Here in the Capital region we are surrounded by outstanding angling opportunities. Indeed, with the Delta to the west and Sierra Nevada lakes to the east it's always a challenge for me to decide where to head for my next fishing adventure.

Generally, I overlook the great fishing that's available right here in my own backyard. One of the things that makes the Capital region unique is the diversity of fishing opportunities it provides. This week I decided to tap into that diversity and split my fishing time between two very different Sacramento area fishing destinations.

On June 3, I hooked up with Gene Rush and headed over to Folsom Lake. We arrived at the Rattlesnake Bar launch ramp just after 6:00 a.m. and had my Gregor in the water minutes later.

Our main target for the day was bass. I wanted to begin fishing along the east side of Anderson Island, about two miles west of the Rattlesnake Ramp. I'd been getting some reliable reports of anglers nailing holdover rainbows while trolling. With that in mind, we decided to troll our way to the island.

Gene fished a silver Needlefish behind a Sling Blade dodger four colors deep on his leadcore outfit, while I top lined a silver and blue Cripplure.

Despite the fact that the sonar was marking good numbers of fish cruising in the 15 to 25 foot range, we failed draw any action.

Arriving at the island we stowed the trout gear and rigged our spinning rods for bass. I set my rod up with a split shot rig sporting a 4 inch clear/flake Zoom Ringer worm. Gene's rod was armed with a light dart head adorned with a 3 inch Kalin smoke colored grub.

Almost immediately I started getting hit, but my timing was off and I missed four fish in a row. The bass were holding along the outside edge of boulders in 10 to 15 feet of water. We'd been fishing for about 20 minutes when Gene nailed a fat foot long spot, our first fish of the day. A couple minutes later I nailed a feisty spot of my own. For whatever reason the bite died after Gene landed a second spot.

We decided to head up the North Fork and try our luck in Mormon Ravine where the South Canal enters the lake through a powerhouse. This area has current and I've often had success targeting smallmouth there.

The area in front of the powerhouse is 17 to 25 feet deep and features an expanse of broken rock. Positioning the boat in 40 feet of water, we began fan casting toward the powerhouse. On my third cast I hooked a feisty 2.5 pound spot, followed by a smaller bass a few casts later.

After a break in the action, Gene nailed a nice two pound bass. In all, we spent about 2 hours working the area adjacent to the powerhouse. About 1 o'clock we decided to call it a day. Overall, the bite had been a little slow, but our best five probably weighed around 9.5 pounds. Not bad for Folsom during the post spawn.

The next morning around 7 o'clock I picked up my dad and we set off for the American River. The shad bite near the Sunrise Bridge had been going strong. Neither of us had fished for shad before and we were anxious to give it a try. Dan Bacher, Fish Sniffer Senior Editor, had fished the area days earlier with great results, using pink grubs on small lead heads, and advised us to use the same thing.

After parking in one of the Parkways lots, we worked our way down to the river just above the Sunrise Bridge. We could see fish jumping, but couldn't get them to hit. Before long, dad struck up a conversation with a man walking a dog. He related that guys were landing fish below the foot bridge west of Sunrise, so dad and I headed downstream to check it out.

When we got to the foot bridge we could see a half dozen fishermen on the far shore, so we crossed the bridge and followed a trail to a point below them. I wasn't sure how to fish the jig, so I simply cast it out as far as I could and allowed it to swing across the current on a tight line.

On my third cast I felt a strike and was fast to a strong fish. After a short battle, I worked my first shad into the shallows and grabbed it by the tail. The fish weighed about a 1.5 pounds and shined like the chrome on a vintage Cadillac.

It didn't take long for dad to get in on the action, nailing a shad that was just slightly smaller than mine. For the next three hours we had a ball hooking several more hard-fighting fish. Just before leaving I got lucky and landed a 3.5 pound fish that was our largest of the day.

If you've never been shad fishing you owe it to yourself to give it a try. They're simple to catch, provide fast action, and put up a great fight... Shad Rock!