The Reel Fishing Report

The Reel Meaning Of Fishing

2011-07-07T11:13:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was over 100 and too hot to do anything but go up to the higher elevation lakes to cool off. I talked my fishing partner into going with me by saying we will only stay a short time. Of course,that is fishing time. Five minutes equals one hour.

The lake was stocked with many small triploid rainbows.They thought they were wild fish, because all of them were eating the insect hatches going on all over the lake. We tried numerous flies, me on my fly rod and she on her Ugly Girl pole with a bubble. Ferne is not ugly, the pole is a pink wrapped Ugly Stick, hence the name Ugly Girl pole. I needed to clarify that so as not to incur any bodily harm. Ferne picked out a wet fly pattern with gray wings called Alexandra, and began to get bites. Being the astute fisherperson I switched to a gray emerger fished wet, because I was trying my new Cortland 444 camo sinking line. I like the way it handles. But I think it is because of the Blue Sky Leader I use. This leader makes me a much better caster, because it easily turns over the fly, making a perfect cast out of a not so perfect cast. Final tally, six fish caught and twenty six missed. A fun time in the heat. As you will read in my guest bloggers post, it is not about how large or how many. In Fernes own words………………. It is summer and I have not been doing as much sewing as I would like, but the activities I have been doing are definitely building some skills that I will use in future projects. Yesterday I spent a little time with my fisherman at the local pond called Grace. The fish were jumping and the people were lined up at the little bit of shore available to fish from. Fish were being caught by young and old a like, but not by me so the search was on for the bait the fish would want to eat. To find it I have found that have to look around you and boy did I see a lot. I saw reeds where fish could hide to stay cool, the different colors in the water let you know where the deep sections are and this is a place fish like to hang out. Someone thought the fish might like Cherrios and I heard another person mentioning that she had been using Velveeta Cheese and that didn’t like that either. I saw when I really looked that the fish were jumping up to catch a certain bug that must have just hatched and they were like little white mayflies. Changing my lure to something that most resembled the bug got the fish biting my line and when other fishermen see that they all want to know what you are using, this is where fisherman learn to lie because in order to keep your status as the guy catching the fish you can’t give away your secret.

As the fish weren’t biting much I got bored and started looking around me and thinking about how fishing is not really about catching but more about taking in the environment where you are fishing. Listening to the sounds of the birds, the fisher people, the buzz of bees and mosquitoes, and so much more. Butterflies don’t make any noise, but they are always there and so beautiful to observe, but hard to catch on film . Being a gardener I am always admiring the flowers and plants and how nature is such a better gardener than me, she knows just what looks good together and grows well together, it always amazes me.

I also enjoy the movement on the water. This was helping us see just where most of the active fish were which was also where the water was deep and cool and the bugs were hanging out. So casting into just the right spot with just the right lure and dragging through this spot with just the right speed to look like one of the bugs and the fish were biting on my line. I really don’t care if I catch a fish and we usually let them go anyway, but the thrill you get when one tugs on your line always gets my heart racing and wakes me up from the fishing trance. Of course, I am always thinking this is the big one I have waited my whole fishing life for, but it usually is not and that is okay. Fishing for me is not all about catching the big one though my oldest son totally disagrees with me, he claims that if he doesn’t catch fish and if they are not of a decent size he has wasted time. I tell he to rethink that and take a look around him and soak in the environment around him. That is what fishing is all about, but catching is always fun too, because the elusive fish is a beauty to behold and natures color combinations are always an inspiration to the artist side of me and could show up in a quilt or a painting project some where in the future.

Catch a little inspiration by looking around you!

Ferne

Fishing around Shingletown, Lake Shasta, Grace, Nora,and Kilarc

2010-07-31T18:46:00.001-07:00

We cleared the weeds,painted the house,planted the garden, cut the walnut trees, now it is time to go fishing again. Started out by taking a charter on Lake Shasta with Ben Raimondi of Fish'in Comfort, (530-238-9789). Ben is the number one guide on Shasta. He gives you your moneys worth in fish and knowledge. We caught and released limits of trout. Two things I do not like about Shasta are the cocopods and the too numerous bass. The cocopods make the trout have sores all over their body. It does no harm to the meat, but sure makes them unappealing to the eye. As for the bass, they are all over the lake. We put on some BassWax crayfish scent on one of the lures, put it back down and caught two bass in 30 min. Now I will get lots of hate e-mail , because we ATE them! Bass taste better than trout. Try them. Keep the small 12 to 14 in. sizes. The lake and fishery will not miss them. The remaining bass will only get bigger. Just remember any large fish of any species should be released to breed. I would rather catch ten large than twenty smaller fish any day.

Fish and Game finally gave the OK to plant our local lakes ,Grace And Nora. They put sterile fish in both ponds. It was worth the wait. The fish are from 10 in. to my personal best 19 in . What is nice about the two lakes is that you can fly fish them both. I finally got to use my latest bargains from Cabelas. I picked up a 3wt. Galvan large arbor reel and a matching Sage rod for a super price during the winter . I am not the best fly caster in the land, so Grace was perfect for me . Twenty foot casts are all that is needed. I have had many 30 fish days on both ponds since. All that is needed is a size 14 to 18 nymph weighted down with two tin split shots 18” up the 6x tippet. Cast out and drag back just over the bottom. The take is nothing more than a slight stop.

I even cheated one day when the fish refused to take the fly. I put a black olive Berkley 1“ leech on the fly. This combo got the trout to bite. What was nice about this set up was the trout took the combo like a fly. All were hooked in the jaw, so I could release them with the help of my Brodin Ghost Net, the best release net on the market.

This leaves only Kilarc to report on. We went up to this scenic reservoir during the rains and caught some small brown trout. Yesterday I went up alone and tried my luck. Lures only caught one small brown. I needed to cast 100 feet out with my fly rod. That was not going to happen. So the old water bobber filled with split shots and a fly was the ticket. A size 14 bead head in any brown or pheasant body on a 6 foot leader did the trick. The further out you cast the bigger the browns you caught. The fish were right on the bottom. Two other people were doing the same thing as I was but without the weights. They fished too high and caught nothing. I started out at the crack of noon, full sun, 80 degrees, and crystal clear water, just the perfect conditions for a sun burn. I fished till 2:30. Much to my surprise I caught fish, big fish. The largest was 15 inches. These browns were great fighters, leaping two feet out of the air and then going straight to the bottom. I caught 18 fish with 7 over 12 inches, 5 0ver 14 inches. ALL released. I DO like the taste of brown trout, but these fish look so beautiful, I have a hard time killing them. It has gotten so bad that I do not like any one keeping one. But each to his or her own ideals people have to eat, just let it be planters!

Hat Creek is soon, but after the touristas go home. Lake trolling for kokanee on Whiskeytown Lake is next cannot wait to go trolling again!!!!

Regular posts will be the norm. So remember to keep your leaders light and keep only the F&G planters.

The reel report, fish caught by Ferne reported by Michael.

God Bless!

Good Bye Bay Area, Welcome Shasta County

2009-11-11T16:30:00.000-08:00

No new posts for a few months. But for a good reason , we moved to Shasta County, about 20 miles from Mt. Lassen. as the years crept by, the fishing in the Bay Area has gotten worse. Chabot seems to be stocking smaller fish. A couple of years ago you could catch 6 t0 10 pounders regularly. Now a 3 pounder is a whopper. Del Valle is still good , but a boat gets you the most fish. Rental prices have gone up to be very expensive. The ponds in Santa Clara are still fun, but you need to be there when they plant, or else no fish. The last place to remember is Los Vaqueros. This deep lake was going to be the best fishing lake in California. In the beginning it semed to be true. You could catch 30 trout,and have a striper hit your bait almost every time out.Then salmon were added and you could also catch at least 1 every time out. But then something happened. The fish stopped hitting. The algae bloomed. Boat restrictions came into affect. The fish are there but no longer can you catch them in great numbers,or any size. No answers from the water district, no fisheries biologist to test the ecosystem. Nothing but hours of trolling for one or two fish. I hope they get their act together or flood the lake to double the size as is in the future plans. Then there will be no fishing.

So, before that happens we moved. Now we are looking forward to new waters and new lures to try. I have already begun. I tried Berkley Minnow Heads for the first time and they seemed to work in the local lakes. Looking forward to continue to report on the REEL ways to catch fish

God Bless Ferne@ Michael

Testing

2009-06-28T19:26:00.001-07:00

Testing a new blog writing program…looks like a fun one!

Smallmouths, Bluegills, Rainbows, Brookies,and Browns

2009-06-02T20:51:00.000-07:00

Well the derby is over. Again just like last year when a crappie was my biggest fish, I failed to get a trout over three pounds. This time it was a 7lb 2oz catfish that was my largest fish. I caught about 100 trout, all under two pounds. Too bad the derby was not a cumulative total weight derby.

We decided to take a trip up north to see what we could catch in the many streams and lakes in Lassen co. The snow had melted and the streams were running. Our first stop was Shingletown, about 25miles East of Redding. Where does one go to find out about local fishing spots? Why the bakery of course. Stocking up on the largest donuts I have ever seen, I got the info. Two small lakes, Nora and Grace, were the local secret spots. Drug Ferne out of the quilt shoppe and on to Nora. Stopped at Nora which is only 4 acres and saw some small fish but no where to fish so on down the road to Grace, a 7 acre lake. Here we saw fish rising every where. Put on the 1/16 oz Wyld spinner and cast out. Soon a fish was on! The first fish of the trip was a beautiful Brown trout. A couple of rainbows later we headed on down the road with 3/4 of the donuts left.

