EMERYVILLE--Crab counts started to drop to less than limits for the first time this season, and in fact, for the first time in a few seasons. That's ample testimony of the lack of crabs in the region. The bottomfishing continued to be good at the islands, and one boat even managed a couple keeper halibut in the bay.
EUREKA--Crab counts have dropped off, with the best results coming from those crabbing shallow water. Ocean fishing is limited to crabbing, and shore fishing for rockfish and surf perch. The surf smelt runs are over for the season. The surf perch action was best at the mouths of the Eel and Mad Rivers for anglers using sandcrabs for bait. Jetty fishing was good until the ocean started building on the weekend, with black rockfish to 3 pounds reported for anglers using plastics rigged weedless.
FORT BRAGG--Captain Randy Thornton on the Telstar took the weekend off, but Wednesday's trip found some crabs, not quite the 10-per angler limits allowed up here, but close. Local fishing is limited to shore effort for rockfish and surfperch. Abalone season closes Nov. 30.
HALF MOON BAY--Still some good rockfish action, but the crab numbers are definitely down. That didn't stop Captain Tom Mattusch on the Huli Cat from finding 25 keepers Saturday, and they didn't even run all the pots due to time constraints. The anglers on board also caught limits of rockfish, 7 lingcod and 2 cabezon. On the Queen Of Hearts, limits of rockfish supplemented by cabezon and some lings rewarded anglers all week. One angler even caught a 14-pound halibut on Wednesday's trip.
LOCH LOMOND--Captain Gordon Hough on the Morning Star reported good action on leopard sharks and striped bass in San Pablo Bay, the bass hitting bullheads. The Morning Star will be moving to Crockett for the rest of the season.
MARTINEZ--Captain Jim Smith on the Happy Hooker reported good striped bass action over the weekend. His trip Saturday produced near limits with 24 stripers to 14 pounds, and on Sunday, 18 anglers caught limits. "Most of the private boats that were out also got striper limits," said Smith. His anglers used bullheads and live anchovies left over from the live bait season, fished from anchor near the Mothball Fleet.
PITTSBURG--On board the Lucky Strike, Captain Kevin Yost reported some near misses and shaker action fishing Suisun Bay. "The fish finder was full of big marks on the bottom, but getting them hooked up was another story," said Yost.
SAN PABLO BAY--Striper counts improved and outweighed the leopard shark number on board the boats fishing here. Grass shrimp and bullheads worked for stripers, while squid and midshipmen were tops for leopard sharks.
SHELTER COVE--This is the last week of abalone season. Bottomfishing has been closed since October, but shore fishing is still allowed for rockfish and surfperch. Lingcod will close Dec. 1 for shore anglers.
SUISUN BAY--The striped bass bite was on, with many anglers reporting limits from both sportfishing boats and private boats. Not too many big linesides showing, but the action makes up for the lack of lunkers. The top bait was bullheads, but grass shrimp also worked for many. The Mothball Fleet seemed to be ground zero for the best bite.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
AMERICAN RIVER--A visit to Nimbus Hatchery revealed a fair number of salmon in the holding ponds but with few coming up the ladder. However, an increasing number of steelhead were mixed in among the salmon, some of them well over 10 pounds. A very few were being caught below the closure at Ancil Hoffman Park at River Bend
ark (formerly Goethe Park), the riffles above and below Watt Avenue. Fly fishers dead-drifted a combination of a beadhead copper John or golden stone with an egg-fly under an indicator or swung boss or assassin steelhead streamers. Spin and conventional fishers drifted nightcrawlers, roe, Glo-Bugs, spoons, and spinners.
FEATHER RIVER--Anglers experienced the best steelheading of the season last week, with fresh steelies to 10 pounds being caught throughout the Low Flow Section, the Outlet, and all the way down to Gridley. Drifting nightcrawlers probably attracted the most bites, but king mealworms, Glo-Bugs, spoons and spinners also hooked their fair share. Fly fishers used Mayfly nymph-imitations such as a small beadhead flashback pheasant tail, or dark brown and black rubberlegs.
