“The bass fishing is good at Lake Sonoma as the water temperatures range beween 56 and 60 degrees,” reported Louie Bruno at Outdoor Pro Shop. “Fish the points and flats in 15 to 20 feet of water with jigs and Brush Hogs.”

Most of the fish are largemouths in the 2-1/2 to 3 pound fish, but lunker bass are caught here every spring. The lake also has a sleeper population of smallmouth bass that provide top-notch action at times.

“The water has just cleared enough for anglers to begin to troll for landlocked steelhead,” noted Bruno. Boaters should troll Needlefish, Cripplures, Hum Dingers, Sockeye Slammers, Rapalas, Sting Kings, Yozuri Pins Minnows and Apex lures for the hard-fighting trout.

“Anglers are still catching steelhead from Cloverdale to Healdsburg,” added Bruno. “However, you can only use lures with barbless hooks on the river after March 31.”

Bob Sparre of Rocky River Guide Service, who is currently trolling on the Sacramento River near Rio Vista for striped bass, experienced “very good” steelhead on the river on his most recent ventures.

“My clients caught a total of 17 fish in three days of fishing,” said Sparre. “We fished roe in a variety of areas from Cloverdale through Healdsburg. All of the fish were wild except one.”

“The steelhead are still trickling in,” said Keith Pomeroy at Iron Gate Fish Hatchery. “We have received 189 adult steelhead to date, compared to 203 fish last season.”

Although he reported seeing “one or two boat trailers” at the put-in, he hasn’t heard of any reports on steelhead or trout fishing success lately.

Albert Kutzkey, fishing guide, is back from a winter of steelhead fishing on the Smith and Chetco rivers and is getting ready to begin his spring trout fishing trips on the Klamath below Iron Gate.

“I would expect to see good numbers of trout and a few downrunner steelhead on the Klamath now,” reported Kutzkey. “We’ll probably start pulling plugs and fishing some flies, such as prince nymphs and stone fly patterns.”

The salmon fly hatch is expected to start towards the end of May, although it could be earlier or later, depending upon the river. “We can catch and release 50 to 100 trout in a day when the fishing is really good,” said Kutzkey.

Steelhead action has been slow on the lower Klamath. “The river has been blown out a lot between the rain up here and the unusual low elevation snow melting off,” said Keith Parker in Requa. “There have been a few people fishing, but the reports are that no steelhead are running. The springers should start showing up soon.”

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“The ocean was doable for a two boat trip on Monday,” disclosed Mark Lottis of Five Star Charters. “It was on the rough side and windy, but the lingcod were on the bite. Two guys on the Rogue caught 24 between them in the process of trying for bigger fish. They also brought in their rockfish limits.”

“The rest of the week we fished steelhead first on the Rogue for a skunk on both boats The next day we went to the Elk for 2 to 4 fish and then the Sixes for a very nice day of 5 to 6 fish. Half of those fish were up runners and half were down runners,” he continued.

On Sunday morning, they took a quick salmon trip for one bite that didn't stick on the Rogue. “This week we'll go to the ocean when the weather cooperates and fill in with the last of the years winter steelhead on local rivers,” added Lottis.

With low flows and the end of the winter steelhead run nearing, boat and bank anglers are starting to turn their attention to spring chinooks, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Anglers are reminded that there are new regulations in effect for spring chinooks on the Rogue River.

On the Middle Rogue, the flow was 3,310 cubic feet per second at Grants Pass as of press time. Fishing has been good in the Grants Pass area and down by Galice. Yarn balls, roe clusters, and plugs have been working well.

On the Upper Rogue, angling has been slow, but the recent rains should change that.  Winter steelhead have begun to move over Gold Ray Dam with over 800 fish counted in three days. Fish have been caught on night crawlers, yarn, puffballs, and roe. 

Anglers are reminded that even during high water and turbid conditions along most of the Rogue, conditions are usually good between Big Butte Creek and Cole Rivers Hatchery where reservoir outflows predominate.

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“The bass fishing has been really good,” exclaimed Arnold Fancelli at Phil’s Propellers. “Anglers are hooking big numbers of small fish and we are seeing solid numbers of 4 and 5 pounders also. To catch the larger bass, you’ve got to wade through quite a few little guys in most cases.”

“The reaction bait bite has been inconsistent so far this year. Plastics are a much better option. Darter heads rigged with 6 inch worms in Mojave Oxblood, Aaron’s Magic and the Wild Worms colors are working the best, but you can take fish on curly tail grubs and tubes in crawfish colors,” continued Fancelli.

