Brock-led team takes Smith River steelhead tourney for second consecutive year

An angling team led by local guide Kevin Brock of Chico took home top honors in last weekend's Smith River Rowdy Creek Hatchery for the second year in a row. "Steelhead fishing has been great on the Smith River", observed Brock. "There is very little angler pressure on the river now, and we are catching fish every day. Most are ranging in the eight to 10 pound class, with our largest of the week at 13 pounds.

"All of our fish are coming on Pro-cure roe; with 12 pound test main line. The leader is eight or 10-pound fluorocarbon, with a black size four barbless Owner SSW hook. Some anglers are getting fish on silver/black size 30 Luhr Jensen Hotshot plugs. With this week's big rains, fish will be moving up, and we will also see some post-spawners coming back downstream. The season should be productive for at least the next two weeks." Regarding the Rowdy Creek Derby, Brock noted, "The two anglers in my boat were 30-year veterans of the derby, Ron McGowan and Bob Pestoni of St. Helena, and they did a terrific job of landing the fish they hooked. Scoring is based on the cumulative inches of all steelhead caught. At the end of day one of the derby, we were in second place behind the team of Early and Kutzky. We had a great second day, and ended up winning for overall points, most points by a team, and most points by an individual angler. Unfortunately, we did not manage to get the single largest fish category. This is a great derby that benefits the local hatchery."

Paradise Bass Club The Paradise Bass Club held its February tournament at Bullard's Bar Reservoir. Conditions were very tough, and only seven fish were caught, all in the morning with no action at all past noon. All of the fish were spotted bass, and the few successful anglers reported that weighted Senkos and dropshot-rigged plastic worms were the best bet.

Final standings: Ron McQuary [7.13 pounds total]; Jeff McQuary [2.6]; Brent Foster [1.0] Big Fish honors went to Ron McQuary with a nice 4.6 pound spottie. The group has March tournaments scheduled for this Saturday at Lake Oroville, and also March 24 at Lake Shasta.

F&G Commissioner under fire
In a strange twist, the President of the California Fish and Game Commission, Dan Richards is under fire for doing something completely legal. Last month, Richards journeyed to Idaho for a successful mountain lion hunt on a ranch property with a depredation permit. Several members of the California Assembly are mounting an effort to force Richards to resign. Mountain lions in California are not on the Endangered or Threatened Species list, but do enjoy protected status. A legally-hunted species in Idaho, mountain lions can only be killed in California under the auspices of a depredation permit.

Plumas County recently saw four mountain lions killed under depredation permits in January of this year, with the Plumas News reporting that one lion was killed on Jan. 23 near Genesee for taking a border collie puppy right off a well-lit porch with the owners inside watching television. Two more lions were killed there just two days later on Jan. 25, and another one on Jan. 26 for killing goats. According to California DFG statistics, the period from 1999-2009 saw 2,117 mountain lion depredation permits issued, with 1,079 lions legally killed. Mendocino County topped the list with 121 lions killed, and Butte County had 11 for that 10-year period.