It's A Wrap

Well, I took one more shot at the pond today. Put on my thermals and my brand new wool socks that Santa brought me (73% Merlino wool) and hit the pond at 0930. Slept in a little since my wife didn't get home from work until 11:30pm last night.

Thought about the fish in the middle and on the bottom. Took a spinning rod with me as well as my fly rod. Launched the Float Tube Cumberland and flippered to the center of the lake. Put a blob of Rainbow Power Bait and dropped that sucker to the bottom. There it sat. Nada. Mean while I used the rust colored Seal Bugger and did a 360 to see if I could interest anyone. Nope.

Changed out the treble hook for a bait hook and put a mini-crawler on and dropped it to the bottom. Nope. Changed the sinker for a lighter one and dropped it to the bottom. Then reeled it up about five feet and slowly trawled while working Wooly Buggers in an assortment of colors. Then tried a Wiggle Tail in black. Nothing.

For 4 hours I tried the old Shoreman magic to no avail. While spinning the magic, I did notice that there was only 2 fish caught by all the, seemed like 30 or so people, fishing from the shore.

So, the 2010 fishing season (and year) ends with Shoreman, 8 short of his goal. I ended up with the "Fish to cost of license ratio" at 21 cents per fish. Not a lot of difference from 2009 (22 cents per fish) considering I doubled the number of fish caught.

Tomorrow we start all over again.

Happy New Year to all my friends out there in Blogdom. Watch the bowl games tomorrow, not that we haven't been watching bowl games for the last two weeks, and please, be safe.

Till next year.

Mark

I'm Jinxed

Ever since I put the article in the Amador Ledger Dispatch on 11/26/10, I've had terrible luck at the Trout Pond. Last year (2009) I fished the pond five times between November 4th and the end of the year. I caught twenty-four in that period and was never skunked. Since I published that article, I've fished the pond five times and been skunked four of the five, with the one time only producing one fish.

I talked to the Ranger and he claims that they are stocking the heck out of the pond. Today I spent six and a half hours soaking Power Bait and got one hit, but missed it. There were about fifty people fishing around the pond and I didn't see but one fish caught. So where the hell are the fish?

I take that back, I did see one fish, chased up to the shore by this particular Cormorant. Had I been quick enough and grabbed my net I would have had at least one fish. But alas, twas' not to be.

Achieving my goal by the end of the year (Tomorrow) seems less and less likely. Rumor has it the fish are sticking to the bottom like they were glued there. Oh yeh, you know Comorants eat fish, right? Well, the Ranger wouldn't let me bring my .22 out there and shoot a few. Guys' got no sense of humor. Well, actually he does. I mentioned that the last two times I've been out there, he's come by and asked to see my license. I explained that prior to those times, I've only been asked once since I was 16. I also explained that since the first time he asked, I've been skunked. He quietly slipped away. I'd call that a sense of humor.

So, I figure I'm jinxed. What I need is a good exorcism (what would I do without Merriam-Webster). Maybe something without spinning heads and spitting green stuff, OK. Anybody out there know a good exorcist?

Might try once more tomorrow and see if I can scare up a couple. Let you know if I do. One last thing, Ed MacDonald from Wandering Fisherman is my 90th follower. Another milestone. Thanks Ed.

Till next time, or possible next year.

Mark

Deer Porn

Most of you know that I'm not a hunter and specifically a deer hunter because of an incident years ago. I won't go into what happened, let's just say that it was enough to stop me from deer hunting forever.

This doesn't mean that I'm not an observer of Nature. Come on, I live in the mountains on five acres. Nature is all over the place. In the past I've seen much of the wild life that lives up here. I've told you about the bear in the trash can. I talked about the mountain lion in my front yard. I've seen bobcat, coyote, fox, turkeys in huge numbers, and deer. Which brings me to the title of this post.


I was sitting in my chair watching "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" because it had been snowing outside and the temperature was 33 degrees. Can't do much in that kind of weather, so when all else fails, watch a movie.

It had just stopped snowing and this small doe walked down the driveway and stopped just past the wood pile. The wall directly in front of my chair is all window. I can see about 2 acres from there. As I'm watching this doe, she squats and takes a p... Just like a female dog. You get the picture. I didn't think much of it except that I wondered how many of the deer hunters have ever seen that? To me it was kind of an odd thing to see, since the many times I've seen deer up here, they tend to scatter when you drive by or stop to look at them.

Ok, something to file away for future use. About 20 minutes later, still watching the movie, I notice a 4 point buck walking down the road. All of a sudden, he makes a bee line for that spot where the doe took a p... Sniffed it and then started looking in all directions for the doe. It was crazy, he was looking 360 degrees all at once. I thought he was going to get whiplash. Then he shot off in the direction the doe took and the last thing I saw was beige bucktail (a fly tyer for sure) heading East at a very rapid clip.

I don't know if this is mating season because I dont' know enough about the life cycle of deer, but that boy was sure interested. Reminds me of a teenager. Basically a hormone with hoofs instead of sneakers.

I tried to keep it as clean as possible. So on this December 29th, that and trying to keep my cats from killing each other, is how I spent the 2nd to the last day of 2010. Tomorrow, off to try to complete my goal.

Till next time.

Mark

Skunked Again

Back on Christmas Eve I mentioned that I had a goal set for myself that I wanted to complete this year. The goal has to do with obtaining 8 additional fish this year. I have two opportunities to complete the goal. One was today and the other one is Thursday. Why these two days? These will be the only two days that we aren't going to get rain and/or snow through the end of the year.

So, I ran out to the Trout Pond to work on this goal only to get skunked again. One more day to go to accomplish the goal.

But since I was out there, I did get a good video of the pond for you to look at. Here you go.




So take a look. There is no talking or music, just the sounds from around the pond.

Till next time. Oh, and don't forget to stop by California Dreaming and check out the pictures.

Mark

2011 Fishing License

I just went online and purchased my 2011 fishing license. Pretty simple. Here's the link to get you started (those of you in California).

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/ols/intro.html

Just click on the Online Sales and follow the instructions. took me less than 5 minutes. Only one glitch, they only take Visa and Mastercard. You can print a temporary license and the real one will be mailed to you and you should recieve it in 15 days or less.

If you need one that is other than a yearly resident license, I would suggest you go to one of the License agents (Go to the link at the bottom of the page and fill in your fishing store information to see if they are a licensed agent). Here is the link for you to go there direct.

http://dfginternal5.dfg.ca.gov/lasweb/

I entered Fishermans Warehouse in Sacramento and it gave me their information as a licensed agent.

Happy fishing in 2011.

Mark

Merry Christmas

With all the Christmas wishes out there in Blogdom, one could spend hours responding to each one, so I thought I'd just roll up the good cheer in one fell swoop. I like fell swoops.

I'm not going to say that this is my final post for the year because I plan to do some fishing next week. I have a goal I've set for myself and plan to complete in 2010. What it is, will have to wait until the last post this year.

On this Christmas Eve Morning, I wish all of my blogging friends a very Merry Christmas and I hope Santa brings you all you've wished for. I know you've all been good this year, because I've read about what you've done. No coal in your stockings.

Till next week.

Mark

No Skunk Today

A while back, Joe from Flowing Waters (everyone knows him from the Outdoor Blogger Network) sent me a bunch of flies. This was back when I was just getting started fly fishing and he thought I could make use of them. Well, I've been trying without much luck, until today.

