On Hiatus

HI, just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be gone from blogging for a few weeks.

We've sold our house and all my time will be taken up packing, taking boxes to storage, moving to a new residence, and arranging this and that.

If I'm able to snatch a day of fishing, I'll put up a post. If not, I should be back mid-April sometime.

So while I'm slaving away moving 11 years of "stuff", you all can take a vacation.

As Arnold said, "I'll be back".

Mark

All I Was Looking For Was A Little Peace And Quiet

I could have stayed home and been bored. There isn't much you can do when your house is on the market. It's a"Keep the place spiffy" kind of thing. OR, I could have gone out to Lake Camanche and sat in the sunshine, been warm, and get a little vitamin D. So I did.

I got out to the lake at North Shore around 8:45 and the girl at check-in said they planted South Shore and the Trout Pond yesterday. OK, I had no desire to get into the combat fishing that's the Trout Pond the day after they plant.

So I drove out to our little cove below the parking lot at the Day Use Area. Set up my chair and put one rod out with rainbow Power Bait and the other one with a crawler and a couple white floaty things. Drank a cup of coffee and ate an apple danish. One has to get their priorities straight.

See, nice and quiet

Just after 9:30 the DFW pulled in and planted the launch ramp and the other side of the trailer parking lot. There were a couple house boats and a couple guys launching at the same time as the plant.

Suddenly I noticed about two dozen fish zipping by, right in front of me. My guess would be a trout can travel at about 15 mph. An educated guess, mind you. These two dozen were going at least 60 mph. They were hauling trout butt and heading South.  

They went that way, FAST.

It was still quiet, warm, and sunny until the Geese opened their collective mouths. Tune them out is what I did. Then 10:00 rolled around and you know what that means. The fish started biting.

Nice and calm.

Oh wait, it's Friday the 13th. Of course I should have known. Last Friday the 13th, two 9 pound Rainbows, same spot. This Friday the 13th, I would not be left alone to absorb the sunshine and blue skies.

Fish one through five were little 12" DFW stocker Rainbows. Fish six & eight were Mt. Lassen Rainbows about a pound to pound and a half. Fish seven, nine, and ten were little stockers.

Oh, I tried not to catch any. I used Mouse Tails, Kastmasters, and even white Crappie jigs, but they only wanted rainbow Power Bait on a slip sinker rig. Every time I threw it out, they bit until I decided that either 12 or 1:00 pm, which ever came first, I would call it a day.

Now you say, of course 12 would come before 1:00, but I wasn't talking about Noon, I was talking about a dozen fish or 1:00 pm. As it turned out, 1:00 pm came first and I headed home.

No, I didn't keep any. I put them all back for another day or for someone else to catch. 

Getting ready for a warm weekend.

There is a boat show going on at Cal Expo this weekend. The sales people are pushing the fact that Folsom Lake has more water in it this year than it had last year. I thought it kind of funny and that's why I mention it because the water level in the lake is 23 inches higher than last year. That is definitely a reason to buy a boat.

So between the geese and the fish biting, there was no peace and quiet at the lake today.

I've Been Beat Up

I've been thoroughly yelled at because I didn't mention Minh's (One of the guys out at the pond) 10.39 pound trout he caught yesterday. He caught others too.

So, here you are Buddy.

This is what 10.39 pounds of Mt. Lassen Rainbow Trout looks like.

Minh

Bill Trussell asked what Mouse Tails looked like. Here is what they are.

They come in 10 colors and you fish them like a rubber worm (for all you Bass fishermen out there). You can also put them on a slip sinker rig and just let them float around until the trout find them,.

You can find them at most places. I got mine at Walmart, Big 5, and Cabela's. 

It Was All About Mouse Tails

Last Friday when I was at the Trout Pond, everybody was catching on Mouse Tails. I haven't bought any because I'd been doing OK with Kastmasters and Power Bait, but decided I need to get some just to stay in tune with the catching.

