Friday 2/27/2009

I had to go to Jackson to run a couple of errands yesterday, so I thought I'd run out to Lake Pardee and try again. I think I'm 3 for 3 with no fish to show for my efforts has got to change. I stopped at Susie D's for coffee and the young lady at the counter said they were catching fish at Lake Amador. Since it's about the same distance to either lake, I decided to go to Amador instead.

Got there about 9:00am and registered at the restaurant. The cost was $9.00 day use and $7.00 SR (senior because I'm old) fishing fee. Drove back across the dam and parked about 100 yards down the dirt road. Slid down to the edge of the lake (it's a little steep because of the low lake level so be careful) and plopped my gear in a some what flat spot. There was 12 or so people across the dam and to my left, at least as far as I could see.

I put out a slip sinker rig with Berkley Gulp Trout Dough in Orange Pulp and rigged my other pole with a black/gold Panther Martin. Tried to talk to a couple of guys next to me, but didn't get much of a response. They had one fish about 18" from earlier that morning. I heard them talking and they had a couple of bites using chartreuse green Power Bait but hadn't caught anything else. After a half hour with no bites on the Power Bait, I put our another pole with a slip bobber rig and a meal worm. In the mean time I tried yellow/silver Panther Martin, bronze/burgandy Little Cleo, silver and silver/red Shasta Cripplure, and a Tasmanian Devil in Brown Trout color, nothing.

I replaced the meal worm with a nightcrawler on the slip bobber rig with no results. Then blew up a nightcrawler on a slip sinker rig and added a touch of Pro-Cure Super Gel in Anise flavor with no results. Replaced the Orange Pulp with Chunky Chartreuse (green), Rainbow Candy (green/yellow combo), and Marshmellow Cluster (white), all with no results.

After about 3 1/2 hours without a bite, I packed it in. I did notice a couple of guys fishing on the dam that caught a couple in between beating the weeds out of the way. I don't know what they were using, but at that point, I wasn't going over and crawl down the dam to ask them. Although, a couple of gentlemen I met when I checked in, one from Placerville, and the other from Pollock Pines, had caught one on an Acme Little Cleo in blue/silver combo.

Well, so far this year, it's fish 6 - Shoreman zip. I guess I'll just have to keep trying.

Till next time, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman

Hagen Park Pond

Had to make a trip to Sacramento this morning, so I decided to stop at a little place called Hagen Park. It's located off Folsom Blvd on Coloma Rd and then left on Chase Dr. It's a little pond with cemented sides and walkway around the pond. It's not very big and doesn't seem to be very deep. You could probably walk around it in 5 minutes or so. There was seven guys fishing this morning. They had caught 4 or 5 small trout between them. According to their schedule, DFG was scheduled to stock the pond this week, but I don't know if it happened yet.

It looked like most of the fishermen were using either a slip sinker rig, or split shot rig. I saw some Power Bait jars and dirt from a box of worms that had been dumped on the walkway. It looked like some of the fish were surface feeding and Power Bait on a treble hook without a sinker might be a good bet. Just let the Power Bait float on the surface. The ripples I saw were only 5 to 10 feet from the side.

Your's truly, being the bonehead he sometimes is, only brought his 7' rod with 6 lb test line instead of all his poles. My guess it would have taken 4 lb or less to catch anything. Also, there were weeds just below the surface which made lure fishing impossible. Next time I go to Sacramento, I'll try this pond again and report. Yes, I'll also take all my equipment along.

Till next time, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman

Fishing Put On Hold

Fishing has been put on hold for another week or so due to snow. Friday morning we got 8 1/2 inches of snow and last night another 4 1/2 inches. So, I've been following my snowblower up and down my driveway to keep the snow from getting too deep. Good cardio workout. My Cardiologist will appreciate this. I have 900 feet to my property line and another 400 - 500 to my neighbors gate. I also have 100 or so from my shop to the turn around in front of the house which is about 150'x150', so it take a good bit of time to get this all plowed.

With storms coming every other day or so for the next week, I need to focus on the driveway instead of fishing, although I'd rather be fishing. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet.

So, until the next time I can get out, remember: "A bad day of fishing is better than any day plowing your driveway". But if you can't get out, you can't go fishing.

Shoreman

Tuesday at Pardee

Took the chance to go out to Pardee on a day between storms. Weather was fairly cool and breezy. When I drove across the dam on the way to the entrance, I saw one fish being pulled in at the East side of the dam. I checked in and the "mud hole" was where I was told there might be fish. The "mud hole" is right across from the marina and seems to be a good place to fish. There was about 25 people fishing in the area when I got there. The first thing I noticed was the water was really shallow. I talked to a couple of guys there and they were of the same opinion. I threw a sliding sinker rig with Power Bait and fished my second rod with lures. All I got was moss on both rigs. So I decided to wander over to the dam.

When I got to the dam, there were another 20 or so guys fishing there. The two I talked to earlier were there too. Again, the water seemed to be really shallow. I again casted out my slip sinker rig with Berkley Gulp Trout Dough in Orange Pulp color. My second rig I tried Panther Martins (both gold & silver), Kastmasters (silver, gold, silver/blue, and orange), and Little Cleo (burgandy/bronze). After an hour or so, I moved further out to a point and tried again. Same lures, but this time I used Rainbow Candy and Chunky Chartreuse as well as Orange Pulp Power Bait. I might have gotten a bite on Chunky Chartreuse, but if I did, I missed it. The line went straight and then slack. There was nothing on the end, fish or bait. I fished for about an hour and then moved to the other side of the hill.

