Posts

Mixed Bag Today at Stampede Reservoir

6/1/16  Mixed bag today at Stampede Reservoir

Today started of very foggy and chilly at Stampede Reservoir.  Okay, it was cold!!  We started off todays scouting mission by trolling to all the usual hangouts but marked very few schools.  Just a Kokanee here and there.  It was slow and by 9am, the fog had burned off and we had 3 Kokanee in the box.  One of them being a nice, fat 16 incher!!!  We also lost a few fish.  We then ventured out towards the dam to see if we could entice a Mackinaw to strike.  Wasn’t long before we had a double hook up.  Thought at first that the fish was snagged on the other line but soon they separated and we knew we had a double hook up.  Both fish fought hard but one, by the way it was fighting, had to be a nice Mackinaw.  We netted the smaller of the 2 fish to see that it was a beautiful hold over 18″ Rainbow Trout.  And not long after that netted a nice 6 to 7 pound Stampede Reservoir Mackinaw.  Now that we had 3 species of fish in the box, we decided to head back towards the launch ramp because the wind was starting to howl.  We caught 2 more Kokanee and another hold over Rainbow on the way back.  By now, there were white caps and it was getting rough.  The wind was blowing perpendicular to the launch ramp and trailering the boat was gonna be a chore so we decided to head in with 8 fish.  Just a little short of 2 limits.

Top set up today was a teardrop Goldstar glow in the dark dodger in pink splatter pattern trailing an Orange Radical Glow Tube with Pro Cure Garlic scent

Trolling speed was 1.5 gps speed

Target depth was between 15′ to 60′

To book a trip with Tight Lines Guide Service call Capt. James Netzel at 888-975-0990 or book online at https://fishtightlines.com

Mixed bag at Stampede Reservoir

Mixed bag at Stampede Reservoir

 

6/1/14 Donner Lake

Donner Lake, we launched at 5:15 AM and spent the first hour fishing the top 25′ of water for Mackinaw. With no action we switched over to Kokanee. Overall, it was a great bite. We landed limits for our two clients and lost well over 15 others. Not sure why but they just wouldn’t stay on. I talked to a friend last night that experienced the same thing yesterday. We also landed and released a Mackinaw that was around three pounds. The Mackinaw gave a nice fight on the Kokanee gear. All our fish today were caught on Seps Watermelon Dodgers and Uncle Larry’s spinners along with RMT spinners behind Shark Cannonballs. Our corn today was Pink Pautzke Fire Cured Corn. Our best depths today were 28 to 38 feet. www.FishTightLines.com

photo 1    photo 2

5/28/14 Donner Lake Kokanee

Donner Lake Kokanee
We started at 6:00 AM and headed over by the Loch Leven Lodge where we found some good schools of Kokanee on Sunday. They were gone! We searched that area and only marked a few fish. The wind was already starting to blow. We went ahead and dropped the rigs down to 35′ where we were marking a few fish. We managed to get our two clients limits of Kokanee in this area but it was not the same kind of action we had Sunday. I had planned to fish for Mackinaw later today, however, the with the wind getting stronger every minute I decided against it. Our Kokanee were caught on Sep’s Watermelon Dodger with a RMT Assassin Spinner and Pautzke Fire Cured Corn. The best depth was 35 to 40 feet. We did release two fish that were about the size of the dodger. The Kokanee we kept averaged 12″.
www.fishtightlines.com

photo 4     photo 3

photo 1

5/19/14 Lake Tahoe Mackinaw Fishing

A few great photos of Country Artist Brett Eldredge up at Lake Tahoe. Watch for the Full Story in the next issue of The Fish Sniffer Magazine with Captain Rick Kennedy of Tight Lines Guide Service! Thanks to Danny Lloyd of The Fish Sniffer and Bryon Kennedy from KNCI 105.1 FM Sacramento. www.FishTightLines.com

This video was after the wind came up and pretty much blew us off the water. http://youtu.be/7DCa-6ZVRZw

10394587_10152481538470850_8601599186629509446_n     10270286_862485483765930_5438244930711669862_n

IMG_4315     IMG_4298-2

5/3/14 Stampede Reservoir

We fished Stampede Reservoir. today for the first time in over a month. We started at 6:00 AM and decided to make a pass or two for Mackinaw before targeting Kokanee. It wasn’t long before the wind started and the forecast called for some pretty strong wind later in the day.  We figured we better go load up on some Kokanee before the wind got too bad.  As soon as we dropped our gear in we started hooking up.  We spent most of our time right in front of the island in about 60’ of water.  We ran two lines on downriggers behind Shark Cannonballs and one top line straight off the back of the boat. We hooked fish from the surface to 45’ deep. We ran three different set ups and they all did well.  Our set ups were a Sep’s Strike Master (watermelon color) with a Uncle Larry’s Pink Tiger, a Sep’s 4/0 Watermelon Dodger with a Uncle Larry’s Pink Tiger and the third was a Dick Night Pink Dodger and a RMT Assassin spinner on the top line. We used Abu Garcia 4600 reels loaded with 6# Trilene. Everything was tipped with Shoepeg Corn that I cured with pink Pautzke Fire Cure.  The bite was as good as it gets. We landed 18 Kokanee between 6:30 AM and 8:37 AM and lost more than we landed. It was a fast and crazy bite. I even caught 3 for myself to take home for dinner. These Kokanee went big; the average fish size today was 12” but fat and clean fish.