I spent about 4 1/2 hours flippering around the Camanche Trout Pond throwing all the tried and true black Wooly Buggers, Olive Wooly Buggers, Tungsten Beadhead Thinmints, chartreuse green Wooly Buggers, chartreuse and orange Power Worms and I even sank to the depths of fly fishing and put a live night crawler on, in an attempt to catch a fish and break the skunk. Nothing.

As I was digging through my fly box that held all my Wooly Buggers, I came across a few Seal Buggers that Joe had sent me. So I tried a black one and an olive one , but they couldn't interest fish one. Then I tied on a rust colored one and on the fourth cast (how do I know it was the fourth cast, you ask? I count casts, so I don't spend a lot of time on a color when it isn't producing) this little sweetheart below found it interesting enough to gulp. The fight was on.

Once I had it in the net, two things happened. One, I didn't put the camera in the Float Tube Cumberland, that's why it's sitting on the tailgate of my truck and two, thought I'd better bring it home for Bob, since I haven't replenished his stash recently. Been skunked a couple of times recently, if you'll recall.

So, how about the stats? 17 1/2 inches long, 2 lbs 4 ozs on the handy dandy Berkley digital scale. Not a bad way to break a skunk although it was the only one I caught today. Did have a couple of bumps, though.

Thank you, Joe for the flies and I'm thinking this is the biggest one I've caught on a fly rod. The first two I caught, right after getting my first rod were big, but I don't think, this big. Kudos to you, my friend.

Second thing today is that I ran into a guy fishing from a float tube that had read my article in the local paper and came out to try his luck at the pond for the first time. He didn't manage to catch one, but I'm sure he'll be back. Man, I was stoked.

Third, the local paper ran my fifth article in today's edition. If you want to take a look, here is the link: http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/sports/sportsview.asp?c=275950

It's got a good picture of the Shoreman and a nice little Big Bear Rainbow.

Well, that's enough tooting my horn.

Till next time.

Mark

No Stick Waving Today

Last summer I wrote about fishing the American River and made some mention of the flow of the river. In the pictures below, the water level was running at about 4900 cfs.

I took a shot uphill from where I was standing, fishing for Shad last summer.

Today I took a shot from an area right by that spot and from the top of the hill. Big difference in the amount of water in the river.

Then on the way out to Folsom to do some Christmas shopping (sorry guys, nothing for you), I stopped by Lake Natoma Dam and took a shot there. This is a very unusual sight. Most of the time the water is released out of a little chute on the far side of the dam. The unusual sight is having 14 of the 18 gates open and releasing water. Because of the impending storm, the Department of Water Resources is lowering Folsom Lake which is upstream from Lake Natoma. Double click on the picture and get a good look at lot bunch of water going into the American River.

I added a little video so you could get a grasp on the sound of the dam release.

Here's a quick recap of the releases.

Last Summer 4900 cfs
Tuesday (the 14th) I reported 16,000 cfs. It was actually 14,533 cfs.
Today........29,156 cfs.

Let me tell you, that is a whole lot of water. So much so, that Fire and Rescue has told boaters not to go on the river because if they have trouble, Fire & Rescue will probably not come out and help.

This is not the fullest I've ever seen the river, though. In 1986 we had so much water that the river was full, bank to bank and they were talking about blowing Dyke 8 (in the back of Folsom Lake) to relieve pressure on the dam. That alone would have flooded a good part of, what is now Rancho Cordova.

So, as the title says, no stick waving today.

Till next time.

Mark

Two Day Update

Just a quick comment on the last post. If I had to name a winner, it'd have to be Ryan. Come on, Angelina Jolie. How hot is that? The rest were great, though.

Ok, enough slobbering. Had a doctor appointment yesterday morning, so I packed up my gear and rode out to the trout pond after. Guy at the gate said they stocked last Thursday. Once I got in, decided I didn't feel like tubing and set up on the dock. One rod with Rainbow Power Bait and the other with lures. Three hours later and nary a fish, called it a day. Had a guy fishing next to me with nightcrawlers under a bobber and he managed to land four. Did I have any crawlers? Hell no. I've never seen anyone catch anything on crawlers out there before. Why would I have crawlers? Goes to show, you have to have EVERYTHING. Saw a couple of others caught here and there, but still a tough day.

Today, had to run to Sacramento for a couple of errands and thought I'd drop over to the American River, stand in the water, and wave a stick. On the way, I crossed the river and it looked extremely dirty. It was raining, but I didn't think it was raining enough to turn the water that brown. It also looked like it was running pretty high. When I was there, back on the 8th, the river was running at 3600 cfs. Today, according to the Resources Management Department on the Noon news, it's running at 16,000 cfs. That's a whole lot of water. In the name of safety, I passed on chasing those elusive Steelhead, at least for today.

That's it for today. Skunked once again after opening my mouth in the article that was in the paper two weeks ago and another day missed, chasing chrome. I did have a fourth article published in the paper last Friday. If you want to take a gander, here's the link.

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/sports/sportsview.asp?c=275774

We are expecting rain, at least through the 23rd (10 day forecast), so I don't expect the American will be fishable for a while. I might run up the hill in the next few days and scope out the lakes up there. I'll let you know.

Mark

Have You Ever Met A Movie Star, Face to Face

This has nothing to do with fishing, but something on the morning news cast triggered a memory and I thought I'd throw it out there and see what response there was.

Many years ago, I think it was in the late 60's, I was at the Los Angeles County Jail bailing out a friend. As I was waiting for him to come out and if you've ever done this, you know it takes a good bit of time. Sitting across the room was Carroll O'Connor. You know him best as Archie Bunker on "All in the family" and police chief Bill Gillespie on the TV show "In the heat of the night". He was there bailing out his son Hugh, who played Det./ Lt. Lonnie Jamison on "In the heat of the night". The sad part about this story is that Hugh committed suicide because of a drug habit. There is more to this tragic story. If you wish to read about it, here is a link to Hugh's story on Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_O'Connor

Being the bold person I am, I walked over to him and asked him how much fun was it making "All in the family"? I was surprised by his answer and it changed my view of movie stars. His response was "It's a job, just like your's. I get up in the morning, go to work, and come home at night". We talked for a while longer, and then my friend came out and we left.

I'm sure that not all movie stars are like that, but he was a big star at that time and it left a life long impression on me.

How about any of you out there. Got any movie star stories?

Mark

The Best Laid Plans

Just a quick update. I've been running behind reading all your posts, but be assured, I have caught up.

Yesterday my plan was to run down to Sacramento, renew my river parking pass, and attack the elusive Steelhead with fly rod and nymphs. I've been reading up on Steelhead fishing and found out that there are other ways to fish them other than to swing wet flies, which was how I was taught. They are, after all, a Rainbow Trout. That's what I get for listening to certain "guides".

Here is how it went. Left home at 0730 with an hour of driving time to get to the Parks & Recreation to get the new river parking pass. Stopped by LaBou for a coffee and raisin custard croissant (I had to go out to their website to find out how to spell that) and then to the P&R office. Got there at 0830 and found the door locked. The don't open until 1000. CRAP. With an hour and a half to kill, I drove to the Gristmill access and paid $5.00 (wouldn't have had to if they had been open and I'd gotten my pass [$50.00] renewed). Since I was short on time, all I did was grab my spinning rod and a box of lures and walked up and down the gravel bar. Not how I had it planned and on top of that, they won't let up park on the bar any longer. I guess to many people got stuck.

At 1000 I went back to the P&R office, renewed my pass and since I had chores to do at home, headed that way. My original plan was to get the pass, fish for a couple of hours with fly rod, and nymphs, then head home to do chores. The best laid plans, you know the story.

One of the chores was to clean the wood stove flue. It'd been 3 weeks and since I burn a lot of soft wood, I have to faithfully clean it every 3 weeks (don't need a flue fire), yesterday was the day. For the last two weeks (you've read the posts) I've had 6 inches of snow on the roof. Can't clean the flue with snow on the roof. It's a might slippery. With the warm storm over the weekend, the snow was finally gone, it didn't rain yesterday, and we were expecting rain today, I had a one day window, so it was imperative I get'r'done.

Flue cleaned for another 3 weeks, now I'm free to hit the river again. I've got my parking pass, the latest storm will be gone by this weekend, but since it's my wifes birthday on Sunday, I guess early next week, I'll be back on the river waving a stick.

Thanks everybody for all the great posts. I don't always comment, but I always read them. Thanks for stopping by to read mine, too.

Mark

This Make Your Mouth Water?

My wife came across a company called King Arthur Flour Company out of Norwich, Vermont. They have a bunch of really good stuff for the baking people. The picture below is a loaf of bread made from ingredients she got from King Arthur Flour. The unique thing about this is that the dough is kneadless. Most bread you have to flatten, knead, roll, flatten , knead, etc. You get the idea.

This, you mix up the dough and put it in a plastic container (I suggest a couple of holes in the lid for escaping air), let it sit on the counter for a while (you have to read the recipe), let it sit for a while in the fridge. When it gets to a certain size, take out a chunk, shape it, and put it on a cookie sheet.

It ends up looking like this.

The really cool thing about this, is you can leave the bucket of dough in the fridge (I think it lasts up to a month), take out a wad and 25 minutes later, fresh bread. How good is that?

Here is the link if you want to take a gander. http://www.kingarthurflour.com/

Here is the link for the bread recipe: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/no-knead-bread

And as usual, the disclaimer. I've got nothing to do with this company. I didn't get anything for directing you to their website. I've only put this here in case you want a real easy way to have fresh bread with that bowl of soup or chili now that winter is upon us.

Oh yeh, it's really, really, really, good.

Mark

Open Mouth, Insert Foot, Chew Wisely

As you know, I've been contributing to the local newspaper, writing fishing articles. Last Friday the article I did was about how to fish the Camanche Trout Pond.

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/sports/sportsview.asp?c=275652

Well, Tuesday I was finally able to get my wifes car out (you know, snow, two wheel drive, and all), so she could drive herself to work, and made plans to hit the pond yesterday. The temperature has been hovering around the high 20's to low 30's in the morning, so I planned on taking my time getting there in hopes of it warming a bit. I got there at 0900 (that's taking my time since I get up at 0515) and it wasn't as bad as I had expected. In fact, all I had on was a long sleeve tee-shirt and my vest.

Wadered up and off I went. I managed once around the pond before I went back to the truck and put on my hoodie. Was a tad cooler than I thought. Had these 3 custom color Wooly Buggers I wanted to try. Here is my thinking. Since the trout hit the Power Worms in bright orange and bright chartreuse, I made up a couple of Wooly Buggers with black marabou tails, florescent orange and florescent chartreuse chenille body, and black palmered hackle and a tungsten bead head. I also added a pink one like I used on 11/1, but this time with the tungsten bead.

I was ready. The fish weren't. In fact, the fish never showed up. Kind of like the Washington Redskins. I flippered around the pond for 3 1/2 hours and never got a bump. I wasn't the only one. I only saw two fish caught, one from the shore and the other caught by a tuber (who usually catches a bunch) just before I pulled my tube out. Tough audience. I put up my tube and gear in the truck and took my spinning rod out so I could fish off the dock with Power Bait and lures. Fished for another hour and a half and no fish there either.

So, the title of this post? Put a big article in the local newspaper about how to fish the pond, and come up empty the next time I go there. My wife says it keeps me humble. A tough thing for a Leo.

More storms coming in on Thursday, Friday and early next week. I'll have to see what I can do about getting out and maybe pursuing those elusive Steelhead.

Till next time.

Mark

Happy Thanksgiving

Eat bunches of turkey, watch hours of football, but most of all, be safe.

Mark

Comments Section

For some reason the comments section is missing from the last post. If you want to leave one, here you go.

Thanks, Mark

The Storm - Tuesday Morning

Well, the weather guessers said we would be getting 4" to 8" of snow overnight. HUH, wrong again. This is the front porch at 0700. Nothing but snow dust.




So, I volunteered to take the wife to work (this time at 0800 instead of 0300) because she still couldn't get her car out. On the way home, I grabbed the camera and did a dash-cam video for you. It's a little long, but only covers about 3 1/2 miles. Oh, did I mention it started to really snow as we were leaving.

Just about Noon time, as I was uploading this to YouTube (Man, this upload took a long time. A little over 3 hours), it started to rain. When that happens, four or five inches of snow turns to slush and the snow blower I use to clear the turn around, becomes usless. So I ran out, fired it up, and cleared most of the turn around. By then the upload was done and here you go.

I hope you enjoy it. Oh Yeh, we're supposed to be done with the storm, that is until Saturday, but just so we don't forget winter (which is not here yet), the temperature is supposed to drop into the teens tonight. Ice skating rink in the front yard.

Mark

The Storm - Monday Morning

Drove the wife to work at 0300 this morning. She can drive in snow, but doesn't like to. It was raining when we left, but ran into snow at 3000' marker coming back. By 0700 (the time for the 24 hour storm update) we had accumulated another 1 1/2 inches for a total, so far, of 8 1/2 inches and it was still snowing lightly.

A quick snap shot of the pond and you'll notice it's frozen over. We're expecting, according to the weather guessers and you know how accurate they are, a lot more snow tonight and then a wrap up of the storm, tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to hit the trout pond on Wednesday. The wife will be doing Thanksgiving dinner prep and it's best I'm out of the way any how.

If there's anything to report, I'll post in the morning.

Mark

The Storm - Sunday Morning

Blake, how right you are. All the hullabaloo about low snow levels and massive amounts of snow in the higher elevations, Booooooo. When we hit the sack last night it was raining. This morning at 0700, 2 1/2 inches of new snow. That was it.

The temperature was still at 32 degrees and a very fine sprinkling of snow was still falling, but nothing like they predicted yesterday.

So, the weather guessers were wrong again. But hey, they still get paid. Supposed to continue snowing off and on through out the day and into tomorrow. Wife has to be at work at 0300 tomorrow morning for a software upgrade. That should be fun getting her out.

If it gets really exciting, I'll post, but if not, my next run to the trout pond will probably be Wednesday. Certainly can't get upcountry for a while. I tied a couple of odd color Wooly Buggers to try at the pond and If they work, I'll post some pictures.

Till then.

Mark

The Storm Begins

The weather guessers said we were not supposed to get any snow today.

7:00 am, 4 1/2 inches.

Stay tuned, tonight is supposed to be worse.

Mark

Take A Friend Fishing

From sometime last year.

This is what happens when you take a friend fishing.

Mine



Roy's



A little humor for your Friday morning.

Mark

An Apology And The Golf Ball Update

Last Friday I put a link to Janice's site where she posts her photos and didn't realize I put the California Dreaming link instead of her's. So without further ado, here is the the correct link.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/soshacat

Since then, Janice has also created her own blog and I'd like to post that link also. I took a look at it yesterday and I think you'll like this one also. Pssst, told her she should join OBN and get more contacts. Here you go. Her blog is "Shoot Me Now While I'm Happy". In case you didn't notice, she's all about birds.

http://shootmenowwhileimhappy.blogspot.com/


On to the golf ball thing. I'll take the comments as they are listed on Yesterdays post.