“I went to Bridge Bay today. I marked a lot of fish from 75 to 150 feet deep, but boy did they have lock jaw,” reported Gary Miralles of the Shasta Tackle Company. “I caught one 18 inch king under the Highway 5 Bridge on a glow shad Cripplure and super glow Sling Blade and that was it.”

“I had a couple other hits and lost them. It was one of those days we all like to forget. I only fished for 4 hours. With the full moon this week they may have come on later in the day. I expect things to improve next week,” said Miralles.

Shasta Lake is currently 63 feet from maximum pool and on the rise.

Steve Huber of Steve Huber’s Guide Service took his first trip of 2008 to Whiskeytown Reservoir recently. “My trip wasn’t too memorable,” quipped Huber. “I hooked one fish and lost it. The water in the lake is very cold at this time. We had a lot of snow this winter and runoff has really chilled the lake. The lake is down about 10 feet, but it is coming up pretty fast.”

“I spotted a lot of fish on my sonar that were cruising it the top 15 feet of water, but I didn’t have any luck hooking them. There were a lot of bass anglers on the lake when I was there. They were primarily fishing points. I saw them catch a few small fish, but nothing large,” added Huber.

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“Jacksmelt fishing is wide-open off the Capitola Wharf,” reported Ed Burrell at Capitola Boat & Bait. “The fish are 12 to 14 inches long and are hitting anchovy pieces under a bobber. Black, walleye and rainbow perch are showing also.”

Stripers averaging 4 to 6 pounds and going up to 15 pounds are rewarding surf fishing enthusiasts off Rio Del Mar and Manresa Beach. The top lures are Kastmasters and Krocodiles.

Jim Franco at J&D Auto Repair Gone Fishing in Monterey confirmed the improving striper bite. “Surf fishermen are throwing a variety of striper jigs off Marina Beach and the mouth of the Salinas River,” he explained. “Anglers are still catching barred perch while fishing Fish Traps and bait off the beach south of the Soldiers Club.”

Charter boats are concentrating on sanddab and mackerel fishing. “The Sur Randy went out for sanddabs on Saturday, March 29, but they had to come back in early because of the rough weather,” said Chrissy Chonacki at Randy’s Fishing Trips.

Todd Arcoleo of Chris’ Fishing Inc. confirmed the rough weather over the weekend, noting that sanddab and mackerel fishing has been good when the weather is calm.

“Ironically, there are a lot of king salmon in Monterey Bay now,” said Arcoleo. “Anglers are hooking them while fishing for sanddabs.”

The 20 fishermen on board the Velocity on Sunday, March 30 caught 160 sanddabs, 90 Spanish mackerel and 75 Pacific mackerel. “Our next trip is Sunday, April 6,” said Captain Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro’s Fishing Trips in Santa Cruz.

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A local fisherman, Peege Gama, managed to hook and land a 17 lb. 34 inch rainbow on Tuesday, March 18, according to Steve Vaughn at Vaughn’s Sporting Goods. He fooled this big guy with a 1/4 oz. Kastmaster at the Hat 1 Powerhouse.

The wild fish is the largest rainbow caught since an angler set the lake record of 18 pounds, 6 ounces 30 years ago. The brown trout record for Baum, set in 1962, is 23 pounds, 5 ounces.

“Gama’s fish was a beautiful wild rainbow,” noted Vaughn. “It was probably 8 or 9 years old.” Some bait and lure fishermen are still catching a few fish, but the fly fishermen are working for hours for one or two hits at Baum, Vaughn noted.. 

“The full moon hasn't helped any either,” he advised. “Fly fishermen are still frustrated at the lack of interest.  No particular flies have been working - with few fish being taken.  The best bets are still Kastmasters, spinners and bait, fished in good flows of water.” 

The Pit River was "ramped" down to the normal 150 cfs flow on March 27, so anglers will now be able to fish flies and lures for the river’s wild rainbows again. Also, with the flushing due to high flows over the past few weeks, conditions will definitely have changed from earlier in the month. 

At Lake Britton, there are still no reports of crappie or bass being taken. “Overnight lows have been down to below 18 degrees, so will still take a week or two for the water to warm up enough - if the weather stays sunny and warm,” Vaughn tipped.

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Having said that, spring is one of the periods when the lake’s trout are most vulnerable to the efforts of anglers. At this point, the spring trout bite has gotten underway and should do nothing but improve over the next 6 to 8 weeks.

“There are lots of browns, along with some kings and rainbows hanging out off Skinny Dip Beach on the east shore,” disclosed Doug Neal of Almanor Fishing Adventures. “Personally I’m having quite a bit of success while bait fishing. As I set in my boat tending my baits, I get a chance to keep a close eye on the trollers. From what I’m seeing trolling isn’t producing many fish at this time. The water is a little murky and that’s why I’m concentrating on bait fishing.”

