Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

[Jlawsen]

Lake Sonoma: Nestled in the beautiful coastal foothills of Sonoma County, California, Lake Sonoma is surrounded by world famous vineyards and land that is rich in history. Created by the construction of Warm Springs Dam in 1983, the lake provides for flood control, irrigation and recreation. When full, the lake has a surface area of more than 2,700 acres and 50 miles of shoreline [Lake Sonoma. www.nwk.usace.army.mil, 02/03/2008]

08/25/2012 -

Who - Jlawsen, NGT
Boat - 16' JetCraft Falcon, "Pole Dancer"

On the water at 6:30am, heavy fog, visibility 20-30'
Air Temp 49-70F
Wind 6mph E-SE
Surface temp 71.6 F
Visibility to the bottom - 12' at the dock.
Oxygen at the surface - Excelent - Good aeration through fingers when run through the water.
Average depth: 200'

Best color for fishing should have been something dark but there were several bait balls in the water. We decided to run silver and orange 1-0 Apex Kokanee Killers with double hooks tipped with a full mini night crawler.

The silver was run off the downrigger at 60' and the orange was run off 4 colors of 18lb lead core with a 16' FC leader.
Trolling speed was 1.8mph maintained by cruise control.

The first fish, a 16" Natural Steelhead was caught on the orange Apex/lead core on the Dry Creek arm nearly center and up about 1 mi from the Dam. The size of the fish indicated that the smaller fish pod had moved further down towards the dam and the larger fish were likely up further near the no-ski bouys.

The hunch was right, the next fish was a 24" 3lb Steelhead caught just below the bouys on the down rigger at 60'. The thermocline was deep and it was likely that the water clarity was reduced at that level due to the annual algae die off. That's why the silver Apex was working. We switched the lead core to silver and picked up a the third fish a 18" 2lb. I picked up a small mouth bass that didn't trip the release and got drug for 15min and one more 18-20" Steelie near the same location as the first. That one shook the hook at the boat.

The lake is shapping up for fall and with two years of excellent water levels the fishery is begining to restore itself. The daily limit on Steelhead is 2 per licensed fisherman. The pole limit is one unless you have a second rod stamp. You do not need a Steelhead card to catch non-anadromous Steelhead. Persons under 16 do not need a second rod stamp. There are no rainbow trout in this lake, do not make the mistake of keeping 5 thinking they are rainbows, the fine is heavy.



Anticipated Next Report - 9/8/12

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Great report and detail J!

Is there a fish ladder on the Warm Springs Dam?

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Great report and detail J!

Is there a fish ladder on the Warm Springs Dam?

No, the fish in the lake are non-anadromous. There appears to be a trap below the spillway. I haven't been able to gleen a lot of info from anyone about what the Departement of Fish and Games plans are for the lake. I believe from what I've read that the hatchery is operated by CDFG under contract to the Army in order to fullfill the requirement to replenish fish in the Russian River that would have spawned in Dry Creek had the dam not been built. I understand that there was a lawsuit that CDFG lost regarding the planting of second generation fish in the Russian River but I do not know positively if the hatchery at Warm Springs Dam was involved. If and when I can get facts rather than sporting goods store gossip I'll post them in this thread.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

If those fish are non-anadromous they're just Rainbows then, Steelhead are nothing more than sea-run Rainbows.

... and salmoniods are soft ray fish, and soft ray fish = overgrown minnow... or b-a-i-t!

I'm sure Eric will be glad to know he's eating bait.

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

If those fish are non-anadromous they're just Rainbows then, Steelhead are nothing more than sea-run Rainbows.

... and salmoniods are soft ray fish, and soft ray fish = overgrown minnow... or b-a-i-t!

I'm sure Eric will be glad to know he's eating bait.

And that statement does what for you?

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

And that statement does what for you?

Ya see that last emoticon?

The last 2 lines are just because I'm kinda jealous because we don't have any or just a very few salmonoids, we only have 2 small creeks in the state that stay cold enough to support a tiny population of rainbows... and for the record I like to eat rainbow troot, we buy farm raised ones in the store for a special treat sometimes.

Remember our previous dialogue on fish trash talk?


... but seriously, line #1 is the truth unless you have evidence proving otherwise... and I would really like to hear it. Maybe something written into your state regs?

I enjoy reading your reports on fish species we don't have, and maybe I tease you a little too much... but I only tease people I like.

 

[ngt]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Baked up one tonight. Tasted great. Nice write up! Much better than my "went out, had fun, look at my fish" post, in the other thread. lol. Went to the pro shop today and picked up another silver Apex. Drooled over the reels for a bit too. Any cheaper wide reels that would compare to the Luna 300?

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Jigngru, I understand, that's the problem with message boards, you don't get to know the person other than by what they write.

You are correct, Steelhead are trout, nothing more but they are not rainbows. Rainbows will have up to 13 rays in the anal fin and a steelhead will have 13 or more. There's that fine line between those with 13 but the Steelhead will have a metalick head and all black spots. A rainbow will almost always have a thin red line down its side and a steelhead will never have one as pronounced and will lose it completely depending on the time of year.

The one steelhead in the middle is almost black looking because it is very metalic in color the one on the bottom is very silver and the one on the top looks more like a Lahontan Cutthroat but lacks the color.

The steelhead in Lake Sonoma were supposed to die off after the dam was put in. Nobody thought they would make it and they almost didn't because they were considering them a rainbow. Someone woke up and realized that rainbows had never been in that creek before the dam so these had to be Steelhead. They did some genetic testing and sure enough, these were steelhead. They almost immediately dropped the limit from 5/10 to a flat 2 and started issuing fines. Two good years of high water have brought these fish back in good numbers now but we still need a couple of years before we can call it a world class steelhead fisherie.

