The early part of winter is a great time to be up in the Marin County Watershed lakes. As the water cools down from the late fall heat waves, trout will begin to move up into the shallower waters, making it much easier to cast to them.
Also, the scheduled trout plants from the Department of Fish & Game look to be significant this winter - so sometime around November 15, we expect a good-sized truckload of larger fish to be dropped into the lake.
We've stocked up on the larger sized (1/2 - 3/8 ounce) Kastmasters which tend to be productive, as well as the key colors of Power Bait. If you are looking for an upgraded rod and reel setup, we have a sale going on for the Daiwa freshwater rod/reel combos - $25 "out the door" including mono line.
Winter bass can be great in these lakes as well, slowly working larger baits such as 6 and 7" senkos, or even the big Castaic lures produces strong strikes at this time of year.
For those folks already thinking about next year, DFG has told us that the 2012 fishing licenses should be available on November 15 through our sales terminals. We'll announce that here when they are ready to sell, but just in case you want to fish on New Year's Day, you can get ready soon!
Showing posts with label trout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trout. Show all posts
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Carlo Hauls Up a Hawg
Here's an update to Carlo Bongio and Jerry Warren's trip to Eagle Canyon Lakes - a couple of photos of Carlo landing an impressive trout -
At this point, we are looking to do a stillwater clinic at Eagle Canyon Lakes in either late February or March. If you are interested, please call Carlo at the Santa Rosa store 707-542-4432, or email customerservice@westernsportshop.com
At this point, we are looking to do a stillwater clinic at Eagle Canyon Lakes in either late February or March. If you are interested, please call Carlo at the Santa Rosa store 707-542-4432, or email customerservice@westernsportshop.com
Monday, December 20, 2010
Jerry and Carlo's Trip North
Not to be outdone by the salmon and steelhead contingent, Western Sport Shop staff members Jerry Warren and Carlo Bongio headed north to evaluate conditions at one of the more amazing fisheries we've heard of - the Trophy Trout Lake at Eagle Canyon. We've rarely seen Carlo and Jerry actually worn out by a day of catching trout, but when we saw the photos, we understood why -
Just to be clear, Jerry is holding a TROUT!
This lake can be fished either from the bank or via a float tube. It is open through the winter and closes for the summer at the beginning of April. This unique, spring-fed fishery has some of the most monster fish we've ever seen.
Right now, Carlo is working to set a date for a "Monster Trout" clinic - check back here for updates as soon as we firm up the specifics. In the meantime, here is another of the many fish they caught:
Friday, June 4, 2010
G. Loomis Trout Series Rods in San Rafael
It takes a lot for a new trout rod to stand out of the crowd, and for every ten new rods we see, there might be one which catches our attention. The G. Loomis Trout series is that one. If you are looking for a superlight, light action spinning rod for trout, this is a pretty amazing piece of gear.
According to G. Loomis, they've designed these rods are made with one objective in mind... to help serious trout anglers become more successful and enjoy their time on the water with the lightest, most sensitive rods available. The "fiber blend" models feature a combination of regular cork and composite cork for a new, unique looking rear grip with up-locking reel seats and Fuji, single-foot Alconite guides. Reviewers have stated, "These rods are like fishing with a feather!" Varying in power from ultra-light to light, rated from 1-pound test line up to 8-pound, they are surprisingly strong. You'll want to take one these rods along for all your fishing adventures.
We're stocking the most effective sizes for our areas, and everyone was seriously blown away by the kokanee rod. If you are serious about your trout fishing, take a moment to drop into the San Rafael store and check out these rods.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Bunch of New Berkley Baits
05-13-10_1316.jpg, originally uploaded by Western Sport Shop.
Spring fishing means trout. Between local lakes like Bon Tempe in the Marin Watershed, Spring Lake and Howard Lake in Santa Rosa, or San Pablo Reservoir in the East Bay, the spring is a great time to get out and enjoy things. The hills are green, the water is high and the trout are abundant.
One of the not-so-secret methods for success is using one of the Berkley Power Baits or Nuggets - these come in a variety of scents and colors. It would have been easy for Berkley to rest on its laurels and just keep making the basics, but this spring, they have been on a tear for new flavors and styles.
Over the winter, a number of steelheaders caught onto the fact that the small Power Worms worked very well - they were almost impossible to keep in stock. These 2.5" floating worms were made with the Gulp! scent and came in three good colors.
This week, Berkley shipped us their new colors - natural, fluorescent orange and the one pictured above; a watermelon with red flakes. These look like winners!
