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We were at Shasta Lake for the first Annual Lakehead Trout Derby. The weather had been cool all week and the first leaves were beginning to change to fall colors. Vast schools of shad were gathering near the surface and the Western Greeves were gorging themselves; so were the trout. Derby organizers, Harold Jones (Sugarloaf Cottages Resort), Gary Miralles (Shasta Tackle) and Dave Dulon (the Basshole), wanted a low-key, family oriented event. "This is just a bunch of fishermen who came up here to relax and have a little fun," Harold told me. The derby rules required all entrants to be registered at one of Lakehead's motels, campgrounds, resorts, or to rent a houseboat. |
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Forty-two anglers had ponied-up the $75.00 entry fee. As the sun rose over Horse Mountain Saturday morning, you could hear the fishing boats running at full throttle to the "hot spots".
Just about the time I went looking for the top-lining gear, Gary and Harold pulled up in the Shasta Tackle boat. "We saw a bunch of fish feeding on the surface just north of Gooseneck," Gary said. "It looks like the fish may have moved up to the surface."
Gary and Harold were out to see how well the derby anglers were doing and asked me if I wanted to go along for the ride. We would stop and talk to the anglers while Gary passed out tackle and fishing tips. At mid-day, only two boats could show us a fish. By this time we had seen the birds working numerous schools of bait. "Hey Gary, think we need to show these guys how to fish?" Harold joked. "Why not!" was Gary's reply. We were marking several quality fish working the school between twenty to forty feet. Gary had lines and downriggers out and within a couple of minutes the first rod went off. Gary handed me the rod and we soon had the trout to the boat. We fished a little over an hour and boated two trout, a salmon, a smallmouth and a spotted bass. "I hear the fish aren't biting," Gary said as we pulled in the gear and headed back north toward Lakehead. The derby winner would be the angler with the largest 4 fish weight total. Two fish weighed in on Saturday, and two fish weighed in on Sunday. Saturday's leader was Butch Jacobson (picture at top) with 2 fish weighing 5.2 lbs.
Being a Fish Sniffer on assignment seems to attract adventure like honey attracts flies. Over the years I've had a face-off with a bear over a stringer, been on a party boat that ran out of fuel over 10 miles off-shore, gotten snowed in camp in July, not to mention assorted vehicle/boat breakdowns in strange places, lightning dodging etc... This trip was just too well organized for something not to happen! I turned the ignition and nothing happened...@#&*^#! I had left the key on overnight and the engine batteries were dead. Our location, deep inside one of Shasta's many coves rendered the cell phone useless. As soon as I realized the futility of the situation, I grabbed the phone and took off up the mountain. After walking and crawling deer trails for what seemed an eternity, the phone finally worked! Lakeshore Marina had the service boat out before I got back down the hill. The view was worth the walk.
Fall season is possibly the best time to fish Shasta Lake for many reasons. Fall is the off-season and that means lower off-season rates on houseboats and resorts, and less people on the water. Cooler temperatures make it more enjoyable and the fishing this time of year is as good as you'll get anywhere in California.
If you would like to fish the derby next year go to the website at: www.shastalaketroutderby.com. For more information contact:
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We soaked a couple of nightcrawlers about 80' down off the back of the houseboat graciously donated by Lakeshore Marina to the Press for this event (us), drifting along the west side of Elmore Bay, while we made and enjoyed a huge breakfast. We could see fish feeding near the surface and occasionally a large trout would break the water. I was beginning to believe the word on the street, "the fish were down at a hundred feet," wasn't too accurate.
We had seen a large concentration of shad across the river while we were cruising around earlier in the morning. I suggested we take a quick ride and check the situation out with Gary's fish finder, as the houseboat wasn't equipped with one. Sure enough, big trout were working the bottom of the school.
As the sun set behind the mountains, we pulled the houseboat into a cove, went swimming and barbequed the salmon, no TV, no cell phones, no computers. I tied flies until the moon came up, and then rolled out the sleeping bag under the stars on the sun deck and drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, the derby anglers figured out where the fish were and the numbers dramatically improved. Sue Brown was even able to place 10th without any Saturday fish.
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