For example, four anglers fishing with Rene Villanueva on his latest adventure on Berryessa landed 12 kokanee averaging 13-1/2 inches each and two kings ranging from 13 to 14 inches. They bagged the fish at 55 to 60 feet deep from Skier's Cove to Big Island and off the dam.

"We started fishing in the morning with Uncle Larry's red bead spinners with U.V. red blades and then switched over to blue and pink bead spinners with copper blades," stated Villanueva. "We fooled the kings while rolling shad dipped in the Pro Cure U.V. Glow Gel."

The bass fishing is excellent at Berryessa. Fish Sniffer Associate Editor Cal Kellogg and Don Paganelli caught and released 8 bass, including 7 largemouths to 3-1/2 pounds and one spot, on their latest venture to the lake.

"We caught our fish on hollow body swimbaits and surface lures including Wood Choppers and River2Sea Rovers in the Narrows and vineyards," said Kellogg. "Our top five fish were all spawned out and weighed a total of 12 pounds.

"I just got in from a combo trip a few minutes ago," related Captain Randy Thornton of Telstar Charters on May 24. "I had 15 anglers aboard the boat today. They landed three quarter limits of rockfish and added 50 crabs. Most of the guys that fished hard ended up with limits of quality blacks, gophers and variety of other bottom dwellers. We had 3 shaker lingcod, but we didn't get a keeper. The rockfish were caught while fishing about 5 miles to the north of Noyo Harbor in 50 feet of water."

"I'm glad to report that the crabbing seems to be on the upswing. Last week we struggled with crabs, but today we did pretty well. We'll continue running combination crab and rockfish trips as long as we can," added Thornton.

Fish Sniffer Staffer Paul Myer recently headed out rockfish fishing aboard the Trek II. Paul reported that the fishing was productive. The anglers averaged about three quarter limits overall, with the hardest working anglers scoring limits.

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Spring chinook fishing continues to be good on the Lower Rogue, according to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Anglers are picking up fish from Elephant Rock to Foster Bar on anything from spinners to straight anchovies. Fishermen are reporting a high proportion of wild fish in the catch. Wild fish need to be released and anglers are reminded to not remove wild fish from the water and, if possible, not to net the fish.

On the Middle Rogue, the flow at Grants Pass is 4,900 cubic feet per second and the water temperature is 57 degrees. Spring chinook numbers continue to increase in the Grants Pass area, and fishing for them has been improving. Back-bouncing bait and back-trolling sardine-wrapped plugs have been productive techniques. Anglers are reminded that only adipose fin-clipped chinook may be retained at this time.

Angling for spring chinook on the Upper Rogue has been slow, but should improve as more fish pass over Gold Ray Dam. Anglers have had the best success early or late in the day. A total of 5,929 winter steelhead and 1,522 spring chinook have been counted at Gold Ray Dam to date.

The current flow out of William Jess Dam is 4,130 cfs and the water temperature is 48 degrees. The flow at Gold Ray Dam is 4,900 cfs. Anglers are reminded that only adipose fin-clipped chinook may be retained at this time.

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The best fishing is available on the dredger piles of the lake's north end, though bass are being taken throughout the reservoir. "Some bass have already spawned, while others are spawning or in pre-spawn mode," observed Tim Brady at Dragonfly Outfitters. "Anglers are nailing fish ranging from undersized to 3-1/2 pounds while using an array of rip baits, Senkos, Gitzits and plastic worms."

Trollers are also bagging a mixture of rainbows and browns while fishing minnow imitation lures and crawlers behind blades around the creek mouths, noted Brady.

The Spring Flows on the Trinity River reached the 2,000 cfs flow bench May 17 and will hold for 12days. The flows on May 29 flows will start decreasing to the 1,200 cfs flow bench by June 1 and then hold there for 11 days.

The 700 cfs holding bench will be reached on June 15 and hold there for 10 days. On June 26, the spring flows will decrease to the summer flows of 450cfs by July 5.

"The Upper Trinity is becoming fishable, but the river is still very high, so be careful," said Duggan. "The other day when I was up in Weaverville the river really looked in good fishing condition, but I did not hear of anyone catching fish."

If you plan on fishing the lower river below Del Loma, you may need to use extra weight to get your offering down because the currents are going to be a lot swifter than you are used to.