“I’m fishing large threaded night crawlers just off the bottom. I’m coating the worms with a combination of Pro-Cure Trophy Trout and Garlic Super Gel. I actually mix it up in a small bowl and apply it with a small paintbrush. A couple weeks ago the bites were very light due to the low water temperature, but the fish have steadily gotten more aggressive. Right now they are grabbing the bait pretty good,” added Neal.

On Neal’s last trip on March 27, he hooked 10 trout and got 4 browns to the boat.

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”I’ve been fishing Folsom just about every week and it has been pretty good,” reported Don Paganelli of Paganelli’s Bass Fishing Experience. “The bass action has been really consistent for spots up to about 3.5 pounds. Early in the morning we are getting them on Spro lipless crankbaits in the chartreuse/clear pattern. Later in the morning, the Spro will still catch fish, but you’ve got to work slower, so it will get down deeper.”

“If you throw Robo Worms on a darter head or a Carolina Rig, you can pretty much count on getting hit all day long. A lot of the fish we are getting are really fat and holding in about 15 feet of water, so I suspect that they are setting on beds. I’m starting out the day working the ends of points and then I gradually work my way into the shallow water at the sides of points. At this point I’ve been concentrating on fishing the North Fork,” added Paganelli.

John Wadden at Will Fish Tackle in Auburn reported that the salmon action at Folsom has slowed down a bit from the hot bite anglers were enjoying a few weeks ago, but confided that plenty of kings are still being caught.

“The guys I’ve been talking to are using No. 2 Needlefish in either white bikini or white with a strip of prismatic tape. They are trolling from .8 to 1.2 miles per hour between 30 and 60 feet deep,” said Wadden.

Folsom Lake is currently holding 436,773 acre feet of water. The inflow is 3,373 cfs and the outflow is 681 cfs.

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“Striper fishing really picked up on March 26,” reported Captain Barry Canevaro of Fish Hookers Sportfishing on March 28. “Trollers are having the best luck while pulling shallow running Bombers and Yo-Zuris in the main Sacramento. I tried bait fishing the other day, but it wasn’t very good. If I had to catch a striper right now I’d be trolling.”

“Sturgeon fishing has been better in our area recently, particularly out at the Mothball Fleet. The big challenge fishing out there has been the wind. On windy days, it is pretty much impossible to fish the fleet. The weather was very good yesterday and we had a good sturgeon trip out at the fleet. We got 1 keeper and missed two strong bites. We are using eel and roe for our sturgeon,” said Canevaro.

Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan’s Guide Service has been focusing on trolling for stripers on the Sacramento River with good results. “We are getting limits up to 8 pounds. We’re using shallow running Bombers in Rio Vista area. Limits are the rule, if you fish the incoming tide,” reported Villanueva.

Bob Sparre of Rocky River Guide Service reported excellent striper fishing on his latest striper trolling adventure. “Four anglers fishing with me hooked lots of stripers, including 12 legal-sized fish to 8 ponds,” said Sparre. “We trolled Yo-Zuri lures in the Sacramento Rvier near Rio Vista.”

Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Charters described the sturgeon fishing in the West Delta as “slow." “I’ve been down here at the Fresno Sports Show, so I haven’t been out on the water over the past few days. The last time I was out the bite was still slow. I expect things to improve in the very near future. At this point I’m relying on shrimp baits for my bites,” said Yost.

Black bass enthusiasts are boating some massive five fish limits at this time while working swimbaits. Crankbaits and jigs are hooking fish too, but for the big boys swimbaits are the way to go.

On the evening of April 9, the Isleton Chapter of the California Striped Bass Association will be offering a must attend seminar for delta striper anglers. The seminar will be held at Light House Marina and will feature a panel including Clyde Wands, Mark Wilson, Barry Canevaro and Diana Canevaro. The panelists will share their secrets for successfully trolling for delta stripers.

These speakers have well over 100 years of combined delta fishing experience. Attending this event will provide you with information that would take several years of trial and error experimentation to obtain on your own.

For more information on the Striper Fishing Panel, call Barry Canevaro at (916) 777-6498.

For a complete Delta Report, click here.

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Anglers working the water over a series of days are seeing upwards of ninety pounds of fish to the boat. Brown and purple jigs with cinnamon/purple trailers are also taking good numbers, according to Basi.

Carolina-rigged lizards in watermelon have worked also. Anglers should work water from the bank out to 20 feet deep in the Moccasin and main lake areas.

