The demise of the Panther Martin continues.

A while back, the company that makes my (And many of your) favorite trout lures decided to switch its base of manufacturing from Italy to China which resulted in a new Chinese version that performs about as well as dragging a pork chop through the water column.

While I plan to write about this discovery a couple years ago, as well as the ensuing e-mail battle with the company in great detail, I noticed yet another idea of theirs crapped out on them.

Soon after the lures became communist, they decided to come out with a spinner made out of stainless steel (which I must admit caught my interest initially) with a price tag of $7.99 per lure. That is right, eight bucks for a trout spinner that --if you are fishing the way you should be-- very well could end up in a creekside tree the first time it is cast.

Well, said lure has found its way into the Cabelas bargain basement, and you know what that means.

Stainless steel Panther Martin on the cheap

I am still kind of tempted to buy one, just to see what a $7 trout spinner feels like, kind of like in Pulp Fiction when John Travolta just HAS to see what a "five-dollar shake" tastes like.

Anyway, fear not as I have found a replacement lure that is far-beyond worthy. A through-blade spinner (like the Panther Martin) made in a shop in Tillamook, Oregon with all American components (other than the Gamakatsu hook, which I am more than fine with) that performs better than EITHER version of the Panther Martin, and wait till you see the price.

Check out these spinners at www.wyldedge.com

At Least 3 Dead In Fish And Game Helicopter Crash Accident Reported In Sierra National Forest

MADERA, Calif. -- Authorities said three state biologists were killed when a California Fish and Game helicopter crashed Tuesday in the Sierra National Forest. The pilot is also believed to be dead.

Madera County sheriff's spokeswoman Erica Stuart said authorities were notified about the crash, south of Redinger Lake, shortly after noon Tuesday.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, preliminary information indicates the Bell 206 helicopter possibly struck a power line at 12:25 p.m.

Stuart said the crash has sparked a fire that has made the site inaccessible, but light winds and moisture in the area have slowed the fire's movement.

Sheriff's deputies and Forest Service officials are nearing the scene.

Stay tuned to KCRA 3 and refresh KCRA.com for the latest information.

California DFG Recognizes 100th Angler To Complete Heritage Trout Challenge

(Old story but some good info about the Heritage Trout Challenge in there)

Sacramento, California - Gavin O'Leary of Fresno is the 100th angler to complete the California Heritage Trout Challenge. The challenge requires anglers to catch six of the eleven types of trout native to California. The California Heritage Trout Challenge highlights the diversity of native trout and provides an incentive for anglers to learn about native trout and their habitats.

This special program offers a unique angling alternative. While many California anglers fish for planted trout, pursuing wild native trout offers an intriguing alternative. These native trout can be found from San Diego County to the Oregon border and offer anglers an extraordinary look at California's heritage.

"We worked to develop a program that would highlight the diversity of native trout found in California and provide an incentive for anglers to learn about native trout and their habitats," said Roger Bloom, Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Program Manager for the Heritage & Wild Trout Program.

Anglers who complete the California Heritage Trout Challenge receive a custom certificate listing the name of the angler, color illustrations of the six different trout caught and a notation on the date and location of each catch.

"The certificate I was awarded for achieving the California Heritage Trout Challenge is one my most treasured documents," said Steve Berg of Carmichael.

"The Heritage Trout Challenge was a great way to introduce my son to fishing the backcountry," said Chris Bell of Sebastopol. "He is hooked - and so am I -- on pursuing native trout throughout California and beyond."

The first 100 anglers completing the challenge came from 11 different states. There are no time restrictions and the releasing of fish is encouraged and may be required depending on the regulations for different waters.

Anglers interested in participating in the challenge can contact a DFG regional office or the Heritage & Wild Trout Program headquarters in Rancho Cordova. For information on drainages, different waters, where these fish are available and a downloadable application, please visit: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Fishing/.

High-Noon Trout is now on Facebook.

I figured this would be a good component to add to the site to make it a little more interactive. Check it out.

High-Noon Trout on Facebook

End of trout season in Eastern Sierra brings challenging but sometimes favorable fishing conditions

As I neared the exit for Mammoth Lakes and slowed down to the actual speed limit I executed my first of a long list of annual traditions by glancing down at Mammoth Creek as it crossed under highway 395 so I could get an idea of what kind of water levels I would be dealing with on this trip. Just like I had been reading for months in WON as well as in first-person reports on the fishing message boards we have all grown to love, I saw that the water level was extremely low and the fishing was taking a hit as a result.

