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California
Sportsman
Volume 14 • Issue 10
Your LOCAL Hunting & Fishing Resource
PUBLISHER James R. Baker
ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Katie Aumann
GENERAL MANAGER John Rusnak
INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER Lois Sanborn
EXECUTIVE EDITOR Andy Walgamott
ADVERTISING INQUIRIES ads@calsportsmanmag.com
EDITOR Chris Cocoles
CORRESPONDENCE Email ccocoles@media-inc.com Twitter @CalSportsMan Facebook.com/californiasportsmanmagazine
CONTRIBUTORS Scott Haugen, Tiffany Haugen, Brandon Honig, Cal Kellogg, Todd Kline, Bill Schaefer SALES MANAGER Paul Yarnold ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Hanna Gagley, Mamie Griffin, Kelley Miller, Riland Risden, Mike Smith DESIGNER Lesley-Anne Slisko-Cooper PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kelly Baker DIGITAL STRATEGIST Jon Hines
ON THE COVER Redwood Coast Fishing guide Mike Stratman (right) expects the North Coast fall-run king salmon run to provide solid fishing. Some seasons will start in August and others in September at various rivers, including the Klamath and Trinity. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING) MEDIA INC PUBLISHING GROUP 941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120 Renton, WA 98057 (800) 332-1736 • Fax (206) 382-9437 media@media-inc.com www.mediaindexpublishing.com
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CONTENTS
VOLUME 14 • ISSUE 10
49 COAST IS
CLEARED FOR SALMON FISHING
The Klamath River drainage fall-run king salmon fishing opens on Aug. 15, with the Trinity and other North Coast fisheries starting on Sept. 1. Despite a modest run on the Klamath expected, guide Mike Stratman of Redwood Coast Fishing expects some solid results this fall and previews fishing on coastal rivers. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING)
FEATURES
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
43
STAMPEDE OF KOKANEE A man, a dog, a kayak and a beautiful Sierra lake full of hungry and feisty kokanee. Cal Kellogg, a longtime Northern California outdoors writer and fishing fanatic, makes his California Sportsman debut with two reports this month. First up is a trip to the Tahoe-area gem known as Stampede Reservoir, where anglers can score plenty of these landlocked sockeye salmon. Join Cal, his fishing partner Lucy the Lab and their kayak for the experience.
15 19 23 25 29 37 75
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CRANKBAIT CHRONICLES Bass anglers heading to their favorite largemouth lakes to try their luck should make sure their tackle boxes have plenty of crankbait options. You can bet that’s what Bill Schaefer will be doing on his excursions throughout Southern California. “They come in all sizes, shapes, and colors,” Schaefer writes. “There are some crankbaits that look like they would never catch a fish.” But trust Capt. Bill to catch fish as he breaks down why crankbaits rock.
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SHOOTING TIPS, THE SEQUEL Last month, our From Field to Fire column focused on the first of a two-part series on how to become a more accurate shooter as hunting seasons beckon in the next few months. Now, Scott Haugen offers up seven more talking points that will help you fill your tags this fall. Scott’s wife Tiffany Haugen whips up a grilled big game fajitas recipe for your summer or fall cookout.
The Editor’s Note The Adventures of Todd Kline Photo contest winners Outdoor calendar USFWS sturgeon tagging research Folsom Lake ‘bows, kings Last-minute gun dog tips for hunting season
Read California Sportsman on your desktop or mobile device. Go to www.calsportsmanmag.com/digital California Sportsman is published monthly by Media Index Publishing Group, 941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120, Renton, WA 98057. Annual subscriptions are $29.95 (12 issues). Send check or money order to Media Index Publishing Group, or call (206) 382-9220 with VISA or M/C. 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 © 2022 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. 12 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
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THEEDITOR’SNOTE
T
he house I grew up in was perched near the top of a steep hill in San Bruno, just south of San Francisco. At the bottom of the hill, about a quarter-mile away, was a 7-Eleven convenience store. The walk back up the hill wasn’t as easy heading down, but it was still a worthwhile trip for me, my sisters and friends from the neighborhood for various items – usually Slurpees, candy or other snacks. When I got older in the mid-1980s and was begging for a car of my own, the magazine stand was my primary reason for the trek to 7-Eleven. So while Auto Trader was a typical purchase – I would circle the cars I liked to give my dad a hint before we settled on that 1977 Mustang that somehow got me through junior college and even my first year away at Fresno State – so was the Fish Sniffer. West Coast anglers can understand why that magazine meant so much to us over the years. Back then as a teenager I couldn’t get enough of the local fishing reports that famed publication put out. Like the used cars in Auto Trader, I made mental notes of the hot local fisheries for me and friends to head out to – at least when we had access to a car or a ride from a parent. Decades later, my current journalism job is to edit and write stories about fishing and the outdoors, and starting this month it’s all come full circle. Cal Kellogg, a Fish Sniffer alum and former part owner of the magazine, is contributing two pieces to the August 2022 California Sportsman on Stampede Reservoir and Folsom Lake. Cal’s Fish Sniffer (and Bay Area) roots aren’t much different than mine, as it turns out. “I started reading the Sniffer in 1987. I was in college at the time and I’d pick it up at Marina Liquors in San Leandro, where I’d buy sardines and other bait for fishing the South Bay,” Kellogg told me. Later on, he took an editor’s position there. “At that point it was game on … I fished everywhere from Yellowstone, to central Mexico, Baja, throughout Alaska and the Gulf of Alaska,” he said. “And I fished with so many great people like Capt. Barry Canevaro (I wrote a book with him), Captains James, Jim, Chris, Jonathan and Steve Smith, Mike Bogue, Buzz Ramsey, Kevin Brock. And the list goes on and on.” In 2008, Cal and fellow outdoors writers Paul Kneeland and Dan Bacher purchased the Fish Sniffer from the Bonslett family, and Cal stayed on until 2020, when he “was really ready to move on.” Allen Bonslett, the publisher when Cal came aboard and son of Fish Sniffer founders Hal and Winnie Bonslett, had passed away from cancer in 2016. “When Allen passed I really felt that it left a hole in the publication, even though he was no longer the owner or running day-to-day operations,” said Kellogg. “He was a close adviser and really the spiritual compass of the publication, for lack of a better term.” Cal now lives near Auburn in the Sierra foothills and is still chasing Cal Kellogg, who fish (and gold as a partcontributed two time prospector), and stories for this month’s issue, was a longtime we’re excited to have editor and eventual another Fish Sniffer fan – part-owner of the Fish and one who had a major Sniffer, which was impact on that magazine’s must-read content readers for years – aboard. for the editor years earlier. (CAL KELLOGG) -Chris Cocoles
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s e r u t n e v d A
I attended the 2022 ICAST convention in Orlando, Florida. I enjoyed seeing old friends and checking out new products. Here, I am filming with Tacklewarehouse sharing the new Okuma Ceymar reels. (TODD KLINE) Yamamoto launched some new baits at ICAST, and I was able to grab a few bags of the new Speed Senko. Let’s just say they work. (TODD KLINE)
My longtime friend Charlie Coleman and I entered a team tournament in Florida after ICAST. We had a great time together and ended up winning with over 18 pounds of bass. (TODD KLINE)
W
e’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 toddklinefishing. com, and you can follow him on Instagram at @ toddokrine. –The Editor
I had a blast fishing in my home state of Florida after the ICAST show. A passing Florida shower made for quite a scene at famed Lake Okeechobee. (TODD KLINE)
calsportsmanmag.com calsportsmanmag.com || AUGUST AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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I always love this: Sunrise on the lake back home in Southern California. This was on Lower Otay in San Diego. (TODD KLINE) Caught a pair of nice swimbait fish at Diamond Valley Lake. (TODD KLINE)
California Sportsman AUGUST | calsportsmanmag.com 20 20 California Sportsman AUGUST 20222022 | calsportsmanmag.com
Here’s a nice fish that fell for the UFO Wakebait. (TODD KLINE)
22 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
PHOTO
CONTEST
WINNERS!
