California Reports 1998

August 2, 1998

Stampede Reservoir

I fished stampeed July 31 thru Aug 2.  We caught limits each day. most fish are around 12"  we did catch several fish  14".  There are fish near sage hen (west side of lake)  and at the dam.  We fished with down rig's  at 40' to 60 '.  I fish at 40' early and go deeper if we fish into the mid morning. All fish were taken on dodgers and bugs.

This report submitted by Hawk

July 25, 1998

Don Pedro

My wife and I fished Lake Don Pedro on July 25th. We fished in a Kokanee tournament put on by the Central California Inland Fisheries Kokanee and Salmon Foundation. We fished east of Jenkins Hill with some of my own homemade Kokanee bugs and also with Wedding Ring Spinners tipped with white corn behind Vance's dodgers. We caught most of our 8 fish early from 5:30 to 7:30 a.m. We fished from 45 to 50 feet deep. The largest fish was caught by my wife Susie,(why do the ladies usually catch the largest fish?) Her largest fish was approx. 17.5 inches and weighed 2lbs. 1oz. My largest fish was 17 inches and weighed 2.0lbs. We were fortunate enough to win 1st. and 2nd. places in the tournament. This organization that put on this tournament is much like Project Kokanee and has been just recently started. Their president is Phil Johnson who guides on Lake Don Pedro. They had a great turn out of approx. 100 entries.                                   submitted by Wayne D.

This report submitted by Wayne D.

July 24, 1998

Bullards Bar

On Friday, July 24th, we trolled for kokanee at Bullards Bar reservoir and caught ten fish and were off the water at 9:45am.  My partner and I trolled red wedding ring spinners tipped with white corn 50-60 feet deep.  I'd like to note that while I have caught fish on a variety of lures at Bullard's Bar, the red wedding ring seems to be the most productive, especially when trolled behing cannonball flashers.   All the fish were caught in the area near the mouth of the Yuba River arm, and the largest fish measured 14.5 inches while the majority ran 12-13 inches.  I am going to be in the Tahoe area in early August and I am looking forward to fishing for kokanee at Lake Tahoe and at Stampede Reservoir.  Good Luck!  

This report submitted by Dean Branscum

July 7, 1998

Bullards Bar

The Kokanee fishing at Bullards Bar is excellent.  My partner and I fished the lake on Thursday July 2nd and we experienced great fishing.  We were on the water and fishing at 6:15am, and the first fish was in the boat five minutes later.  We started trolling the shoreline directly across the lake from the marina at Emerald Cove.   The fish are schooled nicely in this area.  We trolled two rods on separate downriggers at 42-55 feet deep.  We trolled a red wedding ring spinner and a small Dick Nite lure, both of which were tipped with a single piece of white corn.  The lures were setback  6-8 feet fom our cannonball flashers and trolled very slowly, as slow as the 9.9hp kicker would go.  We experienced non-stop action all morning, landing 21 fish by noon, releasing all but the five largest.  The fish were beautiful, the largest of which were legitimate 14-16inch fish.  However, we did release many fish which were 12 inches and smaller.  We moved to the west shoreline of the mouth of the Yuba river arm at 10:30am and found the action to be consistent, but not as good as in front of the dam.  Overall the action was fantastic.        

July 4, 1998

Whiskeytown Lake

Over the 4th of July weekend I traveled north to chase Kokes on Whiskeytown Lake (Redding Area).  My 12 year old (Samantha) fished w/ me.  My brother Terry(of Redding), his kids Jessica 16 & Shad 3(no kidding-us Hoppers are fishn' fools), fished in his boat.  My mom(Mary Fay Hopper of Red Bluff), came along for her first camping trip [she is almost 65].  I returned to the campsite one morning to find her photographing a doe browsing nearby.  The smile on her face made the whole trip worthwhile!She also enjoyed watching the girls clean fish.  Mom did have some concerns when she saw the bear warnings, food lockers& bearproof trash cans.  Had some great fishing w/ limits everyday.  Fish were scattered(no big schools on fish finder), but staying near the 299 bridge we could hook up regularly.  Fish were small by Whiskeytown standards, 12-14 inches with the biggest running 15 1/2".  The hot set up was a gold plated Vance's dodger w/ a red wedding ring trailing 12" -- 18" (w/ white corn of course).  Most fish were caught at 35 feet deep.  A few of the fish had some sort of parasite attached to their sides & 2 others had sores in the same area.  These fish were released.  Can you tell me who to contact for info about this?  I wonder if any kokanee from this lake are safe to eat?   

This report submitted by Ken Hopper      

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