Today I fished with John Yurkovich, owner of Uncle Larry's Lures, as well as Dan Bacher from the Fish Sniffer. Dan was to arrive at the lake later in the morning so John and I headed out about 6 am with our goal, to have and enjoyable day on the water. Today was the second annual Kokanee Power / Feather River College Bucks Lake Fishing Derby so there was substantially more fishing pressure then the average Saturday this time of year. With most of the boats out in the open water in search of Kokanee we had Mill Creek all to ourselves. It took nearly an hour to get all 4 rods in the water as the bite was "ON"! We were on a roll landing numerous fish and loosing our share as well. As one rod would slow down we would change the color pattern of the Uncle Larry Spinner and send it back down. It was quite a sight as we had nearly 100 pink packaged spinners spread out on one of bench seats in the boat. As the bite slowed we moved out in front of Right Hand and Left Hand Creek and picked up several nice Browns and Bows before heading in to "Derby Central", also known as Sandy Point, to pick up Dan. This was one of those days, we had been fishing for 2 and a half hours and had landed and released over 40 fish. When Dan arrived we loaded back up again starting in Mill Creek with the bite still going strong. I think Dan was having trouble getting his thoughts down on paper because every time he would pick up his note pad another rod would pop. In an effort to see more of the lake as well as report on the derby we spent some time traveling the lake and talking to other boats who were involved before we started fishing again in the Bucks Creek Channel. We dropped combinations of spinners, and small dodgers and spinners all tipped with a piece of crawler and worked the South edge of the channel with exceptional results. The fish were all Browns and Bows with a few Kokanee mixed in. Our best rigs were a Uncle Larry's "Special Green" run about 16 inches behind a Sep's Sidekick dodger in Watermelon and an Uncle Larry's "Mini Copper Pop" run just behind a set of ball flashers. The results were impressive, nearly 80 fish landed, an untold number lost. We returned to Sandy Point for lunch and conversation with other anglers. Congratulations to Gavin Henderson, son of Dewitt and Kim Henderson, (owners of Bucks Lake Marina) on placing 1st in the junior division of the derby.

As predicted the trout bite held up strong. We fished both Mill Creek and Bucks creek today with plenty of action. The nicer Brookies are had early morning in Mill Creek and today was no different. We worked 22 to 35 feet of water keeping our baits between 18 and 25 feet down. Each pass would bring several hook ups, the larger hold-overs would see the ice chest while we released the average sized ones. After several passes with only average sized fish being landed we mover over into the Bucks Channel in search of Browns and Bows. We worked our baits at the same depths with great results. We landed quite a few of the Browns that had been planted as part of "Project Brown Trout" all were released with the hope of catching them in the years to come. We also landed some larger Browns in the 16 to 18 inch class as well as a few Kokanee and several nice Rainbows. The final result was 30 fish landed with 3 limits kept for 3 happy clients. For all of the technical information please read the August 11th - 14th report below.

How is the trout fishing at Bucks Lake? Great!! We usually see a slight cooling in the weather around mid August and with the temperatures dropping off the fishing usually picks up and this year is no different. The mornings have been cool enough for long pants and a sweatshirt but it doesn't take long to be in shorts. The water temperature is running right about 70 degrees down from 78 just a few weeks ago. Over the last several days we concentrated our fishing efforts in several locations, Haskins channel, the mouth of Mill Creek, and the edges of the Bucks Creek Channel. A variety of rigs all produced fish, sometimes one better than the others and sometimes all of them worked equally well. Uncle Larry's Spinners in "Black Perch" tipped with half a mini crawler, a naked threaded crawler, and small dodgers in basic silver with about half a mini crawler 18" behind are the rigs that put the fish in the boat. At times I found we could get away with using 2 inch brown grubs in place of the crawlers on the rigs mentioned above but sometimes it is hard to beat real meat on the hook.  Due to some of the areas mentioned above being narrow (Haskins channel) and other boat traffic I ran these rigs no more than 20 feet off of the Cannon Downrigger cable and at a depth of 18 to 28 feet depending on our location. In some cases the goal was to keep the gear close to the bottom, in others it didn't seem to matter. We varied our speed, as we worked these fish but spent most of the time between 1 and 1.5 MPH depending on which gear was in the water. The results were impressive with limits of fish every day and in some cases catching and releasing as many as 40 trout in a morning and with these fish aggressively striking at the baits there was a number of short strikes and fish we didn't get to the net. It is pretty hard to beat ultra-light trout action like that. The species of trout is somewhat location dependent. Haskins channel is holding mostly Brookies with a few Browns and Bows, the mouth of Mill Creek has Brookies, a few Browns and small Macks (we never pulled a Rainbow in Mill), and the Bucks Creek channel has mostly Browns with some nice Rainbows and a few Brookies. We caught a few Kokanee in all the locations with the biggest ones at 12 inches but fat. The rest of the trout ranged from 12 to 18 inches and some of the Brookies being extremely girthy hold-overs that really put up a battle. Look for the fishing here at Bucks to continue strong as we move towards Fall.

