Just wondering before I take off for Sarajevo for my last adventure.

Thanks, Ricardo

Hi Ricardo,

I don’t know how many kings made it back to the Coleman Fish Hatchery, though the biologist told me the total run in Battle Creek was around 12,000…a number he called “pathetic,” so it does not sound good!

Be safe over there and thanks for your service!

–JD

In August 2006, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) and 11 other conservation groups requested that PacifiCorp remove the dams. This initiative was sparked by the application filed by PacifiCorp for renewal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permits for the dams. The last time the permits were renewed occurred long before most environmental laws were enacted.

The Agreement in Principle, released on November 13, is intended to guide the development of a final settlement agreement in June 2009, which includes provisions to remove PacifiCorp’s four main dams in 2020, a century after the first dam was constructed.

“We are very pleased with PacifiCorp’s agreement to remove the dams from the Klamath River,” said ASA Vice President Gordon Robertson. “This historic agreement will allow for salmon and steelhead populations to once again prosper benefiting fishing communities that depend on healthy fish populations as well as recreational anglers.”

Dam removal will help fish and people alike!

Robertson further said, “In a February 2007 meeting with PacifiCorp’s President Bill Furman, ASA and other conservation community leaders were impressed with the forthright and open manner of Mr. Furman as well as his commitment to work with us to find a solution. President Bush, Secretary of the Interior Kempthorne and California and Oregon along with Mr. Furman are to be commended for staying focused and forging this historic agreement.”

PacifiCorp’s four dams produce a nominal amount of power, which can be replaced using alternate methods. A study by the California Energy Commission and the Department of the Interior found that removing the dams and replacing their power would save PacifiCorp customers up to $285 million over 30 years. PacifiCorp also agreed to provide as much as $200 million dollars to cover the cost of removal and to help restore the Klamath River.

According to the initial agreement, PacifiCorp will transfer control of the dams to the federal government, although an independent third-party will be identified to actually remove the dams.

Jones goes large with a surface bait

The wind looks like it will hold off most of the week and then we have some cloudy days coming in over the weekend, which should really help the fishing!

The Creeper with a 20 on a swimbait

I even got to catch one the other day…

Wow, so that's what one feels like!

RESERVATIONS

If you want to get in on the fun, we’ll have stripers around all winter! The best topwater poppin’ is from now through Christmas….

(916) 388-1956 or go to my guide site: www.thesportfisher.com

Well, not exactly…Take a look at the possibilities that Mad River Manufacturing’s new Worm Jigs offer and you may see pink worms in a totally new light.

Overview

Mad River Mfg., already the industry leader in pink worm technology, recently introduced it’s slick new Worm Jigs in 3- and 4-inch sizes. They come in several “anadramous” colors — Glo Pink, Pink Pearl, Methiolite, Bubble Gum and Pink/Chartreuse tail — and three different lead head sizes: 1/16, 1/8 and 1/4. In other words, there’s probably a worm in the lineup that will cover most situations you’ll encounter.

They also come stock with No. 1 or 1/0 Owner X-Strong hooks to ensure you keep a hold of any big bruisers you may happen to hook.

A New Twist

As I mentioned earlier, we’ve all heard and read about drifting pink worms and backtrolling them behind divers…yada, yada, yada…but with Worm Jigs, you have some new options. The obvious method involves suspending them under a float for steelhead, but I’ve also found them very effective when fished on the swing through tailouts.

Worm Jigs also can be just the ticket for moody coho when fished with a hopping motion just above the bottom. I’ve also done well on them dead drifted under floats for chum — and of course, trout and dollies will gobble them up.

In short, Mad River Mfg.’s really onto something wit these babies and I’m sure there are plenty of other ways to use them that have yet to be discovered…

On Nov 6, two of us went to Bowman Lake for the first time with our boat…what a long bumpy road! We used the rock boat ramp down to the lake and launched. The weather was good, plenty of sunshine, but the wind came up and made it hard to troll. Plenty of fish on the fishfinder but could not get a bite. We tried everything in the tackle box, top water, downrigger, trolling close to the shore. Then my friend started throwing rip bait toward the bank and caught a brown. After that he caught three more browns to three pounds! He had just the right rig for the browns. It was late , so we left the lake. Why do you think the rainbows were not biting? Do you have any experience with Bowman Lake?

Thanks, Ken P.