Our plan was to drive to Burney, about 45 miles north and use the motel as a base camp. Driving past Hat Creek we arrived in Burney. Checked in and then out to fish the Wild Trout section of Hat Creek, barbless hooks only. Mother nature had other ideas. We no sooner rigged up when thunder and lightning lit up the sky. We were fishing right next to a METAL BRIDGE. Lightning? not a good mix so we got the heck out of there! Driving back, hail and wind and rain made sure we did not go back. We did manage to take some pictures of the locals.

The next morning we went to Burney Falls, the Eight Wonder of the World. Within two miles you can fish for planted trout, totally wild trout and warm water species like bass and blugills. We did it all. First we went to see the falls and then drove 1 mile to Lake Britton. Here we walked around the shore and saw that the Smallmouth Bass were on their nests. Not having any plastics in the tackle box , I dug out some Rebel Cat'r Crawlers, a one and a half inch sinking worm imitation. W E cast out and let it sink on the beds. Soon I had a nice two pounder on. Caught a few more , Ferne even got her first Smallie . It was the biggest of the five we caught. I even caught a giant bluegill bigger then any I have caught in 45 years!

After going swimming for a lure stuck in a log we went trout fishing. First we tried the planter section above the falls. Had two on but nothing sticking. So we went to the Wild Section. The fly fishermen had beaten the waters for two hours before we go there and did not get a thing. I was not expecting anything when I tied on the 1/4 oz barbless Wyld Spinner . I picked a spot where the river flowed under a tree. I made ten casts and nothing. I was ready to let Ferne try but I did not want to go swimming for the lure stuck in a tree where it would no doubt land, so I make one last cast. I got a hit! I was so surprised that I did not set the hook. I made another cast and ,FISH ON!!! A perfect 13 1/2 in Brook Trout came to shore to be photoed and released. After that we hiked and enjoyed the flora and fauna. It was getting to be lunch time so back to the motel and then out to try to catch a fish at Hat Creek.

We chose to go to Cassel a stocked section of Hat Creek, not near a metal bridge. After finding the right location near the bridge we started to catch rainbows, nothing big but great fighters. Ferne caught her rainbow,and I caught a few dozen before kissing the last rainbow good bye.

A great short trip, lots of fish, lots of photos, and lots of giant donuts. (It took us two days but we ate them all.)

Until we loose ten pounds, God Bless

Ferne @ Michael

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SPINNERS RULE!!!!!!

2009-05-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

As promised, I took a trip to Del Valle and Chabot this week. Tuesday I went to Del Valle and did some trolling around the dam and the Marina. I fished with broken back J5 Rapalas and those CAGI attractors on one pole and The Wyld Spinners on the other. It was slow . So slow that I only saw two other boats come and go. The Fish Sniffers must have told everyone the bite was off. After two hours it was a draw, one fish on each pole. The wind came up and I motored back to the Marina. Three boats were anchored in front of the Marina. I put out both poles and waited for about two minutes before the first hit, on the Wyld Spinner. The trout just loved the spinner. I caught ten in about two hours with twice as many hits. The other pole with the Rapala got nothing!Then it stopped. The fish turned off . I released all the trout and said that the next fish was coming to dinner with me. Finally the Rapala got a good hit and a nice pink meated 2!/4 pounder was the main attraction for dinner. Final total,11 for the Wyld Spinner. 2 for the CAGI Rapala combo. Del Valle trout love Wyld Spinners.

Today went to Chabot for three hours. I started out with the same two set ups as Del Valle. I put out the poles and waited. I trolled for fifty feet when the pole with the Wyld Spinner started to sing out. I grabbed the pole and held on. The fish was heavy, very heavy. Was it a derby winner? After about 10 minutes of fighting the fish, I had my answer. It turned out to be a 7lb. 2oz. channel catfish! Not the derby winner, and no camera to record the catch. So back into the water it went. The spinner was still perfect. Not a bent hook or spinner shaft,GOOD spinners. For the next two hours it was ,Wyld Spinners out fishing the Rapalas 8 to 1!!! The only thing negative thing about the Wyld Spinners was no whoppers. The bigger fish came on the Rapalas, but 8 to 1, I'll take that any time. The batteries on the motor were getting low and the wind really came up, so back home I went . Another victory for the Wyld Spinners. Here is the link for the spinners, try them, they work for me.

Until the next whopper photo,

God Bless, Ferne @ Michael

Trolling spinners DO catch fish in lakes

2009-05-08T21:30:00.000-07:00

There is a joke about trolling spinners on the Fishsniffer trout board. When ever anyone says what did you catch them on the reply is SPINNERS! They mean grubs or other lures. Well, I took a trip to Los Vaqueros yesterday and proved that SPINNERS do catch fish when trolled. You do need to do a few things to the spinners. First you need the right spinner. I use WYLD EDGE spinners from Oregon. They are designed for steelhead fishing in rivers. They have a heavy body and two ball bearings around the blade which reduce line twist. A single heavy wire hook holds any fish. The colours are GREAT. I would not use anything else. You attach the WYLD EDGE spinners to a dodger. I use UV SEPS and SHASTA TACKLE brands ,they troll at a faster speed because of their shape. The spinners are 18 inches back from the dodger. I apply some Pro Gel or Bass Wax to the dodger and the spinner. I let out two colours of lead core and then let out 90 feet more of braid. The lures are 10 feet down and 130 feet or so in back of the boat.

I put on two of these rigs and set out trolling Los Vaqueros. The first time some fish showed up on the fish finder. I got a hit on one pole then the other. The fish just kept hitting, and getting hooked. the trout were in 10 to 35 feet of water and would come up to gobble the spinner. This is the first time that I saw fish on the screen and they bit the bait. They were not great size, about one pound. But they never stopped . I tried putting on other lures like CripLures, but the fish only hit the spinner rigs. With the single barbless hooks ,it was easy the release the fish.

So try spinners, they DO catch fish.

Until I take this rig to Del Valle. God Bless,

Michael & Ferne

GIANT BROOK TROUT at Los Vaqueros

2009-03-31T19:02:00.000-07:00

Finally broke my 0-four streak at Los Vaqueros. I switched work days so I could be there when the 3000 pound stocking took place. I arrived at 11:00 am. and rented a boat. The stock was about 1/2 hour away ,so I trolled around the marina until the truck arrived. I was not expecting any hits when one of the poles with a criplure on got hammered. The drag sang out , but the fish got off,too lean a drag. But that was a good omen. The truck arrived and began dumping the three tanks full of trout. I slowly trolled past the truck, looking for fish. I saw the fish but they had gone up into the no fishing zone creek. Smart fish. I positioned the boat off a sharp dropoff ,50 yards from the fish and anchored. I began casting large flies and then x-raps. No hits, so I switched to spoons. I got a few bumps but no hook ups. I switched to a brightly coloured Little Cleo. I got it for 88 cents at Cabelas. The first cast and fish on. For the next four hours I caught fish after fish. About every thirty fish or so I would get one that just stayed down and swam any way it wanted. When I got it to the boat, I saw this big brown speckled fish. It turned out to be a LARGE brook trout. It was one of the breeders from the plant,full of eggs and ready for my tomatoes. (The breeders make great fertilizer). Final total sixty or so small trout from 1/2 to one pound and three breeders, a 4.85 brookie, a 4.38 brookie and and a 3.25 rainbow. Three fish totaling 12.48 pounds!

Every Tuesday in April they will be having large plants at Los Vaqueros. So get going. The boats are great and priced right.,$25.00 for five hours. If the fish are not so smart as these, you can catch them from the shore.So get out there. If I bring Ferne,you will not have many to catch after she gets through catching twice as many as I do.

Now if the King Salmon were so easy......

For my dad,God bless

Ferne @ Michael

Settle for SMALL trout in the Santa Clara Valley

2009-03-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a short trip to Sandy Wool Lake . The small pond was stocked with the usual three to a pound planters. They were all chased to a shallow corner and would not leave. There was room for six people only. No room for us. So we went to the opposite shore about 60 yards away and cast as far as we could with a water bobber and fly. One hour later we caught one and missed two. the one caught was full of eggs , just ripe to plant in the garden.

No room still so we watched the hang gliders and fluff topped duck . Then we went to the garden to bury the trout under a tomato.

This is the way it is going to be, small fish caught for a few days. Than wait for the next plant.

This is not how I want to fish. So it is off to Del Valle and Los Vaqueros in pursuit of the land locked king salmon.I will keep trying until I succeed. when I do find the secret, I will bring Ferne so she can catch them all and I can take photos.

Until the salmon hit the net, God Bless,

Ferne @ Michael

Where Have All The Fishes Gone?( at Lake Chabot and Los Varqueros)

2009-03-03T20:15:00.000-08:00

Just like that Peter Paul and Mary song," Where have all the flowers gone?"The fish at all the lakes and ponds in the San Francisco Bay Area have disappeared. I went out last week to see how trolling was at Los Vaqueros on Thursday and Lake Chabot on Saturday.

Los Vaqueros had about 6 feet visibilty . The winds were light and the water temperature was 50 degrees. Perfect! Well, the fish did not think so. I trolled for five hours, used twenty different lures and did not get a hit. The fish were deep,50 feet . They would not move from that depth. So far I am 0 for four, no fish for four trips. The fish and bait are there but not the bites. I even tried casting from shore for and hour and the results were the same, nothing.

Lake Chabot was even worse. The rains had ended for 5 days. They had planted 2500 pounds of fish three days before. Most of the regulars were at the San Pablo Dam Mud Hole opener. I had the lake almost to myself, a rare thing on a Saturday. Ferne and I put out four poles and trolled for 5 hours. We got about 10 bites, but no hook ups. The longest a fish was on was 2 seconds. we did not get to feel a fish on the end of the line. It was a sharp tug and then nothing. We changed lures every twenty minutes and depths all the time. Nothing worked. I know it was not the hooks, I use only the best and keep them super sharp.

