Fish Reports

Los Vaqueros Reservoir
Big Trout Plants Bolster Winter Catch Rates

LIVERMORE – Since late October, Los Vaqueros Reservoir has been planting 14,000 lbs. of trout., boosting the catch rates for shore anglers and rental boaters. The latest if 2000 pounds of rainbow trout went into the reservoir on December 22. That was preceded by a plant of 1,000 pounds of trout on December 16. Some more good news: Repairs to the fishing pier at the Los Vaqueros Marina Complex are complete. The fishing pier reopened to the public on Dec. 4. Meanwhile, trail closures started on January 1. “Every year beginning in winter, golden eagle nesting activity is monitored and trails and areas around the nests are closed to the public. We appreciate your cooperation during the temporary trail closures,” the Los Vaqueros Marina reported. View a full list and map of trail closures: https://www.ccwater.com/150/Hiking-and-Trails As the person who has the distinction of catching the first-ever limit of rainbow trout in the reservoir in September of 2001 right after the lake opened to the public, I highly recommend fishing for trout with garlic scented chartreuse or rainbow PowerBait, nightcrawlers, Kastmasters, Little Cleos and other lures from shore. Boaters trolling from rental boats should use nightcrawlers behind flashers or dodgers, small Rapalas, Trout Trix Worms and an array of spinners and spoons. Light tackle is important for catching trout. 4-6-pound test is plenty. On days the winds allow boats, the marina staff are seeing a number of limits as well as anglers with just a couple. Remember: Limit is 5 per angler for the day. Meanwhile, anglers are picking up decent numbers of striped bass while fishing from shore and rental boats. Most of the fish are the 18 to 24-inch range, along with a few larger stripers mixed in. Bait fishing with anchovies is yielding the best success. South Cove, the pier near the marina, Cowboy Cove and Howden Cove are among the better spots to target striped bass.
Channel catfish can be caught around the lake. Most of the fish are in the 2 to 5 lb. class, with some larger fish mixed in. The South Cove, Cowboy Cove and Oak Point are among the better spots to target the catfish with anchovies, chicken liver and nightcrawlers. The fish are mixture of wild fish and hold overs from summer channel catfish plants. If you are interested in renting a boat, the marina recommends calling ahead to check current wind conditions as they are unpredictable and can impact the ability to safely rent boats to visitors. Wind speeds change suddenly and boat rentals are typically suspended when they exceed 15 MPH and when heavy gusts are forecasted. Remember – rental boats are first come, first served. Weekends and some weekdays sell out quickly. The reservoir is holding 145,000-acre feet of water. For more information, call (925) 371-2628.

• Dan Bacher

Pyramid Lake

Winter conditions prevail

Here is the latest report from Cory Kellar of Blackbeard Worm company: Winter trout fishing tactics are in full effect. Shore fishing has been seeing a most of the larger cutthroat at this time. The conventional fishermen are casting spoons, spinners, and soft plastics. A new tactic that is working very well is rigging your rod Carolina style with a 1-2oz egg weight with a 4-6 foot leader of flourocarbon line to a Wordens Flatfish or Mag Lip , as well as a 3”-4” plug like a Lyman, Tomic or Silver Horde. Fly fisherman have also been scoring on the ladders. Using an indicator with a 11’6” switch rod casting balance leaches and bead head nymphs. Boaters are fishing the top 40’ of the water column. The side planers have been getting the best results, using long lines 150-200 feet behind the boat with lines as far off the boat as 75’ on the side planer. The Cutthroat trout are starting to work the shallows for baitfish but structure points, rock piles and steep drop offs are a key area to find fish. We even came across Lahontans chasing bait creating a boil in Red Bay. As for the baits to use, it seems the bite every day is different. Having a wide variety of lures is extremely helpful. Apexes, Flatfish, Mag LipS , scatter Raps, spoons, Lyman’s, Tomics, and swimbaits have all had their moments depending on the day. Color seems to change day by day as well. On the bluebird days silver/blues and tui chub patterns as well as watermelon colors have dominated. Lately we’ve had a lot of cloud cover so the frog patterns and darket tui chub patterns as well as gold and copper have been tops. Speed has varied to as slow as 1.8-2.2 mph when the fish are super tentative on the bite. The most productive speeds has been 2.6-3.2 mph depending on the bait you are running. The whole West side of the lake has been producing fish with some of the best spots being Wizard Cove in the north and Blockhouse in the south. Trollers have also been working the East side from Red bay up north to the south end of Hell’s Kitchen. Seems like an early spring may be on the fore front. The male trout are already starting to show their spawning colors. The next few months will be your best chance to get a beautifully colored Lahontan Cutthroat for that perfect picture.