Clif - Not on the bumper of the truck. All golf balls I come across are thrown into the pond. I hate golf.

Mike - Could have been the bear, but no bear poo attached.

Blake - No kids in the neighborhood, except my cats, and the girls down the street (Llama's).

Casey - I have something in mind right along those lines.

Biggr - No cats loose in the neighborhood.

Lunker - Could be Chupacabra. Who knows.

Ryan - Nobody messes with the Shoreman. Wouldn't be prudent.

Cofisher - Could the fishing gods be playing golf. Ya think?

Mel - OK, you're forgiven.

Callan - Hmmmmm.

Here is what I think. Given the information that the ball probably came from Roy's yard (Bob says while they are up, they hit them with a ball bat), it could have gotten down field aways. I think a crow, and we have a bunch of big ones, picked it up thinking it would be lunch and landed on the driveway. Finding it wasn't edible, just left it for me to find and speculate how it got there.

Might not be prudent for the crow to be in slingshot range.

Ya'll have a good day.

Mark

The Mysterious Golf Ball

I generally do the grocery shopping on Saturday morning. Gives the wife some time alone and she doesn't have to rush, get dressed , and run out of the house to spend 3 hours driving, shopping, and driving back home.

Just as I entered the property on the way in, I noticed a golf ball in the middle of the driveway. Remember, the drive way is 900 ft from the house to the property line. The picture below shows where it was sitting. I know for sure it wasn't there when I left a few hours earlier.




Where could it have come from? Below is a shot up the road toward Bob and Roy's house. Can you see them? That's part of the mystery. Their houses are quite a ways from where the ball was. Roy (on the right of the road), I know for a fact, was not up (he lives in San Mateo, over on the coast, most of the time). Bob (on the left of the road), I don't think he golfs.




So the question remains. "Where did the golf ball come from"? Sitting perfectly in the center of the road. Must be one of those Twilight Zone things.

Mark

Red Lake Video

Let's try this again.

Mark

Pathetic, I Tell Ya

We have a good sized storm coming in on Friday afternoon and I wanted to take one more shot at Red Lake. I suspect there will be Mucho snow up there this weekend. Good for the skiers, bad for fishermen. it is already showing at 5500 ft.

I took a video, but can not get Blogger to upload it. If I can figure it out, I'll post it it another time.

I got there at 0845. Put one rod out with Rainbow PB and started tossing Kastmasters. I threw every color I had in my tackle box. I think there are 8 or 9 colors in there. I also threw gold & silver PM's, black/yellow Mepps, rainbow & brown Rapala's, and I even threw Power Worms under a clear bobber. I was desperate. I got NOTHING. No fish, no bumps, NADA. That went on for 3 hours.

Finally I tossed in the hat and went down to Bear River. Both Caples and Silver Lakes had whitecaps on them, the wind was blowing so hard. Got to Bear (sunshine, blue skies, & warm)and checked with a couple of guys fishing. Couple of small ones, was all they'd caught. I put both rods out with PB and found a comfortable rock to park on. Hour later, I landed one the size of your palm. That was it. I did notice that when the breeze died down, some were breaking the surface.

To the truck and out with the fly rod. Probably could have used floating line, but all I brought was the Intermediate. Put on a Tungsten Beadhead Black Wooly Bugger and put it out there as far as I could. Using a 3" to 5" strip, I got one good bump and that was it. Changed to an Olive BH and continued. Saw a swirl and tossed the Bugger just beyond. Got an immediate bump and then nothing. Shortly there after, a Coot surfaced about 4 feet from where I got the bump. I think I almost caught a Coot.

That was it. One small Rainbow about the length of your hand. Pathetic, I tell ya. I think I know what the problem was, though. Remember back on September 14th, Cook's was out of cream for coffee and I got badly skunked? Well this morning I stopped for a cup and didn't even think about putting cream in the coffee. Must have been the problem.

Till next time.

Mark

The First Video

Got to the Trout Pond at about 1000 yesterday after a quick visit to my Cardiologist and a couple of other stops in town. Aired up the Float Tube Cumberland and flippered out along the far side of the pond. Started with a black tungsten beadhead Wooly Bugger and the fun began. Not nearly as good as the trip back on November 1st, but fun none the less.

On one fish, I got out my camera and put the dial on Movie (which I didn't even know it had until about two weeks ago). I've had this camera for about 3 years. Pretty observant don't you think. I did practice RTDM (Read the damn manual) when I got it and again a month ago, but there is nothing in the manual about movie spot on the dial.

So here goes video number 1. Remember, no helmet cam, no ball cap cam, just me holding the rod in one hand and the camera in the other. No booing, hissing, or throwing things at the screen.

Ended up catching and releasing 7 and missing 5 or 6 bump and runs. One was pretty close to 2 pounds. I did catch one and a second one got off on a Wooly Bugger I put together on a whim. It was black Marabou tail, pink Chenille body and black palmered hackle. No copper wire. All the fish caught today were on flies I tied. Must be getting better at it.

Hope this works. I had to load QuickTime 6.1 to get it to work. FYI.

Till next time.

Mark

Friday

Item 1 - I got an email from a blog follower that lives in a near by town called Galt, California. Her name is Janice and she is an excellent photographer. What prompted her to email me was the post about the bear stomping on my trash can. Janice called it "playing drums on your garbage can". Janice has a site where she posts pictures she takes in Northern California. I've posted some of my extra shotson California Dreaming, but trust me, mine are nothing like hers. Take a minute, wander over and take a look at her work. Here's the link.
http://californiadreaming-shoreman.blogspot.com/ I know you'll like them.

Item 2 - The kid is again a contributor to the local newspaper. This article is not related to any post I've done, so worth the reading.

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/sports/sportsview.asp?c=275492

Item 3 - Went to a follow-up Cardiologist appointment this morning. For the past week or so, I've been going through a bunch of tests just to establish a baseline with him. The report is all good. He sent me on to Item 4 with an "I'll see you in 6 months".

Item 4 - The Trout Pond at Camanche Lake. I'm going to save this for the next post because I did a short video, but I don't know how the hell to get it to play, let alone get it on Blogger. So you're just going to have to wait. Hopefully tomorrow when the wife can help. She's the IT Babe, remember.

That's it. Short & Sweet. Till next time.

Mark

The Inner Ear Infection

Hi, I’m still here.

Last year just about this time, I came down with an inner ear infection. If you’ve had one, you know what I’m talking about. It’s kind of like a party without the alcohol. Your head swims when you stand up and your body doesn’t.

It arrived again on Monday afternoon right about 2:00pm. A little after the Fed-Ex guy would have been here, but before the UPS guy gets here. I’m not sure who brought it, but when I do find out, he’s toast.

I think it’s a conspiracy to keep me from the Trout Pond just when they are stocking the hell out of it. In fact, I already had the truck loaded with the Float Tube Cumberland and all my gear for a Tuesday launch at the pond.

This is where the problem comes in. You see, with an inner ear infection, you have to be really careful how you move. Quick turns of the head put you flat on the floor. Your mind is goes left and your body goes right. Most times you have to have a three point stance. That being, both feet on the floor and one hand holding something solid. Most things work. A table, kitchen counter, dresser if you’re in the bedroom, or a cane. Last night, in the dark, I found out that the VCR on top of the TV, downstairs, was not one of the things that works well. Scratch one VCR. About all you can do is hang out at the house and hope that one of the things you use for the third point isn’t the wood stove.

