Lake Oroville Open bass tournament sees excellent results
The 186 anglers who ventured out to compete in the "lake Oroville Open" bass tournament last weekend found excellent fishing and almost perfect weather. Competitors journeyed here from all over the state, including an eight-person contingent from the Fresno Bass Club, and even a few anglers from the Los Angeles area. All came to compete in the largest locally-organized tournament of the year on the lake. Local anglers fared pretty well, with three of the top five teams featuring members of the Paradise Bass Club [Jesse Kirk, Clay Kettle, and Ron Gandolfi].

As is usually the case at Oroville in April, the numbers of bass available were among the highest of any lake in the country, with several anglers reporting that they released 60 or more fish in the course of the day.

Brothers Robert and James Daniels hail from Berry Creek and Visalia respectively, and ended up in third place. "It was really good, I released around 60 fish", said Robert. "I have never done this well on Oroville; the quality of the fish was so good that we were culling out two pounders all day long. We found most of our fish in the south fork in 15 to 40 feet of water. Most of them hit on a natural-color one-quarter ounce finesse jig fished on eight-pound line."

Veteran event competitor Kelly Renihan of Chico finished out of the money, but nailed plenty of fish anyway. "We released so many fish we couldn't keep count", chuckled Renihan. "The right size was just difficult to find. Most of our fish were caught on Senkos in 20 to 30 feet of water in the Middle Fork and near Canyon Creek. It was a great day of fishing!"

Other competitors caught their fish on a variety of different offerings. Good numbers of bass were caught on plastic worms rigged darthead, shaky-head, dropshot, Texan and Carolina styles, along with jigs, crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, and even a few on topwaters.

The event had a slot waiver permit, and many of the fish weighed were in the 14 to 15-inch range. Plenty of plump "overs" in excess of 15 inches were also caught, and two nice ones weighing over four pounds each topped the field.

All of the fish were carefully examined by a team of Department of Fish and Game biologists, and transferred to the Black Bass Action Committee's live release boat before being released back into the lake. "Even though most of these fish are in 'post spawn', they are in great shape", observed the BBAC's Don Reighley. "Out of almost 500 fish, we lost only five."

Conducted by the Chico Bass Club, the event is a fundraiser for the club's activities, which include the Lake Oroville Florida-strain bass planting project, the Chico and Gridley kid's fishing events, fishing line recycling at Paradise Lake and Horseshoe Lake, and other fishery-related projects.

Final standings: Kirk/Scism- 13.11 pounds total [$1000]; Crone/Kettle- 12.58 [$450]; Daniels/Daniels- 12.55 [$400]; Knowles/Knowles- 12.36 [$350]; Gandolfi/Shelton- 12.23 [$275]. Big Fish: Bowersox- 4.86 [$350]; Webb- 4.58 [$200]; Gandolfi- 3.77 [$150].

Paradise Kid's Fishing Day
The Paradise Recreation District will be holding its annual Children's Fishing Derby from 9:30 to 11:30 AM tomorrow [Saturday May 1] at the Aquatic Park Pond in Paradise. All children, preschool through 15 years of age, are welcome to participate free of charge.

The pond will be stocked with hungry trout, and prizes will be awarded in several categories. This event is co-sponsored by the Butte County Fish and Game Commission, the Paradise Bass Club, and Paradise Lions Club. Hot dogs, soda, chips, and cookies will be offered for sale. For more information, contact Paradise Recreation and Parks Department at 872-6393.

Trout plants
The DFG planted catchable-size trout his week in the following area waters; Lassen County- Goodrich Creek, Lower Susan River; Shasta County- Lower-Upper Burney Creek, Shasta Lake, Upper-Middle Hat Creek.

Salmon regulations
For a link to the proposed river salmon fishing regulations for 2010, see the E-R's online edition.

Proposed salmon regulations changes for Feather and Sacramento Rivers
California salmon anglers will be allowed to fish in the ocean until September 6, in accordance with regulations approved recently by the Federally-based Pacific Fisheries Management Council.

The California Fish and Game Commission ratified all of the Federal ocean regulations, and also set inland/river regulations for the Klamath and Trinity River systems. However, the CFGC delayed discussion of the Sacramento River, Feather River, and other Central Valley inland/river regulations until the group's next meeting that begins on May 5.

Proposed regulation changes to be discussed by the Commission can be found at this link http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/new/2010/proposedregs10.asp