"There should still be some very good Germen brown trout fishing in the upper reaches from Old Lewiston Bridge down to Poker Bar, but most of the larger browns will be following the smolts down river," added Duggan.

"You won't be able to keep any Spring Run Chinook on the Lower Trinity below the mouth of the South Fork, but above it you should be OK," he said. "I have heard that a few of the locals have hooked a few spring Chinook salmon around, but it was really hard to land them in the swift water."

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"Beach fishing for stripers is on fire," said Jim Franco at J&D Auto Gone Fishing. "Schools of fish are showing everywhere from Fisherman's Wharf #2 to the Monterey Dunes. Anglers are tossing out Pencil Poppers, Jumper Minnows and Fish Traps in green mackerel and redhead/white."

The striped bass are averaging 8 to 11 pounds, with some larger fish mixed in. "One angler reported catching and releasing 6 stripers at Reservation Road this morning," noted Franco.

"The striped bass are still being caught from New Brighton to Marina," confirmed Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine in Santa Cruz on May 24.

Rockfish action in the local reefs and off Point Sur was excellent on Memorial Day weekend, according to Captain Brian Cutting of Randy's Fishing Trips. The 15 anglers aboard the Sur Randy on May 24 bagged limits of yellowtail, blue and olive rockfish off Cypress Point, while the 7 anglers aboard the Chubasco also landed limits of rockfish and one keeper lingcod off Carmel.

Sunday produced similar action, with the 26 anglers aboard the Chubasco nailing rockfish limits off Point Sur and the 18 people on the Sur Randy bagging rockfish limits and 3 lingcod in Carmel Bay. Monday's trip to Carmel also produced limits of blue, yellowtail and live rockfish. Anglers found the best action while using white bars with feather jig teasers.

"Rockfish action is good,"said Chris Arcoleo of Chris' Fishing Trips. "The Caroline had 20 limits of rockfish and 6 lingcod to 14 pounds off Point Sur on Memorial Day, while the Checkmate came back with 15 rockfish limits," said Chris Arcoleo of Chris' Fishing Trips.

The latest trip by the Velocity to New Year's Island produced limits of assorted blues, coppers and yellowtail rockfish and one lingcod for 26 anglers, according to Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro's Fishing Trips in Santa Cruz.

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Smallmouth bass are in their post spawn mode, holding at the edges of rock piles in 4 to 10 feet of water, noted Vaughn. Anglers are catching bronzebacks to 3 pounds on plastic worms, Senkos and top water lures.

"The Pit River is producing the area's top trout action," said Vaughn. "Most of the fish go from 9 to 14 inches long, with some larger 16 to 18 inch fish mixed in. Fly fishermen are using Copper John's and pheasant tail prince nymphs, while spin fishermen are using nightcrawlers, Kastmasters and Daiwa stick baits."

Baum Lake and the Cassel area are yielding solid fishing for 8 to 14 inch rainbows and an occasional brown. The top fly patterns are callibaetis, pale morning dun and caddis. Lure fishers are doing best on Panther Martins with silver blades and yellow bodies.

Upper Hat Creek, now being heavily stocked with rainbows by the DFG, is yielding solid fishing for fly, lure and bait fishermen.

"The Fall River is fishing best during midday," noted Vaughn. "Anglers are taking advantage of callibaetis hatches, as well as evening caddis hatches. The fish are wild rainbows from 10 to 17 inches."

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"The fishing was pretty good this weekend," reported George at the Eagle Lake Store on May 24. "The fish are holding in 8 to 16 feet of water. Shrimp Island and Miner Bay were two of the best spots this weekend for both trollers and bait fishermen."

"Trollers were having the best luck while fishing olive or orange flies near the surface early in the morning. There has been some bug activity and that made the action on the flies pretty good. Sep's watermelon grubs also worked well as did firetiger Uncle Larry's Spinners and orange or firetiger Rapalas," said George.

"It looks like we are going to see some pretty nice fish this season. The trout that are being caught now average about 2 pounds. The largest trout we saw during the first two days of the season weighed 4 pounds."

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Reimers and his two fishing buddies caught and released 20 shad in the 1-1/2 to 4 pound range on their latest trip in a boat below the rapids. "We caught the fish on darts with pink heads and chartreuse grub tails," he stated. "We also landed three keeper stripers ranging from 19 to 25 inches and a half dozen shakers while fishing pileworms at the same spot."

