Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

May all your catches become Christmas tree ornaments.




See you guys next year.

Mark

Shoutout

I got an email from a company that does gear reviews. They sent it over a week ago and haven't been bugging me every day since, so the least I could do is give them a shoutout and if you're looking for something, stop in and see if they have reviewed it.

Here's the context of the email:

My name's Perry and my wife and I own OutdoorEquipment.com. We found your site through the Outdoor Blog Network and just wanted to introduce ourselves.

We're a husband/wife team that goes out and interviews outdoor junkies about their gear. We record those interviews and put them on our site so that people can have an unbiased, objective, and high quality video review. We also launch monthly contests where we give away free outdoor gear. This month we are giving away a Jetflow Raptor backpack (you can check the contest out here: http://woobox.com/t42go6)

Anyway, I just wanted to say hi and let you know about our site.

We're just getting started and trying to get the word out, but it's been a tough go-around. Everyone who sees our site loves it though!

Like I mentioned, we're just starting up and can't believe how difficult it is to get any recognition out there.

Thanks and have a great day,

Perry and Allyson

Check them out.

Mark

I Can't Believe This Happpened

After coffee and a quick stop at Walmart I headed out to Lake Amador to try my luck with those Cutbows they have out there.

Down the highway, hang a left on Ione Rd, and then a left on the road to the lake. About 50 yards in, there were two trucks parked, well you know the way they park when chatting and taking up all the road. I slowly pulled up behind the one in my lane and it drove off toward the lake. Cool, no complaints there. I followed the truck up the winding road on the front of the dam and you can't go more than 5 or 10 miles per hour because of the lousy pavement, but keeping a car length or so between us.

At the top of the dam, the truck suddenly hooked left and blocked the road. A young girl (maybe mid 20's) got out and walked toward my truck. I thought maybe she had a fishing question about the lake or something. I rolled down the window and when she walked up to the truck, she asked if I lived near here? I said I didn't live near here, but in the area. Then she just yelled at me "Stop tailgating me". I said "excuse me." "Stop tailgating me" she yelled again and turned to go back to her truck. I was flabbergasted. I didn't know what to think since I'd been a good car length behind her and we were only going 5 or 10 miles per hour, I had no idea where that came from.

But, being fast on my feet and quick with a response, I stuck my head out the window and called "Maybe you should get the hell out of the way". A favorite phrase of mine from Quigley Down Under. I mentioned it to Laurie when I got inside to check in and she just shook her head. Was this something that had occurred before and it was just my day in the barrel?    

Any way I drove over to the point where I usually fish and with the water still really low. I slowly made my way down to a spot where I could safely fish from and put out one rod with Power Bait and tried Kastmasters and Rapala's on my little Okuma. After casting my little heart out and getting nothing, I finally settled for two rods with rainbow Power Bait, one to the left and the other to the right out about 20 feet from shore.  

After a couple of hours of sitting, drinking coffee and eating cinnamon swirl coffee cake (from Starbucks) I finally got one bite. 

Lake Amador Cutbow

I would have put it back, but it was bleeding when I put the net under it, so I kept it on the stringer until I was ready to leave, then gave it to a couple of guys in the parking lot that were just getting there. I figured it was a good way to start their day. The fish was maybe 18 inches and maybe 2 pounds. I didn't bother with the tape and scale since I hadn't planned to keep it anyway. 

I don't suspect I'll be out again before Christmas so I wanted to wish everyone Merry Christmas and I hope Santa brings you all the goodies you have on your wish list.

Maybe I'll give the North Shore of Camanche a try next week. I'll let you know.

Mark

Are You Smarter When You Get Older?

Probably not. Friday I subjected myself to the Camanche Trout Pond once again. At least I didn't go through all the trouble of launching the Float Tube Cumberland this time.

I had a spot close to where the "good" fishing is normally and put out two rods with slip sinker rigs and rainbow Power Bait. Then I proceeded to plant my butt on the retaining wall and wait.  

It's not that there weren't any fish being caught (two or three that I saw), but they were few and far between. Most seem to be taken on a Power Worm under a sinking bobber. In the past couple of years since the new management took over the lake (and pond) the methods of catching have all gone to hell. Things like Kastmasters (tried several colors), Power Bait (tried several colors and several Pro-Cure bait scents), for the float tubers, certain flies, have all gone out the window. 

