Stunning sunrises over glassy water, inspiring mountain scenery, talented anglers in fast boats, great food, good friends and big hard fighting fish - the 3rd Annual Kokanee Power Trout Derby at Lake Shasta on May 6 and 7 boasted all this and more.

Despite the fact that the Kokanee Power event is still in its infancy, its popularity and attendance has grown steadily. At this point the two day affair is considered one of northern California’s premier trout and salmon tournaments, attracting anglers from far and wide.

The Basshole Bar and Grill in Lakehead serves as event headquarters. “This event is absolutely fantastic,” exclaimed Dave Dulon, owner of the Basshole. “People love this derby. Last year 200 people participated, this year we’ve got 250. It’s just amazing.”

For the Fish Sniffer’s Advertising Director Paul Kneeland and I, the event really got started during the early morning hours of May 5 when we hitched up our boats and headed north from our gold country homes to the big lake at the north end of the Sacramento Valley. Paul stopped for breakfast, while I opted to drive straight through so I arrived at Sugarloaf Resort first.

The first person I ran into at the resort was Gary Coe, Kokanee Power’s president and master of ceremonies for this year’s derby. He introduced me to Harold Jones, manager of Sugarloaf Cabins. Harold helped me get the Fish Sniffer Jet Craft 1825 launched and directed me to the houseboat provided by Michael Hahn of the Sugarloaf Resort and Marina, where Paul and I along with six friends would be staying.

The houseboat, dubbed the “Corinthian”, was luxurious to say the least. It was designed to sleep twelve, so the eight of us had plenty of elbow room.

The boat featured a well appointed galley with a large refrigerator, a 27 inch satellite equipped T.V., a satellite radio, DVD and CD player. A covered fly bridge and six person Jacuzzi were located on top of the boat. After checking out the boat, and with Paul nowhere in sight I decided to head out onto the water in search of some trout. Cruising down the Sacramento Arm, I didn’t see much on the Jet Craft’s Lowrance, so I pulled into the O’Brien inlet. I figured I’d do a little trolling and check out the topo map for new areas to explore. I started out toplining with a pair of Cripplures.

The surface temperature was a little warm at 65 degrees, but I thought toplining still might produce. After 20 minutes without action I decided to work a little deeper with my downriggers. On my first rod I rigged a pink and silver Humdinger behind a green and chrome Sling Blade dodger and sent it down to 18 feet. On the second rod I set up a black and white Sep’s dodger followed by a Sep’s Pro Secret in the watermelon color and dropped it down to 27 feet.

I been trolling with the downriggers less than five minutes when the rod set at 18 feet bent sharply and I was into my first fish. The hard fighting 14 inch rainbow made a wild jump and pulled drag from the Shimano Cardiff reel before sliding into the net.

For the next four hours, I trolled the mouth of O’Brien and was thrilled by multiple hookups. In all I boated 11 rainbows from 12 to 16 inches, keeping 3 and releasing the rest.

I headed back to the house boat around 5 o’clock, made a run to the store and met Paul and the other guys in our group at the Basshole where Gary Miralles of the Shasta Tackle Company was scheduled to give a pre-derby seminar. I don’t know what was better, Gary’s seminar or the Basshole’s prime rib!

With dinner out of the way we all headed back to Sugarloaf and went to bed in preparation for an early start on the first day of the derby. We wanted to hit the water at first light, since we were planning on making long runs. My buddy Gene and I had wanted to explore the dam and Dry Creek while Paul and the others were heading for Bridge Bay.

With a top speed of 38 miles per hour the Jet Craft got Gene and I to the dam in about 20 minutes. By 6:15 we had two rods working off the downriggers. Both rigs sported pink Sling Blades. One was trailed by a pink Koke-A-Nut, while the other sported a black and white Pro Secret.

We’d trolled about halfway across the dam when the a 14 inch king inhaled the Pro Secret at 55 feet. Gene grabbed the rod and a couple minutes later we had our first salmon in the box. We trolled a while longer without results before heading to the Centimudi ramp to pick up Paul Harmon at 7:30.

With Paul aboard we continued trolling the face of the dam until I gave a live on the water report for Sep Hendrickson’s California Sportsman radio show. Once I’d given the report, we headed into Dry Creek in hopes of finding some faster action. In addition to the rods we had working off the downriggers, Gene added a leadcore outfit rigged with a pink and silver Hum Dinger. Just inside of Dry Creek, Gene hooked a 12 inch king and I scooped it into the net. Just as I did, the downrigger set for 75 feet went off and the rod bent hard. I grabbed the rod and felt the sensation of dead weight.

