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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