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FISHING • HUNTING • TRAVEL CALSPORTSMANMAG.COM

EARN YOUR STRIPES! Delta, Sacramento River

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Our area offers some of the very finest Halibut and Ling Cod fishing on the whole BC Coast, includingAlaska.WeareofferingaspecialearlyseasonCOMBOHalibutandLingCodpackage for the 2018 season. The dates we haveselectedfor our 2018Halibut Express are from May 1st to May 5th, May 5th to May 9th, May 9th to May 13th, May 13th to May 17th, May 17th to May 21st, May 21st to May 25th, May 25th to May 29th, May 29th to June 2nd, June 2nd to June 6th, June 6th to June 10th, June 10th to June 14th, June 14th to June 18th and June 18th to June 22nd 2018. This will be a 4 night/5 day package and will include up to 30 hours of guided fishing, all meals and 4 nights accommodations. An added bonus will be that the VACUUM PACKING and FLASH FREEZING of your fish are included in this pricing. This is a heck of a good deal and this package would make a wonderful gift for the fisherman in your family. We will also have our fly-in service available from Seattle, Wash., or Vancouver, BC for these dates. You will also have the opportunity to target the early runs of CHINOOK and COHO that will be coming through our waters at the time of the season. The pricing for this exciting package is as follows: Party of 2 fishing, 2 per boat…$1975.00 PP + 5% tax. Party of 3 fishing, 3 per boat…$1675.00 PP + 5% tax. Party of 4 fishing, 4 per boat…$1475 PP + 5% tax. To make your reservations or for more information please give us a call at 1-800-429-5288 or send an email to: rodgersfishinglodge@yahoo.com Best regards, Doug Rodgers PS:WithHalibut sellingforupwards of $25.00perpoundat your localfish market,youshould easilybeabletopayforyourtrip.Youareallowedupto6Halibut,newfor2018,4LingCod and 8 Salmon in possession per angler. The biggest Ling Cod this past season was a 60pounder. Come and fill your freezers!

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Sportsman

California Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource

Volume 10 • Issue 6 PUBLISHER James R. Baker GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Dick Openshaw EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott EDITOR Chris Cocoles CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Brittany Boddington LEAD WRITER Tim E. Hovey CONTRIBUTORS Tim Davis, Mark Fong, Bart Hall, Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Todd Kline, Buzz Ramsey, Bill Schaefer, Lisa Selner, Mike Stevens SALES MANAGER Katie Higgins ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Rick D’Alessandro, Nancy Ekse, Mamie Grifﬁn, Mike Smith, Paul Yarnold PRODUCTION MANAGER Sonjia Kells DESIGNERS Kayla Mehring, Sam Rockwell, Jake Weipert PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

Kelly Baker DIGITAL STRATEGIST Jon Hines ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Sauro INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@calsportsmanmag.com CORRESPONDENCE Email ccocoles@media-inc.com Twitter @CalSportsMan Facebook.com/californiasportsmanmagazine ON THE COVER Striped bass anglers will soon be heading out to the Delta, the Sacramento River and other Northern California waterways as striped bass head into the freshwater to spawn. (MSJ GUIDE SERVICE) MEDIA INC PUBLISHING GROUP CALIFORNIA OFFICE 4517 District Blvd. • Bakersﬁeld, CA 93313 (661) 381-7533 WASHINGTON OFFICE P.O. Box 24365 • Seattle, WA 98124-0365 14240 Interurban Ave. S., Suite 190 Tukwila, WA 98168 OREGON OFFICE 8116 SW Durham Rd • Tigard, OR 97224 (206) 382-9220 • (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com • www.media-inc.com

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CONTENTS

VOLUME 10 • ISSUE 6

FEATURES 73

CRANK IT UP Bass love to gorge on crawfish, especially this time of year as they prepare for the upcoming spawn. So wily anglers like Mark Fong choose crankbaits that mimic these delicious crustaceans. Fong recently had a successful day throwing these lures at Lake Berryessa and provides his tips to get in on the prespawn bite.

TURKEY CLASS IS IN SESSION Lead writer Tim Hovey has hunted all kinds of critters, and after each outing he asks himself what he’s just learned so he can enhance future success and limit failures. Hovey says no game animal has challenged his learning curve more than turkeys have – bring along a pencil, notebook and some decoys and take his tom tutorial!

117

TROUT OPENER BEFORE THE TROUT OPENER Don’t tell our Mike Stevens that the Eastern Sierra is closed to trout fishing until the April 28 statewide opener, otherwise known as Fishmas. Granted, not every creek, lake and stream can be fished in March, but Stevens has the scoop on several that you can throw out a fly or piece of hardware to try your luck as a warm-up to the big day.

133

DROP TINE DREAMS Urban Huntress Brittany Boddington recently left her native Los Angeles for Arizona, and along the way picked up an over-thecounter tag to hunt deer in the mountains around Sedona with boyfriend Brad Jannenga. To make it even more challenging, Brittany put down her rifle and dug out her bow. How did the duo do?

LINESIDES ARE COMING

Two Central Valley guides, James Netzel and Manuel Saldana Jr., get fired up every spring as striped bass head from San Francisco and San Pablo Bays upstream to spawn. Netzel prefers to catch the linesides in the Delta and Saldana usually opts to fish for them in the Sacramento and Feather Rivers. Find out how both anglers approach these big and plentiful fish as they begin arriving in freshwater this month. (TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE)

DEPARTMENTS

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

13 17

29 45 49 55 59 83 150

The Editor’s Note Protecting Wild California: Catching bass for science Outdoor calendar Adventures of Todd Kline: Costa FLW Series event on Lake Havasu Reader photos Photo contest winners From Field to Fire: Head to Alaska to cure salmon blues Rig of the Month: Slip bobber rig New feature! The Last Laugh: Cartoon by Tim “Spike Davis”

67 109 129 131 143 147

Fred Hall Shows’ highlights for hunters, shooters Dough bait tricks for trout A sportswoman discovers passion for taxidermy Make plans for Lake Barrett largemouth bass season SoCal calico tips Training pups to find shed antlers Company profile: Exquisite Knives

CALIFORNIA SPORTSMAN GOES DIGITAL! Read California Sportsman on your desktop or mobile device. Only $1.89 an issue. Go to www.calsportsmanmag.com/digital California Sportsman is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 14240 Interurban Avenue South, Suite 190, Tukwila, WA 98168. Send address changes to California Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues), 2-year subscription are $39.95 (24 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. Back issues are available at Media Index Publishing Group ofﬁces at the cost of $5 plus shipping. Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Copyright © 2016 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in U.S.A.

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THEEDITOR’SNOTE

Native Lahontan cutthroat trout are making a comeback in a watershed at the south end of Lake Tahoe. The species had all been wiped out in the 1930s before being reintroduced by state and federal agencies. (U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE)

ake Tahoe will always have a special place in my heart after taking so many annual trips there with my family (adulthood, geography and a desire to travel to new places on my own meant my trips there are far less frequent). So whenever news comes out of that area, I’m always interested. Enter the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Southwest Region, which has discovered that a reintroduced resident is making a comeback here. Lahontan cutthroat once thrived in the rivers, lakes and creeks, but like many species of fish and wildlife, the trout were overwhelmed. “Decades of overfishing and habitat degradation in the Lake Tahoe Basin caused these unique native fish to vanish from the system all the way back in the 1930s,” says Stephanie Byers, a Lahontan National Fish Hatchery Complex senior fisheries biologist in nearby Nevada. But in a collaborative effort, USFWS and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife brought Lahontans back in 2002 in Fallen Leaf Lake, not far from Tahoe’s popular south shore. The plan has been undermined in several ways, including a threat fingerling and juvenile fish face from non-native rainbow and lake trout. Yet over the ensuing decade, the stockings finally began to produce a healthier population of the cutthroats at Fallen Leaf Lake. In 2012, fish were spotted spawning in the lake’s inlet stream, Glen Alpine Creek. The resurgence continues today and state and federal fisheries agencies hope that anglers will help document it when they catch a Lahontan trout from Fallen Leaf. “This (past) summer within three days of stocking, we observed hundreds of cutthroat gathering at the mouth of Glen Alpine Creek,” says USFWS biologist Jason Smith. “It was the first time we’d observed that many stocked Lahontan cutthroat trout migrating all the way across the lake to instinctually seek out their historic stream habitat.” I’ve fished in the vast waters of Lake Tahoe several times over the years – catching a lake trout out of a rented boat with my dad as a teenager and an even bigger one when I went out with longtime guide Mike Nielsen years later. The last time I was in Tahoe was when my dad and I went up for a classic car show in 2013. I didn’t get to fish then but I hope to make it back again soon and wet a line. Maybe I’ll even fish Fallen Leaf Lake, where I can catch (and release) a Lahontan cutthroat, a species that has been here since long before me. –Chris Cocoles

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PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA

Biologist Jennifer Pareti fishes Barrett Lake during a survey of the popular Southern California fishery. The goal was to capture and remove Florida-strain and Florida-northern hybrid largemouth to other waters, helping out one of the region’s last significant populations of northern bass. (TIM E. HOVEY)

GRIN AND BARRETT: FISHING FOR SCIENCE By Tim E. Hovey

t should come as no surprise that a lifelong obsession with fishing steered me towards my career in fisheries. After catching my first at the age of 5 years old, I became consumed with landing fish and learning all I could in the process. Those early years were dedicated to nothing more than catching the biggest and the most fish. As I eased into adulthood, I gradually began to realize that my passion for fishing was becoming much more than just a hobby. In college, after years of drifting around looking for a career direction,

I found my true calling as a member of the marine biology program at my university. During my second year there, I took a job as a field operations manager, essentially to pay for school. My job was to gather up like-minded individuals to participate in fishing field trips. Our jobs were simple: We would head out to catch specimens for certain projects. Young scientists who didn’t know how to fish relied on us to catch what they needed for their specific research goals. For those two years, I essentially got paid to fish. calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

PROTECTING

Lucero with a Barrett bass, the group’s ﬁrst during a pretty challenging day of ﬁshing on this heavily regulated lake east of San Diego. (TIM E. HOVEY)

WILD CALIFORNIA

Matt Lucero and Russell Barare head out to test their luck. During the survey, all boats had a cooler with an aerator to keep any bass caught alive for examination back at the dock. (TIM E. HOVEY)

FISH FOR SCIENCE Now, working on endangered species, the opportunity for hook-and-line sampling doesn’t come often, but I jump on it when it does. Back in January, I received an email

from one of our fisheries scientists, Russ Black, our reservoir biologist. He needed some assistance sampling Barrett Lake, in San Diego County, and he was looking for a few angling volunteers. The limited-use lake is home to

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calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA many species of warmwater game fish, but Russ was interested in targeting largemouth bass specifically. Barrett currently contains one of the last significant populations of northern-strain largemouth bass in the area. Recent surveys have shown that Florida-strain largemouth are now present in the lake. To reduce the possibility of these bass hybridizing with the northern strain, Russ was hoping to gather up enough volunteers to help fish out the Florida strain. Russ explained in his email that a restricted number of anglers would be allowed on the limited-use lake to fish

for largemouth. Bass were to be kept alive and transported back to the dock for examination. Essentially, Russ was asking if we’d be interested in fishing for science. After reading his email twice and checking the dates, I’m sure I was the first to reply.

