"I had a wide open trip at Sonoma last week that produced 35 fish up to 5-1/2 pounds all on spinnerbaits," reported Scott Green of Outdoor Pro Shop in Rohnert Park. "Unfortunately, the water temperature dropped from 58 down to 52 degrees over the weekend and the bite slowed down."

According to Green, he and partner Steve Seals won a Turkey Shoot over the weekend with five fish totaling 14.97 pounds. "We worked hard for 8 fish during the day and we only caught 2 on spinnerbaits," he added. "The rest were all taken on brown and black jigs. Davey Rawle had the big fish of the day at 4.97 pounds.

The majority of the action has been taking place in the creek arms. "The backs of the creeks are starting to clear up and that's where most of the fish are being caught," said Green. "We caught most of our fish in Yorty Creek and a couple in the back of Dry Creek."

The trout bite is beginning to take form at Sonoma. "There's about a quarter mile of clear water at the back of Dry Creek and one of our local anglers, Craig Mundy, reported catching 7 landlocked steelhead to 24 inches while trolling in the clean water," said Green. "He was using a white J. Fair trolling fly."

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"We sent two boats up to Punta Gorda yesterday and the rockfish and lingcod action was outstanding," reported Don Powers at the Noyo Fishing Center in Fort Bragg. "Both boats had full limits of big rockfish along with limits or close to it on the ling cod."

The Rumblefish had a total of 21 passengers who bagged full limits of rockfish, 37 lingcod to 24 pounds, 17 cabezon and 25 kelp greenling. The Double Vision had 6 passengers who managed full limits of rockfish and lingcod along with 8 cabezon and 25 kelp greenling. "They caught their fish on hex bars, swim baits and Fish Traps," said Powers. "Most of the action was found in 70 to 90 feet of water."

According to Powers, crabbing has been outstanding with full limits the rule. "We had one boat out for crabs this morning and they came in early with full limits (150) of dungeness crabs for 15 people," said Powers. "The quality of the crabs has been excellent. These are solid 2 to 2-1/2 pound commercial grade crabs we're seeing."

"Salmon season opens on February 15 and things look promising for another good opener," reported Rick Thornton of Anchor Charters.

"We'll start running salmon/ crab combination trips. We've been out whale watching for the past two months and we're seeing good signs of bait and good water color."

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"The Umpqua has remained fairly high, but the water is now starting to drop, which should turn on the steelhead bite around Elkton," reported Bob Greig from Elkton Bait & Tackle. "Right now, the best baits for enticing steelhead are sand shrimp and roe. After the water drops and clears, expect for the Spin-Glo bite to turn back on."

Greig noted that anglers are catching bigger fin-clipped hatchery steelhead averaging around 12 pounds.

"On a sturgeon trip on the lower river, I was fortunate to hook and land a fish, but it was over-sized and had to be released," stated Greig. Bob suggested using sand shrimp from Elkton down river for the diamondbacks.

High flows on the Umpqua have also kept Big-K Guest Ranch Guide Scott Wolfe off the water as he headed to fish the Elk, Sixes and Coquille rivers for winter-run steelhead. "On my last few trips out, we averaged 4-5 hook-ups and landed fish in the 12-14 lb. class," said Wolfe.

"The fish fell for a number of baits," he added. "Anglers side drifted sand shrimp, roe and puff balls, as well as pulling bait divers with shrimp."

"The only consistent fishing going on for Umpqua anglers is the sturgeon bite below the Highway 101 Bridge," indicated Todd Hannah of The Oregon Angler Guide Service. "Although a lot of fish have been boated in recent weeks, the bite can be hit and miss from day to day."

For the best action, Hannah is using smelt and sand shrimp. "Normally, the sturgeon bite peaks between April and May," he added.

"Also, there are quality 8 to 14 pound steelhead being caught by anglers plunking off the bank at Bunches Bar with Spin - Glos," said Hannah.

"I have also experienced solid fishing on the Elk River below the hatchery," noted Hannah. Side drifting roe and sand shrimp is the most effective method, according to Hannah.

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"The two anglers fishing with me on my last trip caught and released four wild steelhead to 3 pounds and lots of trout ranging from 9 to 25 inches," said Daryl Gingrich of Hornbrook Guide Service. "We fished with roe and nightcrawlers from below the hatchery to Hallelujah Falls, a nine mile drift."

The majority of steelhead caught on the Klamath are wild, but the hatchery continues to see a decent return of fish. The hatchery plans to keep spawning fish through March 31.

"We have received 364 adult steelhead so far this season, compared to 412 to date last year," said Kim Rushton, hatchery manager. "The hatchery staff is in the process of marking steelhead yearlings. We plan to release around 200,000 yearlings this year and hope to release approximately the same amount as last year. We have taken 99,000 eggs to date and we expect to meet our production goal."