Now there is a kid out there (Dillion) that fishes the pond on a regular basis and even he wasn't catching anything. He's one of those that runs around the lake (young and energetic) and chases the school (which consisted of about 15 fish on Friday) and tries to take them on any of the 10 or so lures he has in his lure box. 

Let's talk about stocking. 600 pounds, three times since the pond "re-opened" for trout fishing maybe a month ago or so. At least that was what I got out of the "stocking" board at check-in and when you take out the number that the 18 (that I saw on Friday) pelicans and numerous cormorants ( I didn't bother trying to count them) take, that doesn't leave very many for those that pay $11.00 to fish there.  

6 of the 18 pelicans

More of the pond

So I guess I'll have to stick to the North Shore Day use Area, when I feel the need to fish Camanche this winter.


As Porky Pig would say, That's, That's, That's all folks.

Mark

Unsafe Conditions For Fishing

I'm sure you all have seen the reports of rain that we received in the last week. As National News goes, you would have expected us in the West to have been washed away with all the flooding they've been showing you. Let me assure you that they only show you the good stuff.

They will give you one street out of all of Sacramento that has flooded and make it seem that all of Sacramento looks that way or they will give you one of the local creeks (Arcade Creek or Dry Creek are good examples) has overflowed it's banks and make you think every creek and river is overflowing their banks. T'is not the case. All this news coverage you've seen is a pretty typical event when it rains a lot in Northern California.

One of the news stories was the fear that the Truckee River was going to overflow it's banks and flood out all the residents in the area. What area? The Truckee River runs 121 miles from the dam at Tahoe City to Pyramid Lake and it turned out that the rain came as snow and the river was fine. All that aggravation for nothing and the same aggravation applies to the Valley. 

So what does this have to do with me going fishing today? Last Thursday I checked out Bear River Reservoir and today I wanted to continue up the hill to see if any of the other lakes could be fished. As I passed Silver Lake I noticed that the lake is starting to freeze over. There is still a good portion of the lake open, but to access it you'll be required to find a place to park that is not a foot deep in snow and then walk the distance of a couple of football fields in that foot deep snow to get to fishable water.

I continued on with Caples Lake or Red Lake in my sights. I bypassed Caples Lake and shot (very slowly) over Carson Pass for Red lake. In the picture below I'm parked at the local pitstop at the pass (7990 feet elevation) and you can see how the parking lot looks. The road from 8000 feet was just like that. Not 4 wheel drive type road, but slippery none the less.
 

Pitstop parking lot

Same parking lot back toward the way I came.

Jumped over the pass only to find Red Lake frozen over. OK, Plan B, back to Caples Lake. I had watched for a good pull off on the way up and this was the only one plowed. You can see how far down to the lake it was in 12 to 18 inches of snow. Walking down there would not be a pretty picture. 

The only plowed pull out at Caples

Oh, did I mention the next storm due today? Close, but not quite here yet.

Same pull out looking Northwest.

I drove back to the usual fishing spots at Caples and all I could find is snow, snow, and more snow. Had I been able to find, even a small pull off, I would have had to negotiate areas that are difficult to walk down when they are dry let alone have 12 to 18 inches of snow on them. No need for a broken leg or a dip in the lake today.

Since there was to be no fishing today I thought I'd just take a couple of spectacular nice photos of the view from Carson Spur on the way back. Risking life and limb by stopping in an avalanche area I got out (sign says no stopping, parking, or pedestrians) I shot these for your pleasure.    

Northwest

North

Northeast

For those of you in the warm conditions back East, I hope this helps you cool off some. At the time I'm writing this, the previously mentioned storm is just north and moving in my direction. The last three storms produced just short of 11 inches of rain to add to the 10 inches we've already had this year. No more dry, powdery dirt here.

I did stop at Bear River Reservoir on the way back and the gate is closed until next spring. I could have driven around it, but I hear the fine is $500 if you're caught and a walk of 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile was just not in the cards especially with the storm coming.  

Maybe I'll hit Lake Amador or Lake Camanche later this week when the storm is gone, since I have neither errands to run or remodeling (my part is done) to do.  

I'll let you know what happens.

Marlk