Lake Mendocino
2023 Salmon information meeting — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife's Annual Salmon Information Meeting will be held via webinar on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting will provide the latest information on California salmon stocks and the outlook for ocean salmon fisheries for the upcoming 2023 season. The public is encouraged to provide comments on potential fishing alternatives for California ocean salmon fisheries in 2023. A panel comprised of fishery managers, scientists and industry representatives will be assembled to address questions and collect public input that will be used in developing a range of season alternatives for California salmon fisheries at the March 5-14 Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Seattle.
Final season recommendations will be adopted at the April 1-7 PFMC meeting in Foster City, CA. LAKE MENDOCINO >> There are still boat loads of fish stacked on the west side along the old river channel. They are all very tight lipped. Try fishin' the sunny side of the lake, along flats with crankbaits. Stick with it, you will hook in to a few nice smallmouth bass. Catchin' a handful of bass in an afternoon of fishing is still better than a kick in the pants. Especially in these pre-spawn fishing conditions. The lake level is up. I hope they will continue to hold back water to keep the spawning grounds under water.
LAKE SONOMA >> Finally some good fishin' reports coming out of Lake Sonoma. The winter fishing has been pretty tough. But, now the bass bite is back! The main body hot spots are anywhere there are running creeks coming into the lake. Also, Yorty, Cherry, and Skunk Creeks are holding Bass that are staged for spawning. The Bass haven't moved up far yet. They are hanging out near submersed timber. crankbaits, spinnerbaits and drop shottin' are all working well.
UPPER MILL CREEK POND >> The steel/head trout stocking program sin full swing right now. The Upper Mill Creek Pond fish stocking schedule are usually not published in advance. I hear about them after the fact. It's a good thing … Can you just imagine all the people that would be up there if it was public knowledge? Thank you California Department of Fish & Wildlife for doing such a fine job stocking this waterway.
THE UPPER BLUE LAKES >>
Wooo-hooo! The Upper Blue Lake was stocked once again last week. One of Ukiah's most experienced anglers told me that the trout fishin' on Blue Lakes starting to get good right now! The folks trolling have been doing the best. The trout are hold in about 20 feet of water.
Running thru them with a action disc trailed with a wooly-buger has been working well. Also, folks that are fishing from docks or along Hwy. 20 have hooked into some beauty's using powerbait off the bottom.
UKIAH VALLEY FISH AND WILDLIFE CLUB NEWS >>
The Steelhead season has begun and the Hatchery is open to the public daily from 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Spawning takes place Tuesday mornings around 9 a.m. School field trips have begun touring, so the Facility is very lively through the week. The Hatchery has 237,000 juveniles in the imprint runways right now. And as of Feb. 3, 84 fish (55 males and 29 females) have come up the ladder to the facility. There are eggs in two of the jars at the hatchery, with more anticipated in the next few weeks. A very big thank you to Joe Prestino for the new Hatchery sign! It makes a great impression as people drive up to visit our Hatchery. Club meetings are held on the thrid Wednesday of every month at Slam Dunk Pizza — 720 N. State St. 6 p.m.
Thanks for reading and remember to Keep It Reel!