Also just-off-the-truck are several new flavors of Power Bait in the jar - many with the newest strain of attractant: a salmon egg scent that early testing indicates is going to be a winner!
So, come down and get set up. Then, head for the lakes!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Dog Days of Summer...?
So much for that!
If the bites we have going this month are the dog days, then I want a dog house and a big bone to chew on because I have never seen so many crazy bites happening all at once.
July tides have kicked off an epic halibut bite at Point Bonita with anglers reporting fast limits of jumbo flatties up to 45 lbs on live bait, frozen jumbo herring, and jigs. Even with heavy fishing pressure these fish just won't give up.
HALIBUT TECHNIQUES:
I have heard reports of guys throwing live jack smelt from 8 to 10 inches long ( the smelt can be caught on a sz 14 Sabiki rig) and live sardines (which also can be caught using the same Sabiki rig) 6 to 8 inches long with a slip sinker and a 50lb mono leader (about 3-4 ft long) as close to the back of the surf as safely possible and sticking flatties up to 30lbs (and stripers up to 25lbs!) The smaller boat folks who have stayed in the bay are also clobbering the flatties in places like Crissy Field, Angel Island, and Alcatraz. Inside the bay, catch reports are running up to 35lbs with good numbers of fish in the 20lb class. Top technique is drifting live bait, the bigger the better.
Last week local striper guru Tommy Glasser fished with one of our tackle guys here at the San Rafael Shop, Sean Daugherty. They reported fast afternoon action at Bonita and on the North Bar, but found a honey hole at Angel Island when they made a quick stop on their way home with a big concentration of "cookie cutter" 20lb flatties.
Several former commercial fishermen in Bolinas report that they have been able to catch a three fish limit of flatties in less than an hour at dozens of spots from Stinson Beach to Point Reyes and just beyond. These guys use use big frozen herring and live bait when they can catch it but they're doing just as well on jigs and plastics coated with either Pro-cure "'but juice" or Pro-cure sardine oil. They are enjoying a whole lot of water to themselves so if you find yourself starting to get crowded in at point bonita or at the beaches, head north.
Also while Tomales Bay can only handle so many boats before it gets hammered down, the flatties are kicking butt there as well. WSS G.M. Tom Nelson's son Wes Nelson is an expert on Tomales and he and his dad along with "Frank the Tomales Guru" have been catching limits of halibut in the 15-20lb class on almost every trip.
As great as the live bait/frozen bait drift fishing is. The striped bass surf bite is the best I have ever seen. Six or seven big schools of BIG stripers are haunting the coast line from Monterey to Pt. Reyes with Ocean Beach and Half Moon Bay being the epicenter of an incredible natural event.
Picture this - massive schools of sardines in the 5-8 inch size are being pushed up against the beaches and surf by huge stripers, huge halibut that are acting like stripers and chasing bait, a sprinkling of giant white sea bass (up to 52lbs), body surfing sea lions, and get this, DOLPHINS! Well...actually they are porpises, but none the less they are less than 30' from shore!
Even if you don't fish you have to see this, it's like watching a live performance of "Planet Earth"!
The good news is that they are all eating sardines and not stripers and halibut, but the bad news is that the white sea bass are not biting and appear to be just kind of hanging around (maybe preparing to spawn?)
The best bets for gear are Pencil Poppers in chrome with a blue back or white with a red head, silver or silver/blue kastmasters in the 2-4 oz range, hevier Hopkins spoons (~3 oz) in hammered chrome, SPRO hair jigs (2-3 oz sizes) in all white or white with either a black, blue, or green back. My absolute favorite would have to be an 8" Cheasapeake Bay Pencil Popper in pink/white, black scale, and yellow bunker unless it's really windy, in which case I like the River2Sea Dumbbell POP200 in deep blue.
If that is still not enough for you, Albacore in the 25-30lb class are on the bite with reports of fish anywhere from 38 miles out of Sausalito to 15 miles off Fort Bragg and Monterey. Best tactics have been to find albacore with surface trolled unpainted Cedar Plugs (various sizes) and and Tuna Clones in "Mexican Flag." Once you locate the schools, you can then bring them up with live bait, and it's on.
Most boats report that once they bring the fish up it's not just fast action, but the fish are blasting jigs, swimbaits, plastics, and even flies like 6" deceivers or clousers in white/chartreuse, white/green, or white/blue.
But what I think is the coolest thing going on right now, is the appearance of thresher sharks. The same water that brought in the tuna and larger schools of sardines, has also brought us hundreds of threshers. I have heard several reports of large thresher sharks just kind of cruising under the surfcace with their long sickle like tail jutting up into the air, whipping from side to side as they swim by.