EARLY TO RISE To get to Barrett on time, I had to leave my house at 2 a.m. the day of the survey (l live a little under 200 miles from the lake, which is east of San Diego). As I drove the deserted highways, I had to wonder if the early hour was worth it. I had fished for bass here several years ago, and it had been amazing from what I could remember. Early or not, I knew when the sun came up I’d once

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Members of the ﬁsh inspection team carefully count scales running the length of a largemouth’s side to determine whether it’s a Florida, hybrid or northern bass. Non-northerns went into a holding pen before transport. (TIM E. HOVEY)

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA again be fishing for science. I met up with Jennifer Pareti, another state biologist, in Los Alamitos and we traveled together down to San Diego County. Russ had arranged for the fishing volunteers to use the lakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small fleet of aluminum rental boats to sample the lake during the two-day survey. Since Jennifer had very little bass fishing experience, we decided to go out in the same boat.

SURVEY TOOLS We pulled up to the lake entrance at 6:15 a.m. Russ had just arrived and had decided to use the parking area at the front of the lake as a staging point. Gradually, the area filled with vehicles as more samplers arrived. After a quick headcount, Russ went through a brief introduction to the lake, the rules and some safety instructions. He also mentioned that the weather was sup-

posed to be clear, though strong winds were forecasted for late morning. We all jumped back into our vehicles and followed Russ down the dirt road to the parking area above the lake. There we gathered gear and hiked down to the boat dock. Jennifer and I grabbed the first available rental boat and loaded up. Within minutes, boats were leaving the dock and heading out to find their own secret spot. Besides anglers and gear, each boat also carried a large cooler big enough to carry five full-grown bass and an aerator. Before the sample boats headed out, Russ instructed the anglers to keep the bass alive in the coolers. Once the cooler had a few fish in it, we had to return to the dock to drop off the specimens for examination. Bass that were determined to be the true northern strain were returned to the lake. Hybrids or Florida-strain bass were kept alive in a net pen at

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the docks. Those fish would be transported to other lakes that already contained the Florida strain. Jennifer and I stowed the cooler at the front of our boat and headed out. When full, Barrett Lake has a water storage capacity of a little less than 35,000 acre-feet. Created when Barrett Dam was completed in 1922, the lake currently holds several other species of warmwater game fish, including black and white crappie, channel catfish, bluegill and green sunfish. Threadfin shad and silverside minnows are also present and are prey for larger species.

TOUGH FISHING I steered the 14-foot aluminum boat into the first arm to the north. As we coasted to a stop, we began casting white spinnerbaits and crankbaits towards the shore. Russ had sent out an email the week before the survey to let all the anglers know that white baits were working well on the bass.

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

PROTECTING

WILD CALIFORNIA That wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t surprising, because as we fished, I noticed that the water coloration was muddy, making it tougher for the bass to see baits unless the lures were light in color, or very dark. After 30 minutes of working the cove without any luck, we started up the engine and moved on. For the next few hours, we fished wherever the morning wind took us. It had picked up strongly only an hour after we had gotten on the water, making holding position and fishing extremely tough. We found a crowded cove slightly protected from the wind. Talking with other anglers, they echoed what we already knew: fishing was tough. At noon, we drifted into a cove and dug out our lunches. I used the break to think about the conditions and what we could do to improve our odds. I knew big bass would be in the coves and at

the point edges waiting for food to be blown to them. After we ate, I dug through my tackle and picked out some swimbaits. I had tossed them in my box as an afterthought, as they were still in the package among my ocean tackle. I had purchased them for a fishing trip to Mexico nearly a decade ago, so clearly they were not a priority. I started casting the bait into the chop and slowly bounced it into the calm waters on the backside of points. On the fifth cast, the bait stopped suddenly. I instinctively set the hook and felt the angry shake at the other end. We celebrated our first fish of the day and loaded the 2-pounder into the cooler. Jennifer turned the aerator on and we kept fishing. Ten casts later with the same bait, I was bouncing the lure off the bottom inside a cove when I felt a slight tick on the line. I set the hook and again felt angry shaking. After a tug of war and an amazing

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leap, I landed a 3-pounder and added it to the cooler.

ANOTHER COLD SPELL We fished hard for another hour without a bite. Russ had mentioned that we needed to be off the lake by 3 p.m., so with two fish in the tank, we decided to head back to the dock. I parked the boat and we offloaded our catch. A few members of Russâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; group grabbed our fish and began inspecting them carefully. Species that qualify as subspecies, or strains, of one another can differ slightly in many different ways. In the case of largemouth, a true northern bass has a different number of lateral line scales than the Florida strain does. Members of the fish inspection group carefully counted the scales that ran the length of the fish and determined which strain we had caught. As it turned out, both of ours were determined to be true northern-strain bass and were returned to the lake.

calsportsmanmag.com calsportsmanmag. maag com | FEBRUARY 2018 C mag m California allifo l f rni rn a S rn Sportsman por p po o tsman

PROTECTING

For author Tim Hovey, a childhood spent ďŹ shing sparked an interest in biology and conservation. As an adult he still gets a rush out of catching ďŹ sh, not only for fun but science too. (TIM E. HOVEY)

WILD CALIFORNIA

With the early start and the long drive home, Jennifer and I got back on the road. The fishing had indeed been tough, but spending a day on the lake fishing for science is never tiring. On the drive home, I thought about that 5-year-old boy who dragged his first fish, a bluegill, along the muddy bank of a Central California lake. I thought about all Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done between then and now â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I had no idea that my love of fishing could actually lead to a career. I thought about all the people I have met and the places Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been in almost 50 years of fishing. Watching that 3-pound Barrett bass leap from the water as I fought it to the boat made me realize that despite the lengthy path between then and now, inside I was still that excited little 5-year-old. CS

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OUTDOOR CALENDAR

PROTECTING

MARCH

WILD CALIFORNIA

2-4

Fred Hall Central Valley Sports Show, Kern County Fairgrounds; fredhall.com 3 NorCal Trout Challenge, Lake Pardee; anglerspress .com/angler-s-press-events/anglers-press-2018norcal-trout-challenge 7-11 Fred Hall Show Long Beach, Long Beach Convention Center; fredhall.com 17 Red Hook Adventures Trout Derby, San Pablo Reservoir; redhookadventures.com 17-18 SMUD Trout Derby, Rancho Seco Park, Sacramento; anglerspress.com/anglers-press-smud-trout-derby Blake Jones Trout Derby, Pleasant Valley Reservoir; bishopvisitor.com/event/blake-jones-trout-derby 22-25 Fred Hall Show Del Mar, Del Mar Fairgrounds; fredhall.com 24-25 Youth turkey hunt 24-26 Lake Isabella Trout Derby; kernrivervalley.com 31 Start of spring turkey hunting season

APRIL 7

7-8

NorCal Trout Challenge, Collins Lake; anglerspress .com/angler-s-press-events/anglers-press-2018norcal-trout-challenge Redding Sportsmans Expo, Redding Civic Auditorium; reddingsportsmansexpo.com

The Bay Area’s San Pablo Reservoir hosts the Red Hook Adventures Trout Derby on March 17. (BILL ADELMAN)

Red Hook Adventures Trout Derby, Lake Del Valle; redhookadventures.com 21 Pine Flat Lake Team Trout Derby; kokaneepower.com 28 NorCal Trout Challenge, Lake Amador; anglerspress .com/angler-s-press-events/anglers-press-2018norcal-trout-challenge 28 Collins Lake Family Trout Derby; ciffi.org 28 Statewide trout opener 28 Fred J. Hall Memorial Opening Day “Big Fish” Contest, Crowley Lake; crowleylakefishcamp.com/specialevents 28 Monster Fish Contest, June Lake Loop; junelakeloop.org 28 Start of Gull Lake Marina “Fish of the Month Club” Derby, June Lake Loop; gulllakemarina.com 28-29 Annett’s Mono Village Fishing Opener Derby, Upper Twin Lakes; monovillage.com

Notes: A list of upcoming bass tournaments can also be found at nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FishingContests/default.aspx. For deer hunting zone information, go to nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=122314&inline.

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SPORTSMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SHOW SPOTLIGHT

SPORTSMEN’S SHOW SPOTLIGHT

Visit our booth at the Sportsmen Shows and check out the Work Sharp Knife & Tool Sharpeners. They’re the best selling, best reviewed, most liked knife sharpeners in North America. Bring your knife and get free courtesy knife sharpening! Visit our website to see our show schedule. Watch videos on the website or at our YouTube Channel: “WorkSharpEasy" Enter a free drawing for a Ken Onion Edition Knife & Tool Sharpener by going to our website at www.WorkSharpEasy.com.

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MIXED BAG

FRED’S HUNTING HALLS

Fishing is probably the most popular activity featured at Southern California’s Long Beach and Del Mar Fred Hall Shows, but hunters and shooters should ﬁnd plenty of exhibits to keep them just as entertained. (FRED HALL SHOWS)

SHOOTERS CAN ALSO FIND PLENTY OF RESOURCES AT FAMED OUTDOORS SHOWS THIS MONTH By Bart Hall

id you know that at the Fred Hall Long Beach Show, the world’s largest fishing show, you could find a place to hunt for just about any species on Earth? That’s right: hunt at a fishing show. According to the surveys that we

conduct, most of the attendees at a Fred Hall Show are hunters as well as anglers. And that’s a good thing, because as hunting is represented at all of the Fred Hall Shows, it’s represented in a big way at the Long Beach show, which is March 7-11 at the Long Beach Convention Center. You can ﬁnd folks who will help

you with elk hunting, whitetail deer hunting, mule deer hunting, duck hunting, quail hunting, pheasant hunting, dove hunting, goose hunting, wild boar hunting, and even more kinds of hunting. You can ﬁnd places to hunt all over North and South America and even Africa and New Zealand.

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

MIXED BAG

African safari outﬁtters and lodges are just some of many hunting- and wildlife-related vendors at the three Fred Hall Shows. (FRED HALL SHOWS)

There are over 60 booths dedicated to hunting and the shooting sports. Most of them are located in the part of the main exhibit hall, where the giant Turner’s Outdoorsman display is located. Turner’s will be displaying ﬁrearms again this year and will expand that display to the Fred Hall Del Mar Show (March 22-25). The Turner’s stores are out to prove that they are your onestop hunting and ﬁshing locations in California.

Also displaying guns and some very impressive mounts is the Oak Tree Gun Club (661-259-7441; oaktreegunclub .com), which is one of the most impressive gun ranges in the country. Their pistol range reminds me of an old-time shooting gallery. Of course, the trap and skeet ranges are great, but the thing that blows me away is the sporting clay range. This unbelievable range is set in a natural California oak tree grove with some of the best shooting sta-

36 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

tions I’ve ever seen. Some of the machines that throw the clays are diabolical and extremely fun. Oak Tree will also have information on some great hunting and ﬁshing lodges in their booth, including some African destinations. They’re one of several African outﬁtters at the show.

GETTING THE JOB DONE A permanent staff of ﬁve produces the Fred Hall Shows, featuring Mike

SPORTSMENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SHOW SPOTLIGHT

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MIXED BAG Lum, Tim Baker, Katie Hall, Ginny Hall, and myself. We are ably assisted by Dave and Barbie Mandagie, Eric McCauley, Billy and Hunter Trevarainus, Rick Gaskins, Jay Settle, and others. All of us hunt or shoot. Mike and Tim each shot elk over the last two years. Our ringtone for Tim is a duck call, because during duck season heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in a blind somewhere.