Launching is not a problem, however, I recommend four wheel drive if your boat is very heavy. The water is down far enough that all four of your tires will likely be in the mud. I had no issues launching today.

www.FishTightLines.com

Left to right, Biff Brethour, Anthony Dukes and Garry Dukes all of Cool.

   IMG_4285     IMG_4278 

photo 1

5/1/14 Lake Tahoe Lake Trout

We fished out of Cave Rock and focused on that side of the lake. We spent a little time fishing the shallows for rainbows before moving to deeper water to target the famous Lake Tahoe Lake Trout. We found piles of fish where we started hooking fish at 190 to 260 feet deep. All our fish were caught on glow in the dark spoons trolling 1.6 mph right on the bottom. As a side note, as you can see from this picture the lake was absolutely like glass. As I came by the Truckee Airport at 4:30 AM the thermometer on my truck said 21 degrees. The same spot on my way home at 3:30 PM it was 69 degrees a 48 degree swing.
www.FishTightLines.com
Dan Baxter and James Abram hold the four Lake Trout they took home for dinner.
IMG_4232

8/5/13 Lake Tahoe Kokanee and Mackinaw

We spent today targeting Lake Tahoe Kokanee on the South Shore. We launched at Cave Rock at 6:00 AM. We were marking fish between 80 and 100 feet on our Lowrance HDS 12. We dropped a Sep’s Watermelon Strike Master with a RMT Assassin Spinner tipped with Shoepeg corn cured with Pautzke Fire Cure. We were hooked up within a few minutes. After a short fight we lost that one along with the next 7 or 8 fish. About that time we hooked and landed a nice Mack on the same Kokanee gear.  Finally, we started sticking the Kokanee. On our way back we stopped off by Cave Rock and fished for Lake Tahoe Mackinaw.  We ended the day with limits of Lake Tahoe Kokanee and two Mackinaw. I lost count of how many Kokanee we lost but it was a bunch. The Kokanee today averaged 14″ however. one of the ones we lost at the boat was a good 17″ fish.

FishTightLines.com

IMG_3617     IMG_3614     ftl_gallery_rick_tahoe

7/13/13 Lake Tahoe and Stampede Reservoir

tlgsTight Lines Guide Service spent Wednesday 7/10/13 through Friday 7/12/12 on Lake  Tahoe and today Saturday 7/14/13 on Stampede Reservoir.

On Lake Tahoe we spent most of our time on the North Shore.  Thursday was our best day with larger Mackinaw. We found the best bite straight out from Tahoe City. We caught our fish trolling spoons at depths of 180 to 300 feet.

Saturday we worked Stampede Reservoir for Kokanee. Our clients didn’t want to start until 8:00 AM so I went out by myself at 6AM and fished for fun. In no time I had my five Kokanee. I fished behind the island and found fish right on the bottom in 40’ of water. After our clients showed up we fish the launch ramp side of island. There was several big schools of fish in that area. The best producer on Stampede today was a Sep’s Watermelons Strike Master Dodger and a RMT Crystal Watermelon Assassin Spinner and the same Watermelon Strike Master Dodger and a Uncle Larry’s Tropical Tiger Spinner. All our lures were tipped with the new (soon to be released) Pautzke Shoepeg Can O Corn. This is something new that comes in several of your favorite colors.  The average size of our fish toady was 12” with one that was 14”. The water temp at Stampede is running around 68 degrees. www.fishtightlines.com

4/26/13 Lake Tahoe Mack’s

We launched at Cave Rock State Park to accommodate our group of six that were staying at Zephyr Cove. We were launched, paperwork done and ready to fish just after 6:00 AM. We discussed starting on the East shore for rainbows and browns or head straight to the deep water and try to load up on Mack’s. Everyone was in agreement to go for the Mack’s. After little boat ride we dropped our spoons down to a bunch of schooled fish that were 260 to 300 feet deep.  We started off with a double. These first two fish came on White Glow Spoon’s 5’ off the bottom. From that point on we continued to land fish using the white spoons and Sep’s Glow Pro Secrets. We also lost couple along the way. These guys didn’t want to keep any fish so everything was released today.  After everyone had their share of reeling these fish in from 300’ we decided to hit the shallow water and troll our way back to Cave Rock. I would guess the average fish today was around 3 pounds with a couple that went 5 to 6 pounds. During the time we were on the lake today it was like glass and the water temperature was running 42 to 43 degrees.

Pictured is George Branco from Lodi

Lake Tahoe Report for the Week of 4/15/13

We are done with Sport Shows and now its time to fish! We were on Lake Tahoe a couple days this week. We experienced the normal steady Mackinaw bite off Cal Neva Point. We caught Mackinaw each day in 250 to 300 feet of water on Spoons. The average size was 2 to 5 pounds.  #3 Green Needlefish and Sep’s Glow Green Secrets seemed to be the best lure for us this week, covered with Pautzke Krill.
We also spent some time on the Nevada side of Cal Neva point, Dollar Point and a little time down south. We caught Mackinaw in all three of these locations pulling Rapala’s. We landed a couple nice rainbows off Dollar Point as well. Not big but very nice bright fish.

 

Photos is from Saturday 4/20/13

Left to right Esperanza Ross and Brian Flaherty of Sacramento