These sharks are so prolific at the moment (and again I have lived here my whole life and have only seen two) that some guys have begun to target them. The usual man to thresher shark encounter in this area involves a salmon fisherman trolling big sardine baits and hooking into a juvenile that quickly breaks the line, not by strengh, but by slicing up the line with their big long tail. They use this tail to rip through schools of bait, doing damage to whatever is in front of them with a similar posture to a scorpion, then returning and eating whichever bait fish were stunned or injunred by the whipping tail - not unlike king salmon who use the same basic attck, but use their open toothy mouths.
Some thresher sharks have been landed but this is rare and they are typicaly quite small. Anglers who are targeting them now have found that the best way to get one of these critters is by trolling a big marlin or wahoo type plug or Magnum Rapala on a 5'-8' wire leader made of 90lb sevenstrand on the same kind of high capacity trolling outfit you would use when searching for albacore.
So far, the biggest landed in the bay was 35lbs and it took a jumbo trolled herring just off Alcatraz. The same boat reported losing one that they believed to be over 100lbs just off Yellow Bluff that same day. In the ocean, I know of one fish over 80lbs taken on a Magnum Rapala near Duxbury Reef and another that was released after being measured against the boat. That fish is the largest reported so far, having a body of about 8ft for a total of 14 ft with its tail. These amazing sharks are often described as the best eating of all sharks.
(ed note - fishing for sharks has obvious inherent dangers, both in the catch and handling of these fish. We recommend you fish with an experienced angler or research the topic thoroughly before attempting this.)
If all of this stuff is to intense and you want to take it easy, try fishing with Berkely Gulp Sand Sorms, 2-3 inch Curly Tail Grubs in smoke, rootbeer, motor oil, white, or chartreuse, or simply soak live sand crabs at Stinson Beach for big redtail perch and barred surf perch. Some of these have run so big that they have been caught on 8" striper plugs.
Freshwater fishing is not quite as hot as salt but there are fish to be caught.
Bon Tempe will kick out trout on Power Bait and Power Nuggets or pink Berkley Gulp Worms. The effective tactics have changed since spring, of course - you need to tie leaders that are 3-4 ft long and use a 3/4oz eggsinker so as to get the bait out as far and deep as possible. Try to fish the steepest banks you can find or near the outflow pump when it is activated and pumping water up from Alpine Lake.
Smallmouth Bass are also there but you have to work for them. For best results, target steep shorelines at dawn with topwater baits like the Ima Skimmer or jerk baits like the Lucky Craft Pointer 100 in Ghost Minnow. Once the sun is up you either drop shot 4.5" finesse worms, or you fish a 1/2-3/4 oz Jig Monster Chaos football head jig with a double tail grub trailer slowly on deep water points. Best colors are green pumpkin watermelon, P.B.J., bludgeon, hell hound, and cold water craw.
You can take the same approach to Alpine Lake for smallies and largemouth, but also try throwing 5-6 inch senkos rigged wacky in watermelon w/black flake, or green pumpkin w/black flake. Kent Lake can be fished in this same manor as well but the bite should be a whole lot better. At Kent, add swimbaits and crank baits to your arsenal. Look for wood cover that is still submerged especialy if it spans across shallow and deep water.
With all three lakes it pays to keep moving. The harder you have to work to get to the good spots the better those spots will be. While you will find that once the sun is on the water the reaction bite (i.e. - topwater, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and swimbaits) will mostly shut down, and the majority of bites will come on jigs and plastics, there is an exception: wind.
When the afternoon wind gets going and it lasts for more than a few minutes than no matter how much direct sunlight hits the water, the surface chop makes it impossible for birds to hunt fish and the bass go on the bite with confidence. best baits for afternoon wind are spinnerbaits, either 3/8 or 1/2 oz with tandem blades, or double willow blades like the Hildenbrandt blade series or Persuader. Whites or white chartreuse or good but the Hildenbrandt in bluegill, or alewife are even better. Nicasio is pretty tough (and low) right now but after the Marin Bass Club Derby there on Sunday there will be a full report.
Names of Note: I wanted to give some credit here to Jeff Russell who is fishing a junior pro tournament this week, we wish him good luck. Jigmonster pro Chris "Flipper" Franks garnered some serious ink with a big article in the Marin Independant Journal about himself and his pro bass career.
