DELTA
Due to exceptional high tides and water releases out of Folsom Reservoir exceeding 35,000 cubic feet per second into the American River creating tough fishing conditions out on the Delta waterways, especially on the Sacramento River where conditions are not very good. your best bet is to take some eel, salmon roe or shrimp baits and try for salmon at some of the more popular locations such as Cache Slough, Prospect Slough and the main stem of the Sacramento River between the Rio Vista Bridge and the Ryer Island Ferry. If you are interested in targeting striped bass head on over into the South Delta to Old River, Middle River or into Discovery Bay where the water clarity is much better. The most popular bait for this area by far is threadfin shad or drift live minnows or blue gill along the tule berms. Most of the striped bass are dunks up to an occasional 18 to 24 inches. Take note, the in-river salmon fishing season is closed.

SAN LUIS RESERVOIR
San Luis reservoir has increased to 55% of capacity with increased pumping out of the south Delta. With colder weather in the holiday season the fishing action has slowed down but there are still some striped bass to be had in both the main lake and O’Neill Forebay.

AMADOR LAKE
Trout plants continue with 1200 pounds released last Thursday. The lake has risen to within about 6’ from spilling with heavy inflows from Jackson Creek. Trout are being caught in the shallows casting Kastmasters, green trout dough baits or Power Eggs. Trollers are beginning to get into the act with more rainbows including some larger fish in excess of 5 pounds taken on Rapalas. The Tackle Box Cafe will be open on Christmas Eve, but they will be closed on Christmas Day. The annual Tagged Trout Derby will continue until March 19, 2017.

CAMANCHE LAKE
Rainbow trout, crappie and largemouth bass remain the story on Lake Comanche, and all three species are making some happy anglers. Trout plants continue with 1500 pounds of mount Lassen Hatchery rainbows split betweenn the South Shore Pond and the North Shore launch ramp, and trollers are finding nearly as many crappie as rainbow trout.Trophy sized trout ranging in size from 5 pounds up to 12 pounds are fairly common.

SAN PABLO BAY
Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Live Bait. They expect to receive some live mud shrimp in the near future and they anticipate some great sturgeon fishing off “the sturgeon triangle” as soon as the tides get back to normal.

OCEAN
Due to rough seas reports have been very scarce this past week. Please note that the combination trips will last until December 31st, and the long winter will begin with a few boats focusing on striped bass and sturgeon in the South Bay or San Pablo Bay.

TAKE TIME TO GO OUT AND ENJOY THE GREAT OUTDOORS. UNTIL NEXT TIDE STAY SAFE TO FISH ANOTHER DAY.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

SALMON DIE-OFF IN FOURTEEN MILE SLOUGH
On a rainy day during the last storm to hit California, storm drain water was running into a ditch at the end of Fourteen mile Slough along Swain Rd. and right next to the Village Oaks Elementary School in the city of Stockton when at least 50 salmon ranging in weight from 10 to 20 pounds were trying to jump inside the pump to get upriver. They became trapped in 14 Mile Slough, probably at high tide and with the water flowing out of the ditch this was the only water flowing that they could migrate to. Eventually they tried to spawn there and died due to the lack of water. They were found on a mud bed along with thousands of salmon eggs lying beside the carcasses.

PARDEE LAKE CLOSED FOR SEASON
The lake will reopen February 16, 2017 for camping and February 17, 2017 for fishing.

DELTA WATER QUALITY PLAN HEARINGS SCHEDULED
Earlier this year thousands of Restore The Delta supporters signed a petition urging the State Water Resources Control Board to update outdated water quality standards for the Bay-Delta region. Now we need your action in person. Presently this outdated, 20 year old Water Quality Control Plan allows more than half the water needed for the Delta’s ecological health to be diverted away for unsustainable Big Agriculture in the west and south San Joaquin Valley.

The State Resources Control Board is currently in phase 1 of updating the plan and the need to make sure that the State Water Board gets it right and is not influenced by special interests. New water quality standards that truly protect communities and species is a proactive step that helps ensure reliable water supplies for all water users of the Bay-Delta.