Todd Koskiniemi is the winner of our monthly Coast Fishing Photo Contest, thanks to this shot of buddy Jerry Hess and his big fall Chinook, caught last season on the Columbia River. It wins him a knife and light from Coast!
Rich Mcleod is our monthly Coast Hunting Photo Contest winner, thanks to this pic of wife Jamie and her Northwest Oregon blacktail buck from fall 2021. It wins him a knife and light from Coast!
For your shot at winning a Coast knife and light, send your photos and pertinent (who, what, when, where) details to ccocoles@media-inc.com or California Sportsman, 941 Powell Ave SW, Suite 120, Renton, WA 98057. By sending us photos, you affirm you have the right to distribute them for our print or Internet publications. calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
23
AUGUST
OUTDOOR CALENDAR
6 Lake Berryessa Team Kokanee Derby; kokaneepower.org 6-14 Most archery pronghorn antelope hunting season dates 13 Zone A deer hunting season opens (South Unit 110 and North Unit 160) 13-21 Owens Valley Multiple Zone archery-only bull tule elk hunt dates Klamath River fall-run king salmon fishing season opens 15 16-19 Grizzly Island Period 1 apprentice antlerless archery tule elk hunt dates 18-21 Grizzly Island Period 2 apprentice archery spike bull tule elk hunt dates 20 Archery-only and falconry quail, grouse and chukar hunting seasons open 20 Zones B-1, B-2, B-3, B-5 and B-6 archery deer hunting seasons open 20 Most D Zone archery deer hunting seasons open 20 Yurok Tribe Klamath Salmon Festival, Yurok Tribal Headquarters, Klamath; yuroktribe.org 20-28 Most general and apprentice pronghorn antelope hunting season dates 26 Start of Ambush at the Lake fall fishing derby, Convict Lake; convictlake.com or (800) 992-2260 31–Sept 11 Northeastern California either-sex Rocky Mountain elk hunting season dates
1-15 3
First dove hunting season dates Statewide Free Fishing Day (no general fishing license required); wildlife.ca.gov/licensing/fishing/free-fishin-days 3-29 East Park Reservoir antlerless and bull tule elk hunting season dates 7-18 Marble Mountain anterless and bull Roosevelt elk hunting season dates 10 Zone Q1 mountain quail hunting season opens 10 Sooty (blue) and ruffed grouse hunting season opens 10-18 White-tailed ptarmigan hunting season dates 11 Shaver Lake Team Kokanee Derby; kokaneepower.org 14-25 Northeastern California either-sex Rocky Mountain elk apprentice hunting season dates 15-30 Grizzly Island tule elk hunting season dates 17 Stillwater Classic catch-and-release fly fishing tournament, Crowley Lake Fish Camp; crowleylakefishcamp.com or (760) 935-4301 17 Most Zone B and C and D-6 and D-7 deer hunting seasons open 17 Zone X-9A deer hunting season opens 19-26 North Zone band-tailed pigeon hunting season dates 24 Zones D-3, D-4, D-5, D-8, D-9 and D-10 deer hunting seasons open 24 Zone X-8 deer hunting season opens 24 Zone Q2 all-quail hunting season opens
SEPTEMBER 1
Trinity River fall-run king salmon fishing season opens
Note: With Covid-19 restrictions uncertain, always confirm events before attending. General bear season opens concurrently with general deer season in the A, B, C, D, X8, X9A, X9B, X10 and X12 deer hunting zones and extends through December 25, 2022. For a list of upcoming bass tournaments, go to nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FishingContests/default.aspx. Fall-run king salmon fishing on the Klamath River opens on Aug. 15. (REDWOOD NATIONAL AND STATE PARKS) calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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FISHING Nick Fischer and Andreas Raisch (right) of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set a net to catch white sturgeon in the San Joaquin River on April 12 near Manteca. USFWS hopes the tagging of these fish will provide valuable data about these anadromous giants, the largest freshwater fish in North America. (BRANDON HONIG/USFWS)
TAGGING AND FOLLOWING WHITE STURGEON RESEARCH PROVIDES VALUABLE DATA FOR BIOLOGISTS By Brandon Honig
W
hen Austin Demarest and his U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service team started looking for white sturgeon to tag in the San Joaquin River in March, he knew some days would be uneventful on the boat at dawn for a full day of setting and retrieving empty nets. Other days, however, would put them to the test. Their first morning on the river,
the Lodi Fish and Wildlife Office team anchored four 12-foot-tall nets to the river bottom and to the shoreline about 100 feet away, then waited to see which kind of day it would be. “We captured seven within the first 30 minutes. In past years, we were lucky if we got two in a single capture,” said Demarest, who had over two years of experience surgically implanting tiny acoustic transmitters, or tags, in white sturgeon and other fish. “Catching
seven at a time was a completely new experience. It was pretty hectic.” Even for an experienced threeperson team, it’s not always easy to untangle and subdue one white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America and which can be more than 6 feet long. Sometimes, according to Demarest, it’s better to just cut through small sections of the net. “We want to get the fish out of the net as soon as possible to limit potential
calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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FISHING stress,” he said. “We’re already going to stress it enough by making an incision and implanting a tag.” Once out of the net, while being held in the river, the team slides the sturgeon head-first into a custom-built cradle that limits mobility and blocks light, keeping the fish calm. Then they turn the fish on its back, which induces a state of paralysis known as tonic immobility in sturgeon and sharks. “They can thrash during a surgery, but usually it’s somewhat minimal,” Demarest said. “I try to be as delicate as I can when making the incision or suturing the incision closed.” The incision is made 3 to 4 centimeters long, or about 1.2 to 1.6 inches, then the tag is inserted into the abdominal cavity, where it will transmit the sturgeon’s location for 10 years. Fischer (left), Justin McClain and Austin Demarest, USFWS biologists based in Lodi, prepare a white sturgeon to be implanted with a tracking tag May 3 in the San Joaquin River near Manteca. (BRANDON HONIG/USFWS)
30 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
SURGICAL PRACTICE The first operation of the season took about six minutes. Because of the surprising seven-fish catch that
FISHING morning, the team decided to turn a few loose without surgery, rather than add to the fishes’ stress by holding them in Demarest’s “wading room.” A few weeks later, the team recaptured a sturgeon it had tagged five days earlier. Demarest saw his sutures were tight and the wound was beginning to heal properly, boosting his confidence in his handiwork. “You need the perfect balance of having the suture secure, but also not too tight where you will tear through the skin,” he said. “It’s an in-between, gentle-touch type of thing.” Each of the season’s 11 surgeries went smoothly, and every fish seemed to be in good condition afterward, Demarest noted. “It can be nerve-racking, though, to operate on a fish that, in some cases, is older than you and has survived decades of predation, fishing pressure, droughts and other threats, only to end up in a Fish and Wildlife Service net,” he said. “You don’t want to be the one who injures a fish after it overcame so many obstacles.”