Marin IJ Photo
Finally, a huge thanks and vote of respect goes out to the park rangers who acted when I complained to them about poaching and other abuses reported and encountered at Lake Nicasio - they followed through by reporting to the Marin County Sheriff and vigorously enforcing the law and regulations, ensuring a fair and quality fishing experience for those who follow the rules. Thanks a lot guys! I am proud have such standup rangers out here, we are lucky we have you.
If the bites we have going this month are the dog days, then I want a dog house and a big bone to chew on because I have never seen so many crazy bites happening all at once.
July tides have kicked off an epic halibut bite at Point Bonita with anglers reporting fast limits of jumbo flatties up to 45 lbs on live bait, frozen jumbo herring, and jigs. Even with heavy fishing pressure these fish just won't give up.
HALIBUT TECHNIQUES:
I have heard reports of guys throwing live jack smelt from 8 to 10 inches long ( the smelt can be caught on a sz 14 Sabiki rig) and live sardines (which also can be caught using the same Sabiki rig) 6 to 8 inches long with a slip sinker and a 50lb mono leader (about 3-4 ft long) as close to the back of the surf as safely possible and sticking flatties up to 30lbs (and stripers up to 25lbs!) The smaller boat folks who have stayed in the bay are also clobbering the flatties in places like Crissy Field, Angel Island, and Alcatraz. Inside the bay, catch reports are running up to 35lbs with good numbers of fish in the 20lb class. Top technique is drifting live bait, the bigger the better.
Last week local striper guru Tommy Glasser fished with one of our tackle guys here at the San Rafael Shop, Sean Daugherty. They reported fast afternoon action at Bonita and on the North Bar, but found a honey hole at Angel Island when they made a quick stop on their way home with a big concentration of "cookie cutter" 20lb flatties.
Several former commercial fishermen in Bolinas report that they have been able to catch a three fish limit of flatties in less than an hour at dozens of spots from Stinson Beach to Point Reyes and just beyond. These guys use use big frozen herring and live bait when they can catch it but they're doing just as well on jigs and plastics coated with either Pro-cure "'but juice" or Pro-cure sardine oil. They are enjoying a whole lot of water to themselves so if you find yourself starting to get crowded in at point bonita or at the beaches, head north.
Also while Tomales Bay can only handle so many boats before it gets hammered down, the flatties are kicking butt there as well. WSS G.M. Tom Nelson's son Wes Nelson is an expert on Tomales and he and his dad along with "Frank the Tomales Guru" have been catching limits of halibut in the 15-20lb class on almost every trip.
As great as the live bait/frozen bait drift fishing is. The striped bass surf bite is the best I have ever seen. Six or seven big schools of BIG stripers are haunting the coast line from Monterey to Pt. Reyes with Ocean Beach and Half Moon Bay being the epicenter of an incredible natural event.
Picture this - massive schools of sardines in the 5-8 inch size are being pushed up against the beaches and surf by huge stripers, huge halibut that are acting like stripers and chasing bait, a sprinkling of giant white sea bass (up to 52lbs), body surfing sea lions, and get this, DOLPHINS! Well...actually they are porpises, but none the less they are less than 30' from shore!
Even if you don't fish you have to see this, it's like watching a live performance of "Planet Earth"!
The good news is that they are all eating sardines and not stripers and halibut, but the bad news is that the white sea bass are not biting and appear to be just kind of hanging around (maybe preparing to spawn?)
The best bets for gear are Pencil Poppers in chrome with a blue back or white with a red head, silver or silver/blue kastmasters in the 2-4 oz range, hevier Hopkins spoons (~3 oz) in hammered chrome, SPRO hair jigs (2-3 oz sizes) in all white or white with either a black, blue, or green back. My absolute favorite would have to be an 8" Cheasapeake Bay Pencil Popper in pink/white, black scale, and yellow bunker unless it's really windy, in which case I like the River2Sea Dumbbell POP200 in deep blue.
If that is still not enough for you, Albacore in the 25-30lb class are on the bite with reports of fish anywhere from 38 miles out of Sausalito to 15 miles off Fort Bragg and Monterey. Best tactics have been to find albacore with surface trolled unpainted Cedar Plugs (various sizes) and and Tuna Clones in "Mexican Flag." Once you locate the schools, you can then bring them up with live bait, and it's on.
Most boats report that once they bring the fish up it's not just fast action, but the fish are blasting jigs, swimbaits, plastics, and even flies like 6" deceivers or clousers in white/chartreuse, white/green, or white/blue.
But what I think is the coolest thing going on right now, is the appearance of thresher sharks. The same water that brought in the tuna and larger schools of sardines, has also brought us hundreds of threshers. I have heard several reports of large thresher sharks just kind of cruising under the surfcace with their long sickle like tail jutting up into the air, whipping from side to side as they swim by.