Saturday I headed down to town and hit Walmart and Big 5 picking up 7 of the 10 colors they come in. I came home and ordered the other 3 from Cabela's with a few other supplies I needed.

Today was the day to fish so I started at the North Shore where I had some business to take care of and then called Yuki to let him know they didn't plant yesterday like the last couple weeks (plant on Monday). We decided to meet at the Pond and work the back section where it's been the best the last few times I/we've been there.

The back side

I set up on the far right beyond that last tree with one rod out with a red/brown Mouse Tail (actually the package calls them Mice Tails) on a slip sinker rig and an orange/green on the other rod to cast and retrieve. Those two seemed to be the "go to" colors last Friday.

Nothing happened.

Down the way I heard "Power Bait" and switched the first rod to rainbow Power Bait, still using the Mouse Tail on the other.

After a while I switched to the 1/8 oz. pink Kastmaster and started casting that while the rod with the Power Bait started bouncing. First fish brought to hand was two pounds and one ounce. Then I caught one on the pink Kastmaster that was a pound three ounces. Finally the third and last fish was a pound and four ounces caught on Power Bait. The Mouse Tails didn't work so well today. 

Me and three

I brought all three home for Bob just in case I might need my driveway plowed if we ever get any snow, that is. Bob's had it pretty easy these last two years. We've only had one time where we had 7 1/2 inches of snow and needed the road plowed.

1 of 3, this one at 2' - 1"

Yuki? I guess it was Yuki hex day. The only bite he got was from a little bitty Bass that took his Mouse Tail.

I guess it just goes back to "give them what they want today". I'll try Mouse Tails some other time. 

OK, I'm Worn Out

The plan was to meet Yuki at the Trout Pond and take up where we left off Tuesday. Yuki e-mailed that he was sick and had to pass. I waffled about going or not going. I ended up going.

No Float Tube Cumberland this time, only a fly rod over at the back side of the pond. I figured I'd do a little nymph under a bobber practice. I'm not very good at that, in fact I don't think I've ever caught anything under an indicator.

First up was a gray something. Hows that for a fly name. I've got so many flies I don't know half their names. Next up was a pink Naked Lady. How does he remember that one, you ask? Come on........... Then a red Naked Lady. Then a Prince Nymph (OK, I remember that one because there was one attached to the dorsal fin of the second trout ever on a fly rod). Then I tried a couple different Bugger styles from a fly box I have full of different Bugger styles.

About then frustration set in and I put on a Thin Mint. They have to bite on something. Before I cast the Thin Mint for the first time, I mentioned to the gentleman next to me that it was 10:10 and the biting should begin shortly.

Begin it did. Almost every cast was a bump and I did manage to get one to stay on the line for a few seconds. Then at 10:30 it stopped as if someone just shut it off. I flung Buggers for a while longer and then went to my truck for spinning gear.

I noticed that most were fishing Mouse Tails and not having any, put out one rod with rainbow Power Bait (of course) and the other with Salmon Eggs (trying to imitate roe) under a bobber. I was surprised that I actually got a couple hits on the eggs, but nothing stuck.

Then the Power Bait line went straight and I picked up the rod. As is my manner of fishing, I put my index finger on the line to feel the bite and did just that. I felt the bite, lifted the rod to set the hook (my finger still one the line), and the fish went wild ripping the line along my finger and cutting a nice gouge in it. Don't think I'll do that again. Right, as is my manner of fishing. The fish managed to wrap itself around the line with the bobber and with me trying to untangle it, got away.
  
Next bite on Power Bait (I now had two rods in with PB), pulled the line, set the hook, and brought a 3+ lb. to the net. I reached for my camera which wasn't there, but still in the truck, damn. I cut the line (2 lb. rule applied) and put it back for another day.

At 12:30 I decided to call it a day because I was getting a little hungry. I packed up everything and as I picked up the last rod, low and behold there was a fish attached to it. I never saw it bite, it never pulled the line, the only thing I can think is that it grabbed it as I picked it up. Who knows. I wasn't keeping one fish so I cut this line also and he went back for another day.