Now, the REEL REPORT on fishing at these two lakes. Lake Chabot reports GREAT fishing for trout. On Saturday, I saw 100 shore fisherpersons and only saw ONE small fish caught. Most of the people left with no fish or bites. They said at the marina that a 9+ lber. was caught that day. It was one of the only fish caught. There may be Whoppers out in the lake but the odds are not good you will catch one.

Los Vaqueros is a puzzle. If I find the key I will let you know. Now the only thing that works is to fish from shore or rent a boat, go to peninsula cove, anchor and bait fish. Trolling is just the luck of the draw. There are no patterns, no go to lures. I am going to do some research on the water quality of the lake . The lake has been stocked with fish for 10 years. There is the greatest amount of bait for the fish to eat in any lake even exceeding Clear Lake. Yet no large trout have been caught on a regular basis. Los Vaqueros should be the premiere fishing lake in California. You can not blame the few stripers for eating the trout. People keep taking them and no fry are sucked into the lake.

Well it is off to the Campbell Perk Ponds for those fighting sardines stocked by DFG this week. I guess that I will have to invest in a lunar chart to see when I should be fishing .

See you all at Race Street Fish Market for my next photo shoot. Until then, God Bless,

Ferne @ Michael

Berkley Glup Alive Baits, they are out fishing all other baits and lures at the Campbell Perk Ponds

2009-02-20T20:32:00.000-08:00

I have been trying the new Berkley Glup Alive Baits that have come out on the market. they are a little bit expensive, hard to find, and need special care, but they are catching fish and getting bites far better than anything out their. Today I fished for three hours at those Perk Ponds and caught two fish when everyone else got nothing. I also had three other hits which I missed. This is the third time I have only used these baits, and every time I have out fished everyone else.

The baits I have used are the 3 inch gulp alive trout worms. They come in a tray of twenty sealed in a pack. These worms float unlike the power worms which do not. A great advantage for slowly bringing in the worms, swimming them along the bottom. I also use the 6inch nightcrawlers when the fish want something bigger. Of course I cut them in half so as not to gag the fish.

For the Perk Ponds the bubble gum pink seem to work the best. I fish them on a water bobber with a 6 foot leader of mono, flurocarbon sinks do not use it if you want the worm to float. I cast it out as far as I can and either leave it or drag the worm back slowly. some days the fish like it still, other days like today, they wanted it moving.

When you are done fishing you need to put the worms back in some Gulp liquid. It recharges the worms and keeps them from drying out. I spray some Gulp in the tray place it in a zip lock baggie and then put all of my Gulp in another larger baggie. I have had leaks in the single baggie and the liquid does not smell like a Spring Day!

Berkley makes a power gulp bait dough which has the same attractant but it needs to be mixed with regular power bait as it is really soft and falls off the hook. I have used the worms when trolling with great results Just hook one one the back hook and hold on. I do not recommend any products unless I test them and they work at least twice as good as anything else. So Berkley if you are reading this, I will test some products for you,but be forwarned I do not recommend anything which does not workFor this is the REEL REPORT.

Until the salmon start to bite at Los Vaqueros,

God Bless, Ferne @ Michael

World Record SMALLEST Trout.

2009-02-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

If you want to catch a world record trout, be it the world's smallest, go to the Campbell Perk Ponds.
Fish and Game have planted the smallest trout I have ever caught in a lake. The photo shows a normal coffee mug next to a 5 INCH trout. I just wanted to let you in on a once in a life time chance to catch that once in a life time trophy.

Until that next trophy photo,

God Bless
Ferne@ Michael

How NOT to catch fish in January

2009-01-30T19:02:00.000-08:00

You know that old saying,"You should have been here last week. The fish were really biting." well that is exactly what happened to me for the entire month of January. I was an hour late at the Campbell Perk Ponds twice. The fish hit anything for the first hour and then disappeared. When I got there two hours after the plant, no one was catching anything. I tried lures , flies, gulp worms in my favorite colour, pink. I managed one small trout, had a great time practicing casting and got a lot of exercise walking the pond. Same thing happened at Sandy Wool, we got there late had about ten short hits and left with our shoes loaded with the stickiest mud known to man. This stuff does not come off. It bonds to your shoes. If you go after a rain, bring a second pair of shoes.

We read about the offer of a 1/2 day boat rental for catching a salmon at Los Vaqueros, so off we went on a beautiful windless day. I even brought the down rigger. Located bait at 80 feet. Salmon do not show up on my fish finder so I look for bait and fish at that depth. Four hours with four poles at four different depths got three people nothing. So back to shore we went. Around 3:00 the trout at Los Vaqueros start coming into shallow water. We got off the boat ,spotted the fish and began casting cast masters with a line counter reel. This is not for the novice. One mistake and you have the worlds worst birds nest. Between tangles we managed ten fish between one and two pounds in about twenty minutes All were released except one trout which swallowed a 1/2 oz. cast master.

But the worst was when Ferne and I went to Quarry Lake in Fremont. We had heard from reliable sources that the fish had finally begun to bite. Most people caught their limits with bait or lures. That was LAST week. We set up on fisherman's row. We did not see any fish caught or any stringers in the water. Bad signs, but we put out two poles with bait and began casting with the other two. The trout on bait would be put in the garden, any on a lure would be let go. I do not like to let go any fish caught on bait . They usually do not survive. Within ten minutes the bait pole showed a hit , then nothing. The line would go out for a few feet and then stop. The fish spit out the bait. Lures were no better, I got short strikes and follow ups but no hook ups. I finally managed to get one on Ferne's pole. She was too busy playing a game on her i pod to reel in the fish. This 2lb. 2 oz. trout was our only fish of the day. It was caught on garlic and cheese flavored power bait. A real gourmet trout.

So do not believe the reports on line or in the paper, they are old reports. The only sure thing has been at Los Vaqueros after 3:00 to the right of the boat dock. They have been there for the whole month of January. But beware February is Super Bowl Sunday!

Remember if you see two people carrying one thousand pounds of fishing gear with one of them playing with their i-pod, go somewhere else. The fish have stopped biting,we arrived too late.

Until the next new moon.... God Bless(for my Dad),

FERNE @ MICHAEL

THE COMPLETE ANGLER Every thing you need to catch fish in the California Bay area

2009-01-10T13:43:00.000-08:00

While the weather is causing the trout in the South Bay to bite lightly or not at all, I will show you the BASIC tackle needed to be a successful fisher person. First of all, you will need a few thousand lures. You will need a box or three of the basic minnow imitations from Rapala or Storm or any of the dozens of makers. Limit yourself to the hundred best makers, and no more than five models in assorted sizes. If the fish refuse those you go to the box of metal lures like reef runner or Shasta tackle. If you still get no bites do not despair you have hundreds of more choices. You can use swim baits, spoons like Michigan Stinger in any or all of the one hundred colours. You can add jigs or flies and jig flies. By now you see that you will need a loan to buy all of your lures. But catching a trophy, PRICELESS!

If you fish from a boat, you will need a larger loan. You have to have in no particular order, pole holders, Nor-East is the best and will last a lifetime. A word of caution, do not use cheap holders unless you want to lose your reels and poles. Speaking of poles you will need specialized poles and reels. These not only are necessary but they look great on your boat. You will need line counter reels and long flexible poles. to fit on your downrigger. A downrigger is a device to put your lures at the exact depth the fish are holding. To know this depth you need a fish finder. This is a sonar device which shows depth and fish and structure under the boat. The more you pay , the better the picture on the screen. Rounding out the tackle, you need a colour selector. It lets you know what colour is the most visible at a particular depth. Trolling motors to slow your speed. A drift sock to slow your drift when not trolling. Leadcore reels when you do not want to raise and lower 8lb. weights on the down rigger. The final thing is a small fork lift to carry all of this gear to your boat, which should be large enough to hold the 1000 lbs. of tackle.

Fishing from shore? Different rods and reels. Various spinning reels from ultra light for trout to heavy for catfish. If you like to fly fish get a second job to pay for your specialized tackle and fly tying station. You will need smaller lures and spinners like Panther Martins and a whole boat load of baits. Gulp trout baits, gulp worms, grubs and every creature known to man in every colour there is. You don't want to be without the one colour the fish are hitting. I will tell you what colour to use but I will not give you some. You need to be prepared.

Rounding out your gear, line, hooks, weights, (non lead), leaders, sunglasses, fishing clothes, nets, rain coats, and finally scents. You need at least twenty different kinds . It may not help but the other fisherpersons will think you're a pro.

Well, that is your basic tackle needs. You need it all to be successful. Just do not get mad at me when the kid fishing next to you with a cane pole and worm catches all the fish!

So use part of your unemployment check to start your collection. Remember the camera to photograph your trophy and a fillet knive to clean your nonnative hatchery, artifically hormone fed fish, released in toxic waters for all to catch and eat.

Let me know your favorite lures, I most likely have 5 of them already. Until the weather gets better.

God Bless,

Michael & Ferne
(Ferne has only one pole of her own.).

CATCH AND KILL the future of fishing in California ?

2008-12-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

It is the last month of the year. Time to look back at fishing and to look ahead to 2009. Over all the fishing was good. There were a few whoppers mixed in with many small trout. Most of the lakes in and near Santa Clara County had enough planted trout to give everyone a fair shot at a trout dinner.

In the South Bay we found trout in all the local ponds starting in December and ending in June. Cottonwood Lake was the star. If you paid attention to the Fish and Game stocking , you could almost be certain to catch fish if you were retired or unemployed. Because the fish were planted early in the week, most were gone by the weekend when working people had a chance to fish. Cottonwood Lake got a special plant of 2 to 3 pound fish for the Holidays last Dec. but that was the last big fish planted for the year there.