These sharks are so prolific at the moment (and again I have lived here my whole life and have only seen two) that some guys have begun to target them. The usual man to thresher shark encounter in this area involves a salmon fisherman trolling big sardine baits and hooking into a juvenile that quickly breaks the line, not by strengh, but by slicing up the line with their big long tail. They use this tail to rip through schools of bait, doing damage to whatever is in front of them with a similar posture to a scorpion, then returning and eating whichever bait fish were stunned or injunred by the whipping tail - not unlike king salmon who use the same basic attck, but use their open toothy mouths.
Some thresher sharks have been landed but this is rare and they are typicaly quite small. Anglers who are targeting them now have found that the best way to get one of these critters is by trolling a big marlin or wahoo type plug or Magnum Rapala on a 5'-8' wire leader made of 90lb sevenstrand on the same kind of high capacity trolling outfit you would use when searching for albacore.
So far, the biggest landed in the bay was 35lbs and it took a jumbo trolled herring just off Alcatraz. The same boat reported losing one that they believed to be over 100lbs just off Yellow Bluff that same day. In the ocean, I know of one fish over 80lbs taken on a Magnum Rapala near Duxbury Reef and another that was released after being measured against the boat. That fish is the largest reported so far, having a body of about 8ft for a total of 14 ft with its tail. These amazing sharks are often described as the best eating of all sharks.
(ed note - fishing for sharks has obvious inherent dangers, both in the catch and handling of these fish. We recommend you fish with an experienced angler or research the topic thoroughly before attempting this.)
If all of this stuff is to intense and you want to take it easy, try fishing with Berkely Gulp Sand Sorms, 2-3 inch Curly Tail Grubs in smoke, rootbeer, motor oil, white, or chartreuse, or simply soak live sand crabs at Stinson Beach for big redtail perch and barred surf perch. Some of these have run so big that they have been caught on 8" striper plugs.
Freshwater fishing is not quite as hot as salt but there are fish to be caught.
Bon Tempe will kick out trout on Power Bait and Power Nuggets or pink Berkley Gulp Worms. The effective tactics have changed since spring, of course - you need to tie leaders that are 3-4 ft long and use a 3/4oz eggsinker so as to get the bait out as far and deep as possible. Try to fish the steepest banks you can find or near the outflow pump when it is activated and pumping water up from Alpine Lake.
Smallmouth Bass are also there but you have to work for them. For best results, target steep shorelines at dawn with topwater baits like the Ima Skimmer or jerk baits like the Lucky Craft Pointer 100 in Ghost Minnow. Once the sun is up you either drop shot 4.5" finesse worms, or you fish a 1/2-3/4 oz Jig Monster Chaos football head jig with a double tail grub trailer slowly on deep water points. Best colors are green pumpkin watermelon, P.B.J., bludgeon, hell hound, and cold water craw.
You can take the same approach to Alpine Lake for smallies and largemouth, but also try throwing 5-6 inch senkos rigged wacky in watermelon w/black flake, or green pumpkin w/black flake. Kent Lake can be fished in this same manor as well but the bite should be a whole lot better. At Kent, add swimbaits and crank baits to your arsenal. Look for wood cover that is still submerged especialy if it spans across shallow and deep water.
With all three lakes it pays to keep moving. The harder you have to work to get to the good spots the better those spots will be. While you will find that once the sun is on the water the reaction bite (i.e. - topwater, crankbaits, jerkbaits, and swimbaits) will mostly shut down, and the majority of bites will come on jigs and plastics, there is an exception: wind.
When the afternoon wind gets going and it lasts for more than a few minutes than no matter how much direct sunlight hits the water, the surface chop makes it impossible for birds to hunt fish and the bass go on the bite with confidence. best baits for afternoon wind are spinnerbaits, either 3/8 or 1/2 oz with tandem blades, or double willow blades like the Hildenbrandt blade series or Persuader. Whites or white chartreuse or good but the Hildenbrandt in bluegill, or alewife are even better. Nicasio is pretty tough (and low) right now but after the Marin Bass Club Derby there on Sunday there will be a full report.
Names of Note: I wanted to give some credit here to Jeff Russell who is fishing a junior pro tournament this week, we wish him good luck. Jigmonster pro Chris "Flipper" Franks garnered some serious ink with a big article in the Marin Independant Journal about himself and his pro bass career.
