Collins Lake Fishing Report
March 17, 2008

Our Net Pen (Raised Trout) releases will begin
first week of April
3 Pens a week (equal to 3 plants) planned weekly
on top of our
Private Plants and Fish & Game Plants!

WEEKLY FISHING DERBY

STARTS TODAY!!

The Month of April will be an Explosion of Trout, starting with one to two plants as planned each week of Private Trophy Trout up to 10 Pounds, or Fish & Game Plants of smaller fish but more of them. Then we will be releasing 3 net pens of raised Trout WEEKLY equal to 3 more plants! It will be an April like no other April before.................Now would be a good time to plan your camping or day trip to Collins Lake if you like to catch fish!

The Biggest Fish recorded this past week was brought in by a young man named Cory of Vacaville. Cory caught an 8 lb. 8 oz Rainbow using Powerbait under the bridge (north part of our lake). Chris from Reno landed a beautiful 5 lb. 4 oz. Rainbow using a Rapala about 100 feet from shoreline near the dam. Mike Graves & Dante Vicente of Roseville netted a 4 lb. 14 oz. Rainbow that took the Powerbait near the dam also.

The Rohlfing Family trolled with a silver Needlefish & Powerbait on the hook of the lure they said and caught 2 nice Rainbows around 2 pounds and a Crappie. A.J. from Reno found his Trout under the powerlines using Nightcrawlers. Chris & John & Grandpa trolled near the dam using their favorite Spoons (not Grandma's spoons) and caught 3 hefty Trout. Jerry Hawkins limited out from his boat up near the bridge drifting Powerbait on his hook. Dustin Procita of Grass Valley caught a gorgeous 3 Pound Rainbow Trout from the shore by the dam using Powerbait.

I spoke with someone last week who wanted to give the shore fishermen a hint as to what they should do to catch fish from shore. His hint was to make sure your "leader" was at least 3 to 4 feet long with the weight above it so the Powerbait would float up above the rocky bottom. He had really good luck with this technique and wanted to pass it on so Thank You, it worked! Karl Manies caught a 3 pound Rainbow and two others as well fishing the east side straight across from the boat launching ramp.

So far we have had reports of Trout caught by the dam, by the bridge, by the beach, on the east side, under the powerlines and in the campground. It looks like they are EVERYWHERE and they are shallow. Shore fishing is always good under these conditions and trolling is fun too since the fish are within the first 5 to 10 feet and you don't have to go deeper or use flashers or use heavy weights to get you down deep. The beauty of this is when you are trolling with just your lure and light line you get to "feel the bite" and "fight the fish"!

Spencer of Reno landed 3 Trout while trolling off the boat launch and down towards the dam. Hal Swartzlander & Scott fished just off their campsite (near the beach) and caught a 2 lb. 12 oz. & 2 lb. 4 oz. Trout using Rainbow Powerbait. Zachary & Nikolao proved another theory and they caught their Rainbows of Power Eggs near the dam. Last week we were told that yellow Power Eggs were catching lots of Trout.

R.J. & Kristy landed 3 beautiful BASS off the rocky point before heading up to the bridge using their favorite Senko Worms!

Be sure and read the 2 new items below about Prize Tags and our Fishing Derby for 2008........................

Trout Prize Tags for 2008

This year's tags look more plain than past years, but they are still worth valuable free prizes. The difference is there is no printing on them, they are just tags of various colors. We saved enough money by using these simpler tags to add 500 more prize tags than in previous years. There will now be a total of 1,500 prize tagged trout for 2008. So, if you catch a fish with a colored tag on it, simply bring it up to the park office to claim your free prize. There are no derby fees to enter. Grey tags = Free Ice Cream Cone. Green tags = $5 off your next entry. Blue tags = $10 off any T-shirt or Hat. Red tags = $100 CASH PRIZE. Please look for the colored tag on the top dorsel fin before exiting the park so you can get your free reward.

Weekly $100 fishing derby

(NEW FOR 2008)

Derby entry fees: Only $4/day or $10/week*

Starting on March 17, we will be holding a weekly fishing derby with a $100 cash prize for the person with the largest fish each week. To enter derby, you must register at the park office upon entry before fishing. The cost is only $4 per day or $10 per week (*until contest ends Sunday evening). Fish must be weighed in by Collins Lake staff before the park office closes for the day. One winner per week for the largest fish caught at Collins Lake or Lake Mildred. All types of fish are allowed in derby (Trout, Bass, Catfish, etc.). Winner will be declared each week on Sunday at the hour the park office closes. The derby will continue every week until the end of May. Rembember... you can't win if you don't enter (and it supports a good cause).

100% of Derby proceeds benefit two Non-Profit groups helping to raise trout at Collins Lake

California Inland Fisheries Foundation & Project Kokanee

Collins Lake's net pen project has grown for 2008 from 8 pens to 12 pens. The trout arrived on 12/19/07 and will be released later in the Spring of 2008.

Collins Lake already has California's largest trout stocking program north of Sacramento and these net pens will further increase this successful program. For every plant of rainbow trout normally received from Fish and Game, Collins Lake purchases 3 plants of larger trophy sized trout from private hatcheries. During the Spring months, the planting trucks typically arrive twice a week or more. In 2007, there were a total of 28,000 pounds of trout planted from hatcheries + another 10,000 pounds from the 8 net pens. The average size of trophy trout planted each week during the spring was 2 to 6 pounds, with some whoppers topping 10 pounds!

These new net pens will make Collins Lake's intensive trout planting program even bigger for 2008. Depending on the actual growth rates, these pens should add 13,000 to 15,000 pounds to the trout plated from the hatcheries!

This net pen project is a cooperative effort of several groups working together.
1. Department of Fish and Game provide the fish from their hatchery.
2. Two non-profit groups of volunteers have been raising money to provide the food. Kokanee Power and California Inland Fisheries Foundation (Project Kokanee) will each provide half of the food. With a healthy diet of quality food, these trout can grow from half pound each to a whopping 3 pounds by Spring, 2008!
3. Collins Lake is providing the labor and the materials to build the new pens and the marina space to keep all of the pens. Collins Lake staff will care for the trout, feeding them daily and keeping the pens clean of algae.
4. Local home school families from H.I.S. Ministries assisted in a bucket brigade to plant the fish from the truck into the pens.

Each group did their part to make this project a success. This project would have been too big for any one group to do by themselves. All groups involved are hoping to build more pens in the future at Collins Lake after this pilot year is completed. Collins Lake is also looking into raising catfish in these same pens during the summer months when it is too warm to keep trout. For more information or to further support projects like this, visit www.kokaneepower.org, or www.kokanee.org.

White or Grey Tags - Free Single Scoop Ice Cream ($2 value)
GREEN TAGS - $5.00 off of regular Day Use Fees
BLUE TAGS - $10.00 off of any T-Shirt or Hat purchase
RED TAGS - VALUE $100.00 IN CASH ON THE SPOT!!

LAKE CONDITIONS

Lake Level-17 feet and rising!!
Surface Temperature-50 degrees
Day time Temperature -High 60's
Night Temperature- Mid 40's