Gary Miralles, the owner of the Shasta Tackle Company, is a rare breed of angler. On one hand he is a talented lure designer and the holder of several patents for his innovative lures and accessories. On the other hand he is a respected guide that consistently produces trout and land locked salmon for his clients.

There are only a handful of lure manufactures that operate successful guide services and while many guides make their own lures, few have received the amount of national acclaim that Gary's products have garnered.

One of the reasons why Miralles has been successful both as a manufacturer and as an angler stems from the fact that he developed his lures to meet specific demands he encountered on the water. As a result Gary's approach to fishing and his products have meshed into an effective system for boating fish across a variety of situations and conditions.

I recently had the opportunity to fish for kokanee salmon with Miralles and Justin Wolff of Angler West Television at Whiskeytown Reservoir. On the trip we encountered tough conditions and tentative salmon. Yet Miralles quickly established a pattern and we landed several fish.

Whenever I'm out with a guide, I view it as an opportunity to learn something new and typically pepper them with questions. I found my trip with Miralles to be especially instructive. Sure, a lot of the things he did, such as using corn, are common to kokanee anglers all over the state, but other tactics he employed definitely broke the rules of convention.

At the start of the day Miralles rigged several different lures in different colors behind dodgers. Right away I noticed he was rigging some of the lures about 36 inches behind his Sling Blade dodgers. "I thought it was standard practice to run kokanee lures 10 to 18 inches behind a dodger. Why are you running the lures back so far," I asked?

"Well, the type of lure I'm using determines how far I put it behind the dodger," said Miralles. "When I'm using a spoon like a Cripplure or Hum Dinger that has it's own action, I like to run them back 3 feet or so, since I'm not relying on the dodger to impart action to the lures. In this situation the dodger is only intended to attract the kokanee to the area of the lure. When I'm using lures like hoochies and flies that have no inherent action, I rig them a lot closer to the dodger to give them some movement."

During our trip, the kokanee showed a distinct preference for pink and silver Cripplures. "Cripplures and Hum Dingers are a little larger than traditional kokanee spoons, but they seem to work just fine. What are your feelings about lure size when it comes to kokanee fishing," I related.

"It's true that a lot of fishermen think that smaller lures are better for kokanee, but that has not been my experience," related Miralles. "I designed both the Cripplure and Hum Dinger for trout fishing, so they are larger than the lures often used for kokanee, but I've never had any problems catching salmon on them. This morning has been a good example. We've tried a number of different lures, but it is pretty clear that they want that pink Cripplure and that's a fairly large spoon."

"Lure size isn't the only way I differ from a lot of kokanee anglers. I grew up trout fishing and I've applied a lot of that experience to kokanee fishing. Most kokanee anglers like to troll around 1 mile per hour, but I prefer to troll fast. Many times I'll have my best success at 2.5 miles per hour."

In fact, the reason why he set out to design the Sling Blade dodger in the first place is because he wanted a dodger that he could use at relatively high speeds. "I think that when your lure is moving fast, it forces the fish to react quickly and you get more reaction bites as a result. Think about playing with a cat with a piece of string. If you move it slow, he'll look at it and maybe paw it a little. If you pull it along fast, he'll pounce and I think it's the same with fish," quipped Miralles.

"I also place my lures farther behind the downrigger weight than most other guys. You'll see a lot of kokanee anglers working 15 to 20 feet back, but I like to be back a minimum of 50 feet and often more when the water is clear," continued Miralles.

"You guide on both Shasta and Whiskeytown. Shasta is probably the best lake in the state at this time for land locked kings and Whiskeytown is certainly among the state's top kokanee fisheries. Could you compare and contrast your approaches to targeting both of these species," I asked.

"In a general way these kokanee and kings are very similar. At times you'll find them holding near structure, but they are mainly open water fish. All things being equal, kings tend to hold deeper than kokanee because they prefer cooler water. As far as lures are concerned, I use the same offerings. Early in the season I have the best results teaming Kok-A-Nuts and hoochies with Sling Blades. Once summer gets underway spinners and spoons become more productive. The biggest difference between the lures I use for kokanee and kings is the color selection. Kokanee feed primarily on plankton. When they strike a lure they are not trying to feed. The strike is a form of curiosity or aggression, so when I'm targeting kokanee I tend to use brightly colored lures. King salmon feed on baitfish. When I'm after kings I try to match the color of my lures to that of the baitfish the salmon are feeding on," responded Miralles.

"I'm a big believer in Pro Cure scents. For kokanee garlic, kokanee special, carp spit and shrimp are my favorites. For kings threadfin shad is my number one choice since that is what the kings feed on most of the time. I've also found garlic and shrimp scent to be effective for king salmon fishing. Scent is important for a couple reasons. First it can certainly trigger a strike from a fish that is following, but it also creates a scent trail in the water that can lead fish to your lure," added Miralles.

"Kokanee, king salmon and trout tournaments are popular these days and a lot of tournament anglers will be reading my article. If you could give them one piece of advice for hooking big fish what would it be," I queried?

"During a tournament you should probably avoid targeting big schools of kokanee or kings. Most fish in schools tend to be about the same size. If you are looking for a big fish, you need to seek out one or two fish holding alone. One of the tricks to doing well in tournaments is first finding those isolated fish and then getting your lure in front of them. This is a lot more challenging than targeting a big school of fish, but remember you only need a couple good strikes to win," said Miralles.