At first I thought the rod had snagged some debris, but when it started coming up and circling to the portside I knew it was a good fish. The fish made strong runs punctuated by lots of head shaking. After a few minutes of steady pressure the thick bodied king materialize behind the boat and immediately made a dash for the motor.

Luckily it veered off at the last moment and wallowed to the surface, allowing Paul to scoop it into the net. After I dispatched the salmon and removing the Koke-A-Nut, it registered 3.1 pounds on a Berkley digital scale. After I landed my big king the action in Dry Creek slowed down, so we spent the rest of the day exploring the Sacramento River Arm, ending up with 5 kings and a nice planter rainbow.

At the day one weigh in a lot of quality trout and salmon were brought to the Basshole, including a pair of husky rainbows that Paul Kneeland boated and a pair of gorgeous browns that Paul’s buddy, Bruce Wicks, successfully battled. Tom Hamada of Sierra Anglers wowed the crowd with a pair of awesome browns to 5.5 pounds that gave him the day one lead.

On Saturday night, Kokanee Power provided a memorable dinner for the competitors. After the dinner $8,000 worth of fishing related merchandise was raffled off and a silent auction was held. The big winner in the auction was Tom Firth, who outbid all challengers to secure a spot in a houseboat for next spring’s event.

Day two dawned overcast and a little breezy. Wanting another quality salmon for the grill, Gene and I headed for Dry Creek. We had no sooner put the rods into the water when got a double hook up. I lost my salmon, but Gene landed his. Thinking we were in for some fast action, we fished the mouth of the creek for 45 minutes without another hit.

Moving to the back of the creek, we ran into Vance Staplin of Vance’s Tackle. He had a pair of quality kings, but confided that the action was spotty. Swinging the boat around we planned on trolling out of Dry Creek to fish the face of the dam.

We were nearly back into the main body when a chunky 2.5 pound king inhaled a blue and white P-Line hoochie smeared with threadfin shad scent Pro-Cure Super Gel fished 100 feet deep behind a pink Sling Blade. With our expectations once again buoyed, we continued working the main body in front of the dam, but we weren’t able to draw any more action. At noon we pulled in the gear and headed for the Basshole for the final weigh in.

On day two, the browns in the McCloud Arm really turned on and it showed in the catches, with a number of anglers weighing browns in the 3 to 4 pound class. When the weigh in ended and the final calculations were complete Jack Schultz, the Kokanee Power treasurer, came out of the pack and took the top prize of $3,000 with a pair of fantastic browns.

Shasta Lake, the top notch fishery it provides, the charming community of Lakehead, and the good spirited camaraderie of the 250 competitors all combined to make the 3rd Annual Kokanee Power event a huge success. I can’t wait until next year. If you’d like to fish a Lake Shasta trout tournament before next spring, consider signing up for the Lakehead $2,500 Trout Derby this October, it’s sure to be a good time for all.

For information, contact Kokanee Power (916) 985-4943, Sugarloaf Resort (800) 223-7950, Shasta Lake Resorts (877) houseboat, The Basshole (530) 238-2170, Shasta Lake Business Association, www.shastalake.org.

Gary Coe Comments On ’06 Derby  

After the day two weigh in, while total weights were being calculated, I had the opportunity to speak with Kokanee Power president Gary Coe and get his reaction to this year’s event.

“This year’s derby has been a resounding success,” said Coe. “This year we had 250 adult anglers and 15 junior anglers participating. For some the fishing was tough, for others it was nothing short of great. The thing that struck me most about the fishing this year is the multiple species quality that Lake Shasta provides. We’ve seen kings, browns and rainbows in excess of 3 pounds. What other lake provides that level of quality?”

“Gary tell me a little about the focus of the event. I noticed that anglers had the opportunity to donate the fish that they weighed to the needy. How does that program work?,” I asked. “This event is focused on enhancing both the Lake Shasta fishery and the surrounding community. The trout and salmon you saw anglers donating will go to the Redding Food Bank and will provide the basis for meals for folks that need a little help. This derby is important to the Lakehead economy. It is the first event of the spring and really helps to jump start the season for local businesses. Anytime 250 plus anglers converge on a small community like this there has to be a benefit to the local economy.”

“As far as the fishery is concerned, Kokanee Power is dedicated to enhancing and bolstering what is already one of the most prolific lakes in the state. With the help of the community and the DFG we maintain four pens here at the lake for rearing trophy rainbow trout. This spring we released 3,000 trout that averaged 3 to 5 pounds each. Those fish go into the lake in great shape, ready to fend for themselves. Some of them will be caught in the coming months, but those that don’t will hopefully reappear at some point in the future as real whoppers. “