Marin IJ Photo
Finally, a huge thanks and vote of respect goes out to the park rangers who acted when I complained to them about poaching and other abuses reported and encountered at Lake Nicasio - they followed through by reporting to the Marin County Sheriff and vigorously enforcing the law and regulations, ensuring a fair and quality fishing experience for those who follow the rules. Thanks a lot guys! I am proud have such standup rangers out here, we are lucky we have you.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Marin Lakes - State to Resume Stocking
Yep! It's official! The state Department of Fish and Game has been persuaded to resume the trout stocking program at Lagunitas and Bon Tempe Lakes in the Marin Watershed.
According to an article in the MarinIJ, State Assemblyman Jared Huffman said that it's possible a rainbow trout plant could be made "in a matter of weeks". Full article here.
We wanted to thank every customer who took the time to sign the petitions which Milt Hain had brought to the stores. Although the article states that more than 800 signatures were obtained, our count had it closing in on 1,200. Good job folks!
I also wanted to remind folks that we are back on standard hours now, so both stores are open 7 days a week. For San Rafael customers, the upper deck of the parking structure next to the shop is now reopened, so parking should be much easier now. Thank you for your patience while the City of San Rafael figured out how to deal with this issue.
Wow. Seems like all I'm doing today is citing news articles.
Here's some quick advice for the weekend - get out and enjoy! According to Joe in San Rafael, the halibut bite has been continuing strongly, while the smallmouth bass are returning to the shallows with quite an appetite.
According to an article in the MarinIJ, State Assemblyman Jared Huffman said that it's possible a rainbow trout plant could be made "in a matter of weeks". Full article here.
We wanted to thank every customer who took the time to sign the petitions which Milt Hain had brought to the stores. Although the article states that more than 800 signatures were obtained, our count had it closing in on 1,200. Good job folks!
I also wanted to remind folks that we are back on standard hours now, so both stores are open 7 days a week. For San Rafael customers, the upper deck of the parking structure next to the shop is now reopened, so parking should be much easier now. Thank you for your patience while the City of San Rafael figured out how to deal with this issue.
Wow. Seems like all I'm doing today is citing news articles.
Here's some quick advice for the weekend - get out and enjoy! According to Joe in San Rafael, the halibut bite has been continuing strongly, while the smallmouth bass are returning to the shallows with quite an appetite.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Stop Wishing - GO Fishing!
"and then it was on!..."
Spring rolls in with a bang!! Almost out of nowhere, everyone is getting hammered with fishing options -- take your pick, but make a choice and GO! It is good. Now.
Striped bass are ripping up bait and artificials like cut anchovey or jigs, rip baits like the Rapalas, Rat-L-traps and soft-bodied Storm and Calcutta swimbaits, at places like China Camp, in the San Rafael area around Home Depot, and further north near Bahia and the Petaluma river just to name a few. It may be early to tell, and it could shut off just as quickly, but folks are catching them similar to the wholesale SLAMMING we were seeing four years ago.
Almost right on schedule, anglers have been nailing the start of the spring halibut in the South Bay and up in San Pablo Bay. Best options have been trolling plugs, jigs, swimbaits, and frozen anchovies, or by drifting live shiners or jack smelt on soft tides. The success hasn't been limited to the boaters either - bank fishing has produced as well with success using with striper lures like Rat-L-Traps, jigs, and swimbaits. These are not huge fish yet, but sticking a limit of keeper size halibut is not uncommon.
Sturgeon to 75" are nailing shrimp and herring from Paradise to Buck's Landing and in the South Bay from Coyote Pt to the Oakland airport.
Whew! let me catch my breath. Ok, thanks!
Trout fishing
Kent Lake and Alpine Lake have continued to kick out monster Rainbow Trout on spinners and live bait. Even Bon Tempe is has been producing with reports of holdovers to 20" and great smallmouth action with best bets being Powerbait and live nightcrawlers.
For those who want to relax and fish for planter trout San Pablo reservoir is kicking out huge brood stock trout up to 12lbs or more on Powerbait fished from the bank. Lafayette reservoir seems to have been given all the planters that were banned elswhere because that lake is brimming with 2-3lb trout and everyone is getting them. The trollers, the bankies... anyone and everyone who can manage to get a hook or lure in the water!
Carp and Panfish
Euro-style carp fishing is off the hook as well with Nicasio reservoir and Clearlake leading the charge. Both areas have been kicking out fish from 5-25 lbs for anglers using corn, meal worms and boilies.
For the more sophisticated approach - fly fishermen interested in stalking these "golden bonefish", Nicasio offers plenty of shots at schools of tailing fish. Nope. I'm serious! We've had a number of excited fly anglers who have rushed back to the store to stock back up on black or olive bead-headed wooly buggers after snapping off some larger fish. We've also seen some home made "bread flys" and attractive white panfish poppers.
Take the KIDS!! If you want to get these little versions of yourselves out and on fish before their micro- attention span falters........what was I saying? oh right... Your kids can have a field day at Phoenix Lake - where after a long winter, the bluegills have moved up and will readily attack a red worm under a bobber for all to see.
Bass Report - Wow, I've never made it this far without talking about bass fishing... But, I can stand it no longer.
Right now, Alpine, Nicasio, and Kent Lakes in Marin County will offer you the best shot of the year to stick a new personal best. Best bets are jigs in darker craw colors, 5-6" Senko plastic worms (watermelon with black flake or green pumpkin with black flake), Chatterbaits like the Boogie Bait in chartreuse, chartreuse white, or natural colors, and the drop-shotted Roboworm in purple or green.
You can find males in the shallows and flats killing everything that moves and the bigger females in the deeper areas closest to males. Swim jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits slow-rolled through these staging areas will draw strikes, but if you want a tougher challenge that will produce bigger fish, know that these larger bass will be using wood cover as well. So if you find a flat covered in males look for the nearest tree in deeper water.
Big Congrats to Andy Mercado for winning the first Marin Bass Club derby at Phoenix Lake with 5lb 7oz bass, and to Ryan Gilliflan for "best set" with four good fish from 2-3.5 lbs. I will be posting the date of our next derby shortly and it will be at Lake Alpine.
See ya at the shop!
Spring rolls in with a bang!! Almost out of nowhere, everyone is getting hammered with fishing options -- take your pick, but make a choice and GO! It is good. Now.
Striped bass are ripping up bait and artificials like cut anchovey or jigs, rip baits like the Rapalas, Rat-L-traps and soft-bodied Storm and Calcutta swimbaits, at places like China Camp, in the San Rafael area around Home Depot, and further north near Bahia and the Petaluma river just to name a few. It may be early to tell, and it could shut off just as quickly, but folks are catching them similar to the wholesale SLAMMING we were seeing four years ago.
Almost right on schedule, anglers have been nailing the start of the spring halibut in the South Bay and up in San Pablo Bay. Best options have been trolling plugs, jigs, swimbaits, and frozen anchovies, or by drifting live shiners or jack smelt on soft tides. The success hasn't been limited to the boaters either - bank fishing has produced as well with success using with striper lures like Rat-L-Traps, jigs, and swimbaits. These are not huge fish yet, but sticking a limit of keeper size halibut is not uncommon.
Sturgeon to 75" are nailing shrimp and herring from Paradise to Buck's Landing and in the South Bay from Coyote Pt to the Oakland airport.
Whew! let me catch my breath. Ok, thanks!
Trout fishing
Kent Lake and Alpine Lake have continued to kick out monster Rainbow Trout on spinners and live bait. Even Bon Tempe is has been producing with reports of holdovers to 20" and great smallmouth action with best bets being Powerbait and live nightcrawlers.
For those who want to relax and fish for planter trout San Pablo reservoir is kicking out huge brood stock trout up to 12lbs or more on Powerbait fished from the bank. Lafayette reservoir seems to have been given all the planters that were banned elswhere because that lake is brimming with 2-3lb trout and everyone is getting them. The trollers, the bankies... anyone and everyone who can manage to get a hook or lure in the water!
Carp and Panfish
Euro-style carp fishing is off the hook as well with Nicasio reservoir and Clearlake leading the charge. Both areas have been kicking out fish from 5-25 lbs for anglers using corn, meal worms and boilies.
For the more sophisticated approach - fly fishermen interested in stalking these "golden bonefish", Nicasio offers plenty of shots at schools of tailing fish. Nope. I'm serious! We've had a number of excited fly anglers who have rushed back to the store to stock back up on black or olive bead-headed wooly buggers after snapping off some larger fish. We've also seen some home made "bread flys" and attractive white panfish poppers.
Take the KIDS!! If you want to get these little versions of yourselves out and on fish before their micro- attention span falters........what was I saying? oh right... Your kids can have a field day at Phoenix Lake - where after a long winter, the bluegills have moved up and will readily attack a red worm under a bobber for all to see.
Bass Report - Wow, I've never made it this far without talking about bass fishing... But, I can stand it no longer.
Right now, Alpine, Nicasio, and Kent Lakes in Marin County will offer you the best shot of the year to stick a new personal best. Best bets are jigs in darker craw colors, 5-6" Senko plastic worms (watermelon with black flake or green pumpkin with black flake), Chatterbaits like the Boogie Bait in chartreuse, chartreuse white, or natural colors, and the drop-shotted Roboworm in purple or green.