Today I concentrated our fishing efforts on the Bucks Creek channel with good results. I had the Babich family for a short 4 hour trip in which we boated over 40 fish keeping 4 limits and releasing the rest. The fish were a mix of Browns, Brookies, and Bows that ranged from 12-18 inches. The methods listed below continue to be successful without any signs of slowing down.

It is hard to believe it has been nearly a month since I have had time to sit down and update this report. I have continued to fish Bucks Lake with good success, although at times the bite has been sporadic. The hot spot for the Brooks, Browns, and  Bows are the creek channels (Mill Creek, Bucks Creek, and Haskins Creek). I have continued to have good results with the copper and red or copper and orange color pattern in spoons and spinners. Some days it seems they like the spoons better than the spinners and the next day it can be the other way around. The Sep's Pro Secret in copper and red and the "Copper Pop" from Uncle Larry's Lures have been the best. I have been running these baits on the bottom in 18 to 28 feet of water with a healthy dose of Pro Cure's Crawdad Scent on them. The fish have been running from 12 to 20 inches. In addition to the trout we will also see some Kokanee on these rigs and by keeping your gear near the bottom you will weed out the smaller fish. Bait fishermen are also doing good in the same locations drifting crawlers. The Mack bite has been pretty tough over the last several weeks in fact I haven't put any Mack gear in the water for a couple weeks now. There are still some dedicated anglers putting in their time and a fish is caught every now and then but I certainly wouldn't rate the bite as hot. I will continue to run trips at Bucks until mid September, with a few special runs to Almanor, and then it is off to Eagle for the Fall Bite.

This morning we headed out for a short trip as my clients had an important T time at local Plumas County golf course. We departed Bucks Lake Marina and headed for the North side of the Bucks Creek channel. I settled in on about 25 feet of water and started sinking gear trying to keep it within 5 feet of the bottom. Almost immediately a rod popped and the fight was on. This fish was tough and really doubled over the Rogue 792 rod. When we finial got a look at this fish it was about 20 feet behind the boat and about 4 feet out of the water, a gorgeous Rainbow. I was impressed as the trout bite had been on somewhat of a slump as of late. We continued to work the Bucks Creek channel and found several other trout as well as as many Kokanee as you wanted and while the Kokes are small the biggest ones (some 12 inchers) are found right on the bottom and provide almost non stop action. Our next move was into the Mill Creek channel in search of more trout. We made several passes and found only the bigger class of Kokanee right on the bottom. With only time left for one pass in the Mackinaw grounds we pulled the light rods and dropped the Mack gear. Before we could get out of the mouth of Mill Creek one of the Pro Troll Stingfish got drilled and the result was a small 3 pound Mack. We continued south and as we neared Rainbow Point we hooked another, this Mack was in the 4 pound class. With little time to spare we pulled the gear and raced back to the marina in order to make it to the golf course on time. The surface temp is warm, running in the mid 70's but you don't have to go down far to find cool water. Also note worthy, I haven't put "conventional" Kokanee tackle in the water for a while, all the Kokanee we have been catching have been on single spoons run close to the bottom and we seem to be catching plenty of fish and avoiding the 8 inchers found higher in the water column. While they're are small they are plentiful and fight hard for their size, not to mention they taste great! I have been trying plenty of color combinations in order to spark up a better trolling trout bite but right now you cant beat spoons in the copper and red combination and the absolute best for me has been the Seps Pro Secret coated with Pro Cure's Crawdad Butter.

We started out first thing in the morning with the Pro Troll Stingfish in the water hunting Macks. The focus of the trip was to be Browns and Rainbows but who can resist a shot at "The Big One". It didn't take long for the number 2 rod to pop and it was fish on, a small 4 pounder that was carefully released. Not a bad way to start the morning but I figured we could up size him. We decided to make another pass, this time it was rod number 3 and this fish seemed to have a little more weight to him, and after a nice little battle a 9 pounder went in the net. After releasing the fish we decided to quit Mack fishing on a good note and move into Mill Creek for some trout. The bite was on! The first pass we landed  3 Rainbows and 2 Browns. We continued landing fish on every subsequent pass, at that rate it didn't take long to fill the boat with limits. The trout were holding right on the bottom and today the copper and red Pro Secret was killing them. Bucks Lake is completely full, the surface temp has been in the low 60's in the mornings warming to 67 in the afternoons.

Again today the Mack bite was slow, there were a number of boats out fishing for them but I never saw a fish netted. We worked the Ski Beach area and the Rainbow Point area with no success. We marked plenty fish but were unable to hook up. We moved into Mill Creek about mid day and switched to the trout gear with good results. Again the frog Needlefish and the copper and red Pro Secrets did the trick for a mix of Kokanee and Rainbows.