These things last about a week. There is nothing you can do except let it pass. While it’s passing, you are OK sitting in the truck and probably driving (you notice I said probably), but as soon as you have to get out, the wobble returns. Weebles wobble, so do you. If you've had kids, you know about Weebles. If you would manage to get past the police driving somewhere, once you get out of the truck, everyone is looking at you, as you wobble into where ever you are, and thinking “poor guy must have had a stroke” and they get all sympathetic and want to hold the door for you, stop cars and trains so you can pass, and stuff like that. So it’s best just to stay home.

Which brings me back to fishing. I think I could have gotten to the Trout Pond, launched the float tube, but probably would have flippered around in circles. Wouldn’t have been a good showing for the Shoreman. Had I fished from the shore, it would have been a little hard to reel in a fish with one hand on the cane and the other on the rod. I sure as hell wouldn’t give the rod to someone else to reel in a two pound Rainbow. I know there are probably alternatives like sitting in a chair, leaning against the rock wall, or getting one of those things the people on the Rose Bowl Floats use to stand up, but you have to draw the line somewhere.

So I guess I’ll stay home for a few more days and read your blogs, drooling at the trout you guys are catching and the fun you all are having.

I will be back shortly. My friend Rich and his son Mark were at the pond yesterday. Rich caught one 2 ½ pounds. Mark, on the other hand, caught one 5.2 pounds. Rich on the shore, Mark in a float tube. Here I sit missing all the fun.

Till next time.

Mark

The Ghost Of Carbon Canyon Part 2

Two years later we slipped up and accidentally told the girls the real story of the Ghost of Carbon Canyon.

The parking spot was set in an area where car lights coming over a distant hill made the light appear at the top of the hill in front of the car. Half way down, the car would dip and the light would disappear. As the car came back over the next rise, the light would reappear and disappear just as it hit the fence at the bottom.

OK, you ask, what about the apparition? Seems we had a fourth roommate. He drove out there before us and walked to the top of the hill dressed in white tee-shirt, white Levi's, and white sneakers.

When he knew we were parked and the light shone on the hill, he started running down the hill. Half way down, when the light went out, he tripped on a stick and according to legend, disappeared. He jumped up just as the light came back and ran the rest of the way down the hill to the fence.

When he tripped on the stick, he picked it up and carried it with him to the bottom and as soon as he hit the fence, swung it at a big metal pipe (part of the gate), thus the gong sound. Then he started to climb over the gate. You know our part of it.

His part in it was not without problems. He was chased by a bunch of dogs, stopped by the Police wanting to know what he was doing out there, and ended up with some very dirty clothes.

The girls after they found out? We paid big time. I personally had a sauce pan rearranged by my head. I'm not sure what happened to the other guys, but I'm sure they paid in some painful way.

And as Paul Harvey would have said, "And that is the rest of the story. Good day".

Mark

The Trout Pond

Hit the Camanche Trout Pond at 0815. Sunshine, blue skies, and no wind. Looks to be a perfect day. I hinted back on the 28th that there was a rumor that the Trout Pond had been planted with 10,000 lbs of trout. Well, that just goes to show that you can't believe rumors. It was only 6800 lbs.

A little pond shot before I got serious about fishing.

Geared up and set out right in front of that bench by the walkway. Another rumor, they are hitting beadhead black Wooly Buggers. Who am I not to follow a rumor? Put one on and started to let out line (I was fishing with my fly rod with the lake set up. Intermediate line and 9', 4x leader and 24" of 6lb fluorocarbon tippet). Got about 30 feet of line out and no sooner was I starting a 3" to 5" strip and I had the first one on. A 13" Rainbow. That set the mood for the day.

It didn't matter what I fly I had on, I either had a bump, fish on and off (I was using barbless hooks), or one landed. As well as the BHWB, I used a beadhead Blood Worm pattern size 8, A WB in black/burgandysize 8, Tungsten BH Thinmint size 8, and I can't remember what else I threw at them. They hit everything.

There were a couple of other tubers (some friends I haven't seen since last year), one toon, and a couple of guys in an aluminum boat. Everybody was catching. As I flippered by the guys on shore, I noticed they weren't catching in the volume we were, out on the water. I had one of those moments where I felt bad we were hauling them in, one after another and they were struggling. Oh hell, no I didn't. I was having a blast. Fly rodders paradise. Dropped off a couple of flys that were working for me, to a couple of the friends from last year and they partook of the feast.

At 1000 I flippered in to where my truck was parked and got a couple of PB&J's out of the cooler. Figured I'd eat while fishing. Nope, had to stop fishing to wolf down the sandwiches. That's how good it was. Even ended up fishing in a tee-shirt it was so nice.

I figure I landed, maybe 30, hooked and lost maybe 30, and got maybe 30 bumps. I was getting two and three hits on a retrieve. What a day.

Note to self: Need to get some kind of fish counter.

I was getting hits that made the line snap on the rod. That's the only way I can describe how hard they were hitting. Around Noon, I started to get cramps in my legs from lack of flippering exercise, so I started (slowly) back across the lake toward the truck. Took me more than a half an hour to get across. Had to stop and keep releasing fish.

After I got the tube loaded, I thought I'd better get get couple for Bob since it was such a good day. Went over to the spot where we usually shore fish and put out one rod with Rainbow Power Bait (and a dab of Anise) and was going to use the other with a Kastmaster. Never got the second rod out. The PB barely hit the bottom and a fish was on. The five below were from a 20 minute period.

You just don't find days like this one. I think I'm getting Carpal Tunnel in my right wrist. Too much holding the fly rod. Just kidding.

Till next time.

Mark

The Ghost Of Carbon Canyon

Summer, the late 1960’s. This is a true story.

There were six of us who used to hang out together. Actually three of us were roommates. The other three were girl friends. The three guys decided we wanted to put a little scare into the girls by taking them to see the Ghost of Carbon Canyon. Yuk, Yuk.

Carbon Canyon is Southeast of Los Angeles in Southern California. Rolling hills that are common to the Chino, California area. As the story goes, a couple were parked at the local make out place at Carbon Canyon , doing things that couples do when parked, and somebody killed them. The ghost comes into the picture this way: He waits, at least we think it’s a he, on the hill top for couples to park below. He or she then comes down the hill to see if anyone is related to the person that killed the couple. If they are not, the ghost disappears. If they are, the ghost climbs over the gate and approaches the car with the intention to kill that person. Revenge for their own death.

The six of us piled into my 1959 Chevrolet and headed out. We kind of wandered through a few canyons telling ghost stories and generally being the buttheads that young men can be. Oh, this was going to be fun. Oddly enough, one of the places we went through was a little town called Sleepy Hollow. That was enough to put up the hair on the back of your neck.

We got to the “parking” spot and I backed in the car. Wanted to be sure we could get out in a hurry if need be. Another show of macho buttheadism. Sat there, talked, listened to the radio, and generally had a good time.

On the top of the hill in front of us, a light appeared. In that light, an apparition of some sort (all white mind you) also appeared. Six people in the car almost crapped. Then it got worse. The apparition started down the hill toward the gate. By then, I was trying to get the car started. You know how that is, when in a panic, you can’t even get the key into the ignition. Half way down the hill, the apparition and the light disappeared. Some calm returned to the car.