We need you to make your comments! The public comment process ends January 17, 2017, and all hearings conclude January 3, 2017. Please limit your oral comments to 3 minutes in length. The State Water Resources Board will accept both written and oral comments the proposed plan amendment and the SED. They must be received no later than 12:00 noon on January 17, 2017 and addressed and submitted to:
Jeanine Townsend, Clerk to the Board
State Water Resources Control Board
1001 I Street, 24th Floor
Sacramento, Ca 95814-0100
Information: Jeanine Townsend at (916)341-5600
Proposed changes to the Bay-Delta Plan include:
New narrative February through June Lower San Joaquin River flow objective applicable to the San Joaquin River and it’s salmon bearing tributaries- the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers and associated program of implementation to support and maintain the natural production of viable native watershed fish populations migrateng through the Delta and Revised numeric southern Delta salinity objectives and associated program of implementation to protect agricultural beneficial uses in the southern Delta.

Changes to the Bay-Delta Plan final draft must be approved by the State Water board and the Office of Administrative law before becoming effective.

UPCOMING EVENTS

SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL SPORTSMAN'S EXPOSITION
January 19 - 22, 2016 - This is the big one. Come on out and view what's new in the world of hunting and fishing. The Sacramento ISE show boasts hundreds of vendors and offers dozens of hard hitting hunting and fishing seminars. The event takes place at Sacramento's CalExpo. For more information visit sports expos.com.

GENERAL WATERFOWL HUNTING SEASON CLOSES
January 29, 2017 - The general waterfowl hunting season closes throughout much of the state. For more information go to the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife website at dfg.ca.gov.

QUAIL HUNTING SEASON CLOSES
January 29, 2017 - The general quail hunting season closes throughout much of the state for mountain and valley quail. For more information go to the California Dept. of Fish and Wildlife website at dfg.ca.gov.

FUTURE PRO NEW MELONES BASS TOURNAMENT
February 18, 2017 - Future Pro holds their bass tournament at New Melones Reservoir. Be part of the west coast’s hottest bass fishing circuit by signing up for this event. For more information call Vince Harris at (916) 768-0938.

SACRAMENTO BOAT SHOW
March 9 - 12, 2017, 2017 - At Sacramento’s Cal Expo. Doors open at 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.on Sunday. For more information go to sacramentoboatshow.com or call (916)371-4239.

SANTA ROSA FISHING TACKLE AND DUCK DECOY SHOW
March 10-11, 2017 - This is the place to go for antiques. Collectibles, new and used fishing tackle and much more. This annual event takes place at 1351 Maple Ave. in Santa Rosa, ca. For more information call (707) 539-3662

RENO BOAT SHOW AND RECREATION EXPO
March 17, 18,19, 2017 - Every outdoor sports and recreation enthusiast will appreciate the Reno Boat and Recreation Expo. This show boasts the latest outdoor gear and accessories, adventure and travel, boats, RVs, camp trailers and much more. The expo will be held at the Reno Convention Center. For more information call: (775) 885-2222

UPCOMING FUTURE PRO BASS TOURNAMENTS
March 25, 2017 - Lake Berryessa. Information: Call Vince Harris at (916)768-0938
April 8, 2017 - Don Pedro Reservoir. Call Vince Harris at (916)768-0938
April 22, 2017 - Folsom Lake. Call Vince Harris at (916)768-0938
May 6, 2017 - Camanche Lake. Call Vince Harris at (916)768-0938
May 13, 2017 - Clearlake. Call Vince Harris at (916)768-0938

JAY’S BEST BETS
Delta - striped bass and sturgeon
Lake Camanche - trout
Amador Lake - trout
Ocean - rockfish - Dungeness crab- lingcod
San Pablo Bay striped bass and sturgeon
California pro catches whopper spotted bass that may break world record
Ryan Sabalow, SacBee

Cody Meyer holds his potential world record spotted bass he caught Friday at New Bullards Bar Reservoir in Yuba County. The fish weighed in at 10.80 pounds. Courtesy of Tim Little.