The place where I went was across the lake from the marina, opposite the "mud hole". I walked along casting all the lures listed above and added a Tasmanian Devil into the mix. Mostly moss on the hooks. Nothing that looked like fish. I've fished Pardee three times in the past year and been skunked all three times. But I'm a die hard, I'll keep trying.

I'm off to paint the livingroom wall I've been working on for the past couple of days. Can't do anything outside since it snowed Monday night, last night, and we are expecing more snow during the day, today.

Till next time, remember: " A bad day fishing is better than any day at work". Lately I've had to concentrate on this. Bad day fishing has been the norm. That's OK, Summer is coming.

Shoreman

Saturday's Trout Derby

Well, I rolled out of the house at the early hour of 5:00am. With my two cup mug of coffee, I rolled down Highway 88 toward Stockton. I had high hopes, since the hype about 2000 trout being planted in a 10 acre pond gave the expectations of great fishing. I got to the park at about 6:30am, parked, and grabbed my tackle. I might mention I had to park in the second parking lot, since the first one I came to was already full. I walked over to the pond and found a space between two men on one side and a man and his daughter on the other.

Put a Panter Martin on my line and casted out a little to the right. First thing I caught was a line that belonged to one of the guys to my right. Seems they had two rods each in the water. Two lines straight out and the other to the left and right. Second cast was straight out. Third cast was a little to the left. Low and behold, I caught the line from the person to the left. They also had two lines each and were situated the same as the guys to the right. So that basically left me one small alley right in front of me.

I thought about going some where else, but there were so many people lined up along the bank, the problem would have been the same no matter where you went. So I bucked it up and put out a line with a slip sinker and Power Bait. I also rigged up a slip bobber rig with a night crawler. Figured with the others fishing on the bottom, this might get me some swing room near the surface. Problem was, the wind kept blowing the bobber from right to left and I had to reel in and cast out every couple of minutes. Needless to say this became a pain in the butt.

I fished for about an hour and a half of throwing out and reeling in and finally threw in the towel. What a miserable way to fish. Crowded, almost "shoulder to shoulder", was not what I expected. Too many people for such a small pond. They might have stocked 2000 trout, but I did not see one fish caught in the hour and a half I was there. It wasn't a good experience and I wouldn't do it again. If I find more information about who caught what, I'll pass it along.

Till next time, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman

Other Bloggers

I spent part of yesterday looking for additional tournaments in the area. In doing so, I stumbled across another blogger that writes about trout fishing. Her name is Sherryl Masterman from Northern Arizona. Sherryl started writing her blog in September 2006 to share her knowledge with other people that fish for trout. Her blog, or ebook as she calls it, has information about trout fishing all around North America. There is a tremendous amount of information here about the species of trout, baits, tackle, and when and where to find trout. I suggest you take the time to read her blog. It's helping me and it will help you.

Here is the link: http://www.troutfishinghelp.com/

Go to the section named "Trout Fishing Articles" for Previous Posts, Top Resourses, and her archives. I started at the beginning and it will take me a while to get through them all. Had I read the post from November 3, 2006 about Bobbers and Power Bait, it would have saved me a lot of time getting to the idea of using a slip bobber rig with power bait, as I noted in my post of January 17th, 2009. OH well, better late than never.

That's it for today. Till next time, remember: "A bad day of fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman

Oak Grove Regional Park - February 7, 2009

This Saturday, the 6th annual Bob McMillen Memorial Fishing Tournament will be held at Oak Grove Regional Park in Stockton. The park is located off I-5 at 8 Mile Rd. I'm pretty sure this is where the Asparagas Festival used to be held before they moved it down town. The anticipation is that this 10 acre lake will be planted with more than 2000 trout by the county and the state. Some will be in the 3 - 5 pound range.

The park opens at 6:15 am and registration closes at 10:00 am, with final weight in at 12:30 pm. The tournament is open to all ages with 3 categories for prizes. 10 and under, 11-17, and 18 and over. Parking is $5.00 and the entrance fee is $3.00. Those 16 and over must possess a valid California fishing license. Bring your own equipment.

Good luck to all that enter.

Till next time, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

With 2000 trout being planted, how bad a day could this be?

Shoreman

Lake Tabeaud - Pine Grove California

I fished here this morning. This is the third time I've fished Lake Tabeaud and got skunked. The first time I fished the dam area on the mud flat side. The second time I fished the inlet. This time I fished from the left side of the dam to the intake for the Amador Canal. I walked about 100 yards down the left side and used lures, nightcrawlers, and Power Bait. I walked the rest of the way down the left side past the picnic areas to the intake and used lures. I used Panther Martins, Kastmasters, Tasmanian Devils, Little Cleo, and Cripplelures. I didn't see anything that looked like a fish.

When I got home, I went out on the web and several sites say that this lake has Rainbow and German Brown Trout, but I sure couldn't find anything. One good thing is that Lake Tabeaud is on the DFG list to be stocked.

If anyone out there knows how to fish this lake, please let me know. I've tried everything I can think of with no results.

Till next time, remember: "A bad day fishing is better than any day at work".

Shoreman