FOLSOM LAKE--Bass fishing was pretty good for anglers who located concentrations of bait and spooned or drop-shotted shad-imitating Robo-Worms. Baitfish were also being spotted near the surface and then were vulnerable to small plastic swimbaits. Try edges of drop-offs into channels at the entrances to the North and South forks and into coves. While trollers looking for landlocked king salmon weren't having much luck, spooning bass fishermen were catching a few.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Sacramento--Striped bass to 12 pounds were being caught by trollers and jiggers in the Port of Sacramento. Trollers were using deep-diving Yo-Zuris and Rebels with a plastic worm trailer while the jiggers used 5/8th -ounce Hopkins spoons with bit of blue or green tape. A few were still being caught at the mouth of the Feather Rivers, too. A few sturgeon have shown up at the mouth of the Feather, too in the past couple of weeks. Cooler water has slowed the catfish bite, though.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Colusa--Since the salmon coming up the river are moving fast and in bunches fishing can be good one day in an area, slow the next. However, fishing has been good, overall, and a monster 56-pound king was caught on a spinner at Grimes. As word of the good fishing has trickled out, crowds have become heavy in some areas, especially at Knight's Landing, Tisdale, Hamilton City, and Corning. Navigating the river in a boat has become tricky in the low flows, especially above Colusa.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Redding--Fishing for trout and the occasional steelhead to 7 pounds was good last week, and spin fishers did well on Glo-Bugs, roe and crickets, while fly fishers used egg patterns and caddis imitations.
NORTHERN FOOTHILLS
AMERICAN RIVER--Trout season closed on Nov. 15th. Catch-and-release fishing with barbless artificial lures is allowed. A Forest Service biologist found spawning salmon in the Middle Fork that came from Folsom Lake plantings.
BULLARDS BAR--Lake is down a little more but launching is still good. Very few people are fishing so it is tough to get a report.
CAMP FAR WEST--Lake seems to have gone down a little since last week, but launching is still available on the old dirt ramp for small boats. Store is open M-W-F from 10 to 7 and weekends from 8 to 7. Fishing reports are few due to low angler interest.
COLLINS LAKE--Some big catfish have been coming from the dam area on sardines. Jerry Freeman of Live Oak caught 6-lb 11-oz. and 9-lb. 10-oz. cats. Trout trollers are doing well on rainbows to 2 pounds from the buoys to the dam on small silver Needlefish at 5 to 10 feet.
ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIR--Trollers have been doing very down at the dam for small planters with flasher/ worm or spoon combos. Boaters running up to Long's Cove/Black's Ravine area are drifting Power Bait/worm combos off the bottom for holdover fish, 14 to 22 inches.
FRENCH MEADOWS RESERVOIR--Lake was still accessible at press time but snow forecast for Thanksgiving may close the road. Water level is 40 feet below the concrete ramp and 4-wheel drive is required for launching off the bank. Fishing has been good with limit fishing reported last week for shore anglers with launching so difficult.
HELL HOLE RESERVOIR--Lake is still accessible but snow forecast for Thanksgiving may close the road. Campgrounds are still open for the hardy type. Trolling for rainbows has been fair.
LAKE OROVILLE--Only launching at the Spillway with 4-wheel drive, at-your-own-risk. Boaters getting out are doing very well on bass and coho. Main body and Middle Fork at 25 to 35 feet kicking out 15 fish days on drop-shot worms, tubes, jigs and live bait for bass to 4 3/4 pounds. Coho trollers are reporting good action in the Middle Fork at 50 to 60 feet on dodger/Koko-nut combos; one couple reported catching 9 silvers. Another angler used a minnow/bobber rig for 4 coho to 2 1/2 pounds in the main body at 15 to 20 feet. Little pressure on the lake with the launching situation. Ramp extension at Bidwell supposed to start soon.
ROLLINS LAKE--Lots of boats on the lake. Trollers are working Rapalas on downriggers at 30 feet for rainbows to 2 pounds. Lots of catfish to 5 pounds coming in on hotdogs. Lots of bass boats on the lake but few talking of success.
SUGAR PINE RESERVOIR--Water level is good but Forest Service reports very little pressure here with few anglers.
STUMPY MEADOWS RESERVOIR--Water level is good. Trollers have been on the lake recently according to the Georgetown Ranger station but there are few reports of any success.
THERMOLITO AFTERBAY--Lots and lots of minnows being sold to anglers trying for the big steelhead that are hitting for shore anglers. Steelies 5 to 7 pounds weighed in recently. Bass are coming in on the minnows while steelie fishing. Not many out just for bass right now.
