The third annual "Catch a Special Thrill" [CAST] for Kids event will take place at Lake Oroville on September 8. The innovative program will take over 40 severely disabled children out on the lake for a day they will never forget. Each child will be treated to a free day of "professional style" bass fishing on a boat with a professional angler.

The Chico Bass Club will provide the guides, boats and a BBQ lunch for all participants, anglers and support staff. Logistics are being covered by Don Reighley of ORAC, John Ford of DWR, Anna Kastner of DFG, Tony Brownell of Cal Fire, Steve Feazel of DPR, Kaylee Hunter of FRPRD and various programs at CSUC.

The Oroville Kiwanis will provide a pancake breakfast to kick off the event. Additional financial sponsorship is undertaken by the Oroville Chamber of Commerce, Wal-Mart, Lake Oroville Marina, Inside/Out Designs, Noah's Arc, Gold Country Casino, Collins & Denny Market, First Responder EMS, Raley's, and WTC.

Similar events are organized by DWR at Lake Perris, Castaic Lake and Lake Del Valle. To sponsor, volunteer or for more information, contact John Ford [534-2306] or Don Reighley [570-5791].

Lake Oroville
The few bass anglers going out onto Lake Oroville are doing very well, reported Fil Torres at Oroville Outdoors. "Between the heat, low water levels and school starting up, not many people are going out", remarked Torres. "Bass fishing been very good on quality fish. It's been taking a 19 or 20-incher to win the Turkey Shoots, and there have been a few spotted bass up to four pounds being caught.

"The bass are up right on the banks in surprisingly shallow water, hitting on crankbaits, swimbaits, jigs and even some topwaters. Best areas have been the north and middle forks.

"Some coho salmon have been biting for trollers at 30 feet, but mooching a half-anchovy at 60 feet near Kelly Ridge Point has been best. A few catfish have been coming out of the south fork and Foreman Creek. Don't forget that there is no fishing within 1,000 feet of the face of the dam, if you go past the yellow buoys you risk getting a citation."

Torres cautioned, "With the water more than 100 feet down, boaters need to be very careful when navigating. Also be careful on the newly-exposed beaches. Some of them may be very much like quicksand and can be a problem, especially for kids."

Sacramento River
The salmon action on the Sacramento River was hit or miss this week, noted Eric Crone at The Tackle Box in Chico. "The average catch has been around one or two salmon per boat this week", said Crone. "The fish are mostly ranging in the 20-pound class, and the largest this week was 36 pounds. All the salmon we have seen this week were nice and clean.

"Most everybody is starting out in the early morning using sliver/chartreuse or double-trouble K16 Luhr Jensen Kwikfish. At around 10:30, it's time to change over to blue/silver jigs. There are also some sub-legal to 12-pound stripers biting on pencil poppers down in the Colusa area."

Feather River
The crowds of salmon anglers on the Feather River are starting to build up, according to John Lackey at McGrath's in Oroville. "There's only a little more than a month left in the season, so they're [the crowds] starting to show up, especially on weekends", observed Lackey. "The salmon fishing has been fair to good; we've probably had at least 10 people this week check in with their three-fish limits. There have been some salmon over 30 pounds, and the biggest this week was a 38-pounder.

"The salmon are spread out beyond just the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet, but most are being caught on beads. There are some nice salmon being caught in the very early morning hours on red or green #6 Blue Fox Vibrax spinners."

Lackey tipped, "Some nice chrome fish are starting to move up, fresh from the ocean. The bite should be going off any time now. Also, Earl Henderson of Oroville caught a 40-pound striper down below the sunset pumps on a sardine."

Mountain trout
Trout fishing opportunities in the high-country lakes are not especially good right now, reported Davey Poteet at Paradise Sporting Goods. "They are catching a few nice fish at Almanor", said Poteet. "Bucks Lake has some kokanee in the early mornings, but the trout and mackinaw are slow. Eagle Lake is getting mixed results on typical two to three pounders for deep trollers at 30 to 60 feet in the south basin.

"Paradise Lake has been consistent for planter-size catfish in the mornings on nightcrawlers and Power Bait, and anglers at Philbrook Reservoir are getting a few trout here and there. Butte Creek just below Butte Meadows and the west branch of the Feather River have a good evening hatch, and the fish are hitting on small dry flies."

Monster sharks
Late summer usually brings a run of huge sharks into California's coastal waters, and this year is no exception. Last week saw a 901-pound mako shark caught in a commercial fishing net off Santa Barbara, and a 964-pounder was caught this week on rod and reel off the Channel Islands. The publication Sport Fishing printed the account of a spectacular attack on a pod of porpoises by a 400-pound mako shark off Noyo Harbor.

Trout plants
The DFG planted catchable-size trout his week in the following area waters: Tehama County- Deer Creek, south fork Battle Creek; Lassen County- Ash Creek; Shasta County- Baum Lake, lower-middle-upper Burney Creek, Grace Lake, Kilarc Reservoir, Sacramento River, upper-middle Hat Creek, Whiskeytown Lake; Siskiyou County- Sacramento River, Siskiyou Lake; Trinity County- Carrville Pond, Coffee Creek, Trinity River Stuart Fork.