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Twenty-poiund Brown caught on Truckee River

Doug Busey, Tribune fishing writer
Provided by Aaron KellerChad Mellison smiles at his prize catch - a 20-pound, 32-inch long brown trout - that he caught on the upper Truckee River last month.
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Hello, fellow anglers.

Looks like summer is back. By Monday, here in the valley, we’ll be reaching the 100-degree mark again. That did not stop Chad Mellison from catching a 20-pound-plus brown trout two weeks ago on the Truckee River. He caught the beauty on a five-weight fly rod at one in the afternoon. The fish was 32 inches long and was safely released back to the river.

Check out the Tahoe report for another monster fish story:



LAKE TAHOE: Best action has been on the Tahoe shelf near Tahoe City. Gene St. Denis hooked into a large fish in 180 feet of water, fighting the fish into 120 feet of water. Gene said he got the fish up to 60 feet of water, saw it turn like a giant tarpon and powerdived to 300 feet of water. After battling the fish for four hours and 15 minutes and in as deep as 600 feet of water, Gene and his fishing partners were able to bring the fish up to about 100 feet of depth, when the fish broke the rod and split. As my friend Tom Stewart Sr. would say, “A true story.” Sugar Pine Point has also been productive for Mackinaw trout. Last Wednesday, Gene said they kept three Macs with a total weight of 20 pounds. The kokanee action has been fair to red hot at the Cascade Creek area. Anglers have caught up to 60 fish in a day using a dodger and a kokanee bug with a small piece of corn on it. Cave Rock was planted with 1,200 pounds of average-sized rainbow trout last week. Toplining has been fair in the early morning hours in the Cave Rock area. For more information, call Blue Ribbon Charters at 530-544-6552.

CAPLES LAKE: Many anglers have been taking advantage of the new boat ramp and day-use area. The Caples Lake Resort ramp also is open and has rentals available. Trollers have been doing very well with medium or small blades followed with half a night crawler. Shore anglers have had to work a little harder to get a limit. The Eldorado Irrigation District has been dropping the water a little but no worries. For more information, call the Caples Lake Resort at 209-258-8888.



RED LAKE: Report from Don Quilici (Carson Sports). The lake has turned over and is a real mess. Fishing has been poor.

BLUE LAKES: Lower lake has been good for pan-sized rainbows with powerbait or salmon eggs. I have not received any good reports for the upper lake, except a lot of wind.

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR: The water level is still up and the lake has a lot of weeds. Fish have been rising but not biting. Renee and I float-tubed for a couple hours last week and not one bite. I tried black buggers and green buggers but forgot to bring my blue damsel fly pattern. Steve Lightfoot caught one small rainbow from shore using powerbait. The campground is still closed due to repaving. They are hopeful to open by Aug. 20 or sooner.

CARSON RIVERS: As Todd Sandero told me, the fish are wall to wall. The California Department of Fish and Game has been planting 9- to 16-inch rainbows about every 14 days, both east and west forks. The Alpine Fish Commission planted last week with browns 5 to 6 pounds and rainbows up to 8 pounds. The water is perfect and fishing is great. For more info, call the Carson River Resort at 530-694-2229. A small note: If you plan to make a reservation for this or next year, you better call now.

TOPAZ LAKE: In talking to Linda Fields, the fishing has gone way down. The causes are water temperatures and the abundance of other water craft on the lake. They have pulled there rental boats out for the season, but the launch will remain open. For more info, call 775-266-3550.

Have a great fishing experience and don’t forget your sunscreen and bug repellent. If you get a picture of your catch, e-mail it to syingling@tahoedailytribune.com or drop it off at the Tahoe Daily Tribune office.

If you have a question in our local fishing world, call the Naw line at 775-267-9722.

Good fishin’ and tight lines.


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