OUTDOOR EXHIBITS GALORE So come on down to a Fred Hall Show and talk to some great hunting lodge owners. The variety is amazing and Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll ďŹ nd something you like. You canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy guns at Turnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Outdoorsman or Oak Tree while at the show, but you can compare different ďŹ rearms and leave a deposit to lock in a show special. The Fred Hall Shows are the biggest little shooting sports

(949) 293-6113 www.ThresherBoats.com San Clemente, CA

Show organizers report that, overall, there will be more than 60 booths dedicated to hunting and shooting sports. (FRED HALL SHOWS)

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SPORTSMEN’S SHOW SPOTLIGHT

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MIXED BAG OLD DOVE HUNTS AND NEW HUNTS

The Hall family, who started their sportsmen’s show way back in 1946, has always enjoyed the outdoors, including hunting upland birds in the high desert. (FRED HALL SHOWS)

shows in the world. Hunters and shooters are definitely welcome. Join us in Bakersfield (March 2-4), Long Beach and Del Mar for our events. CS

Editor’s note: Bart Hall is general manager of the Fred Hall Shows. For more, check out fredhall.com, like at facebook .com/TheFredHallShows, and follow on Instagram (@ofﬁcialfredhallshows).

I love dove hunting. Those darn little birds can make you look silly with a shotgun in your hand. At least they make me look silly. This year, Mike Hatcher, former patriarch of the new Fred Hall Central Valley Sports Show, took me, my kids and grandkids dove hunting around Bakersfield. I haven’t hunted up there in about 50 years, but he had some spots that friends of his let us hunt, and boy was it fun. For the second season opener we went to a friend’s house in San Diego and hunted more private land. It was outstanding! But the bird hunting trip I really want to take is to Argentina. It is on the top of my bucket list. There are millions of doves down there and the farmers consider them to be an invasive species. They encourage dove hunting that basically has no bag limit. You can look up Roy Clark from Clark’s Outdoor Adventures at any of our Fred Hall Shows and he can book that trip for you. BH

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Haida Gwaii, the Queen Charlotte Islands are renowned to be the most successful Salmon Fishing in the world. The Charlottes are comprised of over 150 islands providing rich feeding grounds that essentially force HYHU\ VDOPRQ LQ WKH 3DFLÀF 1RUWKZHVW LQWR D IHHGLQJ frenzy before they continue on their migration. The result is virtually no down time in-between runs. LONGEST AND LARGEST SALMON RUN IN THE WORLD!

www.qcsafaris.com | (877) 815-2892 40 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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MIXED BAG Activities from archery shooting to fishing instruction await visitors at the Redding Sportsmans Expo next month. (REDDING SPORTSMANS EXPO)

GET YOUR SPORTS SHOW FIX

IN REDDING

APRIL EXPO SHOWCASES NORTHERN CALIFORNIA’S FISHING, HUNTING SCENE

o you come alive in the great outdoors of Northern California? Do you love to hunt, fish or just be out in the wild every chance you get? If so, you won’t want to miss the Redding Sportsmans Expo on April 7 and 8 at the Redding Civic Auditorium. All you could possibly want to gear up for the outdoors will be under one roof. The show will feature everything from outdoor apparel to hunting, ﬂy ﬁshing, boating, hiking, camping, kayaking, mountain biking, and off-road utility equipment,

to name just a few. A few of the major retailers include Sportsman’s Warehouse, Down Range Indoor Training Center, Out West Outdoors, Girls with Guns, Olde West, Redding Yamaha, Harrison’s Boat & RV, Deadeye Outfitters, and Outdoor Ally. We’ll have over 100 vendors, and seminars by industry experts will feature instruction for fly fishing, tying flies, casting and fishing for salmon, steelhead and trout. Seminars will also feature everything you need to know to be more successful hunting big game.

There will be fun activities for every age, including archery tag and live truck wrap demonstration by Signarama. Hunting and ﬁshing ﬁlms will be playing throughout the two-day event. There’s also food and a beer garden available in the South Plaza. Hours for the show are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 7 and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 8. Sign up to win free tickets to the event through the show’s website (reddingsportsmansexpo.com). Like them at facebook.com/reddingsportsmansexpo. CS

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

s e r u t n e v d A

The sun as well as a few hot air balloons rise over the reservoir on the lower Colorado River. (TODD KLINE)

We’re not ashamed to admit it: Todd Kline has the kind of life we wish we could experience. Kline’s a former professional surfer, a successful co-angler on the FLW Tour and a Southern California bass guide, plus he gets to travel the world as a commentator for the World Surf League’s telecasts. Todd has agreed to give us a peek on what he’s up to each month. For more on Todd or to book a guided fishing trip with him, check out toddkline.com, and you can follow him on Instagram at @toddokrine. –The Editor In early February I fished the Costa FLW Series Western Division opening event at Lake Havasu. We had a great turnout with 158 boats. I finished up in 34th and cut a $2,000 check. (TODD KLINE)

I love fishing Havasu. Here are two solid bass from my dayone bag of five fish weighing 15 pounds, 3 ounces. (TODD KLINE)

This was a beautiful smallie I caught in practice on a Revenge Chatterbait. (TODD KLINE)

We also checked out the mystical Sedona, Arizona, area. It’s a very spiritual place. (TODD KLINE)

I had a fun day ﬁshing in San Diego. (TODD KLINE) Here’s a Havasu bass that counted in the FLW standings! I ended up weighing in seven ﬁsh that went 21 pounds even. (JODY WHITE/FLW)

I caught this chunky prespawn largemouth on a Yamamoto Slim Senko and 5-pound test. This thing had me so deep in a tree that I still can’t believe how lucky I was to land her. (TODD KLINE) At the end of a long day of ﬁshing, the Havasu sunset is just as spectacular. (TODD KLINE)

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48 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

READER PHOTOS Longtime reader Marc Ling and his family love the outdoors. Here’s Mitchell Ling with Trixie and their harvest from a junior pheasant hunt at O’Neill Forebay. (MARC LING)

Here’s a double dose of Ling brothers: 16-yearold Matthew (left) and Mitchell, 13, with limits of waterfowl – mostly teal – taken at South Grasslands Club in the Central Valley. (MARC LING)

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

READER PHOTOS Sacramento’s Aidan Farr was very excited (rightly so) after landing this fat rainbow at Folsom Lake with his dad, Dan. Thanks to Mike Passmore, Aidan’s great-uncle, for sending us the pic. (DAN FARR)

And we didn’t want to leave out another Ling who loves the outdoors. Here’s Trixie’s partner in crime, Daisy, after doing her part during another duck hunt. (MARC LING)

50 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

Paul Young has been slamming the San Joaquin Delta throughout the winter and caught plenty of plump stripers, including this 44-pound monster on a Glide Swimmer. (PAUL YOUNG)

DESTINATION ALASKA

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DESTINATION ALASKA

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DESTINATION ALASKA

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PHOTO CONTEST

WINNERS!

Anthony Clements is the second winner of our new Yo-Zuri Photo Contest! He caught this nice big steelhead last summer while fishing off the bank, and his pic scores him gear from the company that makes some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best fishing lures and lines!

Levi Carey is our monthly Browning Photo Contest winner, thanks to this shot of his wife Kylie and her northeast Washington whitetail. It wins him a Browning hat!

For your shot at winning Browning and Yo-Zuri products, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to ccocoles@ media-inc.com, or to California Sportsman, PO Box 24365, Seattle, WA 98124-0365. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or internet publications.

DESTINATION ALASKA

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DESTINATION ALASKA

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DESTINATION ALASKA

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NORCAL There’s nothing like experiencing remote ﬁshing in Alaska. With salmon stocks struggling in recent years in many Lower 48 waters, don’t overlook the Last Frontier, which abounds with angling opportunity. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

FROM FIELD ...

SALMON BLUES? HEAD NORTH

WITH WEST COAST RUNS STRUGGLING, NOW IS THE TIME TO PLAN A FISHING TRIP OF A LIFETIME TO ALASKA By Scott Haugen

s I write these words, I’ve just completed a week of speaking at the International Sportsmen’s Exposition in Sacramento. Much of the talk at this event centered around the low salmon and steelhead runs in California. Much of Oregon’s outlook is the same. While many anglers are looking to pursue other species close to home until salmonid numbers recover, others are heading north. Salmon fishing is thriving in Alaska. Many guides and outfitters from that state who had booths at the ISE show saw extremely high interest this year from anglers wanting to travel to the Last Frontier and its salmon-filled rivers. Now is the prime time to consid-

er putting together an Alaska ﬁshing trip. Whether looking to go on your own or booking a guided journey, the options are many. But knowing where to start is key.

KNOW WHEN THEY RUN When planning an Alaska fishing adventure, start with run timings. Figure out what fish you’d most like to go after, where you’d like to fish, and then determine the time fish show up in that particular area. Many people want to fish king salmon and silver salmon at the same time, for instance, but these species don’t overlap. Most king salmon fishing in Alaskan rivers is in June and July, while coho fishing peaks in August, September and October. If looking to travel the state on

your own, consider hitting the road system, which offers access to many ﬁsh species. From Arctic grayling to Dolly Varden, all ﬁve salmon species to big rainbow trout, pike and steelhead, these can all be caught from the road system, but again, timing is important.

THINK PINK In Alaska, pink salmon return not just in odd-numbered years but even ones too, ﬂooding countless rivers and streams throughout the state. Fresh from the ocean, pinks are great eating and hard ﬁghters, which make them ideal targets for the traveling angler. They can often be caught in conjunction with silvers, making the adventure more rewarding. In late August, as many pink

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

NORCAL

... TO FIRE

Cookbook author Tiffany Haugen likes to use makeshift planks of pineapple rinds on the grill, which add a juicy ﬂavor burst to ﬁsh. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)

PINEAPPLE POWER

MEANS DELECTABLE FISH By Tiffany Haugen

y plank-cooking fish on a pineapple rind, you get the benefits of using a wood plank with the added bonus of moisture and sweetness. Pineapple rind is something that normally gets tossed into the compost pile, but after you use it to cook fish, you won’t ever throw it away. Most pineapples are large enough to get four nice-sized “planks” out of. Simply follow the curve of the pineapple along the rind and keep a consistent thickness. If you don’t plan on using the planks right away, they can be frozen until ready to use. Consider saving a dozen or so if looking to cook for a large group. Typically, at least two servings of fish will fit on one pineapple plank. It doesn’t matter what shape the grill grates are in, as the pineapple rind protects the fish, though a cleaner grill equates to a tastier end product. Fish is served right from the pineapple

plank, which means there’s no clean-up to worry about. You can even take frozen planks on a road trip and cook in camp with them. Four pineapple “planks” Four 8- to 10-ounce salmon fillets, skinned 1 tablespoon Smokey Hot Rub (see below) or fish seasoning of choice 4 tablespoons butter, optional Two limes or lemons, sliced Rub both sides of fish with seasoning rub. Place on pineapple planks and top with a small pat of butter and sliced limes or lemons. Place in a preheated 400-degree grill or oven. Cook 15 to 25 minutes or until fish reaches 135 degrees or desired doneness. Keep fish on the pineapple planks for serving.

SMOKEY HOT RUB ½ teaspoon salt

60 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

½ teaspoon white pepper ½ teaspoon granulated garlic ½ teaspoon white sugar ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika ¼ teaspoon black pepper ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper In a small bowl, mix rub ingredients until thoroughly combined. Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany’s popular book, Cooking Seafood, visit tiffanyhaugen .com. Follow Tiffany on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and watch for her on the online series Cook With Cabela’s, The Sporting Chef TV show, and The Hunt.