Supervisory fish biologist Demarest sutures a white sturgeon after implanting a small tracking tag in its abdomen. Sturgeon enter a state of paralysis known as tonic immobility when turned on their backs. (BRANDON HONIG/USFWS)
As the season progressed, the team got more comfortable and refined their process. Now surgery takes about three minutes – half as long as the first time.
Fischer (left), McClain and Demarest measure a white sturgeon before implanting it with a tracking tag May 3 in the San Joaquin River near Manteca. (BRANDON HONIG/USFWS) 32 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
FILLING THE DATA GAP In eight years of tagging since 2012, the Lodi office has implanted over 100 transmitters in white sturgeon. Among other things, their data will be used to inform the design of fish-passage improvement projects around dams and other obstructions that prevent fish from reaching potential habitat in the San Joaquin River system. “Sturgeon don’t have the same jumping capabilities that salmon do. They stay closer to the bottom of the river, mostly as bottom-dwellers,” said Heather Swinney, San Joaquin River restoration program coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “Therefore, fish-passage improvement projects require a different level of design consideration to provide sturgeon passage under all water-year types and low-flow situations.” Due to the presence of Chinook salmon and the future potential of steelhead in the upper San Joaquin River basin, it is a priority for projects to provide fish passage for those species. Compared to salmon and steelhead, less is known about the white sturgeon migration patterns in
FISHING the San Joaquin River system, or that of the threatened green sturgeon, which likely follow a similar pattern. “We have so many questions regarding their use of habitat, spawning timing, survivorship, movement and response to water-operations management actions,” Swinney said. “Are sturgeon in this area? Are they heavily using this area, or are they only there in certain water-year types and certain situations? Without these movement and migration tracking projects, it would leave a data gap in what we know.” In addition to aiding habitatprotection and restoration actions, the acoustic telemetry data will contribute to a growing body of information on habitat use that may one day help
inform water-operation management decisions, including flow releases from dams and tributaries.
ANCIENT WONDERS OF THE WATER Sturgeon family fossils have been dated to about 200 million years ago, before the evolution of some dinosaurs – and today’s sturgeon sort of look like it. They have an elongated snout and a toothless mouth on the bottom of their body that sucks up food. Their tail fin resembles a shark’s, and they have five rows of bony “scutes” along the length of their body that stick out and act as armor. Over 17 days of sturgeon sampling, the members of Demarest’s team changed frequently, rotating nine different people. They all worked
early hours and long days, sometimes in very cold weather or very hot weather, or both. And they were all excited for the work. “Everybody was like, ‘All I want to do is catch a sturgeon!’” Demarest said. “Sturgeon have been around for a very long time and they haven’t changed very much, so you’re seeing a species that’s been able to persist when a lot of other species have gone extinct,” he said. “That experience of catching a sturgeon is probably something they’ll take with them for a long period of time.” CS Editor’s note: Brandon Honig is a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. For more on the Pacific Southwest Region, check out fws.gov/cno.
Heather Swinney and Demarest look for white sturgeon to tag in the San Joaquin River on April 12. The team anchored four 12-foot-tall nets to the river bottom and to the shoreline about 100 feet away to catch sturgeon. “Sturgeon have been around for a very long time and they haven’t changed very much, so you’re seeing a species that’s been able to persist when a lot of other species have gone extinct,” Demarest said. (BRANDON HONIG/USFWS)
34 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
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FISHING
Bill Wager fooled this incredible 8.5-pound Folsom Lake king salmon fast trolling a red/gold Speedy Shiner 65 feet deep. While Folsom’s drought-affected waters and hot summer conditions make this Sacramento-area lake a challenge to fish, the rewards are worth the risk for anglers. (JERRY LAMPKIN/T.N.G. MOTORSPORTS GUIDE SERVICE)
WORTH THE GAMBLE
TRUE, FOLSOM LAKE IS UNPREDICTABLE, BUT TROLLERS ARE CATCHING EXTRA-BIG CHINOOK, TROUT By Cal Kellogg
N
orCal trout and salmon anglers have a love-hate relationship with Folsom Lake. On one hand, we love the big landlocked kings and rainbow trout the reservoir produces. And we love the impoundment’s central location, practically in the shadow of the state capital in Sacramento. It’s an easy destination to access for anglers in the Sacramento Valley and even traveling folks from the Bay Area. On the flip side, we hate Folsom’s
wildly fluctuating water levels, and we really hate the inconsistency the fishery exhibits. You can walk away from Folsom one day with mixed limits of big sassy trout and salmon, only to get skunked the next day with no apparent change in conditions. That’s disconcerting for most anglers. Let’s face it: Once we have a bite dialed in, we like to enjoy it for a little while before we go back to square one. If you chase kings and ’bows at Folsom, even if you fish it a lot, embrace change because you aren’t likely to enjoy much in the
way of consistency.
FOLSOM FACTS For the uninitiated, Folsom is a medium-sized reservoir by NorCal standards, boasting 11,500 surface acres and about 75 miles of shoreline when at capacity. The reservoir was formed in 1955 when Folsom Dam was completed and impounded the waters of the North and South Forks of the American River. As a result, the lake consists of a main body and two extensive river arms. In the main body, where the two
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FISHING river channels merge, you’ll find deep water in excess of 200 feet. The arms are narrow and deep, with substantial rocky structure extending out from the banks.
TROUT, SALMON PLENTIFUL
Milo Weine and his dad Josh were trolling at Folsom Lake with Capt. Jerry Lampkin when this amazing 6.2-pound rainbow decided to strike. Trollers have the best chance of landing a large summer trout. (JERRY LAMPKIN/T.N.G. MOTORSPORTS GUIDE SERVICE) Landlocked kings also swim in Folsom. Josh Weine successfully battled this beautiful 7½-pound king during a recent Folsom Lake trolling adventure. (JERRY LAMPKIN/T.N.G. MOTORSPORTS GUIDE SERVICE)
38 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
Rainbow trout were present in Folsom from day one, both in the form of planted fish and native American River steelhead that were trapped behind the dam. These days you have a shot at freshly planted rainbows in the cold months, holdover rainbows that were stocked but have adapted to the reservoir's environment, and landlocked steelhead that spawn in the forks of the American River and adjoining tributaries. When you hook a native steelhead, you’ll know it; they are long, lean and fight like demons, typically making several wild jumps before yielding to the net. King salmon were first stocked in the lake back in 1999. Early on, fertile kings were planted. The thinking was they wouldn’t be able to successfully
FISHING
Angel Soto celebrated Father’s Day by landing this huge 9.5-pound Folsom king in June. “In a normal year we get rainbows to 3-plus and kings up to 4 pounds, maybe a little more,” guide Jerry Lampkin says. “But this summer we are seeing some really big fish.” (JERRY LAMPKIN/T.N.G. MOTORSPORTS GUIDE SERVICE)
spawn in the river arms. That was a miscalculation and spawning salmon were documented in the south fork. These days sexually sterilized salmon smolts are planted in the lake annually, but it is believed that a population of kings that reproduce in the wild still exists in Folsom.