Thirty seconds later, the light and the apparition reappeared and proceeded to the bottom of the hill and approached the gate. At the instant it stopped at the gate, there was a huge ringing sound. The sound of a gong of some type is the best way I can explain it. By then I had gotten the key into the ignition and panic had returned to the car.

In the split second it took to start the car, we noticed the apparition crossing the gate and starting toward the car. Flying dirt and squealing tires on pavement and we were out of there.

We never went back, ever.

The Guy's A Celebrity - Not

Jeeeze, you guys know me better than that. Although I do have to brag a little.

Check it out.

http://www.ledger-dispatch.com/sports/sportsview.asp?c=275271

Please, no throwing stones.

Mark

Happy Halloween - A Little Early

Some of you on my distribution list have already seen this, but you can watch again if you want.



Click Here

Make sure your sound is on.

A Day Of Firsts

I'd like to thank Dan Short for being my 80th follower. That's a first.

On to today. As mentioned when I posted yesterday, I went back up to Bear River with my fly rod. Got there just as the sun was peeking over the hill. I'd call this 0dark30.

Rigged up my lake rod with the intermediate sinking line and a brown San Juan Worm in size 10. Got a lot of bumps on it, but couldn't get any to hang on. Switched to a size 8 black Wooly Bugger and continued to get bumps, but nobody would hang on. So, I thought "What would the guys do?" Go smaller of course. So I went smaller. Size 10 was the smallest Wooly bugger I had, but that did the trick. Put on an olive WB and caught one small Rainbow on a size 10. I would have taken a picture, but I couldn't get the camera out of my back pocket and once I did, I couldn't get it turned on. I was just all thumbs. Didn't want to hold him out of the water too long.

An olive Wooly Bugger I tied. Another first.

Just so you can get an idea of how the day went, the fly on the left is the size 10 Wooly Bugger after the first fish. A bit beat up. The little thing on the right was a brown San Juan Worm. Really beat up.

Since that WB was pretty much trashed, I put on another (that I tied) and proceeded to land this Brown that I guesstimated to be 14 inches. By this time I had the camera out and sitting on a rock waiting for the next fish. At least I hoped for the next fish and got the shot.

After that, there wasn't any more interest in Wooly Buggers, so I switched to a black Jay Fair Wiggle Tail in size 8. Couple of casts and landed one in the 10 inch range. No picture. Too busy, I was on the Jazz. And of course, as soon as you're on the Jazz, Mother Nature slaps you back in line.

I tried several more flies (Wooly Worm, Clouser Deep Minnow, Beadhead Thin Mint, and a couple more shots with black & olive WB's). Got some bumps here and there, but nothing hooked up. Lost several flies on the back cast because of the rocks behind me. Found a couple, but I think I lost 4 or 5.

So I gave up on the fly thing and brought out the spinning gear for a little Power Bait dunking. Fished until 1:00pm, landed seven and put 4 on the stringer for Bob.

Ran into a couple from Modesto who weren't doing too well in the catch department. Inquired what they were using and found out it was chartreuse Power Bait. Gave them a half bottle of Rainbow and the catch was on. I don't know how many they got because I didn't see them leave, but the last time I checked, he was getting hits all over the place. Hope they got a bunch.

Word has it that the Trout Pond, you remember the Trout Pond from last Winter, has been stocked with 10,000 pounds of trout. Looks like next week I'll have to launch the Float Tube Cumberland in the Pond. I'll let you know how that goes.

Till the next adventure. Sorry, only two firsts (three if you count both the fish I caught on the flies I tied), but big firsts none the less.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Mark

A Bakers Dozen

Last Sunday we got clobbered with a Winterlike storm. More than 6 inches of rain. My pond went from green stuff all over the surface to clean in one day. The green stuff went down the creek toward the canyon below. Ok by me.

The weather guessers said that the snow level would be high (8500 -9000 ft) since it was a warm storm. Then Monday morning they show snow at the cabins at Bear River Reservoir (elevation 5850').

Wanting to squeeze out all the fishing I could at Red Lake before it ices over. I jumped into the truck and up the road I went. Not know what to expect, I did a documentary as I drove up the road.

No snow here, but coffee at Cook's Station.




None here either. Above the Bear River elevation.




Must be getting closer, one would think.





There it is. Pretty high. Actually I hit the first snow at about 7500'.





That's as high as it gets.

Got to Red Lake at 0830 and sure enough, snow there too.

Not only snow, but wind. In your face, wind. Rigged up my fly rod with the intermediate sinking line and tried to put out a pink/black Wooly Bugger (trying to imitate a Rainbow Kastmaster). Wind in your face, I couldn't get it out more than about 5 feet from shore. Put a little split shot on and made it to, maybe 8 feet. Back to the truck and out with the spinning gear.

Remember back on the August 29th post? The one that was titled Brrrrrrr, Damn That Was Cold ? Huh, that had nothing on yesterday. I can't remember the last time I was that cold. I had on a fleece lined parka and fleece lined gloves with chemical heaters in both and still froze. Should have had my thermals. CRAP, they were in my gear bag and I forgot. Senior moment.

Anyway, I lasted about an hour and in that hour I managed two small cutts (9" or so) and one small Brookie (about the same) and that was all I could take. Back into the truck, turn the heater to blasting and head home.

Past Caples, past Silver Lake, and decided to see if the road to Bear was still open. Yup, open. Drove down to the lake and parked by the dam. Out with Power bait on one rod. Thought I'd better get some for Bob (I plow for fish) since the snow is coming. Before I could get the second one rigged I had a hit on the first one. Reared back to set the hook, nothing. What the hell? Back out again, same thing. What, the fish are getting smart? Not a chance.

Next time I let it hit and hit and hit and finally set the hook. A little 9 incher, lip hooked. Back for another day. Aaah, they are playing with the bait. Next one, same thing. Hit, hit, hit and a little 9 incher again. Back for another day. After wasting a half bottle of Power Bait, I noticed a couple of big ones crusing by the shore about 10 feet out. I'd been fishing at 25' - 30' out. Put on a ball of PB and dropped it right where I'd seen the fish. The bait never hit the bottom and, "fish on". A nice 11 incher.

Did I mention it was a hell of a lot warmer at Bear River? Hoodie, no gloves, and a slight breeze. managed to put 5 nice ones on the stringer for Bob and release the other 5 for a total of 13 for the day. A bakers dozen. The one thing I did notice is that I got a lot of followups when I reeled in a bare hook with a pine needle, that I'd snagged, on it. Think I might go back up tomorrow and break out the fly rod with a brown San Juan Worm or maybe a brown Wooly Bugger and see what happens. I'd be there today, but doctor appointment at 0930.

Well, that was an exciting day and cold, man I didn't think I'd ever thaw out.

Till next time.

Mark

A Couple Of Fairly New Guys On The Block

I ran across a couple of blogs that I thought were good. They don't have a big following and I hoped that many of you would stop by.

First is Fly tying Old and New. Normand has some good looking flies on his site and he provides the recipe. He's from Connecticut and has 9 followers. I think he needs more.

Second is California Fly Fishing. Frank's a Northern California Boy and fishes the Truckee River (I've got to get up there) a lot. I think you'll like his posts.

Third is The Grey Sulfur. Dan talks about bears and Brook Trout. Right down my alley. He's only been posting since February of this year and has 15 followers. He could use a few more also.

I've passed these three along to Rebecca to solicit for OBN and should see them on board as soon as she gets back from her current fishing expedition. We are a big family, but always have room for more. I'll be stopping in as they post and hope you will too.