The Campbell Perk Ponds got the same fish plants as Cottonwood, with a special Kids Day plant in May. That was when thousands of pounds of trout from 6 inches to 16 pounds were put in for a weekend Kids Day. But starting that Monday, it was open to all. Hundreds of people decended on the Pond to catch fish. My grand son caught and missed countless trout on a large size 1/0 fly attached to a bubble. That next week I continued to catch many more on the same size or bigger fly or a pink trout worm. Good times for all but the poor kids whose fathers wanted to catch the fish more then their kids. Please stop yelling at your kids for missing a fish, and let the KID bring in the fish please. If I was a kid I would not go fishing again. Dads buy a license so you don't have to take your kids along to use them to fish free.

The only other place I regularly fished was Stevens Creek Dam. Small trout on small lures or bait no more then three feet under the surface. The fish were there most of April and May.

Moving on to the East Bay. Chabot had fish which were not always willing to bite. A year ago we caught 18 trout over ten pounds with a personal best of a 43.33 pound five fish limit,the smallest fish was 7 lbs. the largest was 16.43 pounds. This year The largest fish we caught was a 5lb. crappie!

Los Vaqueros, which has the best boats at the best prices, was also not as good as in the past. We had to work harder to catch fish. The fishing was better from shore. But I didn't care, I had the whole lake for myself.

I started to fish Del Valle from a boat this year instead of from shore. I got tired walking the shore line casting to very small fish. The DFG stock thousands of small trout near the boat ramp so your odds of a big trout is not too good. The boats are not mantained too good, leaks and motors stalling. Add to that the price increase for boat rentals, you may want to know why I bother? Well one word, BIG. The dam area has many large trout and strippers. You need a boat to get to them. unless you like a 6 mile hike. Trolling is great most of the time. It gets very congested , but most of the boats are regulars who know how to leave space so the lines are not cut off or tangled. Go to the Fishsniffer web sight to read about Del Valle trout fishing.

Now 2009. What is instore? I see less fishing because of the recent EIS which shut down the stocking of nonnative fish,ie. trout, in many places in our area. No longer will you be able to catch any trout in Cottonwood Lake, Coyote Res., Lexington Res., Stevens Cr. Res., Loch Lomond Res., Lafayette Res., Lake Refugio, And San Pablo Res.. This is only the local places. there are hundreds more throughout the state. This is just the beginning. More law suits are being filed so more places are to be shut down. Continue to support your local parks by buying those annual passes. And still buy those licenses, they support the fisheries.

For all of bass fisherpeople. who say," So What? trout suck any way." Be for warned. Japan start their own nonnative program in 2005. Now BASS are on the hit list. Bass are a nonnative fish in Japan, just like California. Now in Japan only a few lakes have a population of bass for catch and release. Most are now CATCH AND KILL. You catch a nonnative bass and it must be killed and disposed of in special trash boxes at the lake.You can not return it to the water! Fines are 300 US dollars! But that is not all. There are BASS BUSTER CLUBS in Japan which are sponsored by these nonnative groups who go out and kill bass. In the past 5 years, in one lake alone. they boast of killing over 5 TONS OF BASS.

The outlook is not very bright. The best days seem to be in the past. But we will not stop posting the REEL REPORT. There are still some fish out there, be they fewer, and smaller for you to catch and release or EAT. So continue to fish and read this blog to find the REEL REPORT on what is REELY going on the lakes in and near Santa Clara County.

Have a safe and sober Holiday season. May all your wish list fishing gear suddenly appear in your tackle box! Goodby and God Bless until the 2009 fishing license is legal.

Ferne and Michael

Trout at the Campbell Perk Ponds The only place to catch fish in Santa Clara County for the next TWO YEARS!

2008-11-27T18:25:00.000-08:00

The DFG has announced its stocking program for the next two years. That EIR which caused all trout and salmon stocking to be stopped has got some victims. The people of Santa Clara County are to be rewarded with less places to fish. Cottonwood Lake, Coyote Res., Lexington Res.,Stevens Creek Res., and Loch Lomond Res. all have had Trout stocking programs stopped. What we have left is Lake Cunningham, a not to safe place to fish, Sandy Wool lake, a mud hole for weeks after a rain, and the Campbell Perk Ponds, the only clear pond to fish.

I went to the Perk Ponds today to see how the fishing was. The DFG stocked it Wednesday. When I got there only three people were fishing. I walked to the water's edge and looked for some signs of trout. The trout were there! They had been chased into the shore weeds and were cruising in one foot of water, about ten feet out. I tried a fly and water bobber but the bobber spooked the fish. Next on was a small jig under a tiny clear bobber. I made ten casts had three hits and one fish on. The trout wanted something else. I put on a 1/32 oz. gold Panther Martin and cast out. The trout liked it for about ten minutes. I manager to catch five in that time before they stopped.

For the next hour I walked around the Pond looking for fish. I found some small schools and caught a few more. When I got to the pier on the back side I found the main school. There were hundreds of trout swimming on the surface. I got many hits and landed a few trout. This school was all smaller fish. They were about half the size of those on the other side. SoI left them and went back to the other side. I down sized my rig to not spook the fish. I tied on a 16 red bead head fly and put two bb split shots one foot above the fly. This is as small as I could cast out.

I went back to the place I started. No one was there. Only fifty or so nice trout swimming in one foot of water and weeds. For the next hour I caught a couple dozen trout up to 2lbs. All on flies and in shallow weedy water.

So get use to fishing the Perk Ponds. It will be the only real place to catch fish. Remember see trout swimming use lures. No trout swimming bait. But please use small lures these fish like small bait this time of year. AND REMEMBER NOOOO SNAGGING

Thank you DFG for putting a whole truck load of trout in.

Happy Thanksgiving to all, even the turkey. We ate pork. Michael @ Ferne

EIS and the future of fishing in California

2008-11-20T11:21:00.000-08:00

As you fisher people enjoy the fine fishing in places like Del Valle and Lake Chabot, there is a storm a brewing . From my reading and research two schools of thought are banging heads. The one school sees the value of planting non native trout in our lakes and streams to help the 2 billion dollar fishing industry in California. The DFG has been planting California lakes and streams with trout both nonnative and native trout for over 100 years. As of November 14, 2008 that has stopped. Due to a law suit filed , for lack of an EIS ( Environment Impact Study), all trout and salmon stocking from hatcheries in California are on hold. The DFG has dragged its feet due to under funding and man power and a judge in Sacramento issued the order.

There is out rage at the lakes and ponds. I was there yesterday and all I heard were many four letter words and anger. The web sights like Fish Sniffer has people giving their two cents worth. Discussion is good, but we fisher people need to take this serious . This law suit is not some environut acting alone. This suit is funded by groups who want our rivers an lakes to be restored to their original pristine state before man interfered with Nature. The extreme members want all non-native fish removed, leaving only native salmon, native steelhead, and white sturgeon, along the few native trout like our golden Trout. Any lakes which did not have any native fish need to be returned to that state.

Some of these people want this to happen so that the native plants and animals on the endangered species lists can be saved or become extinct slower. The introduction of non-natives has endangered species like the red-legged frog or long finned smelt, by eating or competing for their food.

Some are purists who want fishing for only native fish and zero catch limits in waters limited to the select few who can afford the fly fishing gear.

But not all of these people have these elitist demands. Some want the DFG to look seriously at their stocking practices of the last 100 years. We now have many extinct species. But to blame the DFG for them is not right. One just has to look at the salmon fishing band this year to see other causes are at work, like water management! The EIS is not going to fix any of the problems. You can not correct mistakes for 100 years with a total ban on fish planting.

This problem is not a California problem. Many states are being called on the carpet over fish stocking. Montana is poisoning lakes to get rid of nonnatives interbreeding with natives. But they have studied and found a solution. Plant sterile fish in limited numbers. They do not reduce the flora and fawna populations at all. Check the Montana EIS study on Google. There are solutions if people can work together.

But I fear that the average fisherperson does not care about issues and the future, just where are the fish biting now. That is what these groups who support this law suit are counting on. They are organized and have money and time. If this ban is just to help our lakes and streams provide the best for the environment and recreation and is temporary so the various groups and the DFG can come to an agreement to benefit all, Fine, But be real . As Rodney King said in L.A. "Can't we all get along?" My fear is that the few pictures throughout this post will go the way of the Dodo Bird.

God Bless Michael & Ferne

Lewiston Lake Trinity River Fishing in the Fall

2008-10-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a one week trip to Lewiston Lake. The weather was perfect, cool and clear. The fishing was not what was expected. Lewiston Lake is a river.It is the controlled flow of the Trinity River from Trinity Lake to the Lewiston Dam on the Trinity River. There is always a current moving and the water is in the 50's the year round. I have read about this being a fly fishing lake, and a trolling lake, so I brought all the trolling lures and poles. When I got on the lake I knew that trolling is not the answer. There is a constant flow of moss moving in the water. It is almost impossible to troll as the lure catches moss in an instant. So fly fishing was the answer. Unfortunately I did not bring the fly rods. What to do? Water bobber and fly.

We started out Sunday morning at 9:00 am. The tempature was 33degrees outside. Motored out about 300 yards and started seeing fish surfacing all over the lake. Cut the motor and cast out the bobber with a size 12 bead head nymph. The first cast and a big fat rainbow about 3lbs. hits the fly. This is going to be easy! It was for about 30minutes. We caught 4 nice fat trout. The smallest one is in the picture. Then the fish stopped biting. They stopped biting for four days.

During that time we went to the Upper Trinity River which was to low to fish. We hiked up to an Alpine lake, Lake Eleanor and tried for some Brook Trout. They were just as locked jawed as the rainbows.