FOLSOM FISH FOOD So, what fuels this fishery in terms of forage? The answer is both threadfin shad and Japanese pond smelt in prolific numbers. It’s interesting that at times the rainbows and kings will show a preference for one type of baitfish. At other times they will blitz both shad and smelt. Historically, Folsom produces rainbow trout to 5 pounds and landlocked kings to 8 pounds, but this year has proven to be an exception. Rainbows to 7 have been weighed and kings in the 7- to 10-pound class have been common. On the high end, salmon to 13 pounds have been documented!
I headed out to Folsom a few weeks back hoping to get in on the epic king action. I dumped my Hobie Pro Angler 14 kayak at Folsom Point and spent the day plying deep water from the dam to Brown’s Ravine. There have been sporadic reports of good action in the lake’s arms, but day in and day out the best fishing has been concentrated in the main body and the mouths of the American’s South and North Forks. Of course, that day the kings played hard to get, but I did pick up a rainbow and a dandy 3.8-pound smallmouth. The bass grabbed a trolling spoon 60 feet deep in 145 feet of water and I was thinking king salmon all the way until I saw the fish beside the kayak.
A LOCAL’S ADVICE Capt. Jerry Lamkin of T.N.G. Motorsports Guide Service (530-3200994; tngmotorsports.com) is one of the best trollers on the lake and he has been putting his clients on some
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really nice kings and ’bows. “I fish Folsom year-round,” said Lampkin. “Generally, I get kings all year long, but this year was different. We struggled during the winter and early spring, but (in early summer) things really got going for us in terms of big kings and rainbows.” “In a normal year we get rainbows to 3-plus and kings up to 4 pounds, maybe a little more, but this summer we are seeing some really big fish. My clients have gotten rainbows to 6 pounds and kings up to 9.5 pounds.” Lampkin talked about how he sets up his rigs for trout and salmon. “I’m really running three different presentations, and it’s all based on speed. When I go fast, I pull Speedy Shiners at 3 mph. Copper and red has been a solid color for us when targeting kings in 50 to 60 feet of water, but other colors work too,” he said. “When I slow down the next step is rolling shad behind rotating salmon-style flashers at 2 mph. The lowest speed I’ll run is about 1.5 to 1.8. At that speed I’m pulling dodgers and hoochies or other plastics tipped with anchovy meat. The same offerings are hooking trout, but if I want to concentrate on trout I typically mix in a dodger and threaded worm combo trolled above the level of the kings,” Lampkin added. “I find it interesting that neither the trout nor the kings seem interested in pond smelt right now. We are finding shad in most of our fish. One trout had six full-size shad in its stomach.”
SOLID SUMMER OPTION So there you have it. Want a shot at a handsome rainbow? How about the landlocked king of a lifetime? Hook up the boat or load up the kayak, get out to Folsom and get after them. Nobody knows how long this hot summer trolling action is going to last. Sure, there will be pleasure boats and various watercraft to dodge, and yes, you might get skunked (we are talking about Folsom, after all!). But you might just as easily experience the thrill of victory and head home with an ocean-size king in the cooler. CS
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FISHING
STAMPEDE KOKES ARE BACK, BABY! TRUCKEE-AREA FISHERY CHURNING OUT NICE-SIZED FEISTY FIGHTERS By Cal Kellogg
T
he action was fast and furious. I’d just finished putting the first salmon of the day into the softsided cooler when the shallow leadcore rig trolling a corn-tipped pink spinner teamed with a 3-inch midnight blue dodger about 6 feet deep got crushed. “Fish on!” I yelled to the running
DJI Action Camera as I worked to wrench the rod out of the holder. I’m always amazed how hard a decentsized kokanee will fight. This sockeye was using every trick in the book, including hard runs, wild jumps and violent head shaking. The diminutive salmon was only about 15 inches long, but it put the 3- to 5-pound planter rainbows I’d
been catching in the Valley to shame in terms of energy and fight. The first time I brought the salmon to the kayak and prepared to slide it into the net, all hell broke loose. The fish bolted straight down in an impressive power dive that pulled line off the reel and pinned the rod to the rail, eliciting an eruption of schoolgirl-like giggling from me.
Hard fighters and great table fare, kokanee salmon provide anglers with plenty of good action. Stampede Reservoir near Truckee is one of Northern California’s better fisheries and should be a good option the rest of the summer. An orange spoon teamed with a small willow-leaf-shaped dodger closed the deal on this handsome landlocked sockeye. (CAL KELLOGG)
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FISHING The author and his fishing partner Lucy filled out their five-fish kokanee limit by 10 a.m. the first day of their Stampede trip with this fat sockeye. (CAL KELLOGG)
Luck was with me, and I ultimately got the battler into the net without the hooks pulling loose. What a chromebright beauty it was – absolutely clean, with perfect scales and a fat little body that spoke of its robust condition. The fish had been a thrill to catch, and its bright-red fillets would be the centerpiece of an epic meal. Into the cooler it went!
I CONFESS: I’M A certified trout fishing junky, and there are few things I’d rather do than hunt for big highcountry rainbows from my Hobie pedal kayak with my sidekick, Lucy the Labrador. Yet I’ve got to admit that the diminutive kokanee is one of our finest freshwater gamefish, when you consider fighting ability and table fare. There is one proviso, however: the kokanee have to be over 14 inches. Sub-14-inch kokes just don’t do it
for me. Those little 10- to 12-inchers put up a valiant fight, but they just don’t have the size. Heck, most fish in that class lack the bulk to pop the line out of a downrigger clip, plus the fillets are skimpy. A 14-plus-inch sockeye is another beast altogether. In that size class lines are consistently ripped out of downrigger clips, and insane fights like the one I described above are standard. And the fillets are thick red flesh, delicate and sweet, ready for pan frying, barbecuing or smoking into sumptuous Alaskan-style salmon candy. Here in California, thanks to the efforts of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and nonprofit kokanee enhancement organizations, anglers have a long list of kokanee lakes to choose from dotting both the foothills and the high country of the Sierra.