Rio Vista/Delta Bait Fishing, Trolling Slow for Stripers

RIO VISTA – The striper bite for trollers in the Delta continues to be very slow, according to legendary striper fisherman Mark Wilson. Mark tells me that this past week he, and another legendary fisherman Clyde Wands, decided to give bait fishing a try since trolling for stripers hasn’t been productive. Mark continued to tell me that they anchored in 21 feet off of Chain Island and then afterwards near channel marker 14 using sardines for bait. The water temperature was 48 degrees, but as Mark said it, it was colder than that all day sitting in a boat. He said that they only caught 3 keepers to 8 pounds and a few shakers all day. Mark did add that a few of his friends have been doing well at the Port of Sacramento and Sacramento Deep Water Shipping Channel drifting minnows and trolling Yozuri deep diving and Berkley Dredger deep diving crankbaits. If chasing sturgeon on the Delta is what you’d like to pursue, then call Captain Mike Funtanilla of Bend Ur Rod Sportfishing. Capt. Mike told me that he’s been targeting sturgeon with his clients at Chain Island and in Honker Bay, both in approximately 18 to 25 feet of water. Capt. Mike shared that on a recent trip this week his customers boated 8 sturgeon and some bonus stripers to 8 pounds. Capt. Mike continued to say that salmon roe enticed both the sturgeon and stripers. If you would like more information about the California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), go to our website (www.striper-csba.org). You will be able to access all the information related to the 4 CSBA Chapters. New members only pay $25, that includes a one-time $5 initiation fee. After the first year of membership the annual dues are only $20. Your membership helps to strengthen our mission to protect striped bass and our fisheries. Some Chapters will give you a free gift just for joining.
he Isleton-Delta Chapter gives all new members two free Isleton Chapter decals and a Chapter hat as a thank you for joining our Chapter. Membership forms are available for each Chapter on the website. Just click on your Chapter of choice and go to the membership page, fill out the application, print it and send your application and payment to the address listed on the application. The Isleton Chapter accepts credit cards online on the website for new memberships, membership renewals as well as our chapter’s events. The website also has Chapters’ newsletters, photos, interesting articles, and useful links that will help you plan your next fishing trip.

• Ken Baccetti, President of the California Striped Bass Association (CSBA), Isleton-Delta Chapter.

Lake Shasta

Rising waters bring Trout & Bass

With all the recent rains, Shasta Lake has rapidly risen, coming up as much as 4 feet in one day! At press time, the lake was at 48’ to crest and the water temperature was 53 degrees. The (BOR) Bureau of Reclamation is planning on keeping it around this level until the end of January. The water is pretty stained in the main body and more so the higher up you go in the arms. This quickly rising water level has also created a new problem with lots of debris in the water, including some very large branches and trees. Some of these are just under the water. The winds have been shifting the debris fields as well. We’re also going to see some more storms in the forecast. Trolling for trout and salmon right now is a hit or miss proposition. Most of the Rainbows we are catching are recent planters. We have picked up a few holdovers in the 3lb range here and there including a nice King salmon of about 3 lbs. But you’re also going to have to wait for the bite to turn on, which has been happening in the morning around 7-10 am. We have gone out and found a second bite around noon, but we found most of those fish are small planters as well. I’m having good results with Optimizer Jr. Slimline in Lemon Flash as well as other spoons that I have custom painted in the same colors. Other spoons such as Speedy Shiners and Excels would work as well. The trout are definitely keying in on copper backed spoons as well. We’re still running these at 2.2-2.3 mph with 3 colors of lead core with a 15’ leader. I did run some 3” Rapala’s and they did catch a few fish as well. All the fish that I’ve opened up to clean don’t have any bait fish in their stomachs, only what looks like moss. German browns are starting to show down low towards the main body. They are a little skinny but are still bigger than the Rainbows and more aggressive. The McCloud arm currently seems to be a bit better than anywhere else for Browns, but the bite still comes and goes. The other morning we picked up 6 Browns most of them in the 2-3lb range and caught no Rainbows that day. Bass fishing is more consistent with most fish in the 1-2 pound range and some fishermen are getting 15-30 fish a day. The best conditions are overcast and or some choppy water. The light winds right now are giving guys great fishing. They are throwing worms, spinnerbaits and jigs in pumpkin, crawfish or shad colors. This should continue for a few more weeks since weather conditions will stay like this. We haven’t seen any really seen any cold temperatures yet. The bite for trout, salmon, and bass will pick up when the weather settles down and the lake clears a little. Report courtesy of Rob Howers, Lake Shasta.

Paul Kneeland fished Gold Lake in Sierra County with John Brassfield in John’s 18’ Duckworth. They fished in the middle of December when you usually can’t access the lake. They caught rainbow and german brown trout to 17 inches casting plastics using a 7 foot Wade Rods ultralight spinning rod with a Abu Garcia Revo STX reel loaded with 15 lb test Stren sinking braided line in water 10 to 40 feet deep.

Jack Naves fished the California Delta for striped bass in his North River boat powered by Yamaha. He employed BnM Fishing West Point Crappie rods teamed with Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6501 C3 reels loaded with Power Pro 65 lb test braid. For leaders he used 25 lb test P-Line CXX X-Tra Strong monofilament line in moss green. He baited raw chicken livers on Gamakatsu 8/0 inline octopus circle hooks with a straight eye (265418 INLINE OCTOPUS CIRCLE SE) using Atlas Mike’s Miracle Thread to keep them secured.

We’re excited to launch the first issue of Volume 45 in 2026. This issue covers prime fishing spots from Lake Almanor, Lake Amador, Lake Berryessa, Lake Cammanche, and Collins Lake, all the way south to Baja highlights and Nevada destinations like Pyramid Lake. We’ll also be at the International Sportsmen’s Expo (ISE) next week bringing you additional on-site coverage. Let’s keep the fishing rolling in 2026!

🎣 Mid-week Fish Plants for 1/4/2026 - 1/10/2026 Some murkey waters after the rain, but trout are biting hard “Hey anglers, here’s your midweek update. 10 additional spots are planting fish, bringing totals to 45,030 lbs. of trout across 61 locations. Cool January weather continues to provide excellent trout fishing conditions across California, with mild temperatures and mostly dry days ahead, and this week’s plant is a big increase over last week’s 30,130 lbs. 🚨🗺️ Also, make sure to gear up with tackle from top California makers designed specifically for our local waters, available now in the shop. Based on all of your feedback, we’re bringing back Pro Maps with access limited to shop customers only (no direct subscriptions this time). Purchases will earn points in a new system, where more spent adds more days of Pro Maps access, and this exclusive information will be available only to the community that supports California fishing tackle makers. Anyone who buys before the official Pro Maps release will earn triple points.”