We tried boats and shore casting all along the banks of the lake.We even went up to the dam outlet and found big fish jumpimg but not feeding. I talked to a local who was fishing from a boat. He said that during October and November the big trout stay up in the dam area and feed on the small Kokanee salmon which are sucked into the lake through the inlet at the dam. He said that two days ago he caught a 23incher anchoring and drifting a J7 rapala.

On the last day we drove to the public launch area one mile down the road. We had fished that area each evening and caught one trout each time. This time the Fish Gods were smiling. We cast out and drifted our bubble and size 16 bead head fly over some rocks . Wham! bam! a hit. Caught one fish than a few casts later another. This was at 3:00pm in the afternoon. That one fly kept getting bite. After 7 fish the fly looked like this................

We ended up with 12 rainbows caught all big fat and full of fight. They looked like natives we have caught in the moutain streams. We were going to eat one of them but they were so beatiful that all were released. In fact we did not see anyone keep a fish, they releasedthem all.

Lewiston Lake is a river and fishes like a river. FLIES RULE. Not much action on lures or trolling because of the moss. The fish seem to stay in the same area. They did not move much during our week stay. We caught all of the fish in the same spots.

If peace and quiet in a beautiful setting then Lewiston Lake is for you in the Fall. Just bring a boat because boats are expensive. The cost of a 4 hours rental is more than the cabin we rented for a night! A fly fishers paradise, as long as the fires are out.

One last thing, no where have I read this. All of the fish have round wounds on their bodies. They looked like the lamprey marks on the fish I use to catch in Lake Michigan. Well, they were lamprey wounds. We caught one rainbow with a 6in. lamprey attached. Proof positive. None of the locals like to talk about it, but they will become a problem just like it was in the Great Lakes. Fish and game do not address this issue. It is a problem. The fishing is not as great as it has been in recent years. There are many big fish in the lake but they are not being caught. Lampreys maybe?

If the weather ever gets cooler I will be out on the local lakes. Trolling, my arm hurts from casting. God Bless Ferne and Michael

The Only Way To Catch Early Season Trout At Quarry Lake

2008-10-05T17:37:00.000-07:00

While the water cools off at Los Vaqueros and the algae disappears I want to let you know how to catch early season trout at Quarry Lake in Fremont. There have been many posts saying that Quarry Lake is a hard place to fish. This may be a fact in Spring and Summer but right now is the time to catch 2 t0 3lb. trout. For some reason the trout are near the surface in the warm water. In other lakes like Del Valle where you need a downrigger, Quarry Lake has trout swimming on the surface. People continue to fish for them with the standard power bait rig, or cast big spoons . These rigs catch a few but when you see 50 to 100 big fat trout swimming 10 feet from shore biting nothing and swimming back and forth teasing you people say fish do not bite at Quarry Lake. I have found that with the right lures and presentation along with many repeat casts you can get a 10 to 15 lb. limit of trout.

I caught a limit in four hours yesterday,when only a couple of fish were caught the entire day. This is the third time in a month that I have limited out. I am not trying to brag just trying to get other people to catch some fish.

The first thing is to down size your tackle. You need light lures and light line 1/8 to 1/6oz. lures on four pound line. These fish have been cast to 1000"s of times They will not hit a lure cast right on top of them. Pay attention to the direction that the fish are swimming. Cast your lure past the school and bring the lure back over the fish moving in the same direction as the school. If you cast the lure in the opposite direction ,the fish have no time to react to the lure before it passes over them. Wear a pair of polarized glasses because you need to see the fish mouth the bait. They do not hit the lure, instead they mouth it and spit it out in a half second. You almost never feel the strike. So watch the lure when it disappears,STRIKE. You will not get many fish hooked. I average 1 in10 fish to strikes. Keep casting and casting if no hits change lure colours or lures.

Now the lures; I like to start with panther martins. The small gold or silver usually works. I tie the line directly to the lure or use a small snap. No snap swivel please, the fish see it and do not attack. If that does not work I go to a black purple dressed hook panther martin totally different but it has caught half the fish. If nothing doing I put on other spinners and small spoons until I get a hit . When that fails to get a fish I will put a small crappie jig on below a tiny Thrill Bobber and cast to the fish. I will also attach a tiny #16 fly to the end of the jig,so I have a swimming jig followed 16inches by a fly. This usually does the trick. Just keep casting!

If you see the fish a little further out, you can also use a fly and bubble. You start with a water bobber. Open the bubble up and add some split shot into the bubble this makes it heavier so it will sink faster.Now you thread the line from your fishing reel through the bubble add a colour bead and then tie to a small snap swivel. Now take a 5 or 6 foot piece of flouocarbon leader tie to the other end of the swivel and attach a fly or a small trout rubber worm. I like flies this time of year. Yesterday a#12 beadhead gray and green fly caught the last three fish in fifteen minutes.Before that I tried 7 other kinds from buggers to flashy to plain flies. Try them for 20 casts and if you feel no tugs change. The key to catching these fish if to give them different things to see until one of them decides to hit it. Remember to fill the bobber with water at the lake before casting. It is not called a water bobber for nothing.

Where you fish is the most important part. You must see the fish to catch them. I fish in the same section of the lake. I am not going to tell you where just find the fish and you will catch them if you cast enough times. You might find me casting . I will be the one catching all the fish.

It is worth a try. All the fish come from Mt. Lassen. They are big and fat nothing under a pound. They fight and taste great. No fish and game sardines here. They are not stocked in Quarry Lake.

One last thing these fish frustrate people so much that many people snag the trout with their lures. A 1/2 oz. Cast Master has a large sharp treble hook. Yesterday I saw some one snag a 4lber. It gave a great fight being dragged backwards, having been snagged in the tail. It is not legal and there are some old timers out there that will call the ranger if they see you doing it.
So keep it legal and fun. I will be off to the Trinity next week for some trout and salmon fishing, The rains have arrived. Hope to have pictures of some great fish that Ferne will catch. that's why I bring her.

Until then good fishing and God Bless, Michael @Ferne

The Best Lures for Los Vaqueros

2008-09-27T21:44:00.000-07:00

For the last four years we have been trolling Los Vaqueros, and seeing which lures catch the most fish. Now for the results: The number one lure by a large margin was the Cripp Lure from Shasta Tackle in the Silver Scale pattern. This metal spoon has caught Stripers, Trout, Bass, Sacramento Perch,and King Salmon. It is the go to lure for us.

Up until this year the number two lure was a J5 broken back rapala in gold. This lure was the best at catching King Salmon. With the Kings growing to 16+ inches, the time for the Rapala is near.

Another Rapala is our third choice, the J8 X-Rap also in gold. This lure can be top-lined or run out on lead -core. It almost always catches the biggest trout of the day.

This year we have been trying new lures. So far the best have been the Michigan Light Stinger Spoon in dark colours, The Apex 2inch lure in dark or shad colours, and the Tomic Lures in black or shad colours.

Many other lures have caught fish like Cast Masters in Silver or Gold, Lucky Live Pointers in Silver and a small no name caterpillar which just catches salmon.

All of these lures are run out on leadcore with a10 foot leader,to ten to twenty feet deep. We troll at about 2.5mph, and go to about 10 different spots in the lake. All of these spots are nearsunken road beds, humps and deep banks. We use a portable depth finder to locate depths and fish. I have even tried a down rigger to get to those salmon deep on the bottom.

This is what works for us. Let us know what works for you. God Bless.

Stripers,Jewlery, and the $50.00 Fish at Los Vaqueros

2008-09-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

With no money for catfish for fish and game to put in the South Bay, I decided to go for the trout that the East Bay is beginning to put in their lakes. With the weather only in the low 100's, it seemed like the perfect time. The winds at Los Vaqueros were gentle for the first time in two months so at the crack of 10:30 We went out to troll Los Vaqueros. After stopping at a quilt store, got out on the lake for that cool afternoon bite. I wanted to try some of the Lake Shasta tackle to see if it was as productive down here. No downrigger as 95% of the fish are caught in 10 to 20 feet of water.That depth is easy to fish with lead core line.

I put on flashers, dodgers, spinners and all of those Canadian hand crafted lures. These were trolled around the lake for two hours with no luck. So off comes the jewlery and out go the lures with nothing but scent. It was all of five minutes when the shad coloured Tomic plug gets hammered. The fish is on for a few seconds then shakes off. But the damage is done , the fish has crossed two other lines and we now have a huge tangled mess with lead core and leaders and lures all together. So we set out to the deep water and start to untangle the mess. Finally were back in business. Soon a fish hits an apex in purple and dark pink, so I look in the box for a spoon that has those colours. I find a Michigan Lite Stinger Spoon in that colour pattern,( I have all kinds of colours in this spoon since it caught the12.44lb. rainbow at Del Valle,), I think that I now have the magic colour. Not long after the apex gets bite. As I am about to net the 2.5lb. trout, I notice a tag on it's back. So in the cooler it goes. What is the tag for? We will see later.

At 3:30 pm we are trolling along watching the birds when the little old antique pole starts to sing out. Ferne takes the pole and I turn the boat to the fish. The fish just keeps peeling out the drag. I start winding in the other lines so I can go after the fish. By this time the fish has taken out over 125 feet of lead core and is into the backing. I go after the fish before it spools us. The fish finally stops and we get some line back. The fish is now near the boat, than it turns and dives down toward the bottom 89 feet below. We still do not know what kind of fish it is. But we do know that it is BIG. Finally pumping the rod Ferne gets the fish to the surface. The fish sees the boat and goes bezerk. Another 10 minutes pass before the net closes in on a perfect 10.50lb striper. The fish had taken the Michigan Stinger spoon and would not let go. I opened it's jaws and found that the spoon was clamped to the jaws. The hook had not penetrated the jaw. It just fell out! We quickly snapped some photos. Ferne said that the striper was too beautiful to kill. I agreed. It fought to good to be killed so we put it back in the lake to fight another day.

