Fish Reports

The Fish Sniffer team had a great time at the International Sportsmen’s Expo this weekend. We enjoyed meeting up with our friends from Reel Addiction Sportfishing and talking with lots of anglers who were booking their trips early. Captains Ben and Shawn, along with Deckhand Dillon, really know how to get fish out of San Francisco Bay. They run two thirty-foot boats that can accommodate up to six people: Reel Addiction 1, a 2023 30XL Offshore Duckworth (one of the newest and biggest in the 6-pack fleet, equipped with a bathroom, refrigerator, table with bench seating, and two co-captain passenger seats), and Reel Addiction 2, a 2024 290 Sea Raider with twin Suzuki 250’s (also one of the newest and biggest, featuring a bathroom and big deck space for a very comfortable fishing experience). Whether you want rock cod, lingcod, halibut, or a crabbing adventure, these guys consistently find the right spots for a memorable day on the water. If you are ready to lock in an epic trip, check out Reel Addiction Sportfishing and get on the books soon. We are already looking forward to hitting the water with them!

The Fish Sniffer team had a great time at the International Sportsmen’s Expo this weekend. It was awesome to catch up with our friends, including founder and owner Lawrence Ngai from Durasnare Crabsnares. Durasnare is quickly becoming one of the most well-known crab snare companies out of California. They produce extremely high-quality crab snares built to perform and last. They also offer guided crabbing trips, including poke-poling, along the California coast and sometimes the Oregon coast as well. Whether you are a first-timer or an experienced angler looking to level up, their guided trips are excellent. Lawrence and the team show you how to hook into Dungeness crab and guide you through the whole process right there on the water: catching, cooking, and cleaning your catch for the best results. If you want reliable gear and a fun day on the water, grab some Durasnare crab snares and book a guided trip with them.

There seems to be a decent bite for small wild trout in the main body right now. Fish aren’t huge - most are between 12 and 14” but that could be a great sign for this spring. The more interesting thing is a number of small chinook are being hooked (and hopefully released!). They are running 10-12” and, since there were no salmon plants last year (last one was in ‘24) these fish have to be naturally spawned in the river arms. For those who don’t know, until 2008 DFW planted non-sterilized chinook in Folsom and some of those fish established spawning runs up the river arms. After that, there were no plants again for 8 years but we kept catching salmon, so DFW did a survey and confirmed that’s what was happening. Despite wildly fluctuating water conditions since then, it appears enough descendents of those pre-‘08 salmon are spawning to keep a somewhat “wild” strain of landlocked chinook going in Folsom. Pretty cool!

The lake level is all the way up but the water is still pretty stained and the trout seem to be hunkering down. Bait fishing seems to be quite a bit better than trolling- which I can speak firsthand to. Last Wednesday we hit two trout before 10am anchored up in the cove across from the marina and soaking PowerBait in about 2 feet of water (casting right up to the shoreline). Same thing on Saturday, same area and, interestingly, same time frame. Trolling both days was slow, although on Saturday we lost a good-sized lightning trout in front of Elmer’s Cove after 4 hours of not a single takedown. Surface temperatures are 49 first thing, warming to about 52 later in the day. Hopefully as the lake continues to clear the trolling bite will pick back up

🎣 Mid-week Fish Plants for 1/11/2026 - 1/17/2026 Weather is turning up nicely, trout action is great in SoCal and NorCal “Hey anglers, here’s your midweek update. 6 additional spots are planting fish, bringing totals to 30,400 lbs. of trout across 41 locations. Weather is still prime time for hooking hungry trout, and these extra plants mean even more action across California. Get out on the water and make the most of it!”

It has been a rough couple of months. Trout season started in California in late November, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally landed a couple. My first successful trip was on December 20 at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, California. The weather was overcast with a light 4 mph wind. The lake was fairly busy, but there was little action anywhere. I landed one trout on salmon peach PowerBait using an 8-inch leader, cast about 10 feet out. After that bite, things slowed down for nearly two hours. I switched to mini jigs, trying different colors, and eventually landed another on a white mini jig with a slow retrieve and occasional rod bounces. It felt great to finally catch some rainbows! My next trip was today, the day I’m writing this report. I returned to Mile Square Park around 10 a.m. in heavy rain. I fished for about an hour using only mini jigs. Forty minutes in, I landed one on a Matador Brand jig in green, white, and orange. Once again, the trout responded best to a slow retrieve with very slight rod bounces to give it action. I can’t wait to see what else this trout season brings. Next week, I’m heading to a new location: Hesperia Lake. I’m hoping to land a few more in February!

The latest trout stocking at Irvine Regional Park Lake has triggered a reliable bite this week, with freshly planted rainbows showing good activity for anglers hitting the water. Tom Guzman fished with Devon Hammonds and the pair connected on several nice trout. The most effective setup was brown mini jigs tipped with Magic Fish Waters scent, producing steady hookups on quality fish. These post-stocking windows typically deliver consistent action as the trout acclimate and feed actively. The bite is holding strong right now, making Irvine Lake a solid choice for trout anglers looking for productive outings.