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I’ve hit most of these lakes at one time or another and one of my alltime favorites is Stampede Reservoir. Stampede is beautiful, situated in a pine-studded valley at about 5,800 feet, perhaps 15 miles from Truckee in the Lake Tahoe area. With just short of 3,500 surface acres and 25 miles of shoreline, the impoundment is big enough to provide anglers with some elbow room, but not so big that I feel handicapped fishing out of a kayak. Unfortunately for the past several years, Stampede’s kokanee have been small, averaging about 12 inches, which kept me away. For a lake to produce good-sized kokanee, there is a fine balance. If there are too few fish in the system, they will grow very large, but finding them is typically challenging. If there are too many fish in a lake, they tend to get stunted like overpopulated
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FISHING bluegill in a small pond. Managing a reservoir like Stampede is very challenging, because the kokanee spawn naturally in the lake’s primary tributary, the Little Truckee River. CDFW is always left with the question of how many kokanee to plant at the lake to supplement the natural spawning. Spawning success is a moving target based on several factors, so it’s easy to end up with too many salmon that are on the smallish side in the lake. This year the reservoir is in the sweet zone, where there are plenty of fish and wide-open action is the norm, but there aren’t so many that anglers are forced to sort through a bunch of small fry for a decent eating-size fish. I’d been watching the size of the fish closely this season, and when I learned that the fish were averaging 14 to 15 inches, I planned an overnight
trip. The daily limit at Stampede is five kokanee per day with 10 in possession. My goal was to pull an overnighter and return home with 10 handsome salmon and a lot of kokanee fishing video for my YouTube channel. That’s just what Lucy and I did.
ON DAY ONE, IT it took me a little while to dial in the bite, but we had an easy limit of kokes ranging from 14 to 15¾ inches by 10 a.m. That day I caught fish from 10 feet to 30 feet deep on pink spinners using both leadcore and my crank downrigger. Lucy and I spent the rest of the day exploring and stayed the night at a campground about 15 minutes from Stampede’s launch ramp. The next morning, I had a pretty good handle on the bite. There were some overcast skies, so I figured the fish would stay near the surface throughout the morning. As a result,
I went with a pair of leadcore rods and I pulled a pink spinner teamed with the small blue dodger I mentioned earlier. The other rod sported a willow-leaf-shaped blade trailing a tiny orange wobbling spoon. Both rods hooked fish in the top 12 feet of the water column. There was a limit of kokes from 14½ to 16¼ inches in the cooler by 7:30. Fast and furious action? You bet! My sources tell me the kokanee are even bigger now, with 16-inchers being common and fish to 17½ reported. Want to get your high-country kokanee on? Set a course for Stampede Reservoir, because this fishery is back, baby! CS Editor’s note: Cal Kellogg is a longtime Northern California outdoors writer. Subscribe to his YouTube channel Fish Hunt Shoot Productions at youtube.com/ user/KelloggOutdoors.
Kellogg admires a beautiful Stampede kokanee that jumped all over a pink spinner. “This year the reservoir is in the sweet zone, where there are plenty of fish and wide-open action is the norm,” he writes. “But there aren’t so many that anglers are forced to sort through a bunch of small fry for a decent eating-size fish.” (CAL KELLOGG)
46 California Sportsman AUGUST 2022 | calsportsmanmag.com
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FISHING
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM FOR NORTH COAST KING SEASON DESPITE LOWER PROJECTIONS FOR FALL-RUN SALMON, GUIDE EXPECTS BETTER FISHING By Chris Cocoles
W
hen the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced fishing season dates for Klamath and Trinity River king salmon, the predictions were not what anglers like to hear. “The fall-run Chinook basin in-river quota for this fall period is 2,119 adult Chinook salmon for the 2022 season. Klamath River fallrun Chinook numbers remain low, requiring limited opportunity for harvest while this stock of salmon rebounds from the effects of challenging environmental conditions,” CDFW’s press release stated. Still, veteran guide Mike Stratman of Redwood Coast Fishing (707-6018757; redwoodcoastfishing.com) is hopeful that 2022 will offer some strong fishing in rivers such as the Klamath, Trinity, Eel, Smith and others. “Our Klamath returns are expected to be slightly better than last year. Coupled with what we saw last year along with the good numbers of salmon in our ocean currently, I would expect solid fishing on the Klamath system,” says Stratman, who also offered this usual caveat for making any surefire predictions. “As always, expectations are tough to get a good hold on. Anadromous fish runs can surprise you going both ways, as there are so many variables involved.”
There is cautious optimism around Northern California fall Chinook fishing as season starts in the Klamath River drainage on Aug. 15 and the Trinity and others on Sept. 1. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING) calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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FISHING
The Klamath basin in-river quota is 2,119 adult Chinook and the river should fish pretty well, with big fish just coming in from the ocean very possible for anglers. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING)
FALL FISH ON THE WAY A “truncated” spring-run Chinook season was set to run from July 1 to Aug. 14 on the Klamath (Aug. 31 in the Trinity system). But the fall-run season should offer more opportunities. The Klamath River opens on Aug. 15 for fall-run fish and Sept. 1 on the Trinity. “Fall-run fish are in tidewater as we
speak in decent numbers,” Stratman says about the Klamath, “so hopes are high, as long as the mouth doesn’t sand over for an appreciable amount of time.” As the season progresses into September and October, a variable will be rain. A late surge of spring storms provided much-needed water for coastal
GUIDE STAYS BUSY DESPITE RESTRICTIONS
F
irst, the good news for Redwood Coast Fishing guide Mike Stratman: He should get plenty of business from salmon-chasing anglers on the coastal rivers around his home base in Eureka. “Yeah, I’ll be full. All but a handful of dates are booked (through October). As I did last year, I will not be advanced booking any coastal salmon days,” he says. “Instead, I will wait for the rivers to rise and then go through my call list. If people are interested in getting on the list, we can make that happen.” Still, as the Klamath River’s projection of just over 200,000 fish is slightly above 2021’s run, it still is falling behind previous years. Many have been critical about the state’s salmon management policies in recent years, and while Stratman was accepting of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Chinook basin in-river quota of 2,119 adult salmon for 2022, he still thinks more can be done to help preserve salmon stocks in the state’s rivers. “It would be nice if the state could figure out a way to adaptively manage the fishery in real time to accommodate inaccurate predictions,” Stratman says. “It seems ridiculous that we can’t use available technology (i.e. sonar) to monitor the fishery as the season moves on to account for how the escapement progresses.” CC
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rivers, but Stratman still emphasized that fall rain would go a long way toward a productive season. Without steady precipitation, he fears fishing will be “difficult, as would be the case in any other year.” “If there is water in the rivers, then it is always worth a trip simply because catching a trophy salmon is always a possibility. This, on average, is not a time of year to catch numbers. Rather, you’re looking for the bite from a truly large Chinook,” Stratman says. “That being said, while we had decent rainfall and conditions for late October and early November last year, the average-size fish was much smaller than usual for our coastal systems. My feeling is that it is an aberration rather than a trend, but who knows.”
READY FOR SEPTEMBER While Stratman says the lower Klamath River could see some nice fish by the middle of this month, traditionally the best fishing gets cranked up around Labor Day weekend. And are we headed for an upward trend of good fishing this season and beyond? “It’s definitely hard to project,” the
FISHING guide says. “My feeling is that our ocean conditions have been much improved the last couple of years, so I wouldn’t be surprised by an upswing for the next few years.” But for now, Stratman, other guides and recreational anglers will give it a go. When he fishes the Klamath, he’ll take out his power boat. “We tend to side drift on the Klamath, although plugs and back-bouncing can be killer there if you can find some quiet water to do so, usually later in the day after most people pull off the water,” Stratman says. And as the season gets into the fall and conditions cool, the Eureka-based guide will fish various waters, including the Smith, Eel and others in Northern California, plus the Chetco just across the border in Oregon. “The coastal rivers and Trinity River
“Our Klamath returns are expected to be slightly better than last year. Coupled with what we saw last year along with the good numbers of salmon in our ocean currently, I would expect solid fishing on the Klamath system,” says Stratman (right) of 2022 season expectations. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING)
are mostly fished by me, with either sardine-wrapped plugs, back-bounced eggs or, especially in low-water condi-
As fall progresses, a burst of rainfall would really help the cause for salmon anglers. “If there is water in the rivers, then it is always worth a trip simply because catching a trophy salmon is always a possibility,” guide Mike Stratman says. (REDWOOD COAST FISHING)
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tions, bobber-fished baits,” Stratman says. “All have their time and place and are pretty condition-specific.” CS
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FISHING
CRANKBAIT CLASS IN SESSION BASS ANGLERS SHOULD HAVE PLENTY OF THESE BILLED LURES IN THEIR TACKLE BOX, AND HERE’S HOW AND WHEN TO WORK THEM By Capt. Bill Schaefer
C
rankbaits. Some dive deep; others stay close to the water’s surface; still more work every depth between. They come in all sizes, shapes and colors. There are some crankbaits that look like they would never catch a fish, so plain looking are they or painted in some bizarre color scheme – some patterns are just to catch fishermen and not fish. And some crankbaits look like a taxidermist painted them with every realistic detail imaginable. No way a bass could pass them up! Some anglers wonder when or what time of year to throw crankbaits. Well, the answer is fairly simple. You can throw them yearround, but you need to match the color, size, diving depth and the way you retrieve them with the time of year and application you are using them for. As I have mentioned, there are so many variations, and you do need quite a variety to be an effective crankbait fisherman. Those boxes and boxes of cranks you see the pros carry are not because they get them for free; it is because they know that they may have to change up the lure they are using at a moment’s notice. Professional bass fishermen know that having every different style of crankbait will
Crankbaits can mimic plenty of the underwater critters that bass may feed on or protect their beds against during the spawn. So anglers heading to their favorite lake should have lots of options in their tackle box. (BILL SCHAEFER) calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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FISHING bait, they will trigger a strike quickly; if not, just keep moving down the shoreline. Don’t give up; you will find them, and when you do, work back through that stretch of shoreline again and again to try and trigger more strikes. A deep diver might be a better choice this time of year for chasing bass. The larger the bill, the deeper the crank will travel. It’s good to have an assortment of bill sizes on your favorite cranks, but as you get better at working a crankbait, you will be able to work the deep diver from the shallows right out to the boat. During the spawn, bass instinctively crave protein and the best source for them is crawdads. That is the prey they want to eat, and that is what you are trying to imitate when you work those deep-diving cranks – crawdads scurrying across the bottom. Put the nose or bill in the bottom and stir it up. It will get a largemouth’s attention.
HOOKING HELICOPTER PARENTS
Author Bill Schaefer took this nice Lake Hodges bass on a Fat Free Shad. In late summer, bass tend to chase a lot of shad near the shoreline. (BILL SCHAEFER)
make them more effective anglers. They also carry two or three of each style in case they lose the one that is working best to rocks or brush.
CLONING CRAWFISH AND OTHERS The purpose of crankbaits is to emulate everything from crawfish to any type of freshwater fish you can think of. And it’s not just baitfish, but also bass, perch, bluegill, stripers and trout, just to name a few examples. Some even mimic various insects, like bumblebees. Largemouth will attack
anything when they are hungry enough. There are even crankbaits that look like mice, rats, birds or ducks. So how do I know when to use which one? Most anglers know the patterns of their local lakes, as well as the life cycle of largemouth. During prespawn there are many males running the banks of local lakes, while females hang out a little deeper looking for an easy meal. Crankbaits can be a quick way to cover a lot of shoreline and find the more active feeding fish. As a reaction
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During the spawn you may want to go to a bait that resembles the fish that bass want to keep off their nests and away from their eggs. Fishing crankbaits that imitate bluegill, panfish, stripers or any fish that would love to feast on a largemouth’s eggs will anger them into biting at that time of year. One trick of the pros is to put a small egg sinker in front of a floating crankbait that imitates an invader and drop it in or around the nest of a bass. The egg sinker keeps your bait where you want it. The floating bait will want to float up if you give it some slack. Twitch it up and down and it will look like that bluegill is feasting on the eggs and draw the strike from a protective bass! As the spawn ends, bass still protect their fry. Often you will see a cloud of fry in the shallows with a parent carefully watching over them. Even if you can’t see them, they are there most of the time. If you bring a shallowdiving crankbait or stickbait through
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FISHING
“Those boxes and boxes of cranks you see the pros carry are not because they get them for free,” Schaefer writes. “It is because they know that they may have to change up the lure they are using at a moment’s notice.” (BILL SCHAEFER)
the cloud of fry, the parent bass will attack it to defend their young.
STRUCTURED APPROACH Bass will often school up on various structure as summer approaches. It could be shoreline brush or rock piles. A deep diver, once you get in good control of it, can be used to fish from the shallow part of the rock pile down deep to the bottom. Remember, bouncing it off the rock may produce the strike. Running a crankbait through brush can be a little tougher. You can hit a branch and set the hook thinking it is a fish and get your crank stuck in the bush or tree. The trick is to pause for a moment when you hit an object. If it is a bass, it will pull back. A tree will not. The pause gives the bait a second to float up and take a different route, hopefully a clean line out of the branches.
Late summer can bring breaking fish and bass chasing shad along the shore. Match the bait the bass are after with the right crank and score big this time of year. Even lipless crankbaits on the surface entice bass to break on them. A small lipped crank can be used as a surface or justunder-the-surface lure.
bass. There are cranks that look just like rainbow trout in all different sizes. Some are so large – as big as a 1- to 2-pound trout – that we often forget that they are crankbaits. Managers of most of the local lakes plant trout and these baits can be deadly in the winter when fish are being released.
ALL SIZES AND COLORS
I know I didn’t cover all the different techniques for crankbaits, but I wanted to touch on a few and get you excited about using these lures. Read articles, talk with pros and attend seminars. These will all help with your quest to be better with cranks. You have to go and try different techniques and see what works best for you. If you are afraid of losing one, then you should invest in a crankbait retriever. They are inexpensive and work well. Good luck and crank up some bass! CS
Remember that crankbaits come in all sizes, from about an inch to several inches long. If you see dead shad laying on the surface, you need to try and match what the bass are keying on. Color and size do make a difference. That is why I mentioned needing to have such a large collection of cranks to be successful. Fall and winter are still good times to throw crankbaits. Bass are now bulking up for winter and a larger crank can equal a big, easy meal to a
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FROM FIELD...
7 MORE TIPS TO BE A BETTER SHOOTER (SECOND OF TWO PARTS) By Scott Haugen
I
f you missed last month’s column, be sure to check it out, as it’s a precursor for this issue. Preparing for each and every shot you’ll take this fall at big game requires effort, practice and dedication. Most hunters work hard getting ready for the season, and this includes shooting practice. When it comes time to pull the trigger, you should feel 100-percent confident you’re going to connect. Never, ever should a shot be taken if the last thought running through your mind is, “I hope I don’t miss!” Expanding on last month’s tips, here are seven more points that are sure to help improve your shooting confidence and level of accuracy.
1. A PROPER SCOPE Rifles, cartridges and scopes are each specialized pieces of equipment, serving specific purposes. Be sure to get the right scope to fit the gun and load being used, and the terrain and animal being hunted. For instance, the scope you choose to hunt opencountry blacktail could be quite different than the one you’d use to target hogs in a brushy creek bottom.
2. DON’T OVER-GUN A major reason shots at big game are missed is because of recoil fear. If you’re flinching from recoil, you’re
Author Scott Haugen with his best Cascade blacktail deer taken out of the Redding area. Preparation, knowing his gear and having the right rifle and scope for the situation proved invaluable on this hunt. (SCOTT HAUGEN) calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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HUNTING From bear meat to wild turkey to game birds, use your imagination to create a zesty plate of fajitas for your summer backyard meal. (TIFFANY HAUGEN)
... TO FIRE
FABULOUS FAJITAS HELP FREE UP FREEZER SPACE By Tiffany Haugen
W
ith big game and bird seasons fast approaching, August is a great time to make room in the freezer. When meal planning, always shop from your freezer or pantry first and make it a goal to have a near-empty freezer by hunting season. Be sure to take out any of last fall’s game meat – or anything older – to cook with. We are constantly rotating our fish, venison and game birds in the freezer so things are as fresh as possible. The more fresh the fish and game, the better tasting it will be. If you end up with more than you can eat, smoke up a few batches of jerky or get creative and make sausage. This is also a good time of the year to have your meat commercially processed into pepperoni or sausages, as the butcher is less busy than at the peak of hunting season. Here’s a recipe that works well with all big game, including bear and wild hogs.
We’ve enjoyed it over the years with turkey and waterfowl, too, meaning the options are limitless.
BIG GAME FAJITAS 1 pound wild game (or bird) steaks One sweet onion, thinly sliced One to two bell peppers, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons olive or coconut oil
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FAJITA SPICE RUB 1 tablespoon chili powder 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon black pepper ½ teaspoon oregano ½ teaspoon paprika ½ teaspoon granulated garlic ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper Slice game steaks into desired sizes. In a medium bowl, mix spice rub ingredients. Completely coat meat with rub and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature, or refrigerate up to six hours. Heat oil in a large skillet, sauté onions and bell peppers on medium heat until they reach desired doneness. Push vegetables to the side of the pan, add more oil if needed and add seasoned wild game. Continue stir-frying two to three minutes or until meat reaches desired doneness. Do not overcook venison, which is best served medium rare. Mix onions and peppers into meat and add salt to taste. Serve over warm tortillas and all the usual fajita fixings.
MEAT CARE TIP Prior to cooking, trim away any freezer-burned portions of meat that may have formed, as this will taint the overall quality and flavor of the recipe. Also, when cutting steaks into chunks for fajitas, trim away any silver skin. While silver skin cooks down in slow cooking methods, with this hot and fast cooking approach for the fajitas, the silver skin could turn out tough and chewy. Remember, any game recipe is only as good as the meat you start with, so make sure it’s been properly cooled, cleaned of all hair, dirt, and blood prior to storage, and especially before cooking. Editor’s note: For signed copies of Tiffany Haugen's popular book, Cooking Big Game, send a check for $20 to Haugen Enterprises, P.O. Box 275, Walterville, OR 97489 or visit scotthaugen.com for this and other titles.
HUNTING Anticipating animal movement and behavior is part of the hunt and integral to making a clean shot. Here, the hunter is set up in shooting sticks, waiting for pigs to feed out of cover. The animals had no idea the hunter was there. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
adjusting your scope or setting up the shooting sticks; that’s automatic. Learning your gun, scope and shooting sticks can be done at home. Make sure the gun is unloaded, plus work at manipulating and maneuvering all the parts of each item. When you get to the point you can operate most every feature without looking at it, you’re getting close. If you have to take your eye off an animal to fiddle with something on the gun or the shooting sticks, you could blow the opportunity.
5. PICK A SPOT
either shooting too big of a caliber or the rifle is very lightweight. Lightweight rifles usually have ported barrels, which are loud, but reduce recoil. To remedy flinching, you can back down to smaller-caliber guns and keep shooting, working your way up to bigger bores as you become comfortable with the recoil. Or you can just shoot a smaller-caliber rifle. It’s better to shoot a smallercaliber rifle with accuracy than a larger-caliber gun with the hopes of hitting the target. Securing an aftermarket butt pad is another option for reducing recoil.
3. GET A RANGE READING Never guess the yardage of an animal prior to taking a shot. It’s pretty easy to tell if an animal is inside 200 yards, which is what most rifles are zeroed
at. But judging the distance of big game in the open can be tough. Get a rangefinder and use it. Having one with a built-in inclinometer, be it a separate unit or in a binocular, is best, especially if hunting in mountainous terrain. Get a range on the animal before taking a shot in order to eliminate misjudging the distance and missing or wounding it.
4. BE FAMILIAR WITH YOUR GEAR Before your hunt you should know how every piece of gear performs. You should also be able to operate your gun, scope and shooting sticks without thinking about it. When moving in on an animal, your focus should be on that animal; getting a solid rest to shoot from and paying attention to the conditions and not how to quietly work your bolt;
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“Pick a spot!” We’ve heard that shooting tip since we were kids. But what does it really mean? None of California’s big game animals are spotted – except for an occasional pig – so in the literal sense, you’re not going to pick a spot. And unless the animal is very close, you’re not going to be able to pick a single hair to focus on. What you can do, however, is look for wrinkles and creases in the skin – behind the front shoulder – where you’ll place the shot. Sometimes it’s just a shadow or lighting change that tells you where the reticle should be. Sometimes you’ll see dirt or a scar where you want the bullet to hit. Look for such spots and hit that spot. Bears are harder to pick a point on because their hair is thick and of the same length. Following the line of the back of the bear’s front leg to the middle of the body will put the reticle where you want it.
6. GET READY AND SHOOT WITH CONFIDENCE Every single shot you take should feel like it’s going to be a hit. If you miss, you should be dumbfounded as to why. I raised my sons to shoot with a singleshot rifle, and they’ve both taken many big game animals with that action. To this day they’re still some of the best rifle shots I’ve ever seen, simply because their mindset is, “I have one shot and will make it count!” There should be no hoping, guessing or uncertainty when it comes time to take a shot. If there is, don’t
shoot, it’s not worth spooking or worse yet, crippling the animal, when taking your time could result in a better shot.