After that it was trolling in, catching another trout on the way When we got in we found out that the tag was worth a 1\2 day boat rental worth up to $50.00. The striper on the digital camera was worth a whopper mug and a picture on the wall. So get a camera, and snap a picture of your trophy. You can then let it go to fight another day.

God Bless, Michael

Lake Shasta "smoking" fishing report

2008-08-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

The fires were burning but the fish didn't care. Thats because they could not get burned at 75 feet under the water. We took a trip to Lake Shasta to learn about downrigger fishing. Hired a guide, Ben Raimondi of Fish'in Comfort(530)238-9789, and took off at 6am in his 25 foot pontoon boat. It took all of five minutes before we got to the spot and set up. The fish were fifty to ninety feet down. Sent down the first downrigger to ninety feet with a ball flasher attached. That is a string of flasher blades run off the downrigger ball. The bait in this case Apex lures are run just above the flashers. The second downrigger was set at sixty feet with Shasta Tackle Sling Blades and Criplures in UV blue, and Sling Blades and Kokanuts in Pink. A second rod was sent down on a Shasta Tackle ShuttleHawk ten feet above the first rod. So we have lures at eighty,seventy,sixty, and fifty feet. Then Ben adds a slider to the top rod . A slider is a small lure attached to a short leader attached to a snap swivel. This is then snapped on the line and the lure travels down to the bow in the line half way between the other lure and the surface.

Now we wait. Not for long , the deep rod pops off the downrigger and the first fish of the day is on. Up comes a nice two pound rainbow. Minutes later a two pound salmon is netted. This action continues for the next few hours with mixed sizes of rainbows ,salmon and a kamloop trout,or native rainbow, brought to the boat to be added to the cooler or released.

I learned a lot about downrigger fishing from Ben. He was a wealth of information and really knows Lake Shasta. I even found some new lures Apex and Weetads which I got online to try in the lakes around here. Learned that the scents which I use are important for the lures and the attractors. They make a local scent called BassWax which all the local guides use. It worked better then the Pro Gel I use. If you want to try BassWax. you can order it online.

The next post will tell how well I learned the lessons of downrigger fishing when I take the Big Jon to the local lakes. So long for now and pray for rain. God Bless, Michael

CAGI Sonic Fish Attractor

2008-07-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

I took a month off of blogging to test the CAGI Sonic Fish Attractor. I wanted to make sure that it was worth the price. Well, here are the results. You be the judge. I fished Los Vaqueros and Lake Del Valle. I got ten to one bites in Los Vaqueros with the CAGI. Went to Lake Del Valle twice and the results were amazing. I put a J7 broken back Rapala 24inches back of a green CAGI and let out 6 colours of lead core, about 32 feet deep ,right at the thermocline.I then put down various lures on the down rigger at the same depth. The lead core got so many bites that I took off the down rigger and put out another lead core pole with another CAGI attached.The final score, 43 confirmed hits on the CAGI and 5 hits on the down rigger. It appears that the fish hit the CAGI sometimes as I would get a solid hit and then nothing. So I say if you want to try one go to Cabela's, they have three colours to chose from, I am partial to green.

I also started to use a Big Jon downrigger. I like the idea of fishing at exact depths for those summer fish. It gets hot here in the Bay Area and the water gets catfish warm. I finally caught my first trout on the downrigger.It was a three pounder caught on a Fish with Gary spinner in an orange bead pattern 12inches behind a matching orange dodger. I found out that I need a special ultra light pole to get the proper load on the downrigger. That was why I missed all the fish. So new tackle is coming.

Catfishing is still slow. They are still on the spawning beds. Went out after trolling with a jar of Kokanee Corn and cast the rocks. It is just like bass fishing. You see a fish guarding a nest and cast your corn there. It gets attacked and you drag the catfish off the bed . Just like bass fishing you let the fish go to protect the nest. Soon it will be catfish season for those 2lb. fryers. Yum I can not wait! Until then I will continue eating those 12lb. trout patties. God Bless

Big Trout at Lake Del Valle

2008-05-30T09:42:00.000-07:00

As stated before no pictures of small fish. So what happens? The fish gods smiled on us. It might be because we took no bananas for lunch. The hours finally paid off, or it was the superior skill of the crew; or a combo of them all. After two hours of trolling with one small fish caught and numerous hits, the back reel's drag started to scream. No big deal as I sometimes leave the drag very loose so I can pretend that any fish on seems like a monster. Ferne takes the rod and I control the boat. Since I think it is a small one, I leave the other rods in the water. After two minutes of not being able to gain any line , I suggest tightening the drag. It was tight. So guess what? We have a good fish on.By this time the other poles were going every which way. So I put the motor in neutral and the fight was on. It took five minutes of delicate fighting to get the fish to the net. All I heard from Ferne was,"SH-T THAT IS A HUGE FISH!" The fish was hooked by one hook in the very tip of the top jaw. Any slack and it would be gone. Good angling skill and a little luck The fish was brought to net. Only one line was caught in the motor and no other tangles. A good Job done!

The fish weighed 12 pounds and 4.44 ounces! It was caught at 1:30 in the afternoon on a Michigan Stinger light spoon in Alewife pattern. It is sort of a black shad colour. The spoon is ultra thin and light which kept the hook in the fish's jaw. A cast master would have pulled out the hook.

I have been using a new small plastic "fish caller." It was part of the rig that caught all the fish that day. I will show the item and name it when I think it is worth the $10.00 price tag it carries. So far it brings in more fish but not more strikes. I will use it more and give an update. I hate to suggest using a $1.00 product that costs $10.00, unless it does what it advertises to do, catch many more fish.

God Bless and Good Fishing for now.

The Party's Over

2008-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

The last plant of the spring came and went. Our wonderful fish and game peoples out did themselves this time. They found the smallest trout in the country and planted them in the south bay. These six to a pound trophies were snapping lines all over the place. But no matter the water is too hot now so the little trout will be food for the herons and the catfish. All in all a very unexcited planting season. Now it is waiting to see if we get some catfish planted. Maybe on the free fishing day in June.

The east bay is finishing up the derby next week. The fish are small and not easy to catch. I went out today in 100 degree heat and caught only two pounders. The leader of the derby a 14 pounder was caught by a bass fisherman fishing a rubber worm. Time is getting short and the weather is hot. Maybe I will switch to the salmon in Devalle. I just need to spend a few days searching for them. Anyway catfish are about to spawn. Then it will be fillet of catfish on the grill. Ican't wait. I promise not to post any pictures of any small fish just the lures which caught them like the sculpin fly which caught twenty trout during last weeks ' post kids day at the perk ponds.

These two to three inch flies swim like small fish and cause the trout to smash into them The only negative thing is that more then half of the hits are missed. But what is better a fish or two or
twenty hits with a few fish caught . I will take the latter.
Time to go get the catfish gear ready. God bless for now.

More of the same ,many trout but small

2008-05-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

I have been fishing and not posting any reports because the fish have been small to medium. You can only see so many pictures of little trout. I will start with the South Bay. Stevens Creek Dam got its usual 3000 lbs of tiny trout. I went there in the middle of April and caught twenty or so trout with a plastic gulp worm on a bubble rig. You get some of those plastic bubbles and put some nonlead split shot inside. Fill the bubble with water and put your line through the bubble and tie it to a swivel. Then tie on 6 feet of fluorocarbon and finally tie on a small light wire hook. Rig the worm and cast out . Somewhere between one and twenty seconds of sink time the fish will hit the bait.Keep track and fish that depth. You can also attach a fly instead of the worm and fish this rig. By now you can see that I do not like to still fish with powerbait. I will try anything.
Cottonwood Lake got plants every other week. Add a Kids Fishing Day and you have many fish to be caught. But they were all small. So small flies and small power worms were the way to go. The fish bit but 8 inches?
The Campbell Perk Ponds had their annual Kids Day, with 5000lbs of fish stocked. Some big ones mixed in. I took my grandson there on the 3rd. of May. He caught three trout on power eggs before he got bored with that. We switched to a bubble and worm and had fun hooking and loosing many trout from one to three pounds.

Now on to the East Bay. The derby is on the fish are there although not the size of trophies yet. Saw the plant at Chabot on the first. They put in 500lbs of medium size trout with a few large ones. I saw one ten pounder come out of the tube and saw it lay on the bottom. It might not make. About half of the trophy trout die shortly after planting. So find a floating giant trout and scoop it up and win the derby. It has happened before.This is another reason to not stock any fish over 15lbs. They just cant make it.
Los Vaquaris is in the derby but no trout over ten pounds is still swimming in the lake . They stock King Salmon fingerlings which carry a fatal disease when eaten by trout. Large trout eat small salmon and die. So the lake record is a freshly planted 10 plus pound trout. But the good news is that their are one to three pound salmon swimming around,ready to bite. They grow fast,till they die next year.
So I will try to catch those trophy trout and some of those salmon in the coming days I will also catch trout at the Perk Ponds using some flies from BigYFly Co. They are out of Oregon and have good quality and dirt cheap prices. I have been using their Rabbit Strip Divers. They really get the fish biting. But you miss many strikes because the small trout hit short. You only catch the big uns yea!.