Cody Meyer turned a life’s passion for fishing into a lucrative career, but the 33-year-old Auburn man never came close to hooking a world-record fish – until Friday. Meyer grew up watching bass-fishing shows on television in his parents’ Grass Valley home. Before he could drive, his mother used to drop off the Bear River High School student at local lakes with a little aluminum boat. He’d stay out on the water and fish until she picked him up at dark.

He won his first fishing tournament at 15.

“I was hooked,” he said. “I won 500 bucks. I felt like I was a millionaire.”
It’s a feeling that never went away. About six years ago, he quit his profitable full-time job in the wholesale car industry to fish full time. Meyer has been remarkably successful, pulling in nearly $900,000 in earnings at professional fishing tournaments across the county. He’s got a small army of gear and tackle sponsors. When he’s on tour in the South, where professional bass fishing almost rivals NASCAR in popularity, he’s something of a celebrity. People stop him to pose for pictures.

But even with that kind of success, he never caught that one fish that could immortalize him in the fishing world.

That may have changed Friday with one lurch of his fishing rod.

Meyer knew massive spotted bass lurk in the emerald waters of Yuba County’s New Bullards Bar reservoir, an hour or so from Meyer’s home in Auburn. Meyer said he’s caught a veritable “truckload” of spotted bass at the lake over the years topping more than 8 pounds. In January 2015, his friend Tim Little caught the current International Game Fish Association world record, a 10 pound, 6 ounce behemoth.

Other anglers have reportedly caught fish from New Bullards Bar that weighed even more. One of them is even listed as a state record, but those fish weren’t officially certified for the world record books.

For Meyer, Friday was supposed to be a lazy fishing trip with his buddy. Maybe they’d shoot some pictures for a sponsor if they caught a few of the big spotted bass that lurk in the lake, gorging on the landlocked sockeye salmon local fishermen call kokanee. Spotted bass, native to America’s South, were introduced in California in 1974. The hard-fighting fish thrive along the rocky, muddy banks of Northern California’s major reservoirs.

As they fished, Meyer said he spotted what appeared to be a fat bass on the high-tech depth and fish finder he’s got on his boat. The fish was hovering around 20 feet below the surface, some 80 feet above the lake’s bottom. He tossed an Ocho, a soft, plastic lure made by Strike King Lure Co., over where he he thought the fish might be hoping to ambush a kokanee.

“The fish bit, and I set the hook. It took off for, like, 5 feet and then stopped,” Meyer said Sunday in a phone interview. “I said, ‘Big one!’ but literally for about a second and a half, I thought it was snagged, even though it was in the middle of nowhere. … Then it just slowly swam past the boat like it didn’t even know it was hooked out in the deep water. Then it realized it was hooked, and it went crazy.”

He said the battle to reel the fish to the boat lasted only five minutes or so, but “it seemed like I fought it for six hours.”

When he got it to the boat, Meyer’s eyes widened.

“To be honest, I thought it was a 12- or 13-pounder,” he said. “I’ve never seen a spot that big. … It was a freak. It was a freak.”

Upon weighing the fish and seeing that at 10.8 pounds, it appeared larger than Little’s record, Meyer said he wasn’t sure what to do, so he called Little. When Little’s not fishing in his free time, he’s a game warden with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Little informed him about the special procedures and certified scales that must be used before the fish can be listed in the International Game Fish Association record books, Meyer said. Off duty that day, Little actually drove with a certified scale almost three hours over to New Bullard’s Bar from Lake County so he could weigh it. Little couldn’t be reached for comment, but Andrew Hughan, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed Meyer’s version of events.

The whole weigh-in process was documented on video. It could take several months before it becomes a certified world record.

In all, Meyer said, it was one of the coolest experiences of his life. As an added bonus, he said catching a likely world record could help his sponsorship opportunities in the professional fishing world.

“It was the fish of a lifetime,” he said.

WISHING ALL OF THE READERS A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR WITH HOPES TO PROTECT AND SAVE THE DELTA, REALIZED