Following a very rainy, snowy and cold two weeks up here, we hit the lake this past week and found that the lake level has receded a few feet. Because of the storm and snowpack, Southern California Edison decided to lower the lake about three to five percent this week.
We continue to limit out each trip, but the bite is not what it had been before the storm. The water temperature varied a little this week rising from 49 degrees to 55 degrees on Friday. On Wednesday, Shaver residents Lee Gates, David Colliver and Tom Mozzetti joined me for a morning trip picking up three limits of kokanee. Mozzetti also caught a trophy rainbow.
On Friday, Rich Hughett and his fiance, Bobbie Baccei, both of Monterey, limited out with nice kokanee and a near trophy trout. The next day, Frank Esparza of Fresno, took his grandson Chris out for their annual trip with me.
Chris really hit the jackpot catching a trophy rainbow trout, an 18-inch brown and eight kokanee. It was such an enjoyable morning watching Chris, a freshman baseball player at Clovis West, do so good; another example of a grandfather leading his grandson in the right direction.
We fished with pink or orange Dick’s Koke Busters tipped with shrimp scent behind Dick’s Mountain Dodgers in purple and silver at just below the surface to 15 feet down each day. It is most definitely the hot setup at this point in this early season. We did mark several fish at 23 to 27 feet but found little action at that depth. The best location for us was from the Point to Black Rock.
The very successful Shaver Lake Youth Derby, under the direction of its founder Greg Marks and assisted by the Shaver Lake Trophy Trout Project, was held on June 8. It was so good to see youngsters competing for prizes with their fish and participating in games. Most competitors went home with a prize. Marks, from Auberry and a retired US Forestry ranger, works hard to ensure that the kids have a good time and get hooked on fishing, not drugs or gangs. Our hat is off to him and the SLTTP.
Ok, here is the prediction. Trout will continue to be slow as Department of Fish and Wildlife will not be making the regular plant of catchables. But, I don’t believe they have planted their reported 2,000 two-pound trout. Keep an eye out for that. The kokanee are growing about an inch a month and should continue to produce for the trollers who use the right tackle and fish the right depths. Keep an eye out for the water temperature.
For those who want to fish Shaver and would like to fish with me, contact the Shaver Lake Sports at 841-2740. Until next time, I wish you good luck. If you have a picture of your catch, email it to me at dickchip@netptc.net and we will try to get it in an upcoming Shaver report.