Holdover Trout Fishing???

[Gobigal]

I plan on an excursion to "The Diamond" this Friday for a relaxing day of bass fishing and my 'ol favorite, trolling for holdover trout. Read prior threads about the shad balls beginning to show and this is the time of year when the trout begin to congregate by the west dam and other haunts.

Unfortunately, the news has not been good on this species. With all the large stripers enjoying hatchery and private trout "morsels" before they can acclimate to the surroundings, it's near impossible to expect any repeat from prior years. But I'm a "die-hard" and will give it my best.

Any fellow trollers out there having luck with the "holdovers" recently?

I would not expect "details" but just dropping a line (no pun intended) to let me know you're out there trying would be appreciated.

TIA -

gobigal

[Fishbones]

i would hit up trout only for a few pointers because he is a dvl holdover master.
Good luck out there gobigal, and take lots of pics

[GdHkSet1]

Gobigal,

No doubt, PM TO for some recommendations. I trolled earlier this year and got a bigtail. They are still out there roaming feeding on bait, find the shad balls, thermocline you may run into those roaming packs of mini-salmon! Stacking on the DR is good, changing up your presentations got to do time on the water and it will pay off out there. Good luck man

[Gobigal]

GdHkSet1,

Thanks for the info and reply to my msg.

Yes, I'm fully aware of TO's prowess at DMV and other lakes in SoCal including the Sierra's. We're both very critical of the stripers and how their introduction into our local lakes has caused the demise of a great holdover trout fishery. This is not the only reason for the waning holdover trout population, but it's a major factor.

I was out on the lake yesterday and my plan to try my luck on the bass in the am and troll for trout later. Well, the bass fishing was so good that by 11:00 am, believe it or not, I actually got tired of catching and releasing 20+ bass and one small striper on split-shotted Roboworms. I was fishing just outside of the weedlines in 25-30 feet and casting toward shore. There's no size to them but a few went 2-3 lbs. Took pictures of a couple of my larger bass and the small striper on my cell phone camera which is horrible at taking photos as most of you can attest, so I did not post.

My attention then shifted to trolling for trout. I was fishing for bass in the area of the east dam, so decided to begin trolling from the long point south. Trolled 10-colors and had one good hit that put a bendo on my pole and screeched some line (how I miss that sound) and that was it. By this time the wind picked up and became ever difficult to troll in my 14 ft. Western aluminum. Thought maybe I could head directly into the wind towards protected side of the west dam, but that was a mistake. Forgot to pull in the suction cup transducer off the transom and while flying across the lake it ripped off pulling my Humminbird portable with the cable overboard into the "drink". Well, for what it's worth, it was a very old unit and I was looking to upgrade anyway.

That was my day in a nutshell. The wind was blowing too hard for bass fishing again and without my Humminbird to gauge depth and being unable to hold location with the trolling motor decided to call it a day so I was off the lake by 2:00.

gobigal

[Dude47]

Well at least you have an excuse to upgrade the fish finder now haha. What depth do you usually troll at for the trout? Its been years since I've really gone for trout by trolling. I was messing around last friday at DVL trolling in about 30ft trolling with repelas and I gota massive bluegil, not exactly the holdover trout that I wanted.

[Gobigal]

Dude47,

In the past my best luck was to troll in depths of 100 feet prior to the dropping water levels. I was trolling anywhere between 50-80 depths around points and underwater structure. The shallows come up on you quickly so you must manuever to avoid hang-ups. I trolled my "special" spoon on leadcore 35-40 ft below the surface.

The spoon I use immitates the "silverside" minnow, but also passes for a shad. When the trout were prevalent this lure caught it's fair share of holdover trout, but anything in those years that immitated the forage would catch trout.

Concentrate in deeper water toward the dams and you may luck out and catch a nice holdover, or bass, or bluegill.

gobigal

[Lunker1979]

Well at least you have an excuse to upgrade the fish finder now haha. What depth do you usually troll at for the trout? Its been years since I've really gone for trout by trolling. I was messing around last friday at DVL trolling in about 30ft trolling with repelas and I gota massive bluegil, not exactly the holdover trout that I wanted.

I only ever used leadcore. The basic rule is a full color will get you down five feet. If you are trolling 10 colors, you are in the area of 50 feet. I'm not a big troller, but I think if you went in the range of 50-80 feet at DVL you would pick something up. Drive around and see what deep depth you pick up some fish and start there. Good luck!

[TroutOnly]

theres still holdovers in there there just isnt as many, find the shad balls and you will find the trout,and allwhen the wind comes up in the afternoon is always the best holdover fishing you just have to learn to deal with it,,,,,,,,,,bob,,,,,,,,,,,

[JigStop]

The afternoons 2pm and on are the best. We had to use heavier flouro because we kept getting bit off. has to be those dam stripers.