You can find males in the shallows and flats killing everything that moves and the bigger females in the deeper areas closest to males. Swim jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits slow-rolled through these staging areas will draw strikes, but if you want a tougher challenge that will produce bigger fish, know that these larger bass will be using wood cover as well. So if you find a flat covered in males look for the nearest tree in deeper water.
Big Congrats to Andy Mercado for winning the first Marin Bass Club derby at Phoenix Lake with 5lb 7oz bass, and to Ryan Gilliflan for "best set" with four good fish from 2-3.5 lbs. I will be posting the date of our next derby shortly and it will be at Lake Alpine.See ya at the shop!
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Rain Brings the Fish!
Thank Goodness for rain! Best bets right now are sturgeon on San Pablo bay, Russian river steelhead, wild trout up at Kent Lake, and bass at Nicasio reservoir.
As for the sturgeon, I am getting steady reports of guys sticking keeper size diamondsides on ghost shrimp and herring filets at Paradise Park (off Tiburon), the Pumphouse (San Pablo Bay), and Oakland Airport (plus a few unsubstantiated in the South Bay). If you are fishing from the bank, Paradise Park pier is an excellent way to go, espcially if you can get a good out going tide. For all the boaters out there, try fishing the first half of the outgoing tides, west of the Pumphouse, and the second half of the outgoing tide east of the Pumphouse, closer to the shipping channel.
Russian River steelhead - the mouth is open and pods of new fish are entering daily. If the water is clear, it's hard to beat throwing small black beadhead wooly bugers, but if the rain colors the water a little bit then drift roe or throw small 1/3 oz Little Cleos in gold and burgundy. Also, Panther Martins are good in the river as well. It's one of the few bladed spinners that has good action regardless of current direction.
Guys are still getting wild trout up at Kent Lake on night crawlers, kastmasters, and in-line spinners. As for color, if the water is a little murky, go with gold kastmasters and gold bladed spinners, if the water is still gin clear, then nickel
Last but not least, bass fishing is starting to turn on and the best bet is Nicasio Reservoir. Fish rip rap with the allmighty brass and glass rigged green pumpkin Brush Hog, or if the water is fairly clear you can't beat a wacky rigged Yamamoto Senko in darker colors.
Also you can start looking for a reaction bite to improve daily. As this begins, your best bets will be Speed Traps, Chatter Baits such as the Boogiebait, spinnerbaits, and small swimbaits like the Storm Wildeye swim shad in Shiner Chartreuse. To fish this effectively, target the rip-rap by casting paralel to the bank and trying to bump the eadges of the rip-rap with your baits.
Okay - go get fishing!
As for the sturgeon, I am getting steady reports of guys sticking keeper size diamondsides on ghost shrimp and herring filets at Paradise Park (off Tiburon), the Pumphouse (San Pablo Bay), and Oakland Airport (plus a few unsubstantiated in the South Bay). If you are fishing from the bank, Paradise Park pier is an excellent way to go, espcially if you can get a good out going tide. For all the boaters out there, try fishing the first half of the outgoing tides, west of the Pumphouse, and the second half of the outgoing tide east of the Pumphouse, closer to the shipping channel.
Russian River steelhead - the mouth is open and pods of new fish are entering daily. If the water is clear, it's hard to beat throwing small black beadhead wooly bugers, but if the rain colors the water a little bit then drift roe or throw small 1/3 oz Little Cleos in gold and burgundy. Also, Panther Martins are good in the river as well. It's one of the few bladed spinners that has good action regardless of current direction.
Guys are still getting wild trout up at Kent Lake on night crawlers, kastmasters, and in-line spinners. As for color, if the water is a little murky, go with gold kastmasters and gold bladed spinners, if the water is still gin clear, then nickel
Last but not least, bass fishing is starting to turn on and the best bet is Nicasio Reservoir. Fish rip rap with the allmighty brass and glass rigged green pumpkin Brush Hog, or if the water is fairly clear you can't beat a wacky rigged Yamamoto Senko in darker colors.
Also you can start looking for a reaction bite to improve daily. As this begins, your best bets will be Speed Traps, Chatter Baits such as the Boogiebait, spinnerbaits, and small swimbaits like the Storm Wildeye swim shad in Shiner Chartreuse. To fish this effectively, target the rip-rap by casting paralel to the bank and trying to bump the eadges of the rip-rap with your baits.
Okay - go get fishing!
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