7. REAL PRACTICE Once your rifle is sighted in at the range and you’re shooting it with confidence and accuracy, take the training sessions into the field. If you’re not in a place to actually fire a rifle, that’s OK, as simply carrying a rifle in the yard and learning how to efficiently get it set up in shooting sticks or on other shooting aids is what real practice is all about. If you’re away from people and can shoot in these practical practice sessions, great. If not, most common rifle calibers offer dummy rounds, or snap caps, which allow you to dry-fire the gun thousands of times without damaging the firing pin; this is a good way to practice your trigger pull. With hunting season upon us, plan ahead and anticipate where shot opportunities might come during your hunts. Take the gear you’ll need to help improve your level of accuracy, and what will follow is a level of confidence you may never have experienced. CS Editor’s note: To order copies of Scott Haugen’s popular instructional DVD, Field Dressing, Skinning & Caping Big Game, visit scotthaugen.com. Mention California Sportsman Magazine and receive a free copy of Scott’s and his wife Tiffany’s best-selling cookbook, Cooking Big Game, a $20 value.
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The question is... Do you want to hunt ducks or be a duck hunter?
Natural Wonderduck Water Motion Decoys
The paddle in the back give the illusion of decoy feet paddling! Comes with rear mounted motors that run on two D-cell batteries, for up to 25 hours or more. Optional timer available. Orange weedless paddling feet and foot attachments, easy access for battery holder, waterproof switch and floatation insert.
To order or for more information – wonderduck.com 1-800-876-1697
HUNTING
LAST-MINUTE TRAINING TIPS By Scott Haugen
H
unting season is only days away. Here are some lastminute training tips to keep your gun dog focused, in shape, healthy, obedient and having fun.
TRAIN WHERE YOU’LL HUNT Especially for first-season pups, getting familiar with the land they’ll be hunting is a good way to alleviate stress, appease curiosity and instill confidence. I’m not saying let them chase or point birds where you’ll soon be hunting. Just give them enough exposure to the area so they learn the sights, smells and terrain. Be it a hunt in the Cascades for forest grouse, valley quail in the lowlands or ducks on the river, exposing dogs to the places they’ll soon be working is a good thing. Run some quick training drills and do a bit of conditioning. Let them explore, too. Keep them under control and your pup will be excited when the time comes to hunt these places, and they’ll perform with confidence.
WATER TRAINING The intense heat of summer is a great time to get that dog in top shape by swimming. As with humans, swimming is one of the best allaround workouts a dog can have. And I’m not talking about tossing a bumper in for a few retrieves. I mean long swims. Dogs are much better swimmers than we are, so having them follow you while rowing a canoe, kayak or paddle board is a great way to keep them moving. They can also follow
Introducing new dummies keeps training sessions fun for your dog. Avery’s EZ-Bird Pheasant offers many benefits, including sight and scent training bonuses. (SCOTT HAUGEN) calsportsmanmag.com | AUGUST 2022 California Sportsman
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HUNTING alongside your drift boat on a river or small boat in a pond. If heading to a lake with the family, take the dog. Having a dog swim back and forth between someone on land and someone in the water keeps it fun for everyone; kids love this!
BEACH TIME To escape intense summer heat, many of us head to the coast. Sandy beaches are great places for dogs to run fullthrottle. Sand dunes are excellent for workouts. Running dogs up dunes in the loose sand is a great way to build strength in their hind end. If swimming in the ocean or bay, limit bumper retrieves in saltwater, as it’s not good for a dog to ingest and can dehydrate them. Don’t swim dogs in waves where they take in saltwater. Be sure to have fresh water for them to drink. If clipping dog nails makes you – or your pup – nervous, try a grinder, which will help from hitting the quick. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
SALON TIME With hard ground training this time
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CUMBERLAND’S NORTHWEST TRAPPERS SUPPLY Hide Tan Formula has been used successfully by thousands of hunters and trappers across the U.S. and Canada. No more waiting several months for tanning. Now, you can tan your own hides and furs at home in less than a week, at a fraction of the normal cost. Our Hide Formula tans deer hides either hair-on for a rug or mount, or hair-off for buckskin leather. Tans all fur skins – muskrat, mink, beaver, fox, coyote, raccoon, squirrel, rabbit, etc. It also applies to bear, elk, moose, cowhide, sheep and even snakeskin. Hide Tan Formula is premixed and ready to use and produces a soft, supple Indian-style tan in five to seven days. One 8-ounce bottle will tan one deer hide in two medium-sized fur skins. Bear, elk, moose and caribou require three to six bottles. Complete instructions are included. You’ll be amazed how easy it is! Tanned hides and furs are great to decorate your home or camp and also to sell for extra income. Tanned hides and furs are in demand by black powder enthusiasts, American Indian traders, fly tyers, country trading posts and many crafters. Our products are proudly produced and bottled in the U.S. for over 20 years. Available at Cumberland’s Northwest Trappers Supply in Owatonna, Minnesota. Call (507) 451-7607 or email trapper@nwtrappers.com. nwtrappers.com
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HUNTING doesn’t always mean it’s the best. Read labels and know the difference between good and subpar dog food; it’s like us living on fast food versus home-cooked meals. Avoid unhealthy treats too, as these contain fillers and many ingredients dogs are allergic to. Last season a buddy let a gas station attendant give his dog a biscuit. He didn’t make it a mile down the road and the dog threw up and had an allergic reaction. It was out of commission for three weeks. I’ve done loads of research on dog food over the years and learned a lot from two local feed stores – even more than from my vet. Bottom line: I feed my dogs NutriSource foods and treats that are packed with protein and no fillers. A third of their diet is raw, too. Their health, performance and recovery is amazing on this food.
NEW TRAINING TOOLS
With bird season only days away, now is the time to ensure a quality diet and focused, fun training for your dog. (SCOTT HAUGEN)
of year, and lots of dry grass and seeds around, be sure to keep your dog’s toenails short, ear hair plucked and the hair between their toes trimmed. These measures will prevent potential injury that could cost your dog hunting time. If you’re not a fan of nail clippers, try a nail grinder. Grinders greatly reduce the chance of hitting the quick of the nail, thus excessive bleeding; your dog will let you know when you’re close to the quick. There are dog-specific grinders, but I just use the one from my shop. Plucking long hair inside the ears will help keep grass and troublesome
seeds from traveling into the ear canal. The same is true for keeping the hair short between their toes and pads, which will prevent sharp seeds from embedding in the webbing between toes, or round seeds from balling up between pads.
HEALTHY EATS AND TREATS The two most important things you can do is teach your dog consistent discipline and feed it a healthy diet. Avoid big-box-store foods if you’re serious about keeping your dog healthy and helping it live a long, full life. Just because you see repeated ads on billboards and in magazines
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Like us, dogs love getting new toys. Late summer is a good time to introduce new training dummies and bumpers. Not only does this excite dogs, it mentally lifts them up, which makes them work harder. Work with the new training tools on land and in water where you usually train, but also in places you’ve not trained all summer. A change in location, along with new toys, will fire up a dog, allowing you to get the most from your training time. Be sure and have plenty of water for your dog. The average hunting dog drinks about a gallon of water per day. And above all, keep training sessions fun. Training does not need to be long and intense in order to be effective. Train in the shade and early and late in the day, when it’s cool. The more fun it is for dogs, the more pleased you’ll be with the results, especially come hunting season. CS Editor’s note: Scott Haugen is a full-time writer. See his puppy training videos and learn more about his many books at scotthaugen.com and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.