This just a few years removed from a 2006 Sierra winter that saw the most snow to ever fall on the area in recent history, I am now heading up for a late season jaunt coming off one of the worst snow packs ever, and I knew I had my work cut out for me. As I sat in the condo that first night I formulated a game plan that would take me to the highest altitudes that my legs and lungs would take me in one day in hopes of finding better water levels and low-fishing pressure.

On day one I made my way up to North Lake on the middle fork of Bishop Creek where I was greeted by many more fellow trouters than I was hoping to find at the end of the windy, one-lane road so I opted to check out the creek feeding the lake rather than find a spot betwixt the lawn chairs to launch my Kastmaster. Like the other creeks in the area I had come across, the water was low, skinny, and slow enough in some areas that it didn’t even look like it was moving. I found my first spot a short bushwhack from the parking lot and switched to a small Panther Martin spinner and saw four eight to ten inch Browns dart out from below the under cut bank only to have the fastest of the fish nip my lure and retreat back to the safety and shade it came from. Subsequent casts to this spot drew no more interest, and I would soon find out that the name of the game not only on this creek but on every creek I visited during these low-water conditions was that I had one, maybe two casts per location to hook and land one of these spooky native browns because once they took a look and realized my offering wasn’t the real deal, they weren’t coming out for a while.

As I worked upstream I repeated this process three to four times before I would actually land one, but the creek was clearly full of trout, I just had to have the stealth and patience to nail them. I noticed that if I landed my lure within six inches or so of the undercut bank, overhanging bush, or anything else creating shade, that I would draw more aggressive strikes than when I clumsily dragged my spinner across a pool. I also noticed that if I found white water followed by a calm spot, I would also find more aggression from the browns due to the cooler, more oxygenated water found there (that’s what it says in all the trout books anyway!). By the time I made it from South Lake all the way up to a waterfall that told me that I had fished as much of this creek I could today, I had caught and released over 20 Browns and a fat Rainbow that torpedoed from under an overhanging bush for my sinking Rapala, and I probably missed three times that many.

Over the next week I found these conditions at every creek I visited, namely McGee, Saddlebag, Convict Creeks and I even managed the two biggest Rainbows of the trip in Mammoth Creek but it was in a spot well downstream from the heavily fished area near the museum in town. Getting dialed in on skinny water trout fishing paired with mixing in two to five mile jaunts to the backcountry lakes that seem relatively unaffected by the low-water conditions resulted in my calling it a week with a respectable fish count while many anglers I ran into around town griped about their lack of success in their favorite roadside spots because they did not adapt to the conditions.

Rooster Tail

Rooster Tail (spinner)

Pros:

-Come in a ton of different colors (blades, body, and tail)
-Effective in both lakes and streams
-Suprisingly castable
-Inexpensive and easy to find (but catalogues such as Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops have the best selections of them)
-Tracks straight and blade spins even if the shaft gets bent
-Blade spins on even the slowest retrieve

Cons:

-They don't sink very fast so for deeper holes in bigger streams, other lures would work better

Applications: If you had nothing but Kastmasters and Rooster Tails you would have most of the bases covered for Sierra trout fishing. They don't appear to be a very castable lure, but you can chuck it pretty far on 2-pound test and a longer rod. Rooster Tails probably have more color possibilities than any other lure, so it is best to pick four-to-six colors and a few of each. After a couple trips you will discover your favorites and can swap out the ones that don't get bit as much with new colors. I stick to the most natural-looking colors like brown/red, dark green, black, and I maybe have one loud one like yellow and black or rainbow trout. Once cast into a lake, it doesn't take much to get the blade turning like in some spinners. A quick two or three cranks gets the blade going before slowing down to your retrieve speed, and once it's spinning (you can feel when it's spinning because of the slight change in drag as you wind it in) you can slow down quite a bit before it stops rotating. This feature is also useful in streams because it is easy (well, easier than most spinners) to get the blade going even if you are retrieving downstream, and you can also get the blade going immediately after it lands in the water which can entice bites from meadow-stream browns sitting under banks waiting and waiting for a grasshopper to fall in. While the wire that makes up the body is pretty light, the lure will perform well once you tweak it back into shape if it ever gets bent.

New section - Lure Profiles

I know this season isn't over yet, but if I want to detail every lure I use in the Sierras and have a respectable list of them to check out by next season I have got to start now.

Naturally I led off with the Acme Kastmaster, and I plan on starting off with the standard stuff that everyone has and whittle it down to lures that I use that you might never have heard of.

I give you, the Kastmaster.