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"The Caroline found great fishing on Saturday, February 8, and Sunday, February 9," reported Todd Arcoleo at Chris' Fishing, Inc. "The 14 anglers aboard the boat averaged 100 fish per rod on Saturday, while the 12 anglers fishing on Sunday averaged 9 fish per rod. The passengers also landed a few petrale sole in the 4 to 6 pound range."

One of Arcoleo's friends, Rita, reported catching 154 sanddabs on the Caroline. Rita and the other anglers used shrimp flies, baited with squid, in water as deep as 250 feet.

"The boats are fishing off Point Joe, Pebble Beach and Carmel," said Arcoleo. "When the water is calm, the sanddab fishing is very good because it allows you to effectively fish the sandy bottom where the sanddabs hold."

"The sanddab fishing has been excellent," confirmed Chrissie Chonacki at Randy's Fishing Trips. "The 10 people aboard the Reelin on February 8 landed 900 sandabs."

The salmon season in Monterey Bay will begin on Saturday, March 29. Hopefully, this year's opener will produce great salmon action like last year's opening weekend did.

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"One fishermen nailed a 5 pound wild rainbow at Baum this week, while another angler took a 4 pounder," reported Steve Vaughn at Vaughn's Sporting Goods. "They fooled both fish while tossing Kastmasters from the bank."

Bait fishing with nightcrawlers and Power Bait is also productive for the trout. "The key is to target places on the lake with current flow," added Vaughn.

Fly fishermen are finding trout success with pheasant tail, Copper John and hare's ear nymphs in sized #16 to #22 and brown and olive Wooly Buggers. If you want to fish dry flies, Vaughn advised tossing out midge and callibaetis patterns.

"I haven't heard any reports on Iron Canyon Reservoir over the past two weeks," said Vaughn. "My last report was that you couldn't get a vehicle past the dam because of heavy snow."

Before the latest snow storms, anglers fishing Kastmasters and nightcrawler/marshmallow combos from the bank reported nailing rainbows measuring 12 to 17 inches long.

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"Trollers have been taking a good mix of rainbows and browns in the 2 to 5 pound class this week," explained Lowell Blake of The Sports Nut. "The top spots have been Big Springs, Recreation area #1 and Recreation area #2."

According to Blake, the most productive set-up has been a crawler trolled by itself or behind a set of flashers 10 to 20 feet deep in the early morning. Also, try fishing a Needlefish or red/ gold or firetiger Speedy Shiner.

King salmon action has been hit and miss lately. "We've had a few reports of salmon taken out in front of the Hamilton Branch and by the dam," said Blake. "Use an anchovy tail with a size #1 or #2 hook. A white mini gitzit will also work well."

For bank fishermen, Lowell said the Hamilton Branch area and the Jetties in Prattville are going to be your best bet. Use salmon roe, crawlers with Power Bait or meal worms.

Lake Almanor is currently 12 feet from full.

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"Anglers are reporting the top action shaking plastic worms or tossing out crankbaits," said Wade McGrath at McGrath's Fishing and Diving Supply. "Most of the fish being caught now are in the 12 to 15 inch slot or above."

Another good bet is to fish brown/purple and brown/orange jigs in 20 feet of water and less, according to McGrath.

Surprisingly enough, bank anglers and boaters are finding "real good" catch and release coho salmon action while drifting minnows off the face of the dam and throughout the main body, said McGrath. Some larger fish in the 1-1/2 pound class are showing now.

The lake level at press time was 800 feet in elevation, 100 feet from full. The Spillway and Bidwell launch ramps are both open now.

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"Sunday was a great day, but Monday was a very slow day for sturgeon," said Canevaro. "The three anglers fishing with me yesterday landed three keeper sturgeon measuring 48, 50 and 56 inches. We caught the fish on eel and grass shrimp at Sherman Island."

However, Canevaro and his passengers didn't catch anything the next day, though they saw several striped bass taken near where they were fishing.

"Most of the bass are being caught by bait fishermen at night," he explained. "The water temperature had dropped to 47 degrees, about 2 degrees colder than it was the day before."

"The sturgeon and bass fishing was slow February 1 to 8, but fishing picked up on Saturday, February 8," said Mark Delnero of Fin Addict Sportfishing.

"The five anglers (the Key family) fished shad on the top of the incoming near Buoy #5, where 12-year-old Kylee Key landed a 6 lb. striper."

When the tide changed directions, Delnero headed up river, metered a couple of big fish on the screen and dropped the anchor. "I don't think it was much longer than 10 minutes when little Kylee Key's rod hooked up again," noted Delnero. "Her sturgeon came up an inch short, but it was still a big fish judging from the 'killer smile' on her face."

About a half hour later, her rod went down a third time, but this time she decided it was time to share her luck with her older sister, Tori. I set the hook and Tori took over, landing a 53 inch sturgeon in about 10 minutes. About another 20 minutes went by when Nelsen (The Master) Key's rod went south and he set the hook. "After a long battle, we landed a 66", 66 lb. diamondback. Everybody's smiling in the Key family now," said Delnero.

