Thursday, December 18, 2014

I'm Really Getting Lazy In My Old Age

Let me explain that. I was going fishing today, period. Next Monday Juan (Breaking The Bank Blog), Yuki and I are going to hit Lake Amador so I didn't want to go there today.

When I fish Lake Camanche I usually go to the North Shore Day Use Area or the Trout Pond, but you already know that. As I was driving down the hill, I decided to go to the South Shore and fish the lake since I've never been on that side of the lake before. The Trout Pond is over that way too.

A stop at Starbucks for coffee (it was a little chilly this morning and a cup was nice) and back on the road. Turned left on the road to both North and South shores. Got to the 4 way stop (straight ahead goes to South, right goes to North. North is about half the distance of south. I went right. Closer, access I know, terminally lazy.

Got to the lake and drove out to the usual area. Eight guys fishing there, so I make a U-turn and went back toward the parking lot. Found a spot that was fairly easy access (I left my repelling gear home) and walked down to the lake.  

The spot for today
When I went through check-in, the girl said they planted day before yesterday. OK, fair enough. A good chance I might get something. Something would be good.

Two lines out and then the chatting began. Oh, did I mention there were two gentlemen just to the left of me? Turns out one lives in the same community I did before we moved up the hill. We had plenty to talk about. After the usual amount of story swapping, I went back to the red Coleman camping chair. My back was about at the end of standing for a little while. Seems it doesn't take much these days. 

The two gentlemen to my left.
Of course I asked if they'd caught anything and they had one on the stringer. I got out the the handy dandy Berkeley Digital Scale and it weighed in at 2 lbs. 3 oz. Definitely nothing to sneeze at. 

Once again I sat. Pulled one line in and started working a pink Kastmaster. Put the Kastmaster down and put the other rod back out. Sat some more. I am getting really good at sitting.

Finally...........I got a bite. Got it in and it was a Rainbow a little over a pound. I put it on the stringer, but ended up giving it to those gentlemen over there to help their stringer along. 


A little over a pound.
They packed up a little before Noon and moved over the the boat launch area (you can see it behind the fish or the picture with them in it) and as they were packing up I got a HUGE hit. Hit is the definitive word here. It was there and gone just that fast. I was reeling in my line to check the bait when it hit. What I noticed was it hit about 15 feet off shore not the 50 or so feet where I was putting my line. SO.........I put on new bait and dropped it about 20 feet off shore. I didn't even have time to set the rod down and WHAMO it was on.

I reeled, and it pulled the line. I reeled some more and it pulled some more line. When I finally got it into the net, it was one of those fish that barely fit in the net. I estimate a little over four pounds. Released and back into the water. I attempted to do a Selfie with the fish, but I won't insult you with the picture.

I had a couple errands to run in town and some chores to do at home, so at about Noon-30 I called it. I picked up one rod and low and behold, the fish below was on the line. I never noticed the bite. A quick picture and back into the lake for someone else. My estimate on this one was a little over two pounds. A nice surprise to end the day.   

2+ pounds
Not a bad day for such a lazy guy. I stopped over where the other guys were and they had added another to their stringer. A nice day was had by all. 

Like I said, Monday it's Me, Juan, and Yuki invading Lake Amador. That should be interesting.

Stay tuned.

8 comments:

  1. Too funny that you had a fish on didn't even notice it was on. Must have just been sitting there.

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  2. This reminds me so much of back in the day when I spin and bait fished. Actually good memories...thanks Mark. Have fun on Monday.

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  3. You know it makes sense that the fish are cruising nearer to the shore. Really good adjustment, Mark. Two fish over two pounds each is nothing to sneeze at. Good luck on Monday's trip and tell us how it goes.............................

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  4. Nice story Mark. There are those days when soreness seems to take hold and even several cups of Starbucks don't help. But you still made the best of it.

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  5. Oh man, those are some nice trout you caught! I'm excited for monday! Ready to limit out!

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  6. Very nice outing, Mark. Nothing wrong with sittin back and enjoying the fresh air. I love those surprise fish that you don't even know are on!

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  7. Oh and Mark, this curious mind would like to know since you keep stocker fish, how do you like to prepare them?

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    1. Don't usually keep them, but if I did, I would put a little lemon and dill inside and put them on the BBQ wrapped in tin foil. We don't each much fish.

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