Downsize your offering

2008-03-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

In the last post I said that I caught my biggest trout on a small lure. well, This week proved that if you want to catch any size fish, you need to down size. The South Bay plants came on Monday. I got there Wednesday afternoon. the bite was slow and the fish were schooling ten feet from shore. People were throwing all sorts of large lures and fly and bubbles. These made a huge splash and scared the fish. I put on a small thrill bobber a non lead split shot and a no.14 beadhead fly . This small rig only casts 30 feet but enters the water with a tiny splash. This was perfect for these trout. In two hours of fishing I caught between 25 and 35 trout ranging from 6in. to 1lb.

The next day at Cottonwood Lake no one was catching anything. I had the lake to myself. You could see fish swimming about but not hitting . I threw out the bobber rig and soon had a fish on. The trout just bit the end of the fly and quickly spit it out. By watching the fish inhale the fly I was able to hook the fish. This went on for two hours until people showed up with large baits and noisy bobbers. The fish stopped and I went home with twenty-one fish landed and released. People please stop trying to catch little trout with big baits . They are not as dumb as they seem. This is the rig . Tie a thrill slip bobber to your line ad weight to cast and tie a small fly to your line any where from two to five feet below the bobber. This rig can be used as a fly rod and is a lot easier to use. Try It!

Trolling

2008-03-21T18:53:00.001-07:00

Between fish stocks in the south bay , I took a trip to Lake Chabot before the rains next week muddy up the water. I got a late start arriving at 11:30 am. Geared up the lead core and started to troll. No fish finder as there was a lot of suspended matter which mess up the screen. It took all of ten minutes before the first hook up. The fish hit a Kopper target shad. Ten minutes later another bite, this time a spinner and worm combo. What is strange is that this was the only hit on a worm. I changed to another trolling lure. Lake Chabot is a strange lake to troll in that the fish seem to hit lures which look like minnows. The spoons which work on other lakes do not work as well as minnow baits.

The fish continued to hit all day long as long as we stayed in the lower half of the lake. Nothing toward the dam just wind and sun and noisy geese. Ended up with nine fish caught . All released except a 2.5 lber to eat and unfortunately a 5.2lb whopper which swallowed a J9 broken back rapala in gold red. The fish was bleeding so badly that it would not survive, bummer. I try to snap a picture and release all trout over three pounds. They are spawned out breeders and do not taste as good as the smaller ones.

All the fish were caught on four lures. AJ5 gold broken back Rapala, a Kopper target shad, a shad rap in fire tiger and the biggest three caught on a J9 gold red broken back Rapala. I guess that the bigger the bait the bigger the fish worked this day. Although
My biggest trout a monster 14lber. was caught on a one and a half inch crank bait!

Finally something to write about!!!!

2008-03-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

The rain has let up and the fish are getting bigger. I went to Cottonwood Lake the past two days and limited out on one to one and a half pound trout. These look like real fish, fat bellies and fins. They even fight and take out drag. They must have been going to the east bay.The fish hit anything moving. so lure type was not an issue. As the trout got more wary the type of lure and presentation was critical. I went to a small trout worm and a plastic water bubble. Cast out and slowly drag it back. Green power worms and those fantastic egg sucking leeches from Fish pill. were the best bite getters. If you do not have worms you can always throw out power bait and drag it in slowly. Just move the bait. If you are lazy you can take a small chair ,sit down and cast. If you do not want to catch any fish then just throw out your bait and wait you might catch something.

These fish are going to go into the garden the help grow my tomatoes . They make great fertilizer and the trout are not put back into the lake for the birds to eat.

Rain,Rain ,and more Rain

2008-01-23T22:46:00.000-08:00

The weather thinks we are living in Seattle . It is raining and cold with the wind blowing at gale force winds . Those tiny trout are not worth catching a cold over. Even those large trout are not worth it. I did venture out to try the new Gulp trout dough. It is expensive, but It also was the only thing that the trout hit on. Caught 5 in two hours, all on Gulp trout dough. The colour does not matter. Used three different colours all caught fish.
This is the first fish caught with the new girl ugly stick or is it the new ugly girl stick?
Add a Zebco 202 Omega filled with 4lb.test Gamma and you have the best spincast
outfit .

If it keeps raining I may as well fish here.......>

See you when the ground hog sees his shadow.God Bless

Your complaints worked!!!!!!!

2007-12-29T20:45:00.000-08:00

This is just a short report. All of those e-mails must have done some good, because the Fish @ Game finally brought in those Holiday Fish. On Thursday at 2:30 pm one thousand pounds of trout from Mt. Lassen were put into Cottonwood Lake! I was right in the middle of a gigantic fish boil. Unfortunately nothing was caught. Went back the next day for a short time, nothing . Went back today and finally caught some. The total for three fishing two hours was two caught and six missed. The only thing working was to drag in the power bait on a six inch leader. The fish were holding right on the bottom. No one caught a thing just dunking bait, except the pelicans who gobbled up twenty nice size fish. Maybe they will start bitting before they are all eaten. You only have a few days left on this years license, so get out and move your bait. Happy New Year and God Bless. Later, see you next year.

BAH HUM BUG!!!!

2007-12-25T13:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day found me at the Perk Ponds in Campbell looking for those " enhanced trout" from the fish and game. They posted on their wed site about the Holiday present to all of the South Bay. We were supposed to get 1to 3 pound fish before Dec. 24th. What we got was a lump of coal, no fish, nothing. Walked around the pond looking for fish. Saw nothing. The sad part is also saw kids with brand new rods and reels coming to fish. What a great gift to these kids if the fish and game would have put some fish in. Who knows maybe a new generation of fisherpersons would be born. We will never know because they will not catch any fish and be hooked on fishing.I am posting the web site so all can complain to those grinches.

No new news, The South bay gets coal and the East Bay gets fish, lots of fish, thousands of pounds. I think I will take a large garbage can and bring some fish to the South Bay, but that is not legal ,so I will write EMails which never get answered.
Time to collect some empty soda cans so I can buy my 2008 license. Happy Holidays to all. Take back a gift or two if you do not find enough soda cans to buy your license because the game wardens will be out in force Jan. 1th. God Bless

Fish Fish and more Fish

2007-12-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

Went to two different places this week. First I spent one hour at Cottonwood Lake, catching a couple of long skinny trout. They were 11 inches with a girth of 2 inches . In other words, they were sardine trout. Fish and game must be breeding a new species of trout, one crossed with a sardine. Or they are starving regular trout. What ever is the case these trout are worthless as garden fertilizer or food. Just think for only $51.25 you can enjoy catching these rare trout at all of the South Bay local ponds. I just can't wait till next year! By the way $51.25 is a fishing license with a second pole stamp. If you fish the Delta, $6.25 more.

The second fishing trip was to the East Bay. They have been stocking a ton of fish in their lakes. That's right 2000 lbs. per lake! These are nice one to two pounders with a healthy mix of three to ten pounders. They even brought in some from Oregon. they are better fighting and tasting fish. They have full tails and pink meat. I will let you know how they taste.
After throwing lures for two hours and catching nothing, I broke down and bait fished. Of course I do not do the Power Bait and throw out dunking. No I kick it up a notch. I find the latest bait and combine it with old standbys. The trout hit two combos. One was a mix of natural corn and salmon egg flavored Power Bait dipped in some rainbow trout Pro Gel. These caught the Oregon trout. They must be fed a ground fish meal diet. The second combo was Berkley waxies with yellow Power Eggs. The waxies are wax worm lookalikes in different colours from natural to green. I used the green colour. Much better than the real thing, as they require no care. Just screw on the lid after use.
Caught seven trout ,two of which were Oregon trout. They weighed in at 11lbs. 15ozs. For the seven. Five are in the garden and two for food.

The picture at the right is how the jar of Berkley Glup waxies looks like to me with out my glasses. Sorry about the sharpness but they still do catch fish By for now and God Bless......

The small ones

2007-11-30T18:39:00.001-08:00

Today went to Quarry Lake to see what is bitting around the East Bay. Fished four hours and caught one fish and had two other bites. Just not in the right spot. They were being caught all around the place, mostly on yellow power eggs and yellow power worms dipped in some scent. The trout would not bite on power bait or hit any of the Fish Pill worms which caught two limits a couple of weeks earlier.I did notice a bad sign with the fish . Most of the trout are around two pounds normally . There were about half of the fish caught under one pound. These are like the Fish and Game plants. If I am going to pay a fishing fee I want bigger fish. I can catch small ones around the South Bay.

Speaking of the South Bay, they will be dumping the bird food [small trout], sometime during the week of Dec. 9th. Usually during the middle of the week. Then the week of Christmas they will be putting in some more small ones and if they hold true to form some jumbos! We can only hope. So stock up on power eggs and worms and finish your holiday shopping so you can spent more time catching the big ones. God bless everyone.

Opening Day in the South Bay

2007-11-15T18:51:00.000-08:00

The trout were stocked in the South Bay Wed. Nov. 14th. They are your typical two to a pound. I didn't go until Thursday but the fish were still there. At Cottonwood Lake the trout were along the shore no more than 20 feet out. For the first hour the trout hit a combo of crappie jig and wooly bugger. I caught two and missed twenty others. The fish were hitting short or spitting out the bait in 1\10th of a second. That is too fast for this old man to set the hook. Then the trout changed to hitting small panther martins in gold. They hit hard and got hooked. In a little over two hours the total for two people were 15 trout and two bass, all released so the cormarants would have some food, poor starving birds that they are.

The fish hit any kind of cast except those that caught the fisherperson!

Then I went to the Perk ponds in Campbell. The lake is circled in weeds,and the trout have been chased into the shore. I only stayed about an hour. I walked around the lake and found small schools of trout sitting in about one foot of water. I had to down size my lures to a size 16 bead head and a small split shot. I caught two and missed one . The trout were like fishing in a bath tub, all of five feet of shore. The positive is that they were all big ugly brutes. Those that I caught went over two pounds apiece.

