Collins Lake

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I told you last week that the bass were picking up and it’s a trend that is going to continue through the month.  John Norton from Redwood City caught his 2 1/2 pound bass on a plastic lizard down in Elmer’s cove.  If you’re new to bass fishing you’ll find the quiet corners of the lake and among trees and habitat are typically where you’ll find them.  Long time campers Cheryl & John caught six on Tuesday and two more 3 pound spots on Wednesday, both times with rubber worms & live minnows near the trees on the east side.  It’s not every year that the lake is so high at the end of April but the extra habitat of so many submerged trees is making 2018 a standout year.  Zack Sliber & Brittany Maimone from Galt caught five and a stray trout on the 21st and hit 3 more the next day.

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Folks fishing for bass are paying attention to the surface temperatures- the week up to 60ºF, granted it’s cooler a few feet down but pay attention, bass typically feed heavily before temperatures reach their spawning range of 64-68ºF.  This week cooler temperatures could lead to an extended feeding period before spawning starts. 

John caught this Spotted Bass on a Plastic Lizard

If you want more of a technical challenge than trolling for trout, the next month is an ideal time to try your hand with the bass.  If you don’t have live bait, a rubber worm or a Rat-L-Trap is a good choice. Santino from Marysville brought in a stringer of bass and perch “worming the ‘trap” in shallows.  Give it a try!

“Big Ed” Everhart caught a 4.8 pound spotted bass and about 25 other fish last week. He sent us an article, you can read it on his website.  Thanks for the tips Ed!

Got a Collins Lake story or photo?  I’d love to hear about it email me fishing@collinslake.com

I started talking about bass this week, not because the trout have let up, quite the opposite;  It hasn’t slowed down at all.  With all of the planting going on I didn’t want the drown this report in a list of the 40 people who brought trout up for pictures.  That being said there are some notable catches and friendly faces that I’d love to share with you. 

Clay Walker dragged up this colorful rainbow, nearly 6 pounds

Let’s get the important info out of the way- nothing unexpected, as temperatures rise trout are moving down.  Almost half the fish are coming in on PowerBait, green, orange, pink & rainbow.  Other shore fishers are starting to use KastMasters to get easy access to deeper water.  They aren’t that deep.  I met a guy who trolled all day with a Rapala at 40’ and didn’t get a bite.  He was below the fish.  Drag a Rapala, SwimBait or even a plain worm 10 to 20 feet down, you don’t even need a down downrigger.  

There’s been a healthy congregation of trout about a hundred feet off the 5MPH buoy line on the West side of the main body.  It makes sense if you’re paying attention to the heavy planting schedule and if you have even a clue about where the trucks are planting.  The deepest trolling catch I heard about this past week was only 25’ down.

I would be lying if I told you everyone always catches, twice I heard about people trolling in the right spot at the right depth and came up empty.  Both times they said folks around them were catching.  In my view that’s an issue you gotta take up with God.  Both times they told me about their bad luck as they enjoyed a famous Collins Lake ice cream on our back deck.  You tell me, would you rather be stuck in the office or fishing and eating Ice Cream?

Alright, here’s some of my favorite trout pictures from this week:  

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David & Justin Gomes from Loma Rica caught this stringer plus a 7 pounder near site #299 on orange PowerBait.  Frank Vasquez limited out on green & orange PowerBait by the beach & dam.  Wally LaRue caught his limit but is just showing us his 6 1/2 pound rainbow he caught on a FireTiger.  Daniel Boone from Sparks Nevada was trolling an “8ft worm” when he brought up this 6 3/4 pounder.

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Jason & Justin were using worms by the dam.   Cheri Brown from Citrus Heights pulled in a nearly 7 pound trout and others on a Kastmaster.  Jake & Juan brought in this 3 1/2 pounder from the east side on a nightcrawler.  Bentley from Oroville caught a 4 1/2 pound trout half his height shore fishing PowerBait.

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Moises & Ethan loaded a hook with corn PowerBait and lugged in a 5 1/2 pound lunker.  Elaine was dragging swimbaits from her boat on the east side and made a catch as she usually does!  Rebecca Gordon from Roseville caught one of the only trout I’ve seen this week from the North fork, a 7 pound rainbow on a broken back Rapala.

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Ramon showed us that trolling nightcrawlers paid off with his limit of trout.  Harry, John & Don from the Foster City Rod & Gun Club visited us for picture a few times, this time showing off a 23inch trout among others caught on a FireTigers trolling the East side.  Their neighbors Joe, John, Sue & Ben caught 18(!) trout including 4 and 5 pound fish.   Jackie & Joe were smiling big with their 2 large trout caught on PowerBait.

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Jesse Castellanos from Granite Bay shows us the right way to hold a 6 /14 pound trout- he caught it on the South end with PowerBait.  Liz & Doug Tenbrook rented one of our fishing boats and brought in 5 trout trolling Rapalas 10 to 25 feet down along the main channel.  Penny, Marco & Keegan had a good day trolling dodgers & worms in the middle of the lake and caught four, including a 5 pound rainbow trout. 

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Darrel made good use of our new photo backdrop with this 4 1/2 pound beauty, he caught it trolling a Rapala just outside Elmer’s cove.  And finally I was chatting with Phil Henry & Mike Bennely who came down from Grass Valley, as they waited for their milkshakes it came up that their buddy Jack caught a nice rainbow.  Phil & Mike grabbed Jack’s fish to get their picture on the board!  They also grabbed Jack a giant Collins Lake scoop of Cookies & Cream ice cream, so his hands were still full and his face still was happy!

CIFFI has a table out at the store for the 8th annual Family Fun Trout Fishing Derby which starts tomorrow, April 28th.

As always we love to hear about your Collins Lake Catch, even if you don’t get a picture at the store you can email me a photo and details: fishing@collinslake.com and we’ll get you in our report!

Happy catching! Until next week, Ed