Mark

A New Lake

Under strict instructions from the boss (the wife), I was dispatched to Apple Hill to obtain Mutsu Apples for apple pie filling. Hard instructions considering I reap the benefits of most of the apple pies. Since we'd been there before, I knew that Boa Vista Orchards was the place to go. The other thing I knew was that you don't go on the weekends in the Fall. It's a bumper to bumper, wait until mold grows on you, kind of trip.




After obtaining the apples, the next stop was the supermarket to get pie shells, lids for the canning jars, and Fruit Fresh, the stuff that keeps the apples from turning brown until you can get them canned.

That done, I was free to head up the hill for a day of fishing. I headed up Crystal Basin Rd toward Loon Lake. There are three big lakes on this road. Ice House Reservoir (which I mentioned in a few past posts), Union Valley Reservoir (which I've never fished), and Loon Lake.

The last time I was at Loon Lake (elevation 6500') was 15 or so, years ago and in the dead of Winter. The side of the road was snow about 9 feet high. It was like driving through a tunnel. Obviously I didn't fish.





So when I got there (knowing nothing about the lake) I picked a spot near the dam (dams are usually good for me) and walked to the water.




It had taken me several hours to make the run through Apple Hill, the supermarket, and the run up to the lake, that I just took one rod and a box of lures down. I used a fan pattern with Kastmasters in Brown Trout, Rainbow Trout, and Firetiger along with Panther Martin's in gold & silver. I had no expectations and was rewarded thusly. Is that a word, thusly? Anyway, zippo in the catch department. That's OK though, I enjoyed the drive. Ended up driving some 200 miles all told.




We are expecting a storm to arrive starting tomorrow and go through Monday and as always, the storm arrives early in the mountains as you can see from the shot below. Just to omen of things to come.






I also put a couple of shots over on California Dreaming, so stop by and check them out. More to come. That's it for today. Till next time.

Mark

My New Blog

I've bounced around this idea for a while now and decided it's time to go forward with my second blog. I've been inspired by the photo blogs of "My Optic Life", "The Florida Fotographer", and "A Year On The Fly" although Joel's are paintings instead of pictures.

Yesterday I launched "California Dreaming".

When I was coming back from the lakes, I was in awe of the beauty of the area in which I live, it being Fall and all. Many of you have commented about this as I've posted photo's with my reports. When I take pictures during a trip, I generally take a bunch and only post one or two. I wanted to have a venue to share with you, the rest of the shots (that I consider of value) I take. So here it is.

Please keep in mind that I don't have one of those cool Nikon cameras with a huge telephoto lens that takes wonderful shot each and every time. You know, the kind you see on the sidelines at a football game. I was at a Kenny Rogers concert many years ago and I remember a remark he made about a guy in the front row with one ot those types of cameras. he said "That guy in the front row is taking pictures of the hair in my nose". Not going to be those types of shots. Besides, who want to look at someone elses nose hairs?

Since I carry the camera with me all the time, I should be able to keep up a good selection of shots of Northern California for your enjoyment. I hope you'll come visit California Dreaming .

Mark

A Day That Would Beat You Senseless

My wife had made plans to have lunch with a girl friend, leaving me free to wander up to the lakes.

Plan A - Take the Float Tube Cumberland up to Upper Blue Lake and flipper around while stripping a Wooly Bugger to see what happens. Everything loaded and off I went. Last night watching the local weather guesser, he noted that the wind was going to be from the Southwest (this is where storms come from in California) to the tune of 10 to 20 mph. Naw, couldn't be that bad up there. Yup, it was pretty close. Obviously I didn't launch the Float Tube Cumberland. The wind was in your face, somewhere between (keep in mind I don't carry a wind gauge like those remote TV guys do) 10 & 15 mph. So I took a box of lures and one of my spinning rods and soaked about 10 of them. Apparently the fish were hiding. This is what it looked like, weatherwise. If you double click on the picture, you'll notice a bird of some kind flying just to the right of the right side dead tree. Didn't know it was there until I got home and enlarged the shot.




Plan B - Red Lake. If I thought it was bad at Blue Lake, Huh. Wind off the mountain, cold, and in your face at least 15 mph consistant. In fact, it was blowing so hard, I could have used a little Superglue to hold my ball cap on. Fortunately when it did blow off, it was on the shore side. I did land one female Brookie in the 9" range (C&R) on a silver Panther Martin. That was it. I also managed a shot of the Fall color across the lake for your enjoyment. It's beautiful country up there.




Plan C - Caples Lake. Hey, they're on the way home. Parked and walked over to the sandy side of the spillway. Put out two slip sinker rigs with Rainbow Power Bait and parked my butt on a very nice, flat, rock. One small Rainbow hit immediately, lip hooked and released. That was it. Sat for another hour with the wind blowing (not quite as hard at Red & Blue), packed up and went home. So much for plan A, B, & C. Hope my wifes lunch went better than my fishing.

Till next time.

Mark

A Friday Trip

Well, Old Man Winter has come to the Sierras. We've had rain for the last three days and with rain comes snow in the high country. This morning, this was the scene just before Red Lake.



I was on my way to try Heenan Lake, this time without the float tube. Just fishing from the shore. This time I got a shot of the ramp I told you about on the September 24th post. From the parking lot to the water. Apparently not a problem for a lot of float tubers, as there were a bunch on the lake. You can see, if you double click on the picture, a truck at the bottom of the ramp.





This will give you an idea of the size of the lake. It took 5 shots to get all the way around.

I fished from the launch ramp as far as you can see, in the far left picture (of the 3) above. I used Kastmasters and Panther Martins in a fan motion to try and get as much coverage as possible. Then I fished from the launch ramp all the way around the corner in the right hand shot

(of the 2). A distance of about a mile.

I got no bumps, hits, or fish. The only comment I heard about a fish caught, was from a float tuber that got one by the dam early on and wouldn't give up what he caught it on.

That was it for Heenan Lake. There are supposed to be big Cutthroats in this lake, but I'm not sure, based on what I saw and heard, that this lake is worth the trouble.

So, since I had a little time, I would drive back to Caples and soak a little Power Bait. But you know me, I can't resist a stop at Red Lake. It's right there. Grabbed my rods and picked a spot a little farther than where I usually fish. Hooked two on a silver Kastmaster and the the one below on a Rainbow Kastmaster. It measured 14 inches. The colors were too beautiful, I couldn't keep it. All three went back for another day.

Around Noon, the wind came up (that good old wind off the mountain that drops the temperature about 20 degrees) and with the wind, the bite stopped. I packed up and headed home.

That's it for a Friday trip. Till next time.

Mark

Deer Season

With the coming of Fall and the trees changing colors, deer season is inevitable. In Amador County, this year, it begins on September 25th and ends on Halloween. You all know I'm not a hunter, so this is just a report and a photo op.

A tree that I didn't know was on the property.

Generally when the first shot of deer season occurs, you don't see a deer (male or female) until weeks after the end of the season. They just seem to know. Last night, I had the pleasure of a couple of the boys from the neighborhood stoping by for a photo op. Here's what I gathered from the way they sauntered across my front yard. I was standing on the porch when I took these pictures.

La Te Da, not a care in the world.

Hey, who are you? Are you a threat to me?

Nope, let's keep going. La Te Da.

Guess they felt safe enough even though they weren't more than about 100 ft from me.

Last Friday when I was up at Tamarack Lake, I ran across a couple of deer hunters. they asked if I'd seen any deer? "Sure, in my front yard, all the time". Wouldn't tell them where I lived, though.