He noted that fishing was just as good above the rapids, where Scott Feist of Feisty Fish Guide Service reported catching lots of shad on darts while anchor fishing from his jet boat.

The Department of Water Resources has cut combined releases in the Feather from Oroville Dam and the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet to only 1200 cfs.

"The steelhead bite has slowed down in the low flow and high flow areas," said Chuck Rice at Feather River Outfitters. "I haven't heard of many steelhead caught lately, while the Shanghai Bend area is the place you want to go if you want to hook shad."

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"The striper fishing has declined steadily over the past week," reported Captain Barry Canevaro of Fish Hookers Sportfishing. "We are still doing okay, but the average size of the bass has dropped quite a bit. Now most of the fish we are seeing are spawned out and seem to be traveling downriver toward the bay."

"We are still getting our fish while trolling. Bombers and Yo-Zuris are both taking fish. I've been doing well with the new P-Line Predator lure. It's not available to the public yet, but it should hit store in July well before the fall trolling bite gets going," added Canevaro.

According to Canevaro, sturgeon anglers that successfully deal with the strong spring winds are having success in Montezuma Slough and near the Moth Ball Fleet.

"I'll be moving my boat back to Pittsburg next week. We've had it berthed at Vieira's for trolling. Now that the trolling bite seems to be slowing down, we are looking forward to doing some bait fishing in upper Suisun Bay for sturgeon and stripers," continued Canevaro.

For a complete Delta Report, click here.

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The top area for kokanee is off Rose Island and near the dam. Anglers are nailing the fish while trolling pink and orange hoochies, spinners, Hum Dingers, Needlefish and Sockeye Slammers at 20 to 50 feet deep, disclosed Derek Fabbro at Glory Hole Sports.

For example, Frank, Carol and Ginger Casel teamed to bag full limits of kokanee in the 12 to 15 inch range during a trolling adventure to the dam area on Sunday, May 24.

Big rainbows have been sparse in the catches lately. However, Robert Dabbs managed to nail a 3 lb. 4 oz. rainbow while fishing a pink tiger Uncle Larry's spinner.

"Black bass are hitting best on bluegill and crappie pattern swimbaits in the river and creek arms," advised Fabbro. "The fish average 2 to 4 pounds each."

The warm weather has spurred the catfish onto a good bite. William Heinlee nailed the week's biggest catfish, a 5 lb. 2 oz. channel cat, while soaking worms at the Highway 49 Bridge.

New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,310,375 acre-feet of water and is 106 ft. from full. The surface water temperature is 65-69 degrees.

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"Spicer has been producing beautiful rainbow trout in the 14 to 18 inch range," said Bill Reynolds of Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods. "The ramp is open, but the dock is still not in the water and there is no word as to when it will be placed."

Trollers should use Needlefish, Wedding Rings and Apex lure, tipped with a nightcrawler, behind a small flasher. Bait casters should fish Gulp Eggs, Power Bait, Pautzke salmon eggs, crickets and nightcrawlers.

"There are still snow drifts along the road, so be careful as you drive into Spicer," said Reynolds "Hobart Creek is closed to fishing until July 1st."

Lake Alpine has thawed and the snow around the lake has been cleared. Lake Alpine Lodge and the camp are open. Trollers and bait fishermen should use the same offerings used at Spicer, while fly fishermen should cast out bead head woolly buggers and bead head nymphs.

"The North Fork of the Stanislaus River has been producing some beautiful rainbows and browns," said Reynolds. "Try split-shotting night crawlers or crickets with a 12" to 18" leader. Lure casters should try Kastmasters, Panther Martin spinners, Rooster Tails and Rapalas."

"The White Pines Environmental Impact Report has been done, so now it is up to the DFG to put the lake back on the plant list," added Reynolds.

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According to Dan Farris at Brock's Sporting Goods, the wild trout section of the Lower Owens is producing good brown and rainbow action.

"The Lower Owens is flowing at 175 cfs," advised Farris. "The flows should not be too high this year due to the lack of snow. The water temperature is in the low fifties. Nymphing has been very productive."