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calsportsmanmag.com | APRIL 2017 California Sportsman

NORCAL titled A Flyfisher’s Guide To Alaska. While the name implies fly fishing, it’s a where-to book that applies to all forms of fishing. This book, the most comprehensive of its kind, has been used by hundreds of anglers wanting to experience Alaska on their own. With this book in hand, simply drive through Alaska and it will tell you exactly where to fish along the entire road system. It contains precise fish run timings for every region and even offers tips on where to stay.

TRIP OF A LIFETIME

SOCK IT TO THEM

Every August I host a group of 15 anglers on Alaska’s Egegik River. Here lies the best coho fishing I’ve seen in my more than a quarter-century of fishing throughout the state. For many guests, it’s their first time fishing Alaska. For some, it’s their first time fishing for salmon, ever. To catch fish while actually learning to fish is a thrill. On the other hand, many guests are lifelong anglers simply wanting to explore remote Alaska. In the end, folks go home with loads of great salmon fillets and memories they’ll never forget. While pursuing California’s sturgeon, stripers, trout, kokanee and warmwater species is a good plan until salmon and steelhead numbers recover along the Pacific Coast, don’t overlook Alaska. If planned wisely, fishing Alaska can be very affordable, and the amount of great-eating meat you’ll bring home will offset a large portion of the cost. Bottom line, there’s nothing like battling hard-fighting, chrome-colored salmon in pristine Alaska, and the time to experience it is now. CS

Last summer saw one of the best sockeye salmon runs in history throughout southwestern Alaska. Millions of sockeyes made their way into remote rivers, offering anglers world-class ﬁshing opportunities. This year, runs are forecasted to be even better. Sockeye can be caught at the same time as king salmon, mean-

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s best-selling book, A Flyfisher’s Guide To Alaska, send $30 to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489. Learn more about booking a personalized fishing trip to Alaska with Scott at scotthaugen.com. Scott is a full-time author and host of The Hunt on Netflix. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook.

Every August, author Scott Haugen hosts a group of anglers on Alaska’s Egegik River, where world-class coho ﬁshing awaits. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

salmon die after spawning, voracious rainbow trout and Dolly Varden begin feeding on their flesh and loose eggs. With so much protein in the river, these predatory fish quickly grow big and fat. Wading your way through small streams, catching 10-pound trout and Dollies is possible from the road system. If looking to experience a remote fishing adventure, the options are endless. From do-it-yourself drop camps to fancy lodges, plus everything in between, there are many options when it comes to fishing Alaska. Your skill level – fishing, survival and boat operating – will dictate what fishing adventure is best for you.

ing you can expect to go home with plenty of tasty ﬁllets. Many anglers rank sockeye as the best eating of all salmonids. Taking a bush plane to remote waters is also an option. This can get pricey over a week’s time, but if it’s in your budget, the memories created from experiencing truly remote Alaska are unmatched.

HAVE GOOD REFERENCE MATERIAL About a decade ago I wrote a book Whether it's a ﬂy-out destination, like the Nushagak, for big kings, or streams and lakes along the road system, there's something for every angler in Alaska. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

62 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

calsportsmanmag.com | FEBRUARY 2018 California Sportsman

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FISHING

Dough Bait Tips, Tricks For Trout By Buzz Ramsey

enerally speaking, trout are pretty easy to catch compared to salmon and steelhead. Much of this is thanks to state fish and wildlife agencies that stock millions of hungry rainbows into literally hundreds of lakes annually. And while the majority of these trout might average 10 inches, hundreds of thousands more will likely be 14 inches or larger, all to provide a steady stream of fat fish for anglers, like you, to take advantage of. Unlike a salmon fishing trip that might be planned around the charting of ocean tides, river temperatures or clarity and online fishing reports, all you need to do before going out for trout is to check out the stocking schedule for a lake near you posted on your state’s fish and wildlife website. In California, that can be found at nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FishPlants. As you might guess, on lakes that are open year-round, the trout will be “running” shortly after the hatchery truck arrives. You’ll have to wait for opening day on lakes where a start date applies. Keep in mind that opening day can offer quick limits as fish haven’t yet been hit with a barrage of bait and lures and, depending on the timing of your trip, might be more plentiful. To determine what’s legal or not means finding the lake you fish in a current copy of your state’s angling regulation pamphlet, either in print, online or as an app.

FOR TROUT, ALL you need besides a current fishing license is a 5- to 7-foot light-action spinning rod and reel filled with 6-pound-test monofilament fishing line. And although a 5-foot rod will do the job, I prefer a 7- or 7½-footer when casting for trout, as the longer length provides

Whether fishing from the bank or double-anchored up in a boat, one of the best ways to catch stocker trout is by still-fishing PowerBait off bottom. Author Buzz Ramsey has taken to adding a Lil’ Corky on his leader for the extra floatation it provides off the lakebed. (BUZZ RAMSEY)

me with the leverage needed to facilitate long casts. And while this same outfit will work from a boat, some boat anglers like myself employ even longer rods when trolling. That helps spread the lines out, covering more water, and it also has the added benefit of keeping everyone’s lines apart, resulting in fewer tangles. What many bank and boat anglers do is plunk (that means stillfish) PowerBait, sometime referred

to as dough or trout bait. As you might know, PowerBait is a prepared bait formula developed by scientists working with real ﬁsh. It comes in jars and feels a lot like play dough, so using it might bring back some childhood memories. And while there are similar products available, in my opinion none are as effective as those marketed under the Berkley label. For example, PowerBait is so popular and effective it outsells even lively worms as the most popular

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

FISHING bait used for trout. To rig up for still-fishing trout bait, simply thread your main line (extending from your rod tip) through the hole in an oval egg sinker (say, a 3/8- or ½-ounce size), add a small plastic bead, and tie your mainline to one end of a size 10 barrel swivel. Then attach your leader (18 to 24 inches) complete with size 12 treble hook, to the free end of your swivel and mold a dime-size ball of dough bait around your hook. A fundamental to finding success while using dough is to use enough of the bait to float your hook above bottom so cruising trout can quickly find it. This is much more effective than less buoyant bait lying on the bottom that might take fish an hour or more to find. While still-fishing means just what it implies – casting out and allowing your outfit to sink to the bottom, then waiting until a fish bites before you set the hook by pulling back on your rod tip – a few tips and tricks can up your odds of success.

SLACK LINE: It’s important to leave some slack in your line after casting into the lake so rainbows can swim off and swallow your bait without feeling line resistance before you set the hook. What you should do is wait until the slack in your line ahead of your rod tip begins to disappear into the lake before you yank. Doing this will up your hook-to-land ratio and is the reason why you’re using a free-sliding oval egg sinker on your mainline.

CASTING DISTANCE: One question often asked by anglers is how far to cast, which might vary depending on where ﬁsh are holding or bright the sun is. For example, trout may be found fairly close to shore during low-light conditions, like early or late in the day or when the sky is overcast. So during these times you might only

cast out a short distance from shore, say, 30 yards. As the sun becomes more intense, try casting further into the lake. This is important because the way fish regulate the amount of light coming into their eyes is by changing their location. After all, they don’t have any eyelids. Employing a larger/heavier oval egg sinker and/or longer fishing rod can help extend your casting range during times when fish are holding in deep water. Another factor in determining how far to cast is bottom-growing vegetation. On most lakes the water depth increases the farther away from shore you get. What this means is that moss and other underwater vegetation begins growing near shore first and extends its range away from shore as the water warms in spring and summer. And while weeds and whatnot might not be much of a factor this month, it’s likely to become more of an issue as summer approaches. And while trout can be found cruising above the weed tops – a time when fishing bait under a bobber (see Rig of the Month, page 83, for a slip bobber set-up) or casting and retrieving a spoon or spinner might work – one strategy is to cast your still-fishing outfit into deeper water, beyond the weeds, where the bottom is free of the green stuff. Another way to get away from the sometimes bothersome weeds or moss is to fish an area of the lake where the bottom gets deep close to shore, where weeds or moss doesn’t grow due to a lack of sunlight penetration.

SEARCHING FOR FISH: Some trout may see and follow your bait as it sinks to the bottom after the cast, or spot your stationary bait suspended above bottom as they cruise around the lake. But if no trout are near your offering or they are not moving, you should try moving your bait around by repositioning it or casting

68 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

in a different direction. What I often do is cast far and wait 10 minutes before moving my bait toward me 10 to 15 cranks of the reel handle and then wait another 10 minutes before moving it again. If I don’t get bit after a cast or two in the same direction, I will try casting in a different direction or move in 50-yard increments along the lake until we ﬁnd ﬁsh.

FLOATING YOUR BAIT: To ensure your bait is ﬂoating above bottom and/ or bottom-growing vegetation, what many anglers do (including me) besides using enough dough bait, is to add a Lil’ Corky single-egg imitation onto my leader above the hook. What has worked for us is to rig a size 12 treble hook in combination with a size 12 Corky. For smaller, perhaps clear-water presentations, you could rig the same outﬁt using a size 14 treble in combination with a size 14 Corky.

TRY DIFFERENT BAIT/COLOR COMBOS: It’s amazing how the color of your offering can make all the difference in your success. One way to determine what color is producing best is to watch what other anglers are using. If the guy or gal using green trout bait is catching all the ﬁsh, you might want to copy their success. Providing you’re ﬁshing with friends or family, another way to determine the best-producing color is to place a different color on each line and let the trout tell you what they like, which they will quickly do with head-shaking approval. Some of the popular trout bait colors include rainbow, Captain America, chartreuse, yellow, orange, pink, green, and red. Many of these same principles apply to casting spoons or spinners or when trolling from boat. CS Editor’s note: The author is a brand manager and part of the management team at Yakima Bait. Like Buzz on Facebook.

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CRANKBAITS CRAWL FOR SPRING BASS, CRAWFISH-STYLE LURES ARE A WINNING TICKET By Mark Fong

here is no doubt that black bass love to eat crawﬁsh, but in the spring their appetite for these little freshwater crustaceans is at an all-time high. Crawﬁsh are high in protein, making them a valuable food source for bass looking to develop their eggs and build their energy stores for the rigors of the upcoming spawn. During the days when the water is cold, crawfish begin an extended period of inactivity. In late winter, rising water temperatures not only draw crawfish out of hibernation but trigger bass to begin their prespawn activity. This dynamic makes for some excellent bass fishing action for anglers who understand and can capitalize on this relationship. The longer days and rising water temperatures signal prespawn bass to move into the shallows. At the same time, these fish start to feed less on shad and more so on crawfish. When this occurs, there is no better lure for imitating the movements of a crawfish than a crankbait.