Till next time.

Mark

A New Place Part Trois

Back to the Mokelumne for a third try. Had a dentist appointment and since I was already in town, thought I'd just run over to the Mokelumne and see if my previous idea would work.

Stopped and picked up a tub of mini-crawlers (what trout doesn't like a nice, fat, juicy, mini-crawler?) and drove up the river to the last area I had fished. Water was deep, fish were hitting the surface, and I was ready.

Tied on a couple of feet of 4# flurorcarbon on the end of my line with a double surgeon knot along with a #6 bait hook, threaded on a crawler and out it went.

That was it, it just sat there. OK, put a bobber on with 3 feet of line below and out it went again. Still sat there. Fish still working the surface hard. For what? I couldn't see anything that looked like a bug and I couldn't see what they were taking off the surface, but they were really going at it. Shortened the line below the bobber. Still nothing. Walked up and got my other rod with the thought of tossing lures.

Ran into a guy in the parking lot and he said he'd been trying to catch them on several occasions and couldn't hook one. Said they were Kokanee. That apparently is a horse (or fish) of a different color.

When I got home (half hour or so, ago) I looked up flies for Kokanee on the (everything is out there) Internet. Here's a list of what I came up with and if anyone has one to add, please let me know.

1. San Juan Worm (I have several colors, including red)
2. Red egg patterns (I have several)
3. Red Copper John ( I have one)
4. Pink Crazy Charlie (looks like a Clouser Deep Minnow and I think it's too big for these fish)
5. Mysis Shrimp pattern (something for my next "special" fly order because my fingers are too fat to tie itty, bitty, flies)

All the sites say red. I'm open for any help you can provide.

As far as the title of this post, I thank iGoogle translation because I have no knowledge of the French language, but I started it, so I'll finish it.

Till next time.

Mark

You're Gonna Love This

Three or four times a year, my wife and I meet up with a couple that we've known for years and do the wine tasting tour thing. We generally hit the local wineries in either El Dorado or Amador County.

Today we decided to tour Amador County. The wife and I live in Amador County, so it made it easy to get from one, to the next winery. I know most of you have done this at one time or another, so you know it's stop, sip, and buy a couple of bottles.

The Shoreman being a non-wine drinker, for the most part, ends up being the designated driver for the group. We went here and there and stopped at one called Bray Vineyards.

Now you all know me and the weird flies (Montreal Bucktail Whore & Red Naked Lady) and of course, the outhouse thing in the last two posts. Well, I saw this and I just knew I had to share it with you.

Brayzin Hussy Red. A red wine.



What more can I say. Oh, they also had a Brayzin Hussy Blonde (white wine). If you've got a minute, stop by and check out their website.

http://www.brayvineyards.com/

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with this vineyard. I received nothing from them for putting this on my blog. It's one of those things that I put here because I enjoy sharing these kind of things that I run across in my travels.

OK, so I'm a little weird. Life is too short not to have a good time.

Our friends at staying at the Volcano Union Inn in beautiful downtown Volcano (population 103). Again, I am not affiliated with this inn. I received nothing from them for putting this in my blog.

Here is a little history about the inn: The Union Inn Hotel was built in 1880 by four itinerate French Canadians for $400. It was a boarding house for hard-working miners and locals until the 1920's. It enjoyed a brief reawakening in the 1950's, and thereafter it was, by turns, vacant and empty, a private residence, and finally it was restored into a lovely destination in 2000 by the David/Burney Family. Now the Volcano Union Inn is reborn as a California Pub and Four-Room Bed and Breakfast in the picturesque village of Volcano, deep in the heart of Amador County and the California Gold Country.

http://www.volcanounion.com/pages/home.cgi

Just a little something about the beautiful country Shoreman lives in and a wine with a real interesting name.

Well, until I'm off on the next adventure.

Mark

The Bare Butt

I let everyone that stopped by overnight, ponder this shot. Couple of commenters thought it was real. It's a mannequin.

It would be my guess that the purpose of this "piece of art" is the no dumping sign. Just a very artful way of expressing something we in blogdom are highly aware of. A good many of the fisherman out there are pigs.

Yesterday, as I was fishing and collecting junk, I came across worm boxes, beer cans, lids off Power Bait jars, and some assorted, discarded line. Oh, I did add a Luhr Jensen Krocodile lure (silver with an orange stripe, no hook) to the window sill collection.

That's the story. I hope I picqued your interest. A little humor is always good at the end of the week.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Mark

What A Thursday

So much to talk about. Where do I start? My plan was to fish Blue Lakes (Upper & Lower). Who better to contact than a friend I haven't talked to in ages. He and his father make a yearly pilgrimage to Blue Lakes. So I sent him an email yesterday and got an immediate response.

"I have never had any luck at Lower Blue Lake, but upper has always been good. The best spot for us has been in front of the large bushes that are off the left side of the road once you past through the campground, but before the crude boat ramp". With that information, that's what I aimed for.

On the way up the hill, I snapped a couple of shots of the Fall colors. Fall is coming to the high country.




I got to Upper Blue Lakes at 0830. The other part of my friends email was, what to use. "Pink PowerBait off the bottom by 2.5-3.0 feet". Went through my gear bag with all my Power Baits and, no pink. You'd think with all the bottles of Power Bait I have, I'd have pink. BUT, I did have pink Power Eggs. Next best thing. Before I got the rods set up, I took panoramic shots of the lake.

OK, so they're not perfect.

I just might have to get back up here with the Float Tube Cumberland and do a little fly fishing on this lake. Seems like an ideal place. Got the Power Egg rod in the water and based on what another fisherman that was up there, put a silver Kastmaster on the other. Well, the pink Power Egg didn't produce anything, nor did rainbow Power Bait. The thing that got the bites was the silver Kastmaster. I caught and released 3 Rainbows about 9".

Took a shot of some more of the last snow. September 30, 2010.

I hung out until 1030 and then decided to pack up. There was a creek on the way back down the hill and I wanted to put a Royal Wulff in. Rattled back down the dirt road, past 5 or 6 campgrounds to the paved road out. As soon ans I hit the paved road, I picked up the speed to about 30 and came to a screeching halt.

Did I see what I thought I saw? Yup, I did.

You can take it from there.

I turned off on a side road to a place called Tamarack Lake. This place has special meaning to me. Here's why. When my wife and I got married 13 years ago, we were staying in a cabin in South Lake Tahoe. One morning we drove over Luther Pass to Hope Valley to go fishing at Tamarack Lake. This lake to be exact. The only difference was, there was a lot more water in it then. Today it was just a mud hole. There were also about a million mosquitos at the lake that day, too. Some what disappointing.

Back on the main road I got down to where the creek was. Second disappointment of the day. The creek was almost dry. I passed and headed down hill. I figured I could stop at Caples and soak some PB, see if I could add a couple more to today's tally.

But, you know me. I can't pass by Red Lake without at least stopping. I grabbed my lure rod with a silver Panther Martin and hooked a silver Kastmaster to my license holder. Walked, talked, and slung the lures. The Panther Martin was ignored, but the Kastmaster scored one Brookie about 12" and one Cutthroat about 10".

Wait a minute! Isn't a Rainbow, a Brookie, and a Cutthroat in one day a Hat-Trick? Anyone know the rules? I'm sure I've caught three different species in the same day, I just never paid that much attention.

Well, that's it for a high country Thursday and a new lake that I haven't reported on before. Trying to keep it interesting.

Till the next adventure.

Mark