Collins Lake

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After a dreadfully cold Easter weekend the weather is absolutely beautiful and will continue through this weekend!  Saturday is expected to reach 70 degrees for a high and the lake level is the highest in years.  This week we are nearing the five foot mark, Hallelujah!!

On Wednesday we released one net pen full of Rainbows which average 3 to 4 pounds each times three hundred fish. On Thursday we released two more net pens also averaging 1,000 to 1,200 pounds of fish.  On Friday we will receive another private plant with half the load being huge fish and the other half considered catchables (2 to 3 pounds each) and these will be tagged.

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The Bullock Family had a great time on their Easter break, they caught Trout everyday and the bonus for Laurie was the $100 Red Tagged Trout she reeled in on Jaimee’s pole! Friends Michael Martin of Dixon & Trae Shaw of Fairfield trolled with Kastmasters or worms and limited out on Trout.   Dennis & Dwayne of Brownsville along with their little girls hooked 9 Trout trolling Kastmasters.

Jake Floriolli celebrated his 15th Birthday here  and hooked a 2 lb. Trout trolling a Rapala. He & his Dad Tony had caught several Trout that week but this one topped them all.  Cade, Cole & Delaney never left the site and caught a limit of Trout on orange powerbait.

Congrats to Levi Snyder who caught his 1st Fish at Collin lake on orange powerbait.  Congrats to little Gabriel Robinson on his 1st Trout catch too…..

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A trout limit is five fish per person but the thrill of the catch is limitless!! Just ask Frank Corrdia & Don Derobertis of Pleasant Grove who limited out trolling worms.  Another fishing duo (Gary Umphenour & Rob Rogers) of Roseville reached their limit of Trout trolling Rapala lures or Apex lures off the campground.  Rob’s biggest was a 6 lb. Rainbow (eat your heart out Rick!)

Mack Brashears & Ally Poole from Chico used yuppy powerbait- a brilliant purple color and caught 3 yuppy Trout from the beach!! Ed Brandt of SAC netted a 7 lb. 4 oz. Trout in the far corner of the dam, he used green powerbait.

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Hannah & Garrett Shell trolled with a single blade dodger & nightcrawler and brought in 4 Rainbows.  Chris Hazen & Mario Valenzuela of Grass Valley trolled orange jigs and hooked 9 Trout & a Bass.  Tom Reyes of Nevada City used the same method and caught 3 Trout and his biggest was close to 4 pounds. He fished with Scott Bartosh who calls it a Miner Moe Special.  Scott is a guide out of Grass Valley and his clients “always catch fish”!!

The Dudley Do Rights of Olivehurst stopped by long enough to get their photo taken with their only Trout of the day! The Chera Family of Sunnyvale was equally as proud of their Trout, a 2 lb. 8 oz. beauty. Phillip Baldwin & his Dad Jim Baldwin of Tahoe City left much richer than when they arrived.  They caught a $100 Red Tag Trout trolling five to six feet down using Kastmasters.  On 4/13 Dale Hafelfinger of Grass Valley also caught a $100 Red Tag Trout and he didn’t discover it until he was ready to eat the fish for dinner!

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Ernie Borello of Hollister ended the week with a BANG! While he was trolling his Needlefish by the dam he hooked a 10 lb. 8 oz. Rainbow and successfully got it in the boat after a 10 minute fight and netted it himself.  He hadn’t fished much the week he was here because he was waiting for his fishing buddy to get here (Bill Price) of Concord.  Bill arrived today so look for stories on those 2 guys in next week’s report, they never let me down!

Friends-Rodger & Lee of Sacramento also limited out on Trout and the three biggest fish on their stringer was a monster 8 lb. 12 oz., a 7 lb. 4 oz. & a 7 lb. Rainbow.  Jerry Glasco of SAC fished near Goose Island with worms and hooked an 8 lb. 4 oz. Rainbow while still fishing from his boat.  This week the fishing & catching has been amazing and writing about it has been a blast. Can’t wait to see what next week brings…..