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Folsom Kings

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Spent half a day on another clients boat as he hired me to teach him several techniques and a little on his Lowrance unit.  We tried many techniques, most of them unsuccessful today.  What worked for us today was a 3″ Berkley Gulp minnow behind a large ProTroll flasher.  Trolling speed was 1.5 mph on the GPS down 40′ in less than 80′ of water.  We were risking the shallower water with Shark cannonballs.  There are bait balls all over the lake, mainly down 60-80′.  What I was searching for were bait balls a bit shallower and we found a couple in the flats next to the dam.  They were down about 20′.  We tried them at 4 different depths and only the 40 footer caught one.  What was not big numbers, a fat 22″ King made up for.  This lake is unusually slow for this time of year but after talking to the biologist for this lake, I understand.  Due to the drought and warm water, the American River hatchery was forced to close last year so they did not have the fish to stock the lake this year.  A plant was made last week but it was smaller than normal and fish size was well below normal.  This being a State Park lake, they do not purchase fish from private hatcheries.  The biologist believes the plant of sub catchable Eagle Lake Rainbows and sub catchable Kings is still on schedule.  We’ll hope that happens.  To book a trip with Capt. Fishin James with Tight Lines Guide Service, click on the link  www.fishtightlines.com  or call 888-975-0990

 

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5/6/13 Lake Berryessa

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We headed out from Markley Cove a little after 6:00 AM. The water temp was 67 degrees as we went by the houseboats. We headed straight out to the Big Island and focused on Kokanee. We hooked a few fish but they just wouldn’t stick. Finally, we ended up by the Ranch House where we landed a Rainbow. We worked this area and again had hook ups that didn’t stick. We kept working the general area of the Ranch House and the Big Island. Finally we landed some nice Kokanee just south of the Big Island. We decided to head back into the narrows and look for some Kings. We dropped in just short of the dam and it wasn’t long before we had a nice King in the box. About that time the wind came up and the sky started turning black. We could hear thunder and saw a couple flashes of lightening in the distance, that’s when we decided to troll are way in. It wasn’t a red-hot day but all in all is was a good day given the weather. We caught fish on a few different set ups which included Sep’s 3/0 Silver Starlight with a Berkley Gulp Minnow on a 18” leader, Sep’s 3/0 Fruit Bowl Dodger and a White Uncle Larry’s Squid. 4/0 Pink/White Sep’s Dodger and an Uncle Larry’s Pink Tiger, Sep’s Watermelon Strike Master with a Glow Hoochie. We also rolled Pautzke Fire Brined Shad and Anchovies. We hooked fish on bait but couldn’t get them to stick. For the Kokanee we used Shoepeg Corn cured in Pink Pautzke Fire Cure. We hooked or caught fish from 2’ to 110” today. Crazy day trying to figure out what they wanted.

Pictured is Michael Vaumgartner from Richmond