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VISIT WHISKEYTOWN FOR
SOME GREAT KOKANEE ACTION
By: Ron Wilson
August 21, 2003.... Bruce Hamby, owner of
Sierra
Sportfishing recently informed me that some of the largest kokanee
in the State of
California were being caught at Whiskeytown
Lake.
The
Ripon, CA guide has taken groups of anglers to the lake for kokes that
have gone from 2 1/2 to nearly 3 pounds.
Bruce
said, “Ron, there might be a 3 pounder with your name on it if your
interested in going.”
I
was very interested, I know what 2-pound kokanee fight like and I would
love to have the opportunity to fight a bunch of big kokanee in the
3-pound class. Plus I had never been to Whiskeytown
National Recreation Area.
The
fee per person is $375 for a weekend of fishing, which includes lodging,
2 breakfasts, a dinner, and if you meet him at his home, a ride there
and back. With the price of gas that's not a bad a deal! On central
valley lakes Bruce charges $100 a person.
The
plan was to meet Bruce at his home in Ripon at 1:00 am Saturday; from
there we would make the trek to Redding to meet his client, Dave Pratt,
an avid angler who drove from the bay area to meet us.
Dave
and I chatted about the upcoming day over breakfast. He had fished the
lake a couple times for kokanee and relayed a story of “the one that
got away!” He said it was
a monster fish that just made him sick when he lost it! He said, “I
don’t think I did anything wrong, but after 5 minutes of a line
stripping tug-of-war, that I was losing, the fish just got away!
We
arrived at Oak Bottom Ramp on Whiskeytown Lake and launched just as it
was beginning to break light. We headed toward the cold-water outlet of
the lake.
The
wind was blowing and the whitecaps were rolling. It definitely wasn't
kokanee fishing water, but we were there and fishing was our plan no
matter what!
Bruce
had all the rods rigged with Uncle Larry’s Copper Pop Lures. We baited
the hooks with Bruce's shoepeg corn, that is specially treated and
soaked with Pro-Cure. We dropped them down in a pattern from 70 to 100
feet deep.
We
no sooner got the rods set and Dave was fighting a big koke. Bruce had
his hands full with the choppy waves, trying to net Dave’s fish and
steer the boat in the wind at the same time. Dave’s first fish was a
nice big buck kokanee with a hooknose. They are getting prepared to make
they’re way to the spawning beds.
Soon
Dave had fish number 2 and 3 in the boat. They were the biggest kokanee
that I had seen alive to date!
I
finally got my chance to fight one of these powerhouses. The power these
bigger fish have is awesome compared to our New Melones kokanee,
especially on the on the lightweight G-Loomis
rods that Bruce uses. The long runs and fighting power on the
ultra-light rods was a blast.
The
wind picked up even stronger and we were forced to leave the area we
were in and head across the lake. We headed to the buoy line in front of
the pumps that provide Redding with its drinking water.
We
got the rods in the water and were immediately rewarded with a double
hookup. Dave's fish went 2 pound 10 ounces and mine tipped the scales at
2 pounds 12 ounces.
 I
thought to myself, our goal of catching a 3 pounder just might materialize.
One
nice thing about Whiskeytown is that the fish have real hard mouths. You
don't lose that many as long as you take your time. The water is cool
enough that you can release the small 2 pounders. They survive with no
problem when they’re released properly.
About
11:00 am the wind calmed down and the fishing started getting better and
better.
About
11:30 am I got a hold of something real big! The fish made a long run
and then stopped. I kept the pressure on as Bruce said, “what ya got
Ron”, I said, “right now it feels like someone tied a 5 gallon
bucket on the line!”
I
could feel a head shake once in awhile and then a short drag pulling
run. The longer this went on, I soon decided it definitely wasn't a
kokanee. The guesswork began with what type fish did we have on. Was it
a big brown trout, a huge king, a rainbow or possibly a record
brook, they are in the lake along with bass and catfish.
The
way the fish was fighting I knew something wasn’t right. When I
finally got the fish to the surface, I saw it was brown in color. Could
it be a big brown, the color in the clear water looked right.
Finally
I got the fish close enough to see that the prize was a 6-pound plus
hardhead or squawfish as they are sometimes called, that was foul hooked
in the fin.
They
look like a sucker but the mouth is in front and not down under like a
regular bottom feeder!
We
didn't get that elusive 3 pounder we were after but we still had a great
day on the water. We headed in at 1:30 pm with 15 kokes that went from 2
1/2 pounds to 2 ponds 14 ounces.
What
a stringer of fish. Bruce needs to get a bigger ice chest; we couldn’t
get the lid closed on the one he brought on this trip!
A
quick stop to register at Motel 6, a shower and a quick nap and it was
time to head to Outback Restaurant for dinner.
The
shrimp and steak dinner I had was great. For dessert Bruce ordered us
the mountain of double chocolate cake with raspberry ice cream. I think
the cake was a 6 or 8 layer monster! It looked a foot high and when we
got done I just kind of waddled out of the place like a penguin.
Sunday
morning we were up at 4:15 am. We grabbed a quick shower, got breakfast
and then to the lake.
The
sky shined bright with a 3/4 moon. Bruce also pointed out how pretty
Mars looked as it shined over the top of the hills.
We
arrived at the lake to a breeze that wasn’t blowing as hard as the day
before.
We
once again started at the cold-water outlet area. The big school of fish
from Saturday seemed to have moved out of the area, likely heading
toward the spawning grounds.
We
managed to catch 3 fish and a couple shakers but the marks on the
depthfinder said it was time to move
elsewhere.
We
moved back across the lake and it didn’t take long for the fish to
start cooperating again. We started picking up fish as the wind started
to calm down to a really nice breeze.
Dave
wanted to go home early so we put 15 fish in the box and were at the
ramp by 10:30 am.
It
was another great fishing weekend for Bruce. His clients have limited
out every trip to Whiskeytown this year!
For
me it was a trip to put in my scrapbook as one of those “been there
done that and had a ball catching fish experiences.”
What
a great fishery. Also the lake is really pretty with pine, fur trees and
shrubs coming right down to the waters edge.
The
kokanee fishing is about done for this year at Whiskeytown, but give
Bruce a call at (209) 599-2023 and have him put you down on his call
list when the fishing gets hot again.
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