Collins Lake

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What a great week of fishing at Collins Lake!! Lots of Trout have been caught either trolling or shore fishing due to our fall Trout planting program combined with the lake temps dropping and the majority of the fish coming up shallow.  Trollers were picking them up in the first 15′ of water, mostly on worms & flashers but lures were just as good.

I’m officially on vacation until after Thanksgiving but came in to update before I board the 747 to Missouri tomorrow.  The 3rd plant will arrive anyday now.  The 4th plant will come next week, and the 5th plant will come the week before Thanksgiving.  Even the Bass were in fifteen feet of water this week, along with plentiful Trout.

Jack Verdardi of Pleasant Hill caught a 2 lb. 12 oz. Rainbow trolling an Apex Trout Killer near the buoy line and his brother Tony got in the game too and hooked a nice Rainbow.  Little Gus Grimmett of Citrus Heights came up on the weekend with his Dad Rick who had pre-fished our lake earlier in the week with a friend and caught 7 Rainbows.  Gus caught a limit all by himself and said he lost quite a few before limiting out.  Gus uses a Rapala lure, it’s one of his favorites but also used a dodger and worm and the fish liked both!!!

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Marilyn Moore and her husband Charlie each caught a Rainbow using powerbait off the dock and both were around 2-3/4 lb. each.  I could tell she hadn’t had that much fun in a long time, her smile was from ear to ear!  Ken Shephard of SAC caught a limit of Trout plus a bonus Bass trolling Ford Fenders and worms all over the lake.  His friend Jim Evans of SAC also netted a Bass.

Dave & Kristen Clayton from Oroville chose the northern end of the lake to troll and took 2 limits of Trout home by using Cripplures.  They were only ten feet down, their depth finder said there was tons of fish real shallow.  Another shore fisherman Miguel Alejo of Live Oak, limited out on Trout and his biggest was 2-1/2 lbs.

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Mary & Vic Brunnmeier of W. SAC hit their favorite fishing hole by the dam (from shore) and caught a stringer of Trout using rainbow powerbait.  She said nothing beats a day on the lake on a warm sunny day, without a care in the world, by far it’s the best feeling ever!  When you’re “catching fish” it’s even better.

Sharon Rudolph of Elk Grove caught her first fish since she was a little girl, and that’s been awhile!! She caught the biggest Rainbow in her group, good job Sharon…Also, Kim Frazier caught her first German Brown Trout, which also tipped the scale as the biggest fish in her group.  OK, I will give an honorable mention to husbands Dave & Daniel who didn’t get skunked but did catch two puny little Trout.

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It’s like spring again, watching all our customers catch stringers of fish is a thrill… I’m sure that fall planting has been a huge success, along with a lake that is higher than it’s ever been this time of year.  Bob Thorne of Hercules fished from his boat and found some great Trout up in the north end trolling Rapalas.  His stringer held 3 contenders and the big bully weighed 2-3/4 lbs.

Al Mangini & Jeff Haut of Grass Valley used trolling flies by the powerlines and hooked three nice Rainbows.  It may be a little too soon for float tubers, we had two guys in belly boats last weekend that didn’t have much luck.  Dennis Belville & his friend Pete gave it their all to no avail but they didn’t care because just being in the outdoors was awesome.  The ice cream was the most awesome for Pete, who isn’t supposed to be eating it, OOPS I just ratted him out.

I sure hope a lot of our readers get a chance to take advantage of our Fall plants, beautiful weather, and awesome ice cream cones!!  Happy Thanksgiving and may you all have great family times together, I’ll see you after the pumpkin pie!

Sincerely,

Kathy Hess