YES, Fishing

Today was an instant replay of November 13th. Same place, same blue skies, almost the same temperature. When I say almost, it was probably 60's on the 13th (that was Friday the 13th) and today when I left the house it was 25 degrees. What I found interesting is that 2 miles away in Martell it was 46 degrees and by the time I got to Lake Camanche it was back down to 41 degrees. I came prepared for 25 degrees. Parka, gloves, hand warmers, ear muffs. Didn't need any of them.

As far as where I fished, it was an instant replay of Friday the 13th. While I think of it, here is my rendition of the NFL instant replay of every down.

Here is where I fished

Here is where I fished

Here is where I fished.

OK, now that I got that off my chest, I got to the lake at 9:00 and had two lines with rainbow Power Bait in the water by 9:10. Oh, I brought a thermos of Mendocino Hotel blend coffee. We buy it directly from the roaster. Pretty tasty stuff.

An hour into the day and nothing to show for the rainbow Power Bait, I put the ever faithful pink Kastmaster on my little Okuma with 2# line. Ever faithful failed today. Not so much as a sniff from anything that looked like a fish.

Thinking back to Yuki and Jim on the 20th and Yuki catching one on a green Kastmaster, I thought maybe a Firetiger Kastmaster would do something. Nope, I had no clue what would work.

Then I had an epiphany. Well not exactly an epiphany. More like I looked in my tackle box and this green lure called a Magic Bullet was staring me in the face. OK, it was just laying there waiting patiently for me to get with the program. I bought the lure from the marina, a stones throw from where I was sitting (see the picture above).

Magic Bullet 1/4 oz.

I couldn't believe it. First cast, first cast, I hooked into the fish below not 10 feet from shore. 2 lbs. 7 oz. of reel screaming (remember on my Okuma) Rainbow Trout.

2 lb. 7 oz.

Suddenly I realized I didn't have my camera (it was in the truck just up the hill) so I carefully put it on the stringer, dashed up to the truck, got the camera, took a shot, because Yuki would not believe I caught this fish (and probably won't anyway) and put it back for someone else to catch.  Besides being 2 lbs. 7 oz it fell above my 2 pound rule (I don't keep anything 2 pounds or more).

Yesterday I opened my big mouth to my neighbors across the street and asked them if I caught a couple trout would they like them for dinner, making sure I put out the caveat that they don't come cleaned which was fine for them, so my reputation was on the line.

A bit after the one above, I hooked the left one in the picture below that weighted in a 1 lb. 15 oz. and just before I left the one on the right came, but it was maybe 3/4 of a pound, both on rainbow Power Bait. Enough for the neighbors dinner and keep my reputation intact.  

Dinner for the neighbors

I don't know when I'll get out next because they guys will probably be working on the kitchen all next week. I hope it doesn't go much longer, I don't have much hair left to pull out.  

Last thing, don't forget Yuki's Daughter Marisa's 2016 calendar. So go here: Marisa's 2016 Calendar and check it out. This young lady is a Biologist and one hell of a photographer. Invest some of your hard earned bucks and buy one. I got two and let me tell you, they are AWESOME.

Every One Has Said It

I was going to say Happy Thanksgiving, but everybody has already said it so I guess I'll just say Gobble, Gobble.

Oh, we're going out to eat. Still don't have a kitchen. 

Fishing Saturday.

Stay tuned.

I'm Still Here

Now that we're into the second month of the kitchen disaster and they are rebuilding it, I'm required to remain at the house while the workers spread dust all over the place.

Don't know if you've had anyone put floor tile in, but when they make the "cut to fit" pieces, it makes a LOT of dust and the dust particles are so small they go everywhere.

We're hoping that they will be done on Wednesday and since Thanksgiving is Thursday (we're going out to eat) and Friday is dedicated to put up the outside lights, I just might get out Saturday although it's supposed to be in the low 30's Friday night and only 50 during the day on Saturday. OK for me, but might be a tad cold for Yuki if he decides to go.

Yuki and Jim fished Camanche North Shore last Friday. Didn't get a bite. Then they went to the Trout Pond and Yuki landed one in the pound and a half range on a green Kastmaster, but that was all.

Since I hadn't posted in over a week, I just wanted to let you know I'm still here, just tied up for the time being.

I was over at Windknots & Tangled Lines a minute ago and Howard is thinking about bailing on his blog. We all need to go over there and tell him how much we love his blog (not him because he gets odd ideas) and how he should continue posting even if he needs to take a small vacation (as we all do from time to time). So zip over and give him a Howdy. I'll just thank you in advance.

Stay tuned.

 

Not A Bad Start

Just to bring you up to date, we've had rain for the last couple weekends and more expected this Sunday. These have been cold storms and dropped a good bit of snow in the mountains above 4000 ft. Most, if not all, of the ski resorts are open. It's a good start.

Now, Winter fishing downcountry. Back on October 30th, Yuki and I fished Lake Amador, but to no avail. I found out later that the fish were hanging out at the 35 to 50 foot depth. Had we known that at the time, we would have fished differently. Instead of trawling, we would have fished deep with Power Bait and worms out in the middle of the lake.

I heard a rumor that they began stocking Lake Camanche last Friday with a triple load of those nice Mt. Lassen Rainbows split between the North Shore, South Shore , and the Trout Pond.

Today was the first day I could get out (still dealing with the kitchen remodel thing) and the options were the three mentioned above. I wanted to fish the North Shore Day Use area that we did so well last March, but in a late decision, decided to fish the other side of the North Shore launch ramp.

I was hoping for flat ground, some place I could put out a couple rods, and enjoy the bright sun and blue skies. The place I picked was exactly that.

Have a look. 

:

The spot

Behind me.

Yuki dropped in about 9:30 (I got there about 8:45). I had two rods out, one with the ever faithful rainbow Power Bait and the other with a "secret" bait.

Somewhere around 10:30 or so I took first blood with a 1 lb. 6 oz. Rainbow on rainbow Power Bait of course. Nothing on the "secret" bait. In fact, I reeled in the line to check and the hