The two anglers fishing with Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan’s Guide Service landed 1 king salmon and 3 kokanee while trolling on the wind-tossed waters of Lake Berryessa on Thursday, June 5. The fish hit Uncle Larry’s copper pops and mad Irishman spinners, scented with Pautzke Liquid Krill, behind nickel/pink Sling Blades and Sep's watermelon dodgers.

“We didn’t hook any of the larger fish – the salmon ranged from 14 to 15 inches long,” said Villanueva. “We trolled in the Big Island area at 55 feet deep in 78 feet of water.”

Villanueva’s previous trip, on a much calmer day, yielded 9 fish, including 3 kings to 17 inches, 5 kokanee and 1 rainbow.

James Franco of J&D Auto Repair Gone Fishing in Seaside and a fishing buddy ended up with 4 kokanee, topped by an 18 incher, 2 kings and 2 trout during a trolling adventure on June 5.

“They trolled with pink hoochies at 50 to 55 feet deep off Big Island and the Ranch House before calling it a day because of the strong winds,” said Jim Franco, James’ father.

“We got out last Monday and Thursday and had pretty good success on a variety of quality fish. This weekend we had to cancel our trips as a result of strong wind and swells,” reported Captain Randy Thornton of Telstar Charters on June 8.

“On Monday we took out 7 anglers on our first rockfish trip of the season. They each got about 8 rockfish each and we also boated 5 nice lingcod to 14 pounds. On Thursday’s trip I had 10 anglers and they ended up with 9 rockfish each and 5 lingcod to 10 pounds. We fished to the north of Fort Bragg on both of these trips using light tackle in water about 80 feet deep,” added Thornton.

Anglers can expect rockfish and lingcod fishing to improve as the season progresses. The water temperature is currently quite cold. As the temperature rises the fish will become more active and begin feeding more aggressively.

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The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife urges anglers to remember that the main stem of the Umpqua is now closed to wild steelhead harvest. It remains open year-round for adipose fin-clipped steelhead. Spring chinook fishing has been fair to good. Shad should start appearing in larger numbers soon and some anglers have been catching shad in the lower sections. Smallmouth bass angling will improve as the water temperatures warm.

The North Umpqua has remained fishable. Fishing is switching from winter steelhead to spring chinook and summer steelhead. The final count for winter steelhead at Winchester Dam was 9,511 fish. So far over 600 spring chinook and 170 summer steelhead have passed Winchester Dam.

Springer fishing in the North Umpqua has picked up and some springers over 30 pounds were caught in the Narrows and Swiftwater areas over Memorial Day weekend. Remember that only adipose fin-clipped steelhead can be harvested on the North Umpqua. The North is open to catch and release trout fishing from the mouth upstream to Soda Springs Dam.

The south Umpqua opened up for both trout and smallmouth bass fishing on May 24. Fishing pressure has been light, so angler success is unknown at this point.

Scott Wolfe of the Big K Guest Ranch and Wolfe Brothers Guide Service is currently available for anyone interested in chasing kings on the Lower Umpqua. When rising temperatures activate the river’s smallmouth bass and usher in good numbers of shad, Wolfe will be targeting them with conventional tackle and fly gear.

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“Some nice rainbows and browns have been caught by trollers working the McCloud Arm from Holiday Harbor to Hirtz Bay,” reported Gary Miralles of the Shasta Tackle Company. “You want to work from the surface down to 75 feet. The best technique is to troll 2 MPH with Kazi Minnows 2 feet behind 8 inch Sling Blades. For the best results bend the back of the dodger down a quarter inch, so it swings wide at slower speeds. This will cause the Kazi Minnow to rip and dart. Cripplures in the Super Glow patterns Fire Tiger, Rainbow, Red Head, Brass Red or Crushed Fire are working also.”

“The salmon bite in Dry Creek has picked up this week. On my last guide trip we landed 10 kings up to 20 inches from 50 to 150 feet deep. The hot set up was the Matrix Paddle Tail behind an 8 inch Sling Blade. We also caught fish on Glow Shad Cripplure with Super Glow Sling Blades as well as the Pee Wee Tanzanite Glow behind a Super Glow Sling Blade,” added Miralles.

Tony Messer at Phil’s Propellers described the bass fishing at Lake Shasta as “great.” “For numbers of bass it is tough to beat either a Robo Worm in the Warmouth color or a Mothers Finest worm in color No. 38, rigged on a darter head,” said Messer.

“If you want a shot at larger fish the best option is working either a Lunker Punker or a Zara Spook early and late in the day. Arnold Fancelli caught a pair of fish weighing 5 and 6 pounds this week on a Lunker Punker. The bass are spread out around the lake. Rather than fishing any particular arm of the lake, you should focus on fishing long flat points,” tipped Messer.

Lake Shasta is currently 68 feet from maximum pool and dropping.

During Steve Huber’s most recent trip to Whiskeytown Reservoir, the 4 anglers aboard his Willie jet boat enjoyed excellent success hooking over 30 fish and taking home 17 kokanee, 2 king salmon and 1 brook trout.

The hot set up for Huber was a Sep’s 4/0 gold starlite dodger trialed by an orange Sep’s Kokanee Kandy lure. The fish were holding in the 30 to 40 foot range and 1.1 mph was the best speed. The largest kokanee went 16 inches and a good number of the other fish fell between 13 and 15 inches.

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The 25 anglers aboard the Chubasco on Sunday, June 8 landed three-quarter limits of rockfish and 2 keeper lingcod, according to Pete Bruno at Randy’s Fishing Trips. They caught a lot of yellowtail, copper, roe, vermillion rockfish while using bars, shrimp flies and swim baits off Twin Rocks.

The 28 anglers aboard the Sur Randy on Saturday returned with limits of red, yellowtail and blue rockfish, while the 15 anglers on a charter on the Chubasco also nailed limits.

“The fishing has been really good, though it’s been windy lately,” reported Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Fishing, Inc. “The 25 anglers on the Star of Monterey on Sunday caught limits of rockfish and 6 lingcod. The Caroline, Star of Monterey and Checkmate all ended up with limits while fishing off Carmel and Point Pinos on Saturday.”

Santa Cruz anglers are also getting into the rockfish action. The 11 fishermen aboard the Velocity on June 6 caught 90 black and red rockfish while fishing shrimp flies and bars in the local reefs. The 24 anglers aboard the Velocity on June 8 also took limits of quality red, yellowtail and blue rockfish while fishing on the south side of the bay, according to Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro’s Fishing Trips.

If you want to catch halibut, Jim Franco at Gone Fishin Marine in Seaside recommended fishing live squid or swim baits from boats off the Monterey Bay State Beaches in 90 to 100 feet of water. The fish are averaging 10 to 15 pounds.

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“Some caddis hatches are also taking place in the evenings,” reported Steve Vaughn at Vaughn’s Sporting Goods. “Nymph fishermen continue to do well on wiggle-tail zug bugs, wooly buggers and copper johns.”

Trout fishing has improved at Baum Lake. “Bait fishermen like to use crawlers and Power Bait the best, while lure fishermen prefer Kastmasters and Panther Martins,” said Vaughn. “Fly fishermen are nymphing with scuds, wooly buggers, small copper johns in red, pheasant tails. Dry fly action is best in the evenings with PMD's, callibaetis cripples, Adams and caddis.”

The Cassel Area of Hat Creek is producing decent hatches with the warmer weather. “Caddis and callibaetis flies are showing in the afternoons and evenings,” Vaughn advised. “Try a small parachute adams, callibaetis cripple or small Hemingway caddis. Nymph fishermen are doing fine with wooly buggers, copper johns and gold-ribbed hare's ear nymphs.”

Wild rainbow trout in the 10 to 18 inch range continue to reward anglers fishing the Pit River. “Fish are still being taken on dark nymphs, with or without rubber legs, but be sure there is enough weight to fish on the bottom,” he stated. “There is a decent caddis hatch in the late afternoon and evenings if you are in the right place at the right time.”

Lake Britton is producing an abundant mixture of crappie, bluegill and smallmouth bass. Crappie and bluegill seekers should look for tree-covered areas, while shore anglers should employ crappie jigs, crappie nibbles or meal worms. Smallmouth bass are still grabbing plastic worms, crawdad crankbaits and top water lures.

The Hat Creek wild trout area? “The Riffle is fishing well, with copper john's in red or green the favored patterns. There is a decent caddis hatch in the evenings, with good-sized rainbow trout taking very small Hemingway caddis patterns,” said Vaughn.

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If gas prices are keeping you from towing your own boat up to the lake, you might consider booking a trip with a guide. Not only will you catch trout, but when everything is factored in you’ll probably save money in the long run.

“The fishing up here has remained very good for those that know how and where to fish,” related Tim Noxon of Fish Traveler Guide Service. “Our trolling methods involve keeping our baits moving over underwater structure. I target underwater ridges and “humps” where baitfish will hang out. Usually, you will find birds on the water above these underwater structures that can help you find and mark them. Where you see the birds hanging out, you will usually mark bait, underwater anomalies and hopefully feeding fish.”

The hot trolling baits for Noxon and clients have been Sep’s orange, amber, and brown grubs in that order of preference. They troll their baits over structure in water depths between 10 to 25 feet, at 6 to 8 feet deep.

“The weather has been overcast and the water slightly choppy. The overcast and chop, along with a surface temperature of about 55 degrees, make for ideal conditions. Normally the bite will slow down when the sun hits the water. As long as sun is obscured by the overcast conditions, the bite will usually remain good, sometimes all day long,” said Noxon.

“Trolling has been far better than bobber fishing as of this report. The best bobber area I’ve heard of has been in Miners Bay. I’m seeing fish there from the surface all the way down to 30 feet. However, the fish I’ve caught there have been taken on baits trolled between 6 and 8 feet deep,” added Noxon.

Tom Muller of Eagle Lake Charters reported very good action despite recent winds. “We had great fishing today,” said Muller on June 5. “We scored while trolling worms over shelves in 15 to 20 feet of water near Pelican Point. I’m seeing bobber anglers catching fish in the same area and at the Youth Camp.”

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"We're averaging about 20 shad per trip," said Bob Sparre of Rocky River Guide Service. "We're fishing 1/16 ounce white jigheads with champagne tails from Watt Avenue to Sunrise for shad to 2-1/2 pounds. The key to catching fish is to find a school and stay right on it."

"Shad fishing is good and getting better," disclosed Rod Abbott of Fin Addict Guide Service. "On our last 3 trips we have hooked over 30 fish and on Sunday morning over 40 fish while using both fly and spinning gears.  These trips are 3-4 hours."

Randy Buffington of American River Guide Service is making shad/striped bass combos and finding success on both species.

"My buddy, Scott Miguel, and I caught 4 stripers, including two keepers to 8 pounds, and 8 shad," said Buffington. "We fished in the hole below Gristmill. We used 1/32 ounce jigs with white, pearl and glo pink tails for the shad and Sacramento pike minnows for the stripers."

Buffington noted that shore anglers and waders are experiencing top-notch shad fishing while using flies and shad jigs in the Howe Avenue area of the river.

Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan's Guide Service made a solo trip to the American at Howe Avenue on Friday morning, June 6, that produced 4 shad. He fished pink darks and flies for shad averaging 1-1/2 to 2 pounds. "A friend fishing in a boat near me caught a 4 pound striper while using cut anchovies," Villanueva noted.

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“I fished Montezuma Slough yesterday and we had quite a bit of action,” disclosed Captain Barry Canevaro of Fish Hookers Sportfishing on June 9. “We had quite a few hits on sturgeon baits and ended up catching and releasing a 7 plus footer that hit on salmon roe. We also had some striper runs on filleted shad, but none of those fish were hooked.”

“The area of Sacramento River along Decker Island is still worth fishing for stripers when the wind isn’t blowing. Bait fishing with shad is the best method for hooking these fish,” added Canevaro.

Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan’s Guide Service fished the Sacramento River below Rio Vista on June 8. “It was windy and rough, but my clients William and Daniel Waterworth ended up landing 3 keeper stripers and 1 nice catfish,” said Villanueva.

Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Charters reported slow fishing on June 9. “I don’t have too much to report. The big tides we had last week were too large for good sturgeon fishing,” said Yost. “I marked a lot of fish down at the Big Cut this morning. From what I’ve heard all the standard sturgeon baits have been working.”

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Richard Kouski demonstrated his angling prowess by bagging a limit of kokanee ranging from 2 to 2.9 pounds on Saturday, June 7. “The limit weighed over 10 pounds,” said Fabrro. Kouski bagged the fish while trolling hoochies, tipped with white corn, at 55 feet deep near the dam and spillway.

His fishing partner, Joe Hallet also brought in five kokes ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 lbs. the same day.

Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan’s Guide Service also reported solid fishing at New Melones on his latest trip there, a solo venture. Villanueva caught five kokanee in the 15 to 17 inch range while trolling Uncle Larry’s pink spinners behind Sep’s pink and white UV dodgers from 50 to 70 feet deep off Rose Island, the dam and the spillway.

Dale Hughes had a great day of variety fishing at New Melones when he nailed a 1 lb. 13 kokanee, two 2 lb. rainbow trout and a 15 inch black bass. He trolled hoochies, tipped with white corn scented with Pro-Cure Garlic Scent, for his fish.

The big browns keep coming in. Lee Fitzgerald caught a 6 lb. 1 oz brown while trolling with a pink Flat Bug at 50 feet deep, noted Fabbro.

“Bass fishing? “The spinnerbait bite is pretty good at night,” offered Fabbro. “During the day, drop shot shotting with plastic worms is the most effective method.”

The lake level is 100 feet from full and the surface water temperature has risen into the 73 to 75 degree range.

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“Lake Alpine is still producing some big rainbows,” according to Bill Reynolds at Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods. “The dock is now in and the fishing is excellent. Trollers should try Apex, Needlefish, and Rapala's behind a small dodger.”

 Bank fishermen should use nightcrawlers, Gulp Power Bait, Gulp Nightcrawlers, floating Power Eggs,and salmon eggs, while lure casters should employ Kastmasters, Panther Martin spinners, and Rooster Tails. Fly fishermen should try woolly buggers, flying ants, and sparrow nymphs for rainbows up to 10 pounds.

The road to Spicer is also open. “The lake level is just on the ramp,” he tipped. “Bank fishermen have had success using Gulp Eggs, Gulp Power Bait, Gulp Nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, and floating Power Eggs. Fly fishermen, trollers and lure tossers are using the same methods they are using at Alpine.”

For holdover rainbows and abundant bullhead catfish, try bait fishing with nightcrawlers and Power Bait at Union Reservoir.

“Mosquito Lakes has thawed,” stated Reynolds. “However, we haven’t received any reports of fish being caught yet.”

The North Fork of the Stanislaus is a good prospect for rainbows and browns, though the water is still relatively high. “Baitcasters will probably have the best luck split-shotting salmon eggs, floating Power Eggs, crickets, or inflated worms with a 15 to 20 inch leader,” said Reynolds. “Fly casters can try bead head nymphs, ants, and bead head woolly buggers with a sink tip line"

 The DFG has stocked Beaver Creek through Big Trees, so the same methods used on the Stanislaus will apply there. Angels and Murphys creeks are also being planted with trout by the DFG.  

“White Pines was planted this last week and is also on the plant list for this week,” said Reynolds. “Bait casters should try their bait of choice on a 30" to 36" leader. Lure casters should try Kastmasters, Panther Martin spinners, and Rooster Tails.”

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“In general all the waters in our area are fishing well,” reported Jeremy Ross at Ernie’s Tackle. “The DFG has been doing a lot of aggressive stocking and crowds have been pretty light. The only downside has been that the weather has been very unstable, but it hasn’t hurt the fishing for anglers that want to get out and catch some trout.

According to Ross, Gull Lake is the top option on the June Lake Loop. At this point he confides that trollers and bait anglers working with worms are having the best success, but expects fly action to take off with warming weather and water temperatures.

June Lake is providing similar action for trollers and bait anglers. Trollers are achieving results while pulling small Rapalas and wobbling spoons, while bait anglers are relying on standard offerings such as Power Bait and inflated worms.

Rush Creek is now running pretty low and clear, but anglers fishing with baits, lures and nymphs are hooking fish with regularity.

“The East Walker is still fishing really well,” reported Jim Reid at Ken’s Sporting Goods. “Anglers are using mostly caddis nymphs, but there’s been some hit and miss action on small midges, streamers and even dries. Late in the evenings there’s been some good top-water action on E/C Caddis, elk hair caddis, and parachute adams.”

“Bridgeport Lake is still on fire. The bait fishing as well as the trolling are killer. Crawlers and Power Bait is the ticket for the still fishermen and fire tiger and brown trout Rapalas as well as Trophy Sticks are working for the trollers. If you’re bait fishing in the Rainbow Point area and the action is slow, pull up the anchor and move 40 or 50 yards. Sometimes this can make all the difference in the world. These fish are cruising in certain areas, and once you find that area you’ll be all over them,” exclaimed Reid.

“The Twins are kicking out some nice fish with bait as well as trolling. The Virginias are also doing really well. We had a nice 5 plus pound rainbow yesterday from the lakes yesterday. Bait fishing seems to be the best bet, though you should be able to pick up some fish on both lures and streamers,” concluded Reid.

“The weather in our area has been good and the Lower Owens in now dropping down below 400 cfs. At this level the fly fishing should bounce back,” related Dan Farris at Brock’s Sporting Goods in Bishop.

“The upper Owens and Hot Creek are providing really good action for fly anglers working with both nymphs and dries. Most of the lakes up on the Bishop Creek drainage are kicking out fish, but the lake levels are low. Few anglers are using boats at these lake, preferring float tubes and kayaks instead,” added Farris.

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“The water temperature is now 55 degrees and rising. The warming water should do nothing but improve the already good trout fishing,” disclosed George Molino at Pyramid Lake Store. “This week when I went out in my boat, we got a lot of fish in the 15 to 25 inch range. Action is definitely getting better for boaters, but there is still a big concentration of trout holding tight to the bank.”

“The largest fish we’ve seen in recent days went 9.6 pounds. It was caught by an angler named Dmitry Eriomin on June 1. He was casting a spoon from the bank when the big trout hit,” added Molino.

“We’ve had some wind out here, but when it slows down the fishing has been pretty good for bank anglers and is improving for boaters,” reported Rich Henley at Crosby Lodge. “I expect to see good to great fishing right up to the June 30 closer. Right now the fly guys are still have the best success, but once more boats start hitting the water I think they will find very good results, too. The wind is calming down and the weather is stabilizing so there will probably be quite a few boats on the water this weekend.”  

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“I’m out on the bay right now and the weather is awesome. It is really rough out on the ocean, but here in the bay we couldn’t ask for better conditions,” exclaimed Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing. “We haven’t headed outside for rockfish and lingcod yet because the halibut and striper action has been so good inside the bay.”

Smith related that on Sunday June 8 the California Dawn took out 23 anglers and they boated 30 halibut and 7 stripers. On Saturday 14 anglers boated 23 halibut and 10 stripers, including a 30 pound halibut that was caught by Keith Brook of Galt. On Friday, 24 anglers boated 17 halibut, 1 striper and a 70 pound soupfin shark. Thursday’s trip yielded 21 halibut and 60 stripers for 26 anglers, while Wednesday’s trip resulted in 28 halibut to 26 pounds for 17 anglers.

Captain Joe Gallia of the New Easy Rider has also been spending quite a bit of time targeting bass and halibut within the bay with great success. In addition to that, he headed out along the Marin County coast in search of rockfish and lingcod on the June 1 rockfish opener.

“My 28 anglers used live bait and light tackle on the rockfish opener to bag 260 rockfish and 28 lingcod to 22 pounds,” disclosed Gallia. “On June 4, the 8 anglers caught 13 halibut to 20 pounds. On June 7, 21 anglers landed 19 halibut to 20 pounds.”

Sunday’s trip produced 17 halibut and 12 bass for 16 anglers. Cedric Tabamera of Silverdale, Washington caught a 31 lb. halibut while fishing under the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge at 17 feet deep.

Anglers aboard the Happy Hooker have been catching lots of halibut and striped bass while drifting live bait in San Francisco Bay. The Happy Hooker returned from a trip on Friday, June 6 with 24 limits of stripers to 10 pounds and 5 halibut to 15 pounds, according to Captain Jim Smith.

The 30 anglers fishing on the Happy Hooker on June 7 bagged 28 halibut to 25 pounds and 5 stripers to 18 pounds. On the following day, the 30 passengers aboard the boat caught 31 halibut to 25 pounds and 16 bass to 12 pounds.

In light of the recent rough weather being experienced beyond the Golden Gate the entire fleet at the Emeryville Sportfishing Center have been focusing on potluck fishing inside the bay, but as soon as things calm down they will be running rockfish trips.

On Sunday June 8, the sportfishing center sent out 4 boats. The New Huck Finn, C-Gull 2, Captain Hook and Wet Spot departed with a total of 58 anglers. They returned with 95 halibut to 16 pounds and 9 stripers to 10 pounds.