King action has picked up a bit, with guides finding them, but working to get them to the boat. Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing reported that rolled shad is still the best bet.

“We are trolling about 50 feet deep with shad scented with Pautzke’s krill gel. Areas we have focused on have been Jenkins Hill, Schoolhouse Point and Mexican Gulch,” he advised. 

Bruce Hamby of Sierra Sportfishing is also seeing an uptick in salmon action. “Despite the full moon, we are seeing good numbers of kings in the 1 to 2 pound class,” he said. “I found our best action is staying in the river channel - between the dam and Jenkins Hill - 60-90 feet deep. Vance's Slim Fin or Ex-Cel's tipped with a small strip of Anchovy and scented with Pro-Cure jell has been effective.”

Kokanee are just starting to bend rods. Danny Layne of Fishin’ Dan’s Guide Service reports kokanee are hanging in the Jenkins Hill area from the surface to fifteen feet deep.

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“Anglers that made it on the water early this morning did well at Indian Creek Reservoir, catching an average of 2 to 4 fish per rod weighing up to 2 pounds,” reported Dave Kirby at Woodfords Station Store. “I was at the lake earlier this morning and saw a few quality rainbows taken on worms before the wind came up and forced everyone to retreat back inside.”

Another good bet for anglers this time of year is targeting trophy trout on the East Carson River with lures and flies. “I didn’t get a report this week from the Carson, but I assume fishing is good right now so long as the water levels hold,” indicated Kirby.

Red Lake ice fishing is another option anglers have for fishing in the Carson Pass area. “The ice is very thick right now and safe for fishing,” said Kirby. “A few limits of brook trout in the 10 to 14 inch range have been taken throughout the week. Anglers are using worms to entice the brookies.”

For Wiza's Sierra articles, CLICK HERE.

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“The fishing on the Lower Owens is very good,” reported Gary Gunsolley at Brock’s Sporting Goods. “I went out the other day and caught 50 fish and I’m not talking about hooked fish. I’m talking about fish actually landed. A couple anglers that went out with a guide this week ended up catching about 30 trout each.”

“Throughout the morning and midday hours nymphs in sizes 16 and 18 are the best option. In the late afternoon and evening hours there has been a pretty high level of caddis activity and the dry fly fishing has been productive,” added Gunsolley.

According to Gunsolley, a recent fire along the fly only section of the Lower Owens did little to hamper the current bite, but it did open up access to some new areas.

At Pleasant Valley Reservoir, anglers are still catching rainbows and browns at the upper end of the lake while fishing from float tubes. Stripping streamers such as woolly buggers or matukas on sinking line is the best way to hook up.

For Tom Loe's Sierra Report, click here.

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“The fishing has been very good for fly anglers, bank anglers and boaters,” reported Carla Molino at Pyramid Lake Store. “Fly anglers are using beetles and woolly worms. Shore anglers are tossing spoons, while boaters are trolling a variety of lures or jigging with marabou jigs. We’ve weighed fish up to 9 pounds here at the store. The hotspot for the largest fish seems to be down around Pelican Point.”

“The big trout have really gone on a strong bite,” exclaimed Rich Henley at Crosby Lodge. “I just weighed in a pair of fish that were 10.4 pounds and 9 pounds respectively. Over the past few days a number of fish over 10 pounds have been caught. Jeff Marries took a 10.2 pounder and Fred Turner caught an 11 pounder. I was down at Pelican Point this morning and I saw a pair of huge fish caught and released. One of them looked to be about 12 pounds and I’m certain the other one was over 13 pounds.”

“Pelican Point is the place to be if you want to tangle with one of the big boys. The restriction that doesn’t allow anglers to fish near the nets hasn’t hurt the trophy fishing at all,” added Henley.  

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“The halibut fishing has been really good down here,” disclosed John Akina at Oyster Point Bait, Tackle and Deli on March 30. “We weighed in 15 keeper halibut yesterday and so far today 11 have been brought in. The action has been consistent all week long with an average of 7 keepers a day being brought into the store. The largest fish I’ve seen this week were about 36 inches long.”

“Most of these fish have been caught by anglers either drifting or trolling frozen anchovies and herring, but some halibut have been caught by anglers fishing off the Oyster Point Pier too. Yesterday one of the pier guys caught a 7 pound halibut,” said Akina.

In addition to halibut, Akina reported that anglers fishing off the pier have also been catching perch, smelt and leopard sharks.

Keeper-size leopards can be caught off several different areas of the shoreline at this time. Top baits include midshipmen, squid, mackerel and sardines.