WHERE TO FIND ‘EM Every spring, bass show up in predictable locations. Points, ﬂats and

This nice Lake Berryessa prespawn spotted bass fell for a crankbait that resembles a crawﬁsh, a favorite dining option for spring bass in Bay Area and Northern California lakes. (MARK FONG) calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

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BAY AREA

The IMA Pinjack 200 in hot craw is one of author Mark Fong’s favorite crankbaits for targeting prespawn bass. (MARK FONG)

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Understanding the relationship between rising water temperatures, bass going into the prespawn and crawﬁsh emerging from hibernation and providing a ready source of high-nutrient forage will go a long way toward catching more ﬁsh like this one held by Mark Fong. (MARK FONG)

Northern California such as Berryessa and other lakes, I have had good results with the IMA Pinjack 200. It weighs in at 7/16 ounce, making it easy to cast, and at 2¼ inches it has a nice profile that matches the crawfish found in the region’s clear-water lakes. The Pinjack runs 6 to 8 feet deep and has a nice tight wiggle. I like to throw a red- or orange/red-colored bait this time of year. The hot craw and the delta fire craw patterns work extremely well during the spring. I’ll throw the Pinjack on a medium-heavy-action 7-foot, 3-inch Cousins Tackle FRB 733PT Glass Rod. I’ll then match it to a low-profile casting reel spooled with 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. Don’t miss the opportunity to get in on some great spring time bass fishing. Mimicking a crawfish with a crankbait is a good starting point. CS 78 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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NOTES All anglers should have the slip bobber rig in their bag of tricks. It’s very effective for presenting bait to suspended fish. Where a fixed bobber can be cumbersome to cast if the leader is longer than a few feet, a slip bobber slides freely, allowing you to vary how deep you can fish your bait. The slip bobber rig is effective on a wide variety of species, from black bass to trout to panfish. It can be used in saltwater as well – just adjust the float, hook size and leader length to your target species and how deep they’re holding. To build the basic rig, start by inserting a pretied bobber stop, bead and slip bobber on 6-pound-test monofilament mainline. Next, tie a No. 8 Gamakatsu Baitholder hook to the end of the line. To adjust the length of the leader, simply slide the bobber stop to the desired position. Finally, pinch a small lead split-shot weight to the line about 6 inches above the hook. Bait up and you are ready to fish. -Mark Fong

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CENTRAL VALLEY

STRIPES LOOK SOLID LINESIDES WILL SOON BE IN THE DELTA AND THEN THE SAC RIVER ON THEIR SPRING SPAWNING RUN By Chris Cocoles

wo Central Valley fishing guides are looking forward to the pending arrival of striped bass this month, with the hope for good fishing through most of the spring. James Netzel prefers to ﬁsh around the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta waters. Manuel Saldana Jr. is a river rat who regularly launches into the Feather and Sacramento Rivers. But both share a love of put-

ting clients into linesides, and they expect 2018 to see another solid run. We chatted with both guides to provide some tips.

SING THE DELTA BLUES The 1,100 square miles that make up the Delta provide striper anglers with plenty of water to cover. That’s just fine with Netzel, of Tight Lines Guide Service (888-975-0990; fishtightlines.com). “A lot of guys will follow the fish up the rivers, but I like to stay in the Del-

Whether ﬁshing further upstream in the Sacramento (or Feather) River or in the vast San JoaquinSacramento Delta to the southwest, anglers love the quantity and quality of the spring striped bass run. (MSJ GUIDE SERVICE/TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE)

ta,” he says. “It’s less crowded down there, and it’s kind of cool because you get the fresh fish coming in and then you get the downstreamers that have already spawned and are coming back up. You get fresh fish every day, plus you get good skinny fish.” Netzel has been focusing on trout throughout the winter but plans to launch his boat into the Delta on March 1 and start booking striper

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

CENTRAL VALLEY trips by March 15. And why not, given the expectations that he has? With the water lower, Netzel expects the river to be fished more heavily this spring, with many anglers eager to stay closer to home. And the mostly dry winter also should be a positive downstream as the stripers begin to make their way from San Francisco and San Pablo Bays into the freshwater. “I think it should bring the fish in sooner. The last year we had a dry year like this was in 2015. And it started fishing pretty good in mid-February. So we’ll have warmer water,” Netzel says.

TAKE IT SLOW While Netzel will probably include some live bait in his set-ups later in the spring, he’s most likely to stick to plugs. “When the water starts warming up, the ﬁsh aren’t quite as active and the live bait tends to work better,” he

A day on the Delta yielded plenty of tasty lineside ﬁllets for these young anglers. Many bass can be caught slow-trolling near banks in just 6 to 9 feet of water. (TIGHT LINES GUIDE SERVICE)

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BEST OF LAKE ISABELLA KERN RIVER VALLEY

Mark your calendar with the dates of one of the biggest fishing derbies around. Yes, the 29th Lake Isabella Fishing Derby is just around the corner on the 24th, 25th, and 26th of March. Just listen to these great prizes: $10,000.00 for the longest trout caught, plus another $3,250.00 in cash prizes. A 2018 Crestliner fishing boat worth $16,884.50 is a raffle prize, and blind bogies, door prizes, 50/50s, the Bobber Bowl and much more are up for grabs. Conveniently scheduled at the start of Easter week, it’s a great time for the first outdoor vacation of the season. For all the latest information about the derby or campgrounds at Lake Isabella and the Kern River, contact Kern River Valley Chamber Of Commerce, sponsors of the derby. Contact the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce (760-379-5236; kernrivervalley.com) for all the latest information.

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Good areas to ďŹ sh the Sacramento River include locations like Verona, Knights Landing, Tisdale and Colusa. (MSJ GUIDE SERVICE)

says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll use plugs as long as I can because live bait is expensive.â&#x20AC;? The name of the game in these waters is to slow-troll shallow-running plugs near the bank. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Depending on which way the tide

is running, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be going between 3Â˝ and 4Â˝ mph in 6 to 9 feet of water, which sometimes puts you 5 or 6 feet from shore,â&#x20AC;? Netzel says. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of crazy seeing people so close to shore. But it works really well when theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re

running shallow.â&#x20AC;? Netzel also says line and leader choice is important for stripers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I use 25-pound braid: Fins 40G, which has a 4-pound-test diameter and allows you to get down in the

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Guide Manuel Saldana Jr.’s homemade spoons that ﬂutter as they drop can be irresistible to striped bass. “You put those right in front of their faces and they’ll gobble them up,” he says. (MSJ GUIDE SERVICE)

water deeper without having to put as much line out. And then I use a 20-pound monofilament leader,” says Netzel, who prefers mono due to stripers’ sharp side plates that could in theory slice through fluorocarbon leaders. “And that (leader) is only about 3 or 4 feet long – just enough that gives it a little bit of lift to the lure and doesn’t dive down quite so deep.” The Delta is vast, and while Netzel prefers to fish around 3-Mile Slough near Rio Vista, he tries to take full advantage of the tides and move accordingly. “Fish an hour after the tide changes for about an hour until fishing starts slowing down, then you shoot upriver for 5 or 6 miles and you get to catch that tide change again up there. And then you can catch it again even higher upriver,” Netzel says. “You burn a lot of fuel but you can keep a good steady bite. If you stick in one area all day, you have a chance to catch fish, but not as good a chance as if you follow the tide. I’ll follow the tide up and follow it back down. Usually that keeps you in the action all day.”

STICK TO THE SAC The Feather is Manuel Saldana Jr.’s 90 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

fishery of choice. Besides the reality that it can be a really productive river to catch trophy stripers, it’s an easy and convenient launching point from his home in the twin cities of Marysville and Yuba City. But compared to winter 2016-17’s heavy rains and excess water released from the Oroville Dam spillway, the Feather isn’t going to be fishable for linesides anytime soon. Saldana, of MSJ Guide Service (530-301-7455; msjguideservice.com), said with Lake Oroville hovering around 40 percent of capacity and the Feather running only at about 1,800 cubic feet per second in late February, he’ll be heading down to the Sacramento River, which should have far more flow to it as spring progresses (4,000 to 6,000 cfs). “As much as I love the Feather, all of my focus will be on the Sac, from Verona, Knights Landing, Tisdale and Colusa and even further south, depending on wherever the bite is going to be,” Saldana says. “You might find me lower around downtown Sacramento; you could find me in Clarksburg; you may find me on the Delta. But I plan to be in it.” With more anticipated fishing pressure on the Sacramento, Saldana doesn’t expect the bonanza he experienced on the Feather last spring.

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

The Delta and Sac River offer chances to not only catch a lot of ﬁsh for your grill or pan but also a decent shot of ﬁghting and landing a big striper. (MSJ GUIDE SERVICE)

He expects the action to be about three-quarters as productive as 2017. However it turns out, Saldana will be sticking to his usual hardware on the Sacramento, including swimbaits from companies such as Optimum and AA’s Big Bubba shad patterns. “The other ones that we like to use are the Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows at 5¼ inches, and we put a bit of a trailer with it,” says Saldana. He also makes his own spoons that stripers seem to like. “A lot of time it’s because of a little flutter,” he says of the homemade spoons’ effectiveness. “We’ll take them and bend them a little bit; we’ll make a little S shape, and what you do is vertically lift it up and down. Instead of going straight they flutter down, and when it flutters down (fish) will grab them on the way down.” “Everything that’s 1 ounce and over in California you have to have a single hook and get rid of the treble hook. I just make my own because they imitate more of a minnow. I paint them chartreuse, white or blue. You put those right in front of their faces and they’ll gobble them up.” Saldana expects stripers to get into spawning mode later in the spring as water temperatures climb to anywhere from 64 to 67 degrees. “These striped bass are current and temperature-oriented. So they don’t have to go to the same place; wherever they find that temperature is where they’re going to spawn,” says the guide. “And of course, they go up and down the river when it fluctuates.” CS 92 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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94 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

CENTRAL VALLEY

LESSONS LEARNED ON THE TRAIL OF TURKEYS TESTING HIMSELF AGAINST GOBBLERS HAS SHARPENED ONE HUNTER’S SKILLS

Author Tim Hovey has hunted many different species, and after each outing, he takes stock of the experience to consider lessons learned that may pay off the next time. He says spring turkeys test his learning curve like no other. (TIM E. HOVEY)

By Tim E. Hovey

n my small hunting circle we have a running joke. After each trip and in the most condescending voice imaginable, one of us will ask the others, “What have

we learned?” It’s usually stated after one of us has goofed up or done something that has negatively impacted our success. It’s something I used to say to myself after solo trips to evaluate my trip and to become a better hunter.

And despite it being used now as kind of a joke, I still use it to better myself as an outdoorsman. Over my hunting career, I’ve consistently evaluated my outdoor experiences. I carefully examine the highs and lows to better my

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

CENTRAL VALLEY One critical tip Hovey learned early in his turkey hunting career was to avoid movement. Otherwise, it’s likely the birds, which have fantastic eyesight, will notice and make him regret any miscue. (TIM E. HOVEY)

chances at success. After every trip, I essentially ask myself, “What would I do differently?” No species has tested this learning curve more than the wild turkey.

One way to reduce the chance of turkeys seeing motion is to hunt from a ground blind. (TIM E. HOVEY) 96 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

I TOOK MY FIRST gobbler hunt in 1999, and after reading up on the birds and getting advice from veterans, I noticed a repeating theme. Everyone stated that turkeys have incredible eyesight. The biologist in me knew that most birds do, but the hunter in me wondered how well they could actually see. That first hunt would answer

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CENTRAL VALLEY all my turkey vision questions. Set up with my buddy Darren in the shade of an oak, we started calling towards a dry creek bed covered in turkey tracks and droppings. We didn’t have a decoy, but dressed in camo and tucked in the shadows, we ﬁgured we were plenty hidden. After 30 minutes of calling, Darren spotted a jake slowly walking in our direction 200 yards across a small open ﬁeld almost directly in front of us. Excited about the sighting and a little out of position, I scooted to my left while moving only my legs. Instantly, the turkey turned around and began trotting away. Even though I was deep in the shadow of the oak and had only moved my legs 8 inches, the approaching jake had detected something off and was gone. Darren stated what I already knew: “He spotted you moving.” Lesson: Listen to those who have hunted before you. I can’t say for sure that the jake would’ve eventually come into range; I only know that I was the reason he left. On ensuing hunts, I would sit stone still and avoid any movement. Using a diaphragm call and a facemask I could call and search the area only moving my head slightly. In those early days, the area we hunted was heavily pressured, and while I did get plenty of practice calling and remaining motionless, we did not kill a bird. That would come after more lessons.