So the Tuesday skunk smell was gone and I think I'll wander back out there again next Tuesday.

Stay tuned.      

Your Local Fly Shop

Last post I mentioned that I didn't have any pink hackle to make a Pinkie Variant, so I used white.

This morning I had to run down to Sacramento (an hour and a half one way) to drop off some papers to our CPA. I got there at 8:30, dropped off said papers and since I was in Sacramento thought I'd drop over to a couple of the local fly shops to pick up some pink, if they had it.

A little after 9:00 I ended up at the front door of Kiene's Fly Shop. Sign said "Open at 10:00". Sorry, but I'm not sitting around for almost an hour and wait for them to open.

I headed back down the road.

I know that American Fly Fishing Co. doesn't open until 10:00 either. Nor does Fisherman's Warehouse for the needed 1/8 oz. pink Kastmaster I lost yesterday.

My point here is "Support your local fly shop" that doesn't open until way after you're on your way back home or shop online.

I know that most of the fishermen I talk to are up and running at the crack of dawn. Maybe fly shops and tackle shops think local fishermen will wait until 10:00 to come in an spend their hard earned money, but I for one will shop online line unless I happen to be near there when they open.

If most fishermen are like me, the tackle shops are losing a lot of money.

Bitching done for now.    

Revenge Fishing

OK, short reminder of the last post. Out at the Trout Pond, had two good hits and broke off the pink/black Wooly Bugger on both.
 

Just a reminder of what the pink/black Wooly Bugger looks like

Reminder, we have our house on the market and all my fly tying gear is in storage. Took my pretty new truck over to the storage to get said fly tying gear.

Pretty new truck

Got the box home and it was only half of the tying gear. Back in the pretty new truck the next day to storage for the other box. Forgot it was in two boxes.

Got to storage and decided to turn around before getting said second box. There is enough space between the buildings for the truck and about 18" on each side. Pulling out, managed to hit one of those yellow, cement filled, posts that they put there to keep you from hitting the building. Smunched the pretty new truck. Guess that will take care of the crying. 

Smunched truck

With second box in the truck and a pelethora of four letter words used to describe my mood, I headed home.

Now, to the title of this post. Here is where my thinking is. The fish broke the leader and took the only two pink/black Wooly Buggers I had, thus making me go to the storage to get my fly tying gear and causing me to hit the yellow post. It was all the fishes fault. Therefore I was planning to hit the Trout Pond today and get revenge.

I tied up four pink/black Wooly Buggers, a couple of pinkies (courtesy of Alan at Small Stream  Reflections for reminding me of them), and a couple pinkie variants (pinkie with white palmered hackle, I didn't have any pink).

I would have loaded the truck with the float tube and fishing gear yesterday, but something made me wait. It was a good thing because around 3:30 yesterday afternoon we got hail, lots of hail.   

Lots of hail

Loaded up and at the Trout pond at 9:15 this morning, I flippered in the direction of the other side where the previously mentioned fish problem occurred.

Headed way over there

I flippered and stripped all over that side of the pond. I got one bump on the pink/black Wooly Bugger and one on the pinkie. That was it for several hours of stripping.

Yours truly

It wasn't because there weren't fish there. They planted yesterday. It was that I couldn't catch one for the life of me. I even went to the ever faithful Thin Mint to no avail.

Around 11:30 I gave up with the float tube and headed over to the camping side of the lake where those there were pulling in trout by the dozens. I put out one rod with Power Bait and my little Okuma with the pink Kastmaster. Still I didn't get so much as a driveby. Oh, they were catching all around me, but not me.

This is not me catching a fish.

Nor is this

This is a different one than the picture above

Not me either

See, everyone is catching but me. This was a very serious hit to my ego and you know that Leo's have a big ego. My wife tells me that my head is so fat that it's a wonder I can get through a door.

To put this in perspective, I am deflated and humbled. If I get another chance, I'll be right back there shortly to kick some trout butt. I've got some ideas.