 3 to 7 feet deep.
“The best grub colors are white, orange and firetiger,” Dunham advised. “You can also pull Speedy Shiners and Rapalas. The fish are really scattered now.” Information: (209) 712-6611.
The lake level is 55% of capacity and rising. The south shore main ramp is in operation.
Amador Lake: The lake management released 500 pounds of cutbows, including 25 tagged fish for the lake’s trout derby, near the dam on Dec. 22.
“Water clarity has gotten better over the last week and fishing has really picked up now that the water isn’t so turbid,” said Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort.
“PowerBait and Mice Tails are working well along with Kastmasters from shore,” he tipped. “Trolling Rapalas is the best bet by boat; keep the troll slower and get their attention.”
“Jackson Creek and the dam have been the hot spots this week, but I did see a large gold caught today off the spillway, a 4-pound gold on the blue dock, and a nice stringer caught by an angler fishing at the mouth of the launch cove as we were passing by to stock. So, it seems they are biting all over the place,” stated Lockhart.
Cyrus Machie landed a cutbow weighing 6.64 pounds while using a Mouse Tail in the cove below campsite P8 on Christmas Eve.
The lake level is 26 feet from full and the surface water temperature is 56 degrees. Information: (209) 274-4739.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Trout lead winter angling at Collins, Camanche, Amador lakes