Like so much in hunting, bagging a tom consistently comes down to doing many little things right, skills that often take years of experience and research to master. (TIM E. HOVEY) 98 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

IN 2008, I HAD a chance to hunt a piece of property in Central California. I had been helping the owner with predator control and to show her appreciation, she asked if I wanted to hunt the parcel on the opening day of turkey season. Before I could accept the offer, she suggested I bring a friend. I had seen turkeys plenty of times while driving her property. However, as soon as they saw my truck, they’d head for cover. I remember one time I parked

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

CENTRAL VALLEY

Hovey and his turkey hunting partner Chris Huntley show off with their ﬁrst-ever harvests. They discovered that a jake decoy goes a long way. (TIM E. HOVEY)

the truck out of sight at the edge of a ﬁeld. I sneaked up to a huge oak and stayed hidden in the shadows.

I was glassing for coyotes when I noticed movement across the ﬁeld almost 300 yards from us. A ﬂock

100 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

of about a dozen turkeys were quickly trotting back to the brush as if they were being chased.

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CENTRAL VALLEY I was confident that I had stayed hidden during my approach, but when I went back to the truck and lined up their line of sight, I noticed that they could see about 2 feet of my front bumper. A shiny reflection at the edge of a field 300 yards away was all it took to send them packing. On opening morning, I sat in the dark shadows of a low oak with my friend Chris Huntley. We had parked over a half-mile away and hiked in before light. The evening before, I had watched the birds roost in a tree a few hundred yards from where we were set up. We were completely covered in camo and set up behind a camo fence I had picked up just for this hunt. With the fence placed in front of us, any slight movement we made behind it would be obscured. We also placed a lone hen decoy 15 yards out in front of us to complete our ensemble.

As the morning unfolded, we started to notice a flaw in our set-up. I would use the slate call and get the attention of birds, but once they spotted our decoy, mature toms would act aggressive and begin to fight out beyond shotgun range. We watched this happen over a dozen times with different groups of birds. They’d hear the soft chirps of the call, spot the hen decoy and just start battling. After chasing each other around for a few minutes and dusting up the area, they’d always move off and out of sight. Two hours in, Chris slowly turned to me and shrugged. While I was confident in our camouflage, I knew exactly what our set-up was missing; a jake decoy. Mature toms will fight other mature male birds for their chance to breed with available hens. That’s exactly what we were seeing. However, if they spotted a jake in close

102 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

proximity to a hen, they wouldn’t tolerate it. I’ve personally witnessed a tom turkey beat on a jake so severely that the young male limped away with a broken wing. During a lull in the action, I eased out from behind the fence and moved the hen decoy further up the drainage. Thirty minutes later, Chris and I harvested two toms that moved into range with the new placement of the decoy. Lesson: Don’t be afraid to adjust to changing field behaviors. Without a jake decoy, Chris and I likely wouldn’t have bagged our birds if we hadn’t relocated our decoy to draw tom turkeys closer.

LAST YEAR MY DAUGHTER Alyssa and I were invited to hunt turkeys up in Redding with my friend Casey. He had suggested we arrive a day early so we could watch the large ﬂock we’d be hunting as they roosted. From our hidden position we ob-

CENTRAL VALLEY The author’s daughter Alyssa Hovey has become quite an accomplished turkey hunter. Her learning curve so far has shown the importance of blinding up, listening to her guide’s advice and having the conﬁdence to take a bit longer shot. (TIM E. HOVEY)

served the 20 birds feed across an open field. A large tom displayed near the edge of the group as he looked to impress a harem of hens. The first few times he did this, he appeared to be the dominant bird in the group. Then we noticed something. If the tom got into the middle of the flock and tried to display, three very aggressive jakes would chase him out of the group and away from the hens. For over an hour we watched the jakes harass the tom as they moved towards their roosting area. Casey mentioned that this behavior was strange and it might be tough to get the big tom close enough for a shot. With the birds now in the trees, we quietly set up a large portable blind near the edge of the field.

104 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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The next day we hiked back to the field in the dark and got set up. We climbed in the blind and Casey put out one single hen decoy so that the group would have to move in front of us to investigate. Then we waited. One by one, the birds left their roost as the sun started to peak over the horizon. Before they came into view, Casey, who’s hunted turkeys for over 20 years, looked over at Alyssa and told her that she needed to kill the tom the first chance she got. He was convinced the aggressive jakes wouldn’t let him get very close and if we were to be successful, she should shoot when he told her to. With one set of clucks on the mouth call from Casey, the birds started to move our way. I could hear the jakes again harassing the tom out of view. Alyssa’s gun was already up when Casey leaned over and told her to take the shot. When I leaned over to see the tom he was out around 40 yards and at the edge of the effective range of Alyssa’s shotgun. I almost said something but decided not to. Alyssa took aim, fired and knocked the tom down. He got back up, and after some searching we ended up finding him. Thanks to Casey, my daughter had killed her first turkey. Lesson: Never guide the guide. Casey knew exactly what he was talking about as far as the strange behavior. He knew that the jakes would keep the tom away from the new hen and out at distance. The only reason Alyssa was able to kill her first turkey was because she listened to Casey and I kept quiet. It doesn’t matter how much you think you know, there’s always room to learn more. I’m thankful that I’m not only comfortable with this outdoor mantra, but that I thirst to evaluate and examine the highs and lows after every trip so that I can be the best outdoorsman I can be. For me, that will never change. CS

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108 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

HUNTING

THE RIGHT STUFF FOR HUNTERS A TAXIDERMY LESSON HAS ONE SPORTSWOMAN HOOKED

By Lisa Selner

ot long ago, my dad summed it up perfectly: “Hunting is something you’re born with.” It’s something that entails the pursuit of game for food, recreation or trade. Though it was once a necessary means of survival, and still is in some parts of the world, many outdoorsmen and outdoorswomen in this country continue the tradition as a pleasurable pastime. As a hunter myself, I can understand the intensity of emotion and respect for the outdoors when engaging in such a pursuit. The experience of a hunt is simply beyond words. It is enriching, both mentally and physically, and reminds me that I am a part of the great web of life. Hunting confirms a sense of deep-rooted, almost instinctual desire to be immersed in my natural surroundings. A successful hunt stirs a ﬂurry of adrenaline and emotions in me. I am always grateful when another life form has provided me a special opportunity to continue with my sustainability through its own sacriﬁce. Even the butchering of the meat can generate an innate recollection of times past from a simpler era, when the chore was a way of life as much as a state of mind. It is truly a soul-cleansing sentiment. I savor the entire process – from the hunt itself to the butchering of the meat and preparation of the hide for tanning, to the time it’s on a dinner plate. Though cooking

is not my forte by far, the overall experience of a hunt fulﬁlls me. And what better experience to not only harvest your game but to also taxidermy it all on your own? It’s a great way to preserve memories for years to come.

LEARNING NEW SKILLS The word taxidermy refers to the process of preserving an animal, but the word is also used to describe the ﬁnal product, which is often referred to as a “mount.” I delight in many facets of the outdoors on personal time and work as a wildlife biologist for a living. I am fascinated by most anything that brings me closer to our natural world. It also reminds me

Author Lisa Selner wanted a memory from a successful Rio Grande wild turkey hunt in California, and after taking a taxidermy class, she was able to create a beautiful mount to remind her of the bird and harvest forever. (LISA SELNER)

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HUNTING attention to how my classmate was instructed on a pheasant specimen, because I mounted a hen pheasant not long after participating in this class for extra practice.

MOUNTING IN ACTION

Selner, a biologist who’s based in Southern California, took a two-day taxidermy class in Oakdale, and afterwards showed off her certiﬁcate and the greenwing teal mount that she worked on there. (LISA SELNER)

that I am only a small string of silk in the vast web of creation. When it comes to taxidermy as a hobby, I have always enjoyed working on skulls and fleshing and prepping various mammalian hides and pelts for tanning. But since I’m residing in California, I also decided to take a bird taxidermy class at Tracks Taxidermy (209-300-4433; trackstaxidermy.com) in Oakdale, near Stockton. The course is run by Patrick and Shelley Abruzzini, who offer twoday courses in birds, fish and mammals. Prices are economical, considering the amount of knowledge and hospitality they offer during your stay. The handy toolkit they send students home with in preparation to embark on the next step of their taxidermy journey is a generous and helpful gesture – whether it becomes a personal hobby, as in my case, or as a career. Class sizes are small enough so that one-on-one attention is provided to each student. Having difficulty on a new project? They’re also available for assistance and are open to questions even after a student has completed one of their classes. Signing up is well worth it! The bird taxidermy course consisted of an introductory lesson

to mounting ducks or pheasants. I chose a duck and worked on a green-winged teal. I also paid close

Since taking the class, I have taken every opportunity to practice with game bird mounts. Though I’ve always been more of a big game hunter, I upped the ante on my bird hunts the last couple of hunting seasons and enjoyed many delicious feasts of upland wildfowl, which also provided numerous birds to practice my taxidermy with. I’ve noted improvements and have learned different tricks with each new bird project, mostly waterfowl and upland species. My largest game bird project to date was a Rio Grande wild turkey har-

Taxidermy is a step-intensive process. After the bird – a chukar in this case – is skinned, fat and meat particles are ﬂeshed off the skin, followed by bathing and rinsing the skin, then another ﬂeshing. Wire is then attached to the wing and leg bones and a body form before the project can be completed. (LISA SELNER)

110 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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HUNTING

The author, assisted by gun dog Tex, turned a ringneck pheasant she bagged at the Tejon Ranch gun club into a mount. She’s considering trying her hand with a deer head next. (LISA SELNER)

vested in Central California during last year’s fall hunting season. It takes about a couple of weeks for the birds to dry before you can remove any cardboard and pins and set them in place. I’m eager to continue practicing and improving with each new taxidermy project

that comes my way. My favorite styles include ﬂight mounts and hanging mounts. I am thinking about signing up for a mammal taxidermy class in the next few years so I can learn to mount deer heads too. What more could a gal ask for than a pile of

112 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

tasty food and species to stuff? CS Editor’s note: Lisa Selner is a Camarillo-based hunter, author and longtime wildlife biologist. She wrote the January issue’s feature on Mongolian falconery. For more on Selner, check out her website, buffaloannie.com.

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SIERRA Independence Creek is one of several Eastern Sierra ﬁsheries that will be open this month and next before the big trout opener on the last Saturday of April. (MIKE STEVENS)

FOR THOSE WHO CAN’T WAIT ... THE BIG EASTERN SIERRA TROUT OPENER IS APRIL 28, BUT THERE ARE HIGH COUNTRY FISHERIES TO WET A LINE AT NOW By Mike Stevens

he Eastern Sierra general trout opener is the last Saturday in April, but who wants to wait that long? March 3 marks an “early opener” on a batch of creeks that have been closed since Nov. 15, and while it’s been like this way for

years, the opportunity still ﬂies under the radar. Most anglers taking advantage of it are Owens Valley locals, but for those of us not residing in the Highway 395 corridor, the early opener serves as a chance to get a taste of Eastern Sierra action that many California trouters wait until at least late April to experience.

