Fishing Report

HWY 4 Corridor

June 28, 2010

The Fourth of July is this upcoming weekend and will be a busy on the Highway 4 corridor. Sunday the Fourth is a  FREE FISHING DAY so break out your rods and reels and enjoy a day in the sierras. With so much traffic on this weekend be sure to arrange your campsite ahead of time.Following is a list of campgrounds that will be open this week.

Big Meadow, Silver Tip and The West Shore at Lake Alpine, Mosquito Lake, Sourgrass, Spicer, Union, Utica, and Big Trees State Park. Make sure to check with the Forestry Department at Lake Alpine 209-753-2811 or at Hathaway Pines 209-795-1381.

Spicer Reservoir has been excellent this past weekend.  The lure fishermen have been doing good using Panther Martin spinners, Rooster Tails, Blue Fox spinners, and Kastmasters. Fly fishermen should try woolly buggers, ants, caddis, bead head nymphs. Bait fishermen should try Gulp Eggs, Gulp Nightcrawlers, Garlic and Salmon Egg scented Power Bait, inflated nightcrawlers, and floating Power Eggs using a cast-a-bubble with a 24" to 30" leader or a sliding sinker rig. Trollers should try Apex, Needlefish, Wedding Rings, Glitter-Bugs, Rapala's, Ex-Cell spoons and Rocky Mountain Lures behind a small dodger tipped either with a nightcrawler, Gulp Nightcrawler, Gulp maggots, and Power Minnows. You can also try using just a dodger trailed with the nightcrawler.

Lake Alpine has been excellent this past weekend. A 6lb beautiful rainbow was caught by one of our customers this past weekend. Bait caster's should try inflated nightcrawlers, Gulp Eggs, the new Garlic and Salmon Egg Scented Power Bait and Gulp Power Bait, Floating Power Eggs, and Power Bait on a 24" to 30 " leader. Fly fishermen should try woolly buggers, ants, and sparrow nymphs on a intermediate sink line. Lure fishermen should try Panther Martin's, Rooster Tails, Blue Fox Spinners, Kastmasters, and Thomas Buoyant. Trollers should try using the new Glitter Bug dodgers, and Wild Things by Crystal Basin Lures, with a new Glitter Bug Hoochie, Wedding Rings, Apex, Needlefish, Ex-Cell Spoons, and Rocky Mountain Hoochies and Spoons behind a small dodger tipped with either a nightcrawler, Gulp Nightcrawler, Gulp Maggots, or Power Minnows.

White Pines Lake located near Arnold was still the hot spot over the weekend. Bait fishermen should try floating Power Eggs, Gulp Eggs, new Salmon Egg scented power bait, new Garlic scented Power Bait, Gulp Power Bait, Gulp Nightcrawlers, salmon eggs, and nightcrawlers using a cast-a-bubble and a 30" leader or a sliding sinker rig.. Fly fishermen should try bead head woolly buggers, ants, blue wing olive, adams, stimulators, and sparrow nymphs on a intermediate line or try using a small split shot to get down to the fish. Lure fishermen have been using Panther Martin's, Kastmasters, and Rooster Tails.

The North Fork of the Stanislaus River has been tough due to high and fast water and lack of plants.The water levels have been changing due to the release of water coming out of Spicer Res and snow melt.You can check the flows at dreamflows.com. Bait casters should try crickets, nightcrawlers. Power Bait has just released their new scents for 2010. They now have salmon egg scent, and garlic in the popular colors, along with the new hatchery pellet scent. Lure casters should try Panther Martin's, Rooster Tails, Kastmasters, Blue Fox spinners, and Rapalas. Fly fishermen should try bead head nymphs,adams, female parachute adams,ants, woolly buggers, stimulators, and caddis flies. There are still holdovers and beautiful Brown Trout to be caught.

Beaver Creek and the North Fork of the Stanislaus inside Big Trees State Park is now open.  It is also a wonderful place to take your family and enjoy the magnificent Trees that we have in our backyard.  

 Big Trees State Park is located on Highway 4 approximately three Miles above Arnold. You can contact them at 209-795-2334 or their website www.ca.gov and go to Calaveras Big Trees. There is also Golden Pines RV Resort for additional RV camping. Their website is www.goldenpinesrvresort.com. The campground at Sourgrass is now open along the North Fork of the Stanislaus.

Our store now employs one of the only licensed fishing guides in Calaveras County. Dan Liechty works in our store on Sundays. He is a wealth of knowledge regarding fishing of fly fishing in our part of the Sierras. Feel free to stop in and talk to Dan about fishing in our area or setting up a guide trip. His office number is 209-890-7147.

Thanks to all of our customers for your patronage. We look forward to seeing you soon

Bill Reynolds

Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods