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Collins Lake’s aggressive fish stocking and habitat program is an example of how to do things right in the fish management world. This 1600 acre lake, located in the scenic Sierra Nevada foothills about 1-1/4 hours northeast of Sacramento, is becoming increasingly popular as a destination for anglers interested in top-notch trout, black bass, bluegill, crappie and channel catfish fishing opportunities.
The lake stocks more trophy rainbow trout than any other lake in California north of Sacramento. The lake planted 28,000 trout, ranging from 3 to 8 pounds, in 2006. In addition, a new pen-rearing program managed cooperatively by Collins Lake, CIFFI/Project Kokanee, Kokanee Power and the DFG has also boosted the prospects for catching a trophy rainbow.
At the same time, the lake staff actively manages its bass, bluegill and crappie populations. After conducting a habitat enhancement project in 2001, the recreation area in recent years has stocked the lake each year with Florida strain largemouth bass and either crappie or bluegill to supplement the natural spawning population.
The success of the trout program was exemplified during the first annual CIFFI Project Kokanee Collins Lake Trout Derby held on April 21. Boaters and shore anglers both weighed in big rainbows, the result of the trophy plants, along with the fish released from the eight net pens two weeks before.
A bank angler, Bryon Kunz of Sacramento, caught the largest fish in the event, a 6-1/2 lb. rainbow. He took second place in the derby’s adult division with two fish weighing a total of 6.99 pounds while soaking a nightcrawler on the swim beach right in front of where the weigh-in took place.
“I had planned to get on the lake early,” he said, “but I got up late and didn’t start fishing until 8:30 a.m.”
In spite of his late start, he went home with a check for $300.00. However, he wasn’t entered in the big fish pot, so the pot money went to the angler, Wesley Carpenter, who won first place for the biggest two fish.
Carpenter took home $250 for the big fish weighing 5.68 pounds, along with his $500.00 first place prize for two rainbows weighing 8.5 pounds. Carpenter caught his fish while trolling nightcrawlers behind flashers. “We didn’t get a bite before 9 am, but then the action turned on,” stated Carpenter.
A nightcrawler behind a dodger also yielded a first place win in the junior division for Kendall Clark. The
Baylee Philips placed second in the junior division with two rainbows going 3.16 pounds while trolling an Apex lure.
Anglers reported mixed success while trolling, since the barometric pressure was dropping as a spring storm front moved in. Randy Bergquist of Kokanee Power and his fishing partner, Mike Tripp, experienced better action than most. They landed limits, keeping 7 fish total.
Bergquist, who captured two rainbows weighing a total of 4.08 pounds, took fifth place in the adult division. He landed his fish while trolling plastic grubs and Apex lures behind 4/0 chrome/copper dodgers.
Shore anglers experienced the fastest action, although boaters caught the most quality fish. Jim Kirby of Yuba City and neighbors Daniel Westover and Joseph Westover caught a bunch of scrappy browns and rainbows while tossing gold 1/8 and ¼ ounce Kastmasters at the boat rental dock, where anglers are allowed to fish as long as they don’t get on the boats.
“I caught a total of 18 trout,” said Joseph Westover. “I kept several of the bigger ones and released the rest.”
I also saw Kirby hook a dandy 4 lb. spotted bass while fishing a Kastmaster for the trout.
However, the really big bass of the week was the monster Florida-strain largemouth taken the day before the derby. Dave Butler of Yuba City caught and released a 13 lb. 7 oz. fish, the biggest bass to date this year. Though spotted bass comprise the majority of bass found at Collins, the lake is well known as a trophy largemouth lake.
After the derby was over, I decided to sample the trout action myself. I had a blast hooking and releasing trout off the docks while fishing with my light tackle Shasta Tackle Anglers Tough “Kokanee Special” spinning rod. I took Kirby’s advice, using a ¼ ounce gold Kastmaster to entice the fish.