On that first Saturday in March, waters found south of and including Independence Creek all the way to just south of Lone Pine and west of the highway are officially open and receiving trout plants. That “west of the highway” part of the equation is key. These are creeks running out of the Sierra and flowing west to east and even-

calsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

117

SIERRA tually feeding into the Owens River in some way, shape or form. Since the Owens runs north to south and east of 395, the early opener ultimately crosses under the highway – or converges with another creek that does – and from that point to the Owens, it’s not available to ﬁshing until the general opener. Unfortunately, I found this out the hard way a while back.

DOUBLE CHECK BEFORE CASTING As someone who has been fishing his way up 395 for over 25 years, I am used to pulling off the highway whenever I see one of those “fishing this way” road signs for a quick recon with rod and reel in hand, and these quick hitters have resulted in a handful of “gold mines” worth checking out every trip. These include multiple creeks and “sand traps” on both sides of the road during the general season, but I was new to the early opener deal. As we worked our way north, we kept turning left for these missions, which kept us on the west and legal side of the highway. We eventually found ourselves on Shepherd Creek south of Independence, and while I didn’t find any fish, the conditions were excellent, and I was sure I’d find them somewhere on that creek. I got back on the highway, saw a fishing road sign, turned right and into the closed area as a simple matter of muscle memory from a lifetime of trips up there. I pulled up on a primo-looking sand trap – this area is full of little ponds called sand traps, which collect sediment washed down these creeks to keep it out of the Owens, which is a major drinking-water source – with no one on it, for obvious reasons. I jumped out, threw a jig and connected with a trout that came unbuttoned. I fired off another and brought a stocked rainbow to hand and released it. When I stood up, a four-wheel-drive California De-

You can jump across most of these creeks and are often targeting trout that are right at your feet or a short cast out from the bank. (MIKE STEVENS)

118 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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Many of these creeks feature trout-ﬁlled areas known as “sand traps,” small ponds that collect sediment washed down the creeks to ensure it doesn’t get into the larger Owens River, a major drinking-water source. (MIKE STEVENS)

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SIERRA and he said, “Do you know the rules for fishing this area?” “Of course,” I replied. “South of Independence and …” As I was spitting that out, I realized that I had strayed east of the highway, and I was screwed. Long story short, he was cool and realized it was an honest mistake. After he cited me, he even gave me some advice on some other areas to fish, but the humiliation over the fact that a quarter-century Eastern Sierra veteran who writes on and covers the region editorially just got busted for fishing out of bounds was much worse than writing a $500 check to Inyo County. Short version: The same creek can be legal on one side of the road and not on the other, so just make sure you stay west of 395.

PLENTY OF FISHABLE WATERS Once you are zoned in to stay with-

in the legal fishing boundaries, you have a good number of options. Heading north, Cottonwood Creek is one of the first watersheds in the early-opener zone. About 10 miles south of Lone Pine, turn west at the Cottonwood Power House Turnoff and keep to the left as you cross the aqueduct. The best fishing is usually found from the campground at the Power House intake to the end of the road. Tuttle Creek is accessed via Whitney Portal Road in the center of Lone Pine. Follow that west for about 3 miles to Horseshoe Meadow Road and turn left. The creek is planted at access points in the campgrounds. Or you can stay on Whitney Portal Road and hit Lone Pine Creek at the handful of campgrounds along the creek before it gets too steep where the road starts to climb up to the portal. George Creek is about 7 miles

122 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

out of Independence and can be reached by taking the dirt road ¼ mile southwest of the aqueduct crossing. Here the fish are planted at the sand trap. This one can get crowded, so get out there early or, if you see a bunch of parked cars, move on to the next spot. That next stop is likely Independence Creek. You can find this one by heading west on Market Street out of the city of Independence, and there are a lot of spots between the first campground you come to all the way up to about 8 miles out of town. Independence Creek serves as the northern boundary of the early-opener zone. These are the most popular areas, but there are more creeks coming out of those mountains that are open and fishable. So if you see the fishing sign, go with your gut, turn left and check it out. Also note that the Owens River,

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SIERRA while on the east side of Highway 395, is open to year-round ﬁshing.

TARGETING TROUT AT YOUR FEET You can ﬁsh these creeks like any moving water in the Eastern Sierra, but they are smaller than, say, Convict, Mammoth, McGee and Rush Creeks up in Mono County. You can jump across most of these creeks and are often targeting trout that are right at your feet or at the very most, a short cast away. Top tactics include ﬁshing plunge pools with mini-jigs or spinners, split-shotting trout worms, Berkley Gulp! ’crawlers, crickets or salmon eggs in any deeper holes near shallows. You’re targeting undercut banks and areas where trout may be hiding under overhanging brush. If you need accommodations, the Whitney Portal Hotel and store is a clean, centrally located place to stay with great bang-for-your-buck factor,

Author Mike Stevens pulls a trout out of one of the Eastern Sierra’s many small creeks that hold plenty of ﬁsh. Just make sure you’re in a stream that’s open all the way up to the opener. Even a veteran like Stevens has accidentally ﬁshed in water that was still closed. (MIKE STEVENS)

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SIERRA

Sand traps like this one receive stocker trout and provide early birds a shot at catching ﬁsh before the ofﬁcial opener and its usual angler gridlock. (MIKE STEVENS)

and its staffers are an excellent source of up-to-date area info. Give them a call at (760) 876-0030 and visit them

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want to wait that long you can ﬁnd some bonus bliss throughout this month. CS

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SOCAL

THE EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE BASS

GET YOUR LOTTERY ENTRY IN NOW FOR THE FIRST SHOT AT LAKE BARRETT’S UNPRESSURED LARGEMOUTH

By Bill Schaefer

et ready, everyone: San Diego’s Lake Barrett fishing spots go on sale in April for the early May opening. Why am I bringing this up in March? Well, the lottery for spaces handled by TicketMaster is always held the month before the dates you wish to fish. Barrett has been shut down for about six months and when it opens again, bass will be hitting every lure you can throw at them. With the water up, the lake’s bass will head straight to the brush, as they traditionally do, so get ready to flip, use frogs and call them out with buzzbaits.

Rich Swettenam shows off a nice Barrett bass he took on a Yamamoto Ika. This private lake’s spring opener is in May, but demand is such that the earlier you sign up through a lottery, the more likely you’ll get a chance to ﬁsh early in the season. (BILL SCHAEFER)

PAST RAINFALL PAYS OFF As far as the lake’s level, all the rains from the last couple of years definitely brought the water up. At the time of this writing, the lake was about 39 feet from spill, whereas this month last year it was 43 feet from spill and 83 the year before that. That translates into a lot more shoreline to fish, along with a lot of brush for the fish to hide in. As I mentioned, the bass run to the brush when they have it at this lake, so you will need to fish worms such as the old favorite, Senkos, plus jigs. There should be topwater action early. Buzzbaits seem to call the fish out of the sunken brush here, so make sure you have one tied on. Spinnerbaits and crankbaits are good too. Remember that this is a catch-and-release lake with no barbed hooks allowed. But you do not have to flatten hook barbs until a lure is tied on.

With all that brush, you will want to go with heavier line. The bass are not line-shy here, so why risk losing a big one? I use my Daiwa Tatula gear spooled up with either their new Jx8 braid in 50-pound green, or, if using mono, Maxima 12- to 20-pound Ultragreen. You want to be able to turn that ﬁsh’s head and get him headed in your direction so you can pull him out of the thick brush.

DOOR TO WATER SERVICE Barrett feels like you’re ﬁshing a private impoundment. You feel special being led into the lake in the morning by the ranger. With the water up, the few boats will be spread out, giving everyone more room to ﬁsh.

There are a ton of bass in this lake and remember, they haven’t seen a lure in six to seven months. This is also a great place to introduce your kids to bass fishing – they will catch fish here. The first couple of months are always the best time to come, but with high water, who knows what will happen? Tickets usually go on sale the second Tuesday of the month before you wish to visit and will stay on sale through TicketMaster until all spaces are sold out, that is, 100 spaces a day for 25 boats. Kayaks and float tubes are welcome too. You can check out all the details at sandiego.gov/water/recreation/reservoirs/barrett. CS

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GET THEM OUT OF BEDS CALICO BITING AS OCEAN WARMS, BUT YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO KICK ’EM OUT OF THE KELP

By Capt. Bill Schaefer

ith the more moderate winter we’ve had and ocean waters warming up, calicos seem to be moving early this season. Kelp bed action is taking off all up and down the Southern California coast. Some calico anglers know that to get the big ones, you have to go in to where they live. Most know the big, smart old ones lurk in the thickest cover, the kelp and rock it’s attached to. The most common way anglers fish the kelp is to find the stringers and throw swimbaits to the edge of the thicker visible kelp. But you can also increase your strikes by entering the fish’s domain – that is, throw your bait down the alleyways between the stringers.

THINK LIKE A CALICO There are a few ways to do this and have fun: Freshwater bass anglers have been doing this for years with their mouse or frog imitations over floating weed beds. As a calico fisherman, you can use weedless swimbaits like a Big Hammer, MC Swimbaits and Big Panchos and throw them over the thicker kelp. Race the bait along the surface over the thick kelp and pause at any openings. Wham! Calico will explode up through the kelp and attack it! Another trick is to use a weedless jig to fish the thicker kelp. Some companies specialize in making these for kelp fishermen, models such as Reebs Lures Kelp Sassin’ and the Trix Jetty Worm. Dropped down the side of a kelp stringer or through small holes in the canopy, these baits can be deadly. Ever been flipping for calicos? It is a blast.

Wyatt Cargel with a nice calico he took from the kelp on a Big Hammer swimbait in toast while ﬁshing off San Diego’s Point Loma. Warm waters should mean active ﬁsh. (BILL SCHAEFER)

COME OUT AND PLAY Now that you are going in after the calicos, how do you get them out of the thick kelp? You will need the right equipment and a little knowhow. For the rod and reel, heavy freshwater to medium saltwater will do the trick. I like to use a heavy-duty Daiwa Proteus trigger stick, just as if I was trying to pull a largemouth out of some tree stumps. Try something like a Daiwa Lexa 300 reel loaded with 50-pound-test Maxima braid. You deﬁnitely want to go with 50-plus-pound braid, es-

pecially for throwing swim-, rat- or frog-type baits, and set up over the thick canopy. For flipping bait, I’ll use the same set-up with Mustad Power Point hooks in 2/0 to 5/0. I like to throw the largest sardines on hand, or mackerel. A 6- to 12-inch mackerel will definitely get a wall-hanging calico if you can entice him out of the kelp. A small split shot is the only weight you may need. You just to get the baitfish to swim down. I place it right at the hook and wait for a strike. CS

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‘DROP TINE DREAMS’

When author Brittany Boddington relocated from Los Angeles to Arizona, a plethora of deer hunting opportunities awaited, and the ﬁrst place she tried was in the mountains north of Phoenix around Sedona. (BRAD JANNENGA)

TAKING UP HER BOW AGAIN TO HUNT MULE DEER IN HER NEW HOME STATE OF ARIZONA LEAVES BRITTANY EAGER FOR MORE CHANCES AT BIG BUCKS By Brittany Boddington

s a recent transplant to the state of Arizona, I can’t help but notice that the number of NRA and SCI bumper stickers on cars and trucks is dramatically higher than it is back in my hometown of Los Angeles. My ﬁrst adventure in my new home was an archery mule deer hunt up by Sedona, about a twohour drive north of Phoenix. The hunting area is public land and the tags are available over the countcalsportsmanmag.com | MARCH 2018 California Sportsman

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er, which is amazing! Unfortunately, I hadn’t shot my bow in about two years; the last time was in Australia for an episode of Petersen’s Hunting, when I managed to get two different species of Rusa deer in one week. I then retired my bow and went back to my beloved rifle. My boyfriend Brad Jannenga is a diehard bowhunter, and I started practicing again right before we went on this hunt. Brad will happily hunt with anything – rifle, muzzleloader or bow – but at heart he is really an archer. We packed up the trailer, hooked it to the truck and headed out to give mule deer a go. We each had a tag but Brad really wanted to let me try first since I have never shot one with a bow.

