By Paul Lebowitz

“There’s one!” said Lake Jennings Ranger John Moltke. The big man plucked the bent rod out of the holder, stood up, and gave it a quick jerk to set the hook. The light trout rod doubled over and then settled down to that sweet arc that every angler recognizes. Fish on! A hundred feet out, a glistening rainbow trout skipped across the still water’s surface. Moltke kept the line tight and took his time reeling it in, chuckling softly all the while.

“With 50 feet or more line out, you get to play the fish longer,” said Moltke. “Fishing’s supposed to be fun.”

Indeed, fishing at Jennings is fun these days. Supervising Ranger Hugh Marx said trout fishing started to take off in late November. At the time, shore-based anglers were cashing in on bait at the regular spots Hermit Cove and Half Moon Cove, and at Shadow Cove, opened to shore access in spring 2006.

Of course, trout have been known to swim to new spots, so stop by the tackle shop and ask a friendly lake ranger where they’ve been catching lately. They’ll steer you right. Marx, Moltke and the rest of the staff sincerely want visitors to have a good time and catch fish. Marx even offers a free fishing class every Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

Throughout the 2006-2007 trout season, Jennings will be stocked three times each month, for a total of 25,600 pounds.

“It promises to be a good trout season. The bite started earlier than last year, partly due to the low water level. The fish are concentrated. Conditions should hold until work on the tower is complete, then the lake will fill rapidly,” Marx said. Look for that sometime after New Year’s.

Catfish stocking is done for the season, but there are still plenty of the whiskerfish in the lake according to Marx. “We’ve been getting a couple over 15-pounds almost every week at the buoy line. That bite should hold for the winter, although if we get any runoff some cats will move into the muddy water,” Marx said.

Anglers might want to hang onto their rods. Marx said four trout fishermen lost their rigs to big catfish in just the last two weeks of November. “People don’t realize how quickly a pole can go into the water. For most, it’s such a great fish story it takes some of the sting out of losing a rod,” Marx said.

As of late November, bass were holding at 30 feet. Anglers were working drop-shot plastics in watermelon and motor oil colors were finding some success. Come springtime, the bass will stage in 7 to 10 feet, ready to go into spawning mode once the water warms to 60 degrees.

A couple of the best known flats are the campground shoreline and the Hermit Cove area. For those sight-fishing for bass, Marx recommends white jigs and bluegill imitators. “The Mattlures bluegill is a great bait,” said Marx. “Keep flipping over the nest. It takes perseverance.”

The catfish will follow. “A lot of people don’t realize the cats move into the shallows each spring to spawn” said Marx. Try baiting the catfish with fat nightcrawlers or strips of mackerel presented without a sinker (known as fly-lining), and maybe fish it on an open bail so you’ll have a better shot at any touchy biters. A prime spot is back in Hermit Cove, site of extensive fish habitat improvements over the past few years.

The habitat improvements don’t exactly tickle the eyeball. They are a series of trenches and mounds, old pipes and 55-gallon drums installed at the old boat launch area in Hermit Cove and other places around the lake.

The improved spawning habitat and sheltered refuges for juvenile fish should pump up the fish population. “There will be more to be caught in the long run,” said Moltke. “The bass like it, catfish like it. I don’t know about the trout, everything eats trout including me!”

Moltke rebaited and pointed the boat towards Hermit Cove at the back of the lake. It didn’t take long before his fishing rod was bent again. He reeled in another feisty ‘bow, then scooped the fish up in the net and we took a moment to admire the healthy trout. This year’s Mt. Lassen beauties average between a pound and a pound and a quarter. 

The eight year veteran of the lake spends most of his days in the construction trade (“someday I’d love to work at the lake full time,” he confided. Who wouldn’t?). The old hand fits right in with the angler-friendly attitude advanced by lake chief Marx.

Typical for Jennings, Moltke was sharing a little-known technique that can help visitors catch more fish: the Spin-n-Glo trolling rig.

A Jennings Secret Revealed - the Spin-n-Glo Trolling Rig
The Spin-n-Glo rig is easy to employ and deadly on trout. It’s perfect for the light to light-medium action rods used by most trout anglers. In essence, it’s a substitute for the more hardware intensive traditional trout flasher rig.

Fish caught on this lightweight setup fight better than any trout dragged in on heavy leadcore line. The Spin-n-Glow rig is effective from the water’s surface down to maybe 10 to 15 feet depending on the size of the sinker used and the amount of line you let out behind your own boat or one of the lake’s roomy J16 Carolina Skiff rentals.

The Spin-n-Glo rig should produce at the lake through the beginning of May, maybe longer if the county catches a train of springtime cold fronts as in 2006. After that it will be a good bet at Lake Cuyamaca up in the San Diego backcountry, on the shallow end of Big Bear Lake early in the season, or any number of the alpine lakes that dot the Eastern Sierra. 

To assemble the rig, you’ll need a size-8 Worden’s Spin-n-Glo and included red bead, a variety of keel sinkers ranging from an 1/8th to 5/8th of an ounce, a number of high quality swivels and a duo-loc snap, about four feet of 6 to 8-pound test leader material, and a J-style baitholder hook. A size-2 hook is about right. If you can’t find keel sinkers, you can use egg sinkers above the leader instead, but then be sure to use at least two swivels on the rig.

SPINNER TROUT – In 2007 the springtime trout fishing at Lake Jennings was as good as it had been all year, especially using a little known lake staple: the Spin-n-Glow trolling rig.

KISS A CAT FOR LUCK – The staff at Lake Jennings loves to help kids catch fish. That includes lessons in classic traditions like kissing a catfish for good luck. It’s a great measure of the desire to fish. Any kid that will smooch an ugly catfish is an angler at heart.

MULTI-COLORED TROUT MENACE – The Spin-n-Glo comes in many color styles. Chartreuse is the basic pattern. Whichever color you go with, the small spinner is deadly on trout.

SKIFF AND STRUCTURE – In a photo taken in fall 2005 when the water level was low, Tom Harman demonstrates the lake’s J16 Carolina Skiffs are as good for catching cats as they are trolling for trout. The fish habitat improvement work done in Hermit Cove is visible in the background. The mounds, holes, and rubble should improve catfish and bass reproduction rates.

Attach the duo-loc snap to the end of your main line. The keel sinker comes next. Then, tie your hook on one end of your leader and thread on a bead and the Spin-n-Glo, which looks something like a bumblebee’s body minus the black rings. Two iridescent wings jut from the sides. They give the lure its spin and flash. The tapered end of the spinner should face the hook. Finally, attach a swivel to the other end of the leader, clip it to the keel sinker, and you’re ready to go. With this setup, changing the keel sinker to fish deeper or shallower will be a literal snap.

The Spin-n-Glo rig will catch fish if it’s used with a bare hook, but it’s not a bad idea to sweeten the offering by threading half a nightcrawler onto the hook. Run the hook point into one end of the worm and out the center of the piece. If done correctly, the worm will dangle enticingly. If that’s not enough, a bath in a scent like Berkley Powerbait Trout Dip can add that extra something that leads to a limit.       

Carefully flip the rig into the water and start the boat. Troll slowly. Pay the line out until at least fifty feet are out. Control the line as it comes off the spool, not just to keep the rig from tangling but because a fish could hit at any time. The Spin-n-Glow rig doesn’t provide precise depth control, but it doesn’t matter. According to Moltke, a 1/8th ounce keel sinker will run about 4-feet deep with 50 feet of line out. Early in the day, start shallow, with less weight. If you aren’t catching fish, try adding more weight until you find the feeding zone.