One to two 'BB' size split shot should is needed to get the fly down. Some flies to use would be Tiger midges, gold ribbed hares ears, ultra midges and pheasant tails in sizes 16-18. There hasn't been any significant hatches lately, advised Farris.

"At Pleasant Valley Reservoir, tubing near the inlet has been very productive using wooly buggers and matukas in olive and black. Most of what is being caught is the stockers. The inlet to the reservoir is fishing well also," tipped Farris.

Fishing at Hot Creek is as good as it gets. "It is wide open throughout most of the day, with early morning midging, mid-day blue winged olives and afternoon caddis. Try using WD 40's, ultra midges, tiger midges, pheasant tails on the bottom. Use a blue winged olive for the mayfly hatch. Sizes 18-20 blue winged olive should do the trick. For the caddis hatch, use size 16-18 elk hair caddis," said Farris.

"Bridgeport Reservoir has been fishing great out of boats, while trolling has been producing some good fish," reported Jim Reid at Ken's Sporting Goods. "Top-lining with Rapalas has been the best ticket. The bait fishermen have been doing the best with crawlers, either off Rainbow Point or right out in the middle off the marina."

He's also heard some good reports from fly anglers tubing down near the dam and out in front of the marina. In the shallower water, midging with damsel and callibaetis patterns has been good, and in the deeper water stripping streamers has been the best.

"Kirman is still fishing really well these days!" said Reid. "Lots of brookies in the 12 to 18 inch range and cutts in the 12 to 22 inch range are being caught. Productive flies have been scud, zebra midges, seal buggers, stillwater nymphs and damsel patterns. There's also been some pretty good action on lures like Kastmasters and Thomas Buoyants."

The East Walker River is flowing at 180 cfs, and the fishing is very good. There's lots of flies working down there, a number of nymphs and midge patterns like zebra midges, silver streaks and micro mayflies. "Dries like stimulators, twisted sisters, blue winged olives, blue duns, E/C caddis and elk hair caddis are working when surface activity is noted," disclosed Reid.

"Hunewill Pond has really been fishing well the past few days. Anglers have landed fish up to almost 7 pounds or so, and most everyone has been pretty happy with their day on the water," said Reid.

"There are plenty of trout in our lakes and streams, but the fishing has been really slow," reported Gary Moffett at Ernie's Sporting Goods. "The weather has been really hot and that has turned the trout bite off in our area."

"If I had to catch a trout, I'd go out to June Lake, soak a worm and pray," quipped Moffett. "Hopefully the fishing will rebound when the weather cools off a little."

For Tom Loe's Sierra Report, click here.

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"I went fishing yesterday," related George Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store on May 22. "We did pretty well. In all, my anglers landed 15 trout to 7 pounds. We caught all of them while trolling with a watermelon colored Apex Lure."

"For quite a while shore fishing had been more productive than trolling, but that has changed over the past week. Shore guys are still hooking fish. In fact, one bank angler got a 13.8 pounder, but boaters are now having good success too," disclosed Molino.

Kristen Allen at Crosby Lodge related that for the anglers she'd spoken with the fishing had slowed down, but she related that there were still trophy fishing being caught as evidenced by the 10 pounder that was brought in on May 20 and the 13 pounder that was caught on May 19.

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Captain James Smith of the California Dawn has been averaging from over one fish per rod to limits while trolling for halibut in various areas of San Francisco Bay. Most of the halibut that Smith's clients catch run 6 to 7 pounds, but larger fish in the 12 to 20 pound range are showing too. Many of the stripers picked up by Smith's anglers are running between 7 and 11 pounds.

Smith has been producing fish for his customers while trolling frozen anchovies teamed with small trout size dodgers. Sling Blades in the green UV finish have been highly effective, as have chartreuse Sep's dodgers.

Captain Joey Gallia of the New Easy Rider has also been nailing halibut and the occasional bass while working various areas of the middle and north bay with frozen bait.

Gallia's clients have been scoring better than a halibut per rod, on some days much better and they've been adding a few bonus stripers as well.

Charter anglers departing from the Emeryville Sportfishing Center aren't getting left out of the solid halibut and bass action. On Saturday, May 23, the New Huck Finn, C-Gull II, New Salmon Queen, and Talisman took out a grand total of 53 anglers. They scored 31 halibut to 14 pounds and 12 stripers to 22 pounds while trolling and drifting with frozen bait.