Coming from the toasty Valley of the Sun, Boddington and her boyfriend Brad Jannenga needed to bundle up and build a ﬁre to stay warm while glassing for bucks. (BRAD JANNENGA)

OUR FIRST MORNING OUT was when I realized that I had underestimated the cold of northern Arizona. Sedona is just south of Flagstaff and is well above 4,000 feet. It’s a world away from the scorching Valley of the Sun and the Phoenix metro area, where I now live. It was sunny and beautiful at the house when we left, but here it was next to freezing. Bowhunting involves a lot of glassing and very little action until a deer is spotted. We hiked up to a rockpile overlooking a valley and glassed for what seemed like an eternity as the sun slowly came up over the mountains. The area was beautiful – green and lush. At last a deer appeared, followed by a few more, and we watched carefully and hoped to see a male worth stalking. A young buck with decent antlers came out and I decided to give it a shot. Brad’s theory is that the more stalks you go on, the more likely it is that one will work out. It’s the simple law of averages. I decided to try, so I made my way down the hill and into the val134 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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After spotting a young buck and some does, the author tried to get into position to intercept them for a shot with her bow. (BRAD JANNENGA)

ley while trying to stay silent and keep an idea about where I last saw the buck. When I got to the bottom I couldn’t see any deer but knew that they had to be close, so I crouched down and waited. I listened intently, hoping to catch the sound of a twig snapping or a leaf crunching, but I heard nothing but silence. It was frustrating. As I was about to give up, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. A doe was standing around 20 yards from me. I had no cover between her and me but she had not seen me yet. I didn’t dare breathe.

She slowly fed past me and another doe followed her. My heart was pounding with anticipation and I prayed that the buck was behind them, but he never showed. He must have split and gone in another direction. I waited until the deer were out of sight and then headed back up the hill. Stalk number one didn’t pan out but at least I had gotten into the deer on my ﬁrst try, so there was hope.

THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS passed in the same manner: Spot a deer; stalk a deer; watch a deer at close range;

136 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

and ultimately, spook or leave the deer. I was getting discouraged. One exceptionally cold morning I had hit my limit. When we spotted a little buck I suggested that Brad take a turn going on a stalk. Brad obliged and headed down in the same direction I had gone the ﬁrst day. He sneaked down into a little cut, set up and waited for the group of deer to go past him. He wasn’t waiting long when another deer showed up from the opposite direction and startled him. It was a bigger buck than the one he had gone down there for, giving him

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Brad Jannenga, a diehard bowhunter, took advantage of an opportunity to take a decent buck with a quartering-away shot made from 65 yards. (BRITTANY BODDINGTON/BRAD JANNENGA)

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the opportunity to ďŹ ll the freezer. Brad took a quartering shot at 65 yards and the buck ran. I spotted the deer from the top of the hill and thought it was hit, but it disappeared. However, while looking for the deer I spotted a couple does acting odd. They kept looking into the bushes behind them. I could clearly see Brad around

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Defeated but not discouraged, Boddington hopes the big buck she spotted toward the end of her hunt will still be around when bow season returns to her new home state this fall. (BRAD JANNENGA)

100 yards to their right, so the does were not looking at him. I wondered if perhaps the does were watching the wounded mule deer that Brad had shot. When I got to Brad I told him what I had seen and sure enough, the deer he shot was dead in the bushes where the does had been looking. It was not a massive buck but it was larger than any that I had stalked so far. I congratulated him while kicking myself for not going on that stalk.

WE SPOTTED THE BIGGEST we’d seen the whole week on the next day. It had drop tines and was truly beautiful. It was no monster for the record books, but it was the biggest mule deer I had ever encountered in person. I was sure this deer was meant for me. Unfortunately, the circumstances never worked out to give me a stalking opportunity. We always spotted the big deer as he disappeared over a far-off hill or rounded a mountainside. I prayed the buck would make it through hunting season so I could try again for him this year. Until then, I’ll be having drop tine dreams. CS Editor’s note: Hunter, journalist and adventurer Brittany Boddington is a Los Angeles native now living in Arizona. For more, check out brittanyboddington.com and facebook.com/brittanybodington. 140 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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HUNTING

Shed Training 201

Bleached-out sheds are usually located by sight, not smell. Here, author Scott Haugen’s pudelpointer Echo brings in a mule deer antler she found while scouring thick willows on a quail hunt. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

By Scott Haugen

n last May’s column we focused on introducing shed antlers to your puppy. With shed hunting season upon us, teaching your pup how to ﬁnd old, bleached sheds will increase the number they’ll locate in the woods. Dogs are color blind, so they naturally pick up on white due to the stark contrast with the surroundings. This is why white bumpers are widely used in retriever training. With so many white objects in the

woods, teaching a pup to recognize the shape of white antlers is the initial goal in training with one. This can be achieved by introducing them to an old, white shed, should you have it, or a synthetic one. Fabricated white sheds designed for training can be purchased at many sporting goods and pet stores. These fake antlers are smooth and feel like a soft plastic, almost rubber. The soft texture of these white dummy antlers serves two purposes. First, there are no sharp points, edges or burrs, so young pups can mouth

them and pick them up without getting hurt, which can turn some dogs off of sheds. Second, the white color is easy for dogs to see, and the more times they see the white shed placed in different settings, the more likely they are to recognize the real thing in the wild. Introduce the synthetic, white shed to the pup by hand in a fun, familiar setting. Play with the pup and get it excited about the new object. You want the pup to be as interested as possible in this experience. Let the pup mouth the fake shed,

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HUNTING exploring every part of it. This may take some guidance on your part, making sure they nibble on the tines, main beams and pedicles. After a minute or so, take the fake shed away. You want to remove the shed while the puppy’s interest is peaked, not once it starts losing interest.

IN A DAY or two, reintroduce the fake

White antler training dummies are great for getting a puppy used to mouthing them and picking them up, as they are soft and have no sharp points or burrs. They are also perfect for teaching pups to recognize bleached antlers in the woods, by shape. (SCOTT HAUGEN)

shed in a different setting, like outside. Again, play with the pup and make the experience fun. If the pup will pick up the dummy, or drag it, encourage this behavior. If the pup’s interest is high, toss the shed a short distance, encouraging the pup to go after it. A couple days later, take the fake shed outside and place it on the ground so the pup can easily see it; remember, a small pup is nearly at ground level. Then take the puppy outside on a leash, and eventually guide it toward the shed. The pup may recognize it from a distance, or

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it may need to get close in order to see and remember the shed. As your pup progresses in recognizing the shed, continue hiding it in different places. In order to keep the pup from picking up on your scent on the fake shed, wash it with soap and water and handle it with rubber gloves. You want the pup to visually pick up on the shed, not discover it by smell. Introducing a white shed antler dummy to your pup can be done anywhere from 10 weeks to 18 months of age, but the sooner the better. Of course, the older and stronger the pup gets, the greater its ability to pick it up, carry it and bring it to you.

AS PUP MATURES and easily handles the fake shed in its mouth, it’s time to introduce real sheds. Let them mouth and lightly chew on real sheds, be they bleached or brown, so they get used to the hard feel. But don’t treat sheds as chew toys. Sheds are not toys, rather something a dog will hunt for and retrieve to hand. You don’t give pups whole birds to chew on, and sheds should be treated the same way. The dog’s reward in shed hunting is finding them, retrieving to hand, and receiving praise from you. Because white sheds are easier for humans to see than fresh, brown sheds, and hard for dogs to smell, teaching your pup how to follow hand signals is a good idea. Oftentimes you’ll spot a shed from a distance, and you can guide your dog to it by hand signals. When introducing sheds to your pup, make it fun. The more fun a dog has, the more likely they’ll be to work and find sheds. Teaching your dog to find fresh as well as old, bleached sheds will result in more retrieved – and you learning more about the bucks in the area you hunt. NS

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Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is the host of The Hunt, on Netﬂix. To watch his series of puppy training videos, visit scotthaugen. com. Follow Scott on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.

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CO. PROFILE A selection of some of the custom products available from Exquisite Knives and owner David Ellis. (EXQUISITE KNIVES)

EXQUISITE KNIVES COMPANY NAME Exquisite Knives WHAT THEY DO Exquisite Knives specializes in high-end collectibles from the world’s greatest bladesmiths. They assist longtime knife collectors and novices in ﬁnding the rarest and most beautiful custom knives in the world from their home base in Vista, California. CONTACT (760) 945-7177; exquisiteknives.com

California Sportsman It looks you were a knife collector dating back to your childhood. What sparked your interest in knives? Exquisite Knives owner Dave Ellis Early on, I was drawn to the strong, folding hunters carried by sportsmen and tough guys (Buck 110 and Puma). Of course, movies had an inﬂuence also – from John Wayne to Steve McQueen.

CS What was your favorite vintage knife, as this really became a passion for you? DE Once I began to collect in earnest, my early choices centered around Asian-inﬂuenced blades such as the tanto. Larger Bowies and combat

knives were also my earlier choices.

CS You had a couple of mentors/ colleagues in Martin Kruse and Al Barton. Tell us about the influences they had on you? DE Martin Kruse introduced me to bladesmithing and sword making; it was my first entry into forging, grinding, heat-treating and finishing a knife. Once I moved to San Diego, Al Barton was instrumental in helping me refine my work, as well as showing me forge-welding techniques. I would never have attained my mastersmith stamp without either of them. CS What are some of your products

that outdoors lovers like anglers and hunters should be interested in? DE I do not do a lot of ﬁshing-type knives, but I always have a great supply of custom-made hunting and camping knives that are made by some of the world’s best makers. I also have a very higher-end clientele wanting collectible pieces that may never be used.

CS How critical is having a reliable knife when you’re out in the ﬁeld? DE A knife is a tool and it is one tool that you should not skimp on when it comes to dollars and cents. One never knows when their life may be on the line. It really pays to spend that extra dollar. CS

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the LAST LAUGH

Editor's note: To see more illustrations from Tim “Spike” Davis, check out his website at scatteredthoughtscartoons.com.

HUNTING

ARCHERY

• Winchester • Glock • Primos Bows & Arrows • Smith & Wesson • Bowtech • Diamond

FISHING

Fly Fishing & Traditional • Redington • RIO • Berkley • Fenwick

530-621-4500

3000 Mosquito Rd. Placerville Shop Online At: www.MosquitoCreekOutﬁtter.com 150 California Sportsman MARCH 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com

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