Use maple syrup at Frenchman
LAKE ALMANOR: No report.
LAKE ALPINE: No report.
BLUE LAKES (UPPER AND LOWER): No report.
BOCA RESERVOIR: No report.
CAPLES LAKE: An unconfirmed report of good ice fishing over the weekend. No details.
DAVIS LAKE: No report.
EAGLE LAKE: No report.
FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR: Shirley Wiggin of Wiggin's Trading Post of Chilcoot checked in and said no ice has formed yet on the lake. A Loyalton, Calif. youngster (Chaim Sassman, age 8) caught 3 nice rainbows on Dec. 9 from shore at the dam. He was using nightcrawlers dipped in maple syrup. Maple syrup! Another Loyalton youngster caught his limit of rainbows using yellow glitter Power Bait, marshmallows and worms. He was fishing off shore at Lunker Point. Boaters are doing better by anchoring and bait fishing rather than trolling.
INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR: Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station said, "There is still open water. Fishing success has been pretty steady. Worms are working the best. Not too many fishermen but they are catching limits in about 3-4 hours. Most of the fish are .75-1.5 pounds with an occasional one in the 3-4 pound class. The largest trout of the week was a 3-pound, 14-ounce Eagle Lake strain rainbow.
Summit Lake above Indian Creek Reservoir: No report.
KENNEY RESERVOIR: No report.
LAHONTAN RESERVOIR: No report.
PYRAMID LAKE: Lawrence Quadrio of the Gilly's Sporting Goods Store in Sparks reported, "The boaters are definitely doing better than shore fishermen. Primarily because they can cover more areas and troll at different depths. The fish are not holding shallow in the bays at the present time. For the boaters, the top lures are, as usual, Flatfish, Kiwkfish and Apex. Some of the best action, lately, has been on Rapala lures. We've had reports of cutthroat in the 8-10 pound class. The fly fishermen are still doing best with dark colored flies at The Nets. Spincasters are using various colored TOR-P-DO lures."
RED LAKE: First ice-fishing reports of the season. Doug Busey of Douglas County reported 8-10 inches of ice on the lake. Busey caught and released a number of Eastern brook trout. He was using Power Bait. Dave Kirby of the Woodfords Station said the fishing was good over the weekend, with limits of a mix of rainbows and brookies. The best success was with rainbow colored Power Bait. He cautioned that the ice is still a little thin around the edge of the lake.
SACRAMENTO RIVER: According to Kirk Portocarrero of Redding. Calif., "Fishing the Anderson - Balls Ferry area for king salmon is good. Seeing some limits of bright fish. Looks like the winter run is finally here. River is at 5,000 C.F.S. Salmon are ranging in size from 15 to 20 pounds. An occasional one over 30 pounds. Boaters are using Flatfish lures wrapped with sardines and bouncing roe. Expecting rain this week. Look for fresh, bright fish to follow. Water is clear."
SILVER LAKE: No report.
SHASTA LAKE: No report.
STAMPEDE RESERVOIR: No report.
LAKE TAHOE - North Shore: Mickey Daniels of Mickey's Big Mack Charters reported, "My anglers are catching limits of Mackinaw trout with an occasional rainbow. Some of the Macks are running up to 10 pounds. We are tagging and releasing the smaller ones. I've been trolling 250-550 feet deep in the area in front of Carnelian Bay and King's Beach. We are using Herring Dodger flasher blades with either live minnows or pearl Apex lures."
LAKE TAHOE - SOUTH SHORE: Mike Nielsen of the Sportsmen's Sporting Goods Store at South Lake Tahoe said, "Wednesday was very good. The fish were hitting all different ways, top lining, downrigging, trolling and jigging. The nicest fish was a 4-pound German brown. We also nailed a bunch of 3-5 pound Macks and rainbows. I had something big on for more than 20 minutes and then lost it. We were downrigging at a depth of 75-100 feet on the south end of the lake. Thursday, it just shut down. We only caught two average-sized fish."
WALKER LAKE: Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services said, "It's excellent just excellent, right out in the middle of the lake. You can catch as many as you want to catch. We've been trolling right on the surface. Nothing huge but some of the cutthroat are running up to 6 pounds. The best action has been with Chartreuse/black dot, Chartreuse/red dot or hammered brass/with an orange stripe TOR-P-DO lures.
Shore fishing is still slow. The shore fishermen are using Power Bait and they are fishing anywhere from Sand Point all the way to The Cliffs."
WALKER RIVERS (EAST-WEST-LITTLE):
East Walker River (Nev.): Very low and crystal clear.
Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services reported, "The "Elbow" area continues to produce average size rainbows and an occasional German brown on Panther-Martin or Roostertail lures or with Power Eggs or nightcrawlers."
West Walker River (Nev.): No report.
WEBER RESERVOIR: Bob Tompkins of the Walker Lake Guide Services reported, "Access to the reservoir is open. Check on current fishing conditions and restrictions at the Schurz Smoke Shop on U.S. 95."
WILDHORSE RESERVOIR: Steve of the Wildhorse Resort said, "It's wintertime now. We got 4 inches of snow on Sunday and it was down to 4 degrees that night. The reservoir now has at least 8 inches of ice. We've got a good number of ice fishermen and they are catching average-sized rainbows, German browns and a few perch. Some of the fishermen are using worms with a piece of corn and others are fishing with party-sized marshmallows."