-- Western Outrdoor News
www.wonews.com
http://www.sacbee.com/fishing_hunting/story/1426698.html
EUREKA--Crab counts have dropped off, with the best results coming from those crabbing shallow water. Ocean fishing is limited to crabbing, and shore fishing for rockfish and surf perch. The surf smelt runs are over for the season. The surf perch action was best at the mouths of the Eel and Mad Rivers for anglers using sandcrabs for bait. Jetty fishing was good until the ocean started building on the weekend, with black rockfish to 3 pounds reported for anglers using plastics rigged weedless.
FORT BRAGG--Captain Randy Thornton on the Telstar took the weekend off, but Wednesday's trip found some crabs, not quite the 10-per angler limits allowed up here, but close. Local fishing is limited to shore effort for rockfish and surfperch. Abalone season closes Nov. 30.
HALF MOON BAY--Still some good rockfish action, but the crab numbers are definitely down. That didn't stop Captain Tom Mattusch on the Huli Cat from finding 25 keepers Saturday, and they didn't even run all the pots due to time constraints. The anglers on board also caught limits of rockfish, 7 lingcod and 2 cabezon. On the Queen Of Hearts, limits of rockfish supplemented by cabezon and some lings rewarded anglers all week. One angler even caught a 14-pound halibut on Wednesday's trip.
LOCH LOMOND--Captain Gordon Hough on the Morning Star reported good action on leopard sharks and striped bass in San Pablo Bay, the bass hitting bullheads. The Morning Star will be moving to Crockett for the rest of the season.
MARTINEZ--Captain Jim Smith on the Happy Hooker reported good striped bass action over the weekend. His trip Saturday produced near limits with 24 stripers to 14 pounds, and on Sunday, 18 anglers caught limits. "Most of the private boats that were out also got striper limits," said Smith. His anglers used bullheads and live anchovies left over from the live bait season, fished from anchor near the Mothball Fleet.
PITTSBURG--On board the Lucky Strike, Captain Kevin Yost reported some near misses and shaker action fishing Suisun Bay. "The fish finder was full of big marks on the bottom, but getting them hooked up was another story," said Yost.
SAN PABLO BAY--Striper counts improved and outweighed the leopard shark number on board the boats fishing here. Grass shrimp and bullheads worked for stripers, while squid and midshipmen were tops for leopard sharks.
SHELTER COVE--This is the last week of abalone season. Bottomfishing has been closed since October, but shore fishing is still allowed for rockfish and surfperch. Lingcod will close Dec. 1 for shore anglers.
SUISUN BAY--The striped bass bite was on, with many anglers reporting limits from both sportfishing boats and private boats. Not too many big linesides showing, but the action makes up for the lack of lunkers. The top bait was bullheads, but grass shrimp also worked for many. The Mothball Fleet seemed to be ground zero for the best bite.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
AMERICAN RIVER--A visit to Nimbus Hatchery revealed a fair number of salmon in the holding ponds but with few coming up the ladder. However, an increasing number of steelhead were mixed in among the salmon, some of them well over 10 pounds. A very few were being caught below the closure at Ancil Hoffman Park at River Bend
ark (formerly Goethe Park), the riffles above and below Watt Avenue. Fly fishers dead-drifted a combination of a beadhead copper John or golden stone with an egg-fly under an indicator or swung boss or assassin steelhead streamers. Spin and conventional fishers drifted nightcrawlers, roe, Glo-Bugs, spoons, and spinners.FEATHER RIVER--Anglers experienced the best steelheading of the season last week, with fresh steelies to 10 pounds being caught throughout the Low Flow Section, the Outlet, and all the way down to Gridley. Drifting nightcrawlers probably attracted the most bites, but king mealworms, Glo-Bugs, spoons and spinners also hooked their fair share. Fly fishers used Mayfly nymph-imitations such as a small beadhead flashback pheasant tail, or dark brown and black rubberlegs.