So get out buy some crappie jigs and some panther martins and put away your power bait. The fishing will not last long . Call in sick from work They will be gone by this weekend.

If you want to go fishing this weekend Go to the East Bay.

Signing off to tie some more flies and order some more panther martins God Bless!

Butterfly Carp

2007-11-04T18:14:00.000-08:00

The first day of November found me at Almaden Lake fishing for carp. I use a special rig to catch those light biting fish. You start with an ultra light rod and reel filled with 6lb. test line. You attach the line to a #6 3-way swivel. Next you put a split shot above the swivel. Now tie two #14 treble hooks to two short pieces of mono leader. Tie these to the 3-way and your ready to bait up. I use shoe peg corn and small balls of bread. The secret is to pour Carp Spit Oil from Pro-Cure on the corn and bread It really gets the carp biting!

The Butterfly Carp hit the corn bait. I have never heard of let alone catching one .This carp weighed in at 9lbs. Along with the butter fly I caught a Mirror Carp which has huge scales along the middle of its body, and a couple common carp and white suckers. All fought well and took out yards of line in long runs. These fish are a real challenge to catch on ultra-light tackle. It will make you a better fisherperson and you get to see which tackle holds up and which break down. I ruined an Abu Garcia by catching too many carp. The line cut a half inch groove in the bale. ruining the reel. I use Okuma reels and an old antique Daiwa GS-10, all metal and better than any Daiwas today.

Also went to Quarry Lake for some trout. Now I know why they call it fishing and not catching. Fished 4 hours for one three pounder . Which happened to be covered with the scares form the CoCo pods. These are tiny green worm like parasites which attach to the skin of the trout and suck it's blood. It is harmless to humans but who wants to eat a fish attacked by these worms? Not me!

Good news Those wonderful people from fish and game are going to stock the local ponds in about one week, weather permitting. Stay tuned and God Bless .

Bigjon

2007-10-26T21:36:00.000-07:00

Went to Del Valle Thursday October 25 2007 and tried out the Bigjon downrigger for the very first time. It worked great and looked great, but the fish did not think so, no bites. Trolled around the entire lake from launch ramp to the dam and all places in between.Got only three bites on leadcore at 35 feet. The lake is so low that I had to watch the depth finder so as not to get hung up on the bottom.

The object of this trip was to fish for salmon as they plant thousands of fingerlings each year,unannounced. I did not catch any but found great spots for future trips. I did see two nice trout about 6lbs. caught off the bank to the right of the dam. You need a boat to get there, unless you are into 6 mile hikes each way. Otherwise not much doing for all who fished .

The worm is the thing

2007-10-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Went to Quarry lake in Fremont today. Fished from 10:30 till 2:00 and caught my five fish limit, weighing 8lb 11oz. All were caught with a black egg sucking leech with green fish pills. The bait comes from Mad River Manufacturing and can be ordered from:www fishpills.com.When I got there the bank was full of fishermen. When I left there was no one there. No one caught anything but me . I know that the bait was the difference. This is the second time I limited out using these rubber worms. Just goes to show you that you need to try different things when the basics do not work.

Went to Los Vaqueros for the last time until they plant big fish. I had a free boat rental so I trolled the entire lake from 60 feet down to 5 feet under the surface. Only had two fish on in four hours. The salmon are turning yellow and soft and the trout are small. It is going to take another year or two before the salmon reach full size. so let the place rest and fish some where else.

Going to try downrigger fish at Del Valle soon So stay tuned.

The local lake have no fish stocked until December. That means carp fishing with bread and corn. Don't laugh try to bring in a 31lb. carp on four lb. test line. You will need to run the shore so you do not get spooled. Thats the size of the monster caught two weeks ago. Good fishing and as my dad always said God Bless.

The fish are back!!!!!!!

2007-10-05T20:16:00.001-07:00

The fish have returned to Quarry Lake. With 1500 pounds of fresh Mt. Lassen trout the bite is on. Fishermens row was the hot spot. With power bait in the yellow colour.

Just picked up some new scents from Pro Cure. The carp spit was the best bite getter

The only thing with bait fishing is that you have to keep what you get . Letting the trout go after hooking them in the gut will not work. So keep what you catch or cut off the hooks at the mouth.

Watch out for the pelicans though because they will try to steal your catch every chance they get.

I marked the secret spot with a home made pole holder. Just walk the shore till you come upon this---

2007-05-25T20:54:00.000-07:00

May 25,2007

The derby is over. No big trout for me. But I was not alone. Chabot did not stock very many whoppers,
they only put 500 lbs. in. These included many 20+ size fish. It does not take a math major to see that there were not many planted. I managed to to get a tiny 2.5lb fish.
Although if crappies counted I would have won the derby. I got a4lber bigger than the trout. All caught with a medium rebel floater behind my latest secret lure, a dingleberry jig.

I gave up on the derby and went to Shadow Cliff to catch a thunder trout. The above picture is of a tunder trout Caught in the first 10 minutes. Than nothing else for two hours.

The South Bay is getting too warm for trout . It is catfish time. So Hellyer and Vasona will be the best places to fish if and when they are planted.

For trout it is only Los Vaqueros. I took my dingleberry set up there yesterday and tried it out. Great success, caught 10 trout from 2to 5 lbs.,and a 5lb. salmon! The biggest fish were caught on the jig flies. Go to cabelas before I buy them all.

Gone catfishing.

the last trout plants for the south bay

2007-05-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

May 1,2007

This is the last south bay trout plant for the summer. But, what a plant! Cottonwood Lake had a kids day and stocked three to five pounders. The young kids caught a few, but the old kids, like me, got their chance Sunday evening. Fishing from 6.30 to 7.30 I managed to get three landed and hooked or got bitten by twenty others All in the three to five pound range. All caught using my mini stelth bobber by Thrill, and a bead head wolly bugger in a brown black pattern. No one else caught any thing! I went back the next two days fishing about two hours each day and ending up with about fifty hits and 21 fish caught . All but five released back for someone else to catch.

This weekend they stock the Campbell Perk Ponds for the kids. Guess where I will be next Monday.

Moving on to the East Bay. The derby continues on with not many big fish caught in Lake Chabot. Was there last Tuesday, and had the worst day ever. In five hours I caught only three fish with the biggest being 2.4 lbs. Start stocking the big boys!

Sat. I had the pleasure to take out a wonder kid named Scott. He was part of the Cast For Kids Foundation. This program travels around the country letting challenged kids fish with seasoned fishermen and fisherwomen in boats or from shore. We went out on Los Vaqueros Lake in a boat for a couple of hours trolling with leadcore and criplures. Scott caught three nice trout and had a five pounder on until he lost it at the boat. We came in and the shy Scott proudly carried his stringer around the marina showing off his catch.Afterwards we all had a great BBQ. Rewarding for all.

april the derby begins

2007-04-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

The annual east bay derby began today. The only trophy fish planted was at Los Vacqueros. The other lakes get theirs next week. So I went to the big plant. Well, the stock was to be 2000 lbs. of 8+ lbs. fish. The reel plant was 750 lbs of up to 8lbs fish. Most of the trout were between 4 to 5 lbs. Nice, but not trophys! To make matters worse The Dept. of Fish and Game must of had left over trout from the south bay because they put 1000lbs of sardine trout in the day before. Most people caught some fish ,mostly small and on worms. I managed to get four trout from 1/2 pound (sardine ) size to the 4 1/2 lb. trophy, caught on a wooly bugger in black. The only other person who did better was some one who fished in the no fishing zone . He caught three. Who says honesty is the best policy.Not the fish thats for sure.

Now back to the south bay:
All usual spots got their 500lbs of sardine size trout. They hit the usual small spinners and power bait and eggs. I caught a couple of them at Cottonwood Lake and went to Stevens Creek Dam the next day to catch some garden fertilizer. When I got there the fishing looked bleak. The people their said that it was slow one per hour. Well I only had two hours to fish so I dug into my bag of tricks and came up with the secret. Float some power eggs under a tiny thrill bobber . It worked great. In 30 minutes I had my five plus five others that were let go. My peppers thanked me for their food and really started to grow>

Better to fish from shore

2007-03-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

The last week of march has been a slow time for trout in the south bay. Fish and game have planted thousands of Cormorant snack sized trout. The Cormorants eat up the plant in about two days. So if you are retired or unemployed you can catch a small limit before the birds get them. The usual power baits or small lures work well right after planting. If you work , SORRY NO FISH.

The east bay is another story. They plant some larger fish so these are not eaten by the Cormorants. If you read the fishing reports, you get the idea that you are going to catch your limit from shore or boat. Well, that is only half right. Maybe from shore but not from a boat.

I have rented boats at San Pablo Dam and Los Vaqueros with very slim success.
San Pablo Dam has little weekday boat bargins and the lake is packed with all sorts of large boats racing up and down the lake. This drives the fish toward shore. I caught two trout in five hours of trolling . Taking a survey of boats and dock workers , I caught more than the average boat by two fish.
The shore anglers did much better. I watched for about twenty minutes and saw three fish over five pounds caught. Forget the boats they are an expensive way to get to the other side to still fish. Just fish from shore.

Los Vaqueros has great boats and great prices, Twenty five bucks for five hours. I fished last thursday for five hours and caught my usual King Salmon . That is right, salmon. They are between four and five pounds and taste fantastic. But it will not last long. This is the last year for them as their life cycle is about to end. By the way if any of you are fishing at Los Vaqueros and happen to catch an Abu Garcia 5000 attached toa custom rod , it belongs to me. A huge fish ripped it out of the holder and into the lake.{ check your drag}

This week it is off to the local pond to fish for that fresh water bone fish the White Sucker.

GONE FISHING