Ken, it’s a good question…in the fall, all trout put on the feed bag as they prep for the lean winter months ahead, so it’s strange that the ‘bows weren’t biting. Perhaps Bowman simply has a better population of browns than it did in the old days. And if the brownies are eating rip baits, I’d be okay with that!

And, a nice double header for Bobby and Bob Allsup…

I’m not sure what this crazy foam is, but people on the scene said it was stacked 3-4 feet high. Whatever it is, it can’t be good. Thanks to Michael J. Peckham and Stephen Burgess for the photos. Hopefully, we can get somebody out there from Fish & Game to see what the heck is going on. Here are some more photos…

The Mystery Foam hitting the main river

The Foam was piled 3-4 feet high in places!

Foam filled the boat launch area at Knight's Landing, CA

Scary...this crap can't be good!

One of the few boats we ran into was manned by Ross England and Jim Dowdy, the dynamic duo of Clear Lake Guide Service who showed us a nice little Trap bite.

But let’s back up here a minute…we actually got off to a late start due, in part, to the fact that we got hung up gawking at the spectacular sunrise over the lake and Mt. Konocti…

A quick 400-yard ride from big Fred’s place to the boat ramp was all it took before we were ripping across the lake at Mach 11:

For a fish that’s got a mouth the size of a coffee can, you’d better bust out the heavy artillery…swimbaits, swimbaits and more swimbaits. I’ve caught fish larger than these baits…

…in fact, here’s one now!

Okay, so not a tourney winner…but we did manage to catch some really nice bucketmouths in the 3- to 5-pound class. In fact, they were all pretty much that size!

So, forget all you think you know about Clear Lake…the 100 degree weather, soupy green water and 8 million jetskis…that’s the summer scene. Fall is extremely quiet and the scenery is beautiful…

As the sun started dropping behind the mountains to the west, we decided to switch gears and made some bait…

…and then got into a pretty wide-open catfish bite:

As the sun started setting, the kitties went on an even better chew and we had a bite on pretty much every cast. All the fish were nice 8-9 pounders that fought pretty damn well…

We gave up long before the cats did…it had been a long day on the water and we were fried. It was one hell of a nice evening, though and a fitting end to an awesome day…

BBZ-1 Shad in Sexy Lavendar

Overview

Designed by swimbait guru, Bill Siemantel, the BBZ-1 shad is, indeed, a pretty sexy bait. Just sitting there in the package, it struck me as one of the better-looking shad baits around. According to the fine folks at SPRO, the BBZ-1 is “one of the best lures ever to hit the market — in terms of looks, actions, durability, versatility and a price point that everyone can afford (they retail around $20).”

It comes in 4 colors — Dirty Shad, Natural Shad, Sexy Lavender Shad and Blue Back Herring and in three weights: Fast Sink, Slow and Floater. The fast sinker falls one foot per second while the slow sinker drops at a rate of 1 foot every 4 seconds.

The Test…sorta

I got a chance to throw one at Clear Lake the other day. Even if you’ve been living on Mars for the past decade,  you know that this Northern California lake is one of the best producers of big bass anywhere — and is a particularly a good swimbait lake. So, it seemed to be the perfect spot for a test run == especially when you consider I was on FLW Touring pro Big Fred Contaoi’s boat for the day…who, by the way, had just won a tournament there the day before while using swimbaits.

The BBZ-1 out of the box and ready to fish!

Thanks to its four joints, the BBZ-1 Shad has some great action to it. Just wiggle in in your hand and you can see the thing comes alive…

The BBZ-1 in motion

In the water, the bait really shined. I fished the slow sink model and it had a seductive, snaky motion that Big Fred called “dopy.” He also said that “dopy” is exactly what the biggest bass key in on. Okay, so it’s got that going for it,  too. 

I found the best retrieve was a molasses-slow  and steady grind with an occasional twitch and pause, which cased the bait to flash and then turn to the left, it’s body broadside to the angle of the line. I also tried burning it and it swam pretty nicely that way as well. 

Well, the short version of the story was we had a tough day of fishing. The lake had been pretty torn up from all the tourney traffic the day before — plus we had some very unsettled weather. Bottom line: the fishing was slow and we only caught a couple bass that day, both on plastics. 

After watching the BBZ-1 Shad in the water, however, I am convinced that it is a very fishy bait and look forward to busting it out on some Delta stripers this fall. I’m sure it would work on pike, musky, snook, tarpon, etc. too.