The underwater net pens are the newest addition to Collins Lake’s trout management program. The rainbow trout, supplied as catchables averaging ¾ pound each, are raised in the pens during the winter and released in the late spring when they are 2 to 3 pounds.
There are total of 8 pens, each about the size of a bedroom (12'x 10'x 12'), located at the marina. About 400 to 500 fish trout were kept in each pen, according to Lincoln Young, manager of Collins Lake Resort.
All of the estimated 12,000 fish in the pens were released into the lake on April 7 because the water temperature was becoming too warm, 62 to 63 degrees, to keep them there any longer.
The California Inland Fisheries Foundation, Inc. (Project Kokanee) provided materials and food for 6 pens. The Collins Lake staff assembled these six pens, Kokanee Power provided materials and food for 2 pens. The Kokanee Power volunteers assembled the pens in two days of volunteer labor.
Collins Lake provided the labor and some of the material to build the 6 Project Kokanee pens and the marina space to keep all of the pens, noted Young. Collins staff cared for the trout, feeding them daily and keeping the pens clean of algae.
“Each group did their part to make this project a success,” emphasized Young. “This project would have been too big for any one group to do by themselves. All groups involved are hoping to build more pens in the future at Collins Lake after this pilot year is completed.”
Collins Lake is also looking into raising channel catfish in these same pens during the summer months.
During the fall of 2001 when the lake was 60 feet down, the resort launched an ambitious habitat enhancement program by anchoring long strips of bush piles in the northern channel and east shore. “Since the brush strips are laid out from deep to shallow water, they will serve as protection for juvenile fish in low, average and high water years,” said Young.
The lake management has supplemented the natural spawning stocks with plants of largemouth bass and either bluegill or crappie every year since then. On March 1, they planted a total of 2,000 pounds of fish, including 1,000 Florida-strain bass averaging 1-1/2 pounds each and 1500 bluegill averaging 1/3 pound. The fish are large enough to spawn this spring.”
“During the 1990s, we saw a depletion of the bluegill and bass population and we wanted to see it go back to what it was before in the 1970s and 1980s,” said Young. “We’re seeing more bass, crappie and bluegill in the catches every year since we started planting bass and sunfish.”
The lake is open year round and has superb facilities for family-style fishing and other recreation. The facilities include lakeshore camping and RV sites, tent sites, group camps, boat launch, marina and boat rentals, a big sand swimming beach, children's playground, beach volleyball, picnic area, general store, laundry and hot showers.
Contact Collins Lake Resort at (530) 692-1600, http://www.collinslake.com. For more information on CIFFI, go to www.kokanee.org. For more information on Kokanee Power, go to
CIFFI Collins Lake Derby Results
The First Annual CIFFI Collins Lake Family Fun Derby on April 21was highlighted by creels of huge trout coming into the weigh station. Over 100 participants took part in the inaugural event. Collins Lake Resort, Johnson Outdoors and PG&E sponsored the derby
The owners of Collins Lake Resort are dedicated to improving the fishery at Collins. CIFFI and Collins Lake have partnered together by funding and supporting 6 CIFFI trout pens at the lake; and by the size of trout bagged at the derby – it was evident that a strong planting program is in place.
Lampe’s Catering provided BBQ beef sandwiches and beans, topped off with Caesar Salad and macaroni salad, no one went home hungry. After the enjoyable meal, many and had an opportunity to be a part of the prize raffle that totaled more than $3000.
Fish of all sizes came in – keeping the weigh masters from Placerville Marine busy tallying fish for the day. The big fish award went to Wesley Carpenter who bagged a beautiful trout that weighed in at over 5 ½ pounds - he took home $250 for his efforts. The blind bogey award of $255 went to Mike Churato – he was closest to the selected weight of 1-¼ pounds.
Funds generated by CIFFI’s derbies go directly to fund the improvement of fisheries and educational endeavors throughout California.
Adult Trout Winners:
Youth Trout Winners:
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