I was explaining to NGT why the smaller ones fight like heck. When they are small they are strong because they have to survive being eaten by both their parents and the small and large mouth bass population in the lake. Once they get to be about 18" they become the predators and actually loose strength. When in a river they are a much tougher fish and that's why we love to try to catch one.

Lake Sonoma is sort of like shooting fish in a barell compared to fishing them in the Russian, Chetco, Smith or Klamath rivers. That's truly a fish hunters dream challenge. I'm getting NGT ready for the river. I'll wean him off of these a little at a time

If you ever get a chance, you're more than welcome to come out here and give these fish a try. I love seeing peoples eyes light up the first time they put one on a hook.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Thanks for the offer J, but I have a phobia of crossing to the west side of the Mississippi River.

I'll be fishin' for my little ol' scrawny Crappie here in a few weeks after this knee surgery heals up and the water cools off a little more. I'll post reports and you can pay me back with pokes and jabs (I kinda like the abuse of fishin' trash talk). The Crappie aren't that big, but they sure do fry up real tasty!

 

[Jlawsen]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

Thanks for the offer J, but I have a phobia of crossing to the west side of the Mississippi River.

I'll be fishin' for my little ol' scrawny Crappie here in a few weeks after this knee surgery heals up and the water cools off a little more. I'll post reports and you can pay me back with pokes and jabs (I kinda like the abuse of fishin' trash talk). The Crappie aren't that big, but they sure do fry up real tasty!

I understand the travel thing. I spent a year in Charleston SC while I was in the Navy and got to know a lot of really nice folks. Fished a lot and swore I'd be back but life changed and I ended up back where I grew up in Northern California where 99.99% of the often true stories about California do not apply. The Southern Californians think we're just a bunch of hicks up here and we're doing our best to keep it that way.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

09/08/2012

Surface water temp 72
Thermocline to 0-25'
Water temp at 25' - 65
Clarity - 12'
Oxygen - Excellent

Scoped the thermocline from 0-25'. Water temp at 25' was 65 degree. The fish were feeding aggressively on a number of well formed bait balls through out the lower Dry Creek arm. Fished the no-ski bouy area with a couple of other guys and literally got tired of catching fish. I had one 4-5 lb (didn't weigh it, 29") that did multiple tail dances and then managed to jump over and swim under my second line about 1/2 dozen times. By the time she was done I only had about 10' of salvageable lead core on that rod.. What a mess. But hey, what are you gonna do but laugh.. She revived nicely and went on to give someone else as much fun as she gave me.

The entire lower bay is hot right now if you like the 1-2 lb Steelies. They're fun to catch but not very challenging. The larger fish are still comming down from the creeks. Folks are reporting catching 3-4lb fish trolling from below the hatchery to the just above the tip of the ramp breakwater so some of the bigger fish have made it that far already. Nature is the best indicator of changing weather patterns and the bigger fish being that far east now tells me that we're in for an early winter.

At the ramp I was talking to a couple of guy's I know and the general concencious is that the fish are holding at the no-ski bouys because the chains on the bouys (3) are causing a small electrical current which is attracting the bait fish. There were a number of scatttered bait balls around the area but the best formed balls were around the bouys. None of us where sure if that was really what was going on there or not but it sounded logical. Next time I go up I'm going to hang out there until after the morning inversion (causes the wind) ends. I want to see if the bait balls dissapate when the wind stops and the lake goes flat calm. I know the bite dies off as soon at that happens.

Lures/attractants:

Fish were taking anything with a night crawler on it and at any speed. It was just one of those days and since it was a free fishing day (no license required) I was happy that many new anglers would get the best opportunity to catch fish that they will probably ever have on that lake. I ran a 1-0 Silver Apex, Flo Orange Apex, Purple Apex, Orange/green Uncle Larrys, Silver Rapala, Threaded large nightcrawler, 1/2 mini night crawler on a bare hook and a full mini wrapped up on a bare hook. I caught fish on everything I threw out.

With the bite as good as it was, I had an opporunity to test fishing into and with the wind. I definitely hooked up more times when I was going with the wind (east to west). This is just the opposite of what I expected. I had the cruise control on and was keeping a steady GPS spead of 1.75 mph in either direction. I didn't have a single hookup going north or south.

 

[ngt]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

sounds like a great day on the lake!

 

[sschefer]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

sounds like a great day on the lake!

Yes, the fishing was exceptional. I don't know if I'll be able to get out this weekend or not. Maybe Sunday if I get my chores done.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Freshwater Fishing Report, California, North West, Lake Sonoma

9/22/12

Surface water temp 69Thermocline to 0-25'
Water temp at 25' - 63
Clarity - 08'
Oxygen - Good

1" Apex in Chrome and Flo-Glo orange. Both caught fish.

Went up for a quick little morning fish. Up to the bouy's at about 7:30am (late) Ran east with the wind and picked up two right off the bat. The wind was blowing pretty good out of the west so it's like a giant wind tunnel. I decided not to fight it and just go with the wind back to the ramp. I didn't hit anything until a finally turned and came accross the lake from north to south and put some chop on the bow. I picked up two nice 3lb fish about 1/4 mile up from the dam. I know the guys that had been working the dam all morning were probably not happy with me but hey, at least they know where the fish are and since I left, they had it all to themselves. Well that's if they weren't to stubborn to move.

Once the fish figure out they've hit a brick wall (dam) they'll start heading back to the creeks. The creeks close on 11/15 but there will still be some hungry holdouts at the dam and the Marina until February. The rivers wills start kicking in around mid November and that's when the real fun begins.

PDGS