The Mack bite has been a little sluggish as of late. We spent a small amount of time trying for a big fish and then moved on to other things. We spent most of our time in Mill Creek with or gear at or near the bottom in search of Browns and Bows. The top offering were size 2 frog needlefish and copper and red Sep's Pro Secret spoons coated with Pro Cures Crawdad Butter. We managed to land plenty of trout and as many Kokanee as we could reel in. While the Kokanee are small they are in many peoples opinion the best eating. Their small size is in direct relation to the over population in the lake, that said,  while at Bucks please keep a limit. The more we eat the bigger they will grow. In the afternoon we moved  into the Bucks Creek are with the same gear and picked up several more rainbows before calling it a day.

We started out at 6am and headed to the hunting grounds. The target of the weekend was to be Mackinaw. I had 2 of my favorite colors of Pro-Troll Sting Fish and one new color rigged on 4 of the Rogue 864 rods. We started out fishing the Bucks Creek channel and while we marked a good number of fish, we only managed to hook 2 and land 1. We made a move to the area of water known as "Mackinaw Alley" and sent the Sting Fish back down. We concentrated on water in the 60 foot range and attempted to run our gear as close to the bottom as we safely could. The bite was on, we landed fish on every pass we made, and just as we thought we had made a pass and come up empty the rod on the number 3 downrigger got drilled. (I knew that the new color would work) After convincing my client that he was not hooked up on the bottom a tough 10 to 15 min. battle ensued with the fish definitely having the upper hand before he got off. I have landed and witnessed landings of many big Macks but this was the most powerful display I have ever seen. The good news is that fish is still in the lake. After landing 14 Macks to 9lbs we moved over into the Mill Creek Channel and caught a few Browns from 1 to 4.5lbs before calling it a day. The browns all came on frog pattern Needlefish again scented with Crawdad Bait Butter. FYI my favorite colors for the Sting Fish are Blue Tiger and Chrome Blue Scale the new color is Black and White.

I picked up my clients in the late afternoon for a little evening fishing. I had 4 of the Rogue 792 rods pre-rigged with 4 different spoons that usually seem to work well at Bucks. The wee Dic Nite in copper and orange, The Seps Pro Secrete in copper and red, and two Needlefish red dot frog and the standard frog. We dropped in to the mouth of Mill Creek, coated up the gear with Crawdad Bait Butter from Pro Cure, and started putting gear down. We made passes up and down the channel working the edges as well as the center keeping the baits 2-3 feet off the bottom. The end results were limits of nice Browns and Bows.

Well I guess you could say we have been spoiled by good weather the last several years on opening weekend at Eagle Lake. The 2006 opener looked more like a typical November day with wind and snow showers. I awoke to several inches of snow at Stones Landing on the North end of the lake. I called down to the South end only to find out my friends were dealing with close to 6 inches of heavy wet snow. We launched and headed South to a spot near Pelican Point. We almost instantly were on fish. Did I mention I had the full canopy and curtains up with the heater keeping the clients toasty. We continued to land fish on almost everything we put in the water. Brown, orange, and olive grubs, and Uncle Larry's in "black perch" were the best with no clear pattern. We ran these rigs from the surface to 10 feet. The result was fish from 2.5 to 3.5 lbs and while they weren't the biggest in the lake their fights were incredible. Day two brought much calmer weather conditions and an even better bite. We worked the same area catching and releasing a number of the smaller fish while boxing the larger ones. The same baits we fished opening day and were working, however most of our fish were hooking up at 8 to 10 feet probably due to the sunny flat conditions. I will be fishing Bucks Lake for the summer targeting trout, Kokanee and trophy Mackinaw but of course will return to Eagle for the fall beginning at the end of September and running until mid December. If you are thinking about a trip don't hesitate to call. Dates fill up fast for this popular fall fishery but openings are still available.

For the second year in a row we were the first boat on the water at Bucks Lake. The lake is now about 90% ice free with a patch remaining between the mouth of Bucks Creek and Lakeshore Resort, and another in the Mill Creek channel. We launched about 6pm in our usual "bobsled" style but still had to free the boat from a small amount of snowy slush at the water's edge. We proceeded to Rainbow Point and dropped in heading towards Mill Creek. It didn't take long until the first Brown grabbed my black and silver Rapala. The next fish up to bat was a chunky 8lb Mackinaw (The first one of the 06 season) who upon being netted promptly puked up a Kokanee.  We continued to catch and release a combo of Browns to 4lbs  and Macks to 8 lbs near the mouth of Mill Creek until dark all on the top-lined black and silver.

The Quincy Bobsled Team's "ride"	The first fish of the day	The first Mack of the 06 season

Max's first Mack.	Bucks Lake Beauty	The hard work, getting the "Super Duck" back on the trailer

 

The good news is the snow is melting fast, the lake is on the rise and roughly 50% ice free. The bad news is both Bucks Lake Marina and the old Lakeshore Marina still frozen up. With warm sunny days is shouldn't be long until the lake is completely open. Dewitt at Bucks Lake Marina has his access road plowed out but due to soft spots in the road and the ice on the lake boat launching is not an option. Fishermen working the open water at the mouth of Bucks Creek are getting Rainbows and Browns from 1 to 3 lbs. Everyone seems to be in on the action weather you are throwing lures, fly fishing or chunking bait.