Kokanee Power Team Trout Tournament At Lake Shasta Provides Fun, Fish And Camaraderie!   By: Cal Kellogg June 18, 2008 More Articles by Cal

Lake Shasta is California's largest impoundment and many anglers, including myself, consider it to be the state's premier freshwater fishery. This being the case, the lake provides the ideal venue for northern California's premier trout fishing event, the Kokanee Power Team Trout Tournament.

This event combines Lake Shasta's outstanding trout and king salmon fishing, with the excitement of competition and the warm camaraderie of the trout and salmon fishing fraternity. In short it is the one event of its kind that I pencil onto my calendar a year in advance and never miss!

This year's derby was scheduled for May 3 and 4, so I spent most of the day on May 1 packing my gear and getting my Willie Predator ready for action. With a tall cup of coffee in hand, I climbed behind the wheel of my F-150 at 3 o'clock in the morning on May 2 and headed north, intending to spend the day cruising around Shasta in search of willing trout and salmon.

The sun had been up little more than an hour when I arrived at the Sugarloaf launch ramp, dropped the Willie into the water and headed down the Sacramento Arm at full throttle. I've always had good luck while fishing near the Highway 5 Bridge, so that's where I decided to make my first stop.

After killing the big outboard several hundred yards to the west of the bridge, I fired up the 9.9 Mercury kicker and dropped two lines down on my Cannon Mag 10 downriggers. The rod on the starboard side was trolling an orange/brass Cripplure behind a brass and red Sling Blade at 15 feet. The portside rod was set to work at 36 feet and was armed with a pearl Shasta Tackle Matrix Paddle Tail rigged such that it would roll through the water when trolled slowly.

Just as I passed beneath the bridge, the portside rod popped off the downrigger and I was into my first fish of the trip. The fish was strong and made three spirited runs before I could bring it up to the boat. It turned out to be an awesome Pit River strain rainbow in the 3 pound class.

After releasing the fish, I quickly got the Paddle Tail back into the water and headed back under the bridge for a second pass. After trolling the bridge for a half hour with no more action, I trolled up the McCloud River Arm exploring a wide range of depths, but I wasn't able to draw any more strikes.

It was nearly lunchtime when I gave up on trolling the lower McCloud, so I paused to eat a sandwich and plan my next move. The Dry Creek Arm typically holds a good concentration of salmon in the spring, but it also draws quite a crowd of anglers during the derby. I've always well while trolling for salmon out in front of the dam, so I decided to head down to the dam after lunch in hopes of finding a concentration of kings.

I started trolling about 100 yards off the buoys that line the face of the dam over 400 feet of water. I dropped a Matrix Paddle Tail down to 75 feet on the boat's portside and lowered a pink Kok-A-Nut smeared with Pro-Cure Super Gel trailed behind a pink/glow Sling Blade down to 55 feet off the starboard side.

Before I had a chance to set down, both rods popped off the downriggers and I had a double! I landed the king that grabbed the Paddle Tail. It was a beautiful 2 pounder that I quickly released.

Snatching up the other rod, I started cranking the reel. There was a lot of slack in the line and I figured the fish had shaken the hook, but much to my delight the line came tight and I felt the head shakes of a fish holding beneath the boat. The king, a carbon copy of the first 2 pounder, had already expended most of its energy, so it didn't take me long to bring it to the side of the boat and set it free.

Over the next hour, I caught 3 more kings between 2 and 3 pounds. At that point I decided to leave the fish in hopes that they would still be in a biting mood the next day during the derby. For the rest of the afternoon I tried several coves in the Sacramento Arm and picked up a few small rainbows, before finally calling it a day and anchoring up in Halfway Cove for the night.

During the derby you are allowed to weigh 4 fish on Saturday and 4 more on Sunday and the total weight of the fish caught over both days decides the winners. I figured that had Friday been a derby day, I could have weighed 10 or 11 pounds. This being the case you'd think that I'd have no problem putting together a respectable stringer the next day.Not!

Take it from me, you can have a great practice day and then struggle on tournament day. That is exactly what happened to me! After a great night's sleep on my air mattress in the Willie, I woke up at 5 o'clock, stowed my gear and motored down to the dam with the intention of boating some hefty kings. The plan was great except that the kings refused to bite.

After two hours of trolling with only a 7 inch salmon to show for my efforts, I motored over to the Highway 5 Bridge in search of trout. Unfortunately, the trout also seemed to have a case of lockjaw. Three hours later I headed back over to the dam thinking that maybe the salmon bite was an afternoon affair.

As soon as I dropped a Koke-A-Nut down to 55 feet, I got hit and boated a 1.5 pound king. Thinking the bite was on, I dropped the Kok-A-Nut back down, put a shad minnow on my other rod and dropped it to 75 feet.

Less than 10 minutes later, the shad got hammered and I was into a big fish that ripped several yards of line off my reel and then everything went slack. The fish had broken brand new 8 pound test line.

I always keep a loose drag and almost never lose fish due to broken lines, but it had happened and I felt as if I'd been kicked in the stomach. The line must have gotten nicked and I didn't notice it. I spent the rest of the afternoon trolling the area around the dam, but I didn't get any more strikes.

Back at the Bass Hole Bar and Grill for Saturday's weigh in I was treated to sight of several large browns and rainbows caught by other competitors. Overall, the fishing on Saturday was tough for most, but some anglers did really well.

Since I found myself in a hole that I wasn't likely to be able to dig myself out of, I decided to focus on having fun and boating a few fish to take home to eat on Sunday, but of course the thought that if I could luck into a big boy I'd be right back in the thick of things was in the back of my mind.

I'd like to report that I found that monster fish on Sunday, but it just didn't happen although I did have plenty of action. I ended up bringing 4 salmon to 2.5 pounds and 3 rainbows to 2 pounds to the net. I didn't boat enough weight to get anywhere near finishing in the money, but I did end up with a nice mess of fish for the table.

I can't wait for next year's derby, that big fish I lost will be even bigger then. Who knows - I might be able to get him into the boat in 2009! For more information, go to www.kokaneepower.org.