Sunday turned out to be a good day also, with one angler landing a 64 incher and another losing a heavy fish. "We also took a couple of bass to 7 lbs.," he added.

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"Of the dozens of shore fishermen I saw around Dinosaur Point on my last trip, not everybody was catching fish, with an average of a half-fish per rod," reported Ly Tu from Ly's Sporting & Fishing Goods. "However, boaters trolling lures and drifting bait are picking up 1-1/2 fish per rod to limits. Boaters are experiencing the best action while fishing broken back Rebels, jumbo minnows or frozen shad in 60-80 feet of water along Dinosaur Point."

"This past week we have had an increase of foot traffic around the shop, with more anglers catching fish," said Tim Mitchell of Mitchell's Outpost.

"A variety of baits are producing fish, including minnows, cut baits and Magnum Stretch lures."

John Poindexter was fishing the main lake with minnows when he nailed two bass weighing 13 and 14 pounds. Steve Fernandez also brought in two stripers while drifting minnows at San Luis. The fish weighed 9.5 and 10 pounds.

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"She fooled the fish in only 7 feet of water," said Swineford. "The big trout was chasing the rainbows that the DFG had stocked."

Terry Lake of Pollock Pines also landed a 5-1/2 pound, 25 inch mackinaw while fishing Power Bait from the second dam.

"A lot of rainbow trout are being taken now by bank anglers fishing Power Bait and nightcrawlers at the second dam," added Cole. "On my latest bank fishing trip, I landed a limit of rainbows and a 16 inch smallmouth bass using Kastmasters."

The lake is rising with the snowmelt and is approximately 20 feet from full, according to Cole.

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"The kokanee bite has been very good. We have been finding the fish at 35 to 40 feet. Most of the kokanee are 11 to 12 inches already, which means we should be catching some really large fish by the end of the summer," said Jack Yandell of Captain Jack's Guide Service.

The kokanee are hitting Captain Jack's Bugs in green, Koke-A-Nuts in green or glow in the dark and small Dick Nite spoons in gold/silver, all tipped with white corn. The main channel along the dam has been the hot area.

Anglers looking for trout are finding that trolling Wedding Rings, cop car Needlefish or black/silver Hum Dingers results in days of 4 to 5 fish. Night crawlers pulled behind dodgers or flashers are working as well. The rainbows are averaging a healthy 13 to 14 inches and a few lucky fishermen have hooked up with holdover fish in the 3 to 4 pound class.

Most of the action has come from the surface down to 20 feet, with good concentrations of fish from Shaver Point to Edison Cove.

"Bank anglers are picking up 2 to 4 fish per outing while soaking rainbow Power Bait off Dora Bella Cove or Shaver Point," revealed Yandell. "Red/gold Cripplures or perch Kastmasters bounced off the shallow boulders are fooling a few fish."

The ramp is open and the water level is still very high.

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"We're still seeing a lot of trout limits coming in and the ice is in great shape averaging about 15 inches thick throughout the lake," reported Dennis Dunn of Wildhorse Resort.

According to Dunn, trout action has been most productive across from the State Park and also at the north end near the mouth of Hendrix Creek. "Just about everyone is bringing out limits of rainbows and we're starting to see a few big browns mixed in catches," he added. "One of our guests just checked in with a 24 inch brown that probably weighed 5-1/2 pounds. The brown fell for a crawler fished 6 feet deep across form the State Park."

For perch, Dunn said anglers need to move out to deeper water, approximately 12 to 25 feet deep. "The best perch bite is still happening off the State Park," he explained. "A couple guys just came in with a bunch of perch caught on Rapala Ice Jigs. Also try a white crappie jig tipped with a meal worm or a piece of corn."

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"When the tides are right, both the sturgeon and bass are hitting," said Fraser. "On my last trip, I went with two friends to catch a sturgeon for the sturgeon cleaning demonstration at my seminar. We landed a 50 pound sturgeon, as well as releasing 14 bass, all keepers except for two, while soaking shrimp baits at the Shell Bank."

Fraser put the sturgeon on a rope at the marina so it would be fresh until he cleaned it at the seminar. However, when he went to get the sturgeon the day of the seminar, somebody had stolen it.

"I asked Jason Hayes of Petaluma to catch me a sturgeon for the seminar," added Fraser. "He went to the Pumphouse and fooled a 65 pound sturgeon with grass shrimp."

Other successful anglers include Bill Johnson and Charlie Marino of Petaluma, who landed two sturgeon measuring 64 and 67 inches. They fished mud shrimp in 20 feet of water between Buoys #5 and #7, according to Fraser. Jim Cox of Touch of Grey Sportfishing experienced great fishing on his last venture on San Pablo Bay. The three anglers fishing with him landed two stripers to 10 pounds and a 56 pound sturgeon while fishing ghost shrimp at the Shell Bank.

Erik Anfinson, skipper of the Bass Tub, is now booking sturgeon and bass trips out of the Western Boat Shop in San Rafael.