FOLSOM LAKE--Bass fishing was pretty good for anglers who located concentrations of bait and spooned or drop-shotted shad-imitating Robo-Worms. Baitfish were also being spotted near the surface and then were vulnerable to small plastic swimbaits. Try edges of drop-offs into channels at the entrances to the North and South forks and into coves. While trollers looking for landlocked king salmon weren't having much luck, spooning bass fishermen were catching a few.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Sacramento--Striped bass to 12 pounds were being caught by trollers and jiggers in the Port of Sacramento. Trollers were using deep-diving Yo-Zuris and Rebels with a plastic worm trailer while the jiggers used 5/8th -ounce Hopkins spoons with bit of blue or green tape. A few were still being caught at the mouth of the Feather Rivers, too. A few sturgeon have shown up at the mouth of the Feather, too in the past couple of weeks. Cooler water has slowed the catfish bite, though.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Colusa--Since the salmon coming up the river are moving fast and in bunches fishing can be good one day in an area, slow the next. However, fishing has been good, overall, and a monster 56-pound king was caught on a spinner at Grimes. As word of the good fishing has trickled out, crowds have become heavy in some areas, especially at Knight's Landing, Tisdale, Hamilton City, and Corning. Navigating the river in a boat has become tricky in the low flows, especially above Colusa.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Redding--Fishing for trout and the occasional steelhead to 7 pounds was good last week, and spin fishers did well on Glo-Bugs, roe and crickets, while fly fishers used egg patterns and caddis imitations.
NORTHERN FOOTHILLS
AMERICAN RIVER--Trout season closed on Nov. 15th. Catch-and-release fishing with barbless artificial lures is allowed. A Forest Service biologist found spawning salmon in the Middle Fork that came from Folsom Lake plantings.
BULLARDS BAR--Lake is down a little more but launching is still good. Very few people are fishing so it is tough to get a report.
CAMP FAR WEST--Lake seems to have gone down a little since last week, but launching is still available on the old dirt ramp for small boats. Store is open M-W-F from 10 to 7 and weekends from 8 to 7. Fishing reports are few due to low angler interest.
COLLINS LAKE--Some big catfish have been coming from the dam area on sardines. Jerry Freeman of Live Oak caught 6-lb 11-oz. and 9-lb. 10-oz. cats. Trout trollers are doing well on rainbows to 2 pounds from the buoys to the dam on small silver Needlefish at 5 to 10 feet.
ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIR--Trollers have been doing very down at the dam for small planters with flasher/ worm or spoon combos. Boaters running up to Long's Cove/Black's Ravine area are drifting Power Bait/worm combos off the bottom for holdover fish, 14 to 22 inches.
FRENCH MEADOWS RESERVOIR--Lake was still accessible at press time but snow forecast for Thanksgiving may close the road. Water level is 40 feet below the concrete ramp and 4-wheel drive is required for launching off the bank. Fishing has been good with limit fishing reported last week for shore anglers with launching so difficult.
HELL HOLE RESERVOIR--Lake is still accessible but snow forecast for Thanksgiving may close the road. Campgrounds are still open for the hardy type. Trolling for rainbows has been fair.
LAKE OROVILLE--Only launching at the Spillway with 4-wheel drive, at-your-own-risk. Boaters getting out are doing very well on bass and coho. Main body and Middle Fork at 25 to 35 feet kicking out 15 fish days on drop-shot worms, tubes, jigs and live bait for bass to 4 3/4 pounds. Coho trollers are reporting good action in the Middle Fork at 50 to 60 feet on dodger/Koko-nut combos; one couple reported catching 9 silvers. Another angler used a minnow/bobber rig for 4 coho to 2 1/2 pounds in the main body at 15 to 20 feet. Little pressure on the lake with the launching situation. Ramp extension at Bidwell supposed to start soon.
ROLLINS LAKE--Lots of boats on the lake. Trollers are working Rapalas on downriggers at 30 feet for rainbows to 2 pounds. Lots of catfish to 5 pounds coming in on hotdogs. Lots of bass boats on the lake but few talking of success.
SUGAR PINE RESERVOIR--Water level is good but Forest Service reports very little pressure here with few anglers.
STUMPY MEADOWS RESERVOIR--Water level is good. Trollers have been on the lake recently according to the Georgetown Ranger station but there are few reports of any success.
THERMOLITO AFTERBAY--Lots and lots of minnows being sold to anglers trying for the big steelhead that are hitting for shore anglers. Steelies 5 to 7 pounds weighed in recently. Bass are coming in on the minnows while steelie fishing. Not many out just for bass right now.
-- Western Outrdoor News
www.wonews.com
http://www.sacbee.com/fishing_hunting/story/1426698.html
