Todd Wittwer California Guide #3408
Guiding Bass Lake, CA Since 2000
Bonded & Insured (559)288-8100
Copyright © 1999-2010 KOKANEE.NET Guide Service 559.288-8100 TODD @ WITTWER.net
Bass Lake is the best Kokanee Salmon lake in California! Look at these trophies!
Just about every day we will see the Bald Eagles hunting for fish or hoping we will lose one that they can pick up before it dives back down to safety.
We have a Bald Eagle nest that is best seen from a boat. Two eaglets were born in 2008, 2009 and 2010 that could be viewed most of the season!
Bass Lake produces some of the largest Kokanee Salmon in California every year. You will see a few Kokanee fishing boats out fishing with us every morning for this aggressive striking, hard-fighting aerobatic speed demon that is fighting for his life. Once hooked these powerful fish are a challenge for even the most skilled angler. With a Kokanee Salmon landing ratio of 50%-80% for most anglers, these trips are alot of fun for all ages. The table fare of the Kokanee Salmon baked, grilled or smoked is comparable to the same quality of Fresh Sockeye Salmon from Alaska.
Kokanee Salmon are a fresh water derivative of the Sockeye Salmon that hold in 50-56 degree water. They have a arctic bluish green back with silver side and whitish bellies. They primarily feed on plankton and will attack lures to protect their food source.
Kokanee Salmon will be bright chrome until about August of their third year of life. Around the first week of August is when they start getting pinkish-gray and the scales start disappearing is when they really put up a great fight. By the end of August they start turning red as they stop eating and school together getting ready to spawn. They become very territorial and will attack just about anything that comes too close to them. This is when we only keep the brighter fish for eating and release the rest to spawn out. Kokanee Salmon are planted as fingerling every year to grow for two to three years in the lake before they are caught or spawn and die. Bass Lake average sizes during season: April-May 14"-16" 1-1.5lbs, June 15"-17" 1.5-2.25lbs , July 16"-18" 1.75-2.5lbs August 16.5"-19" 2-3lbs.
Rainbow Trout that we catch can range from a half pound 13 inch to a 24" 5 pounder! While we do target the salmon We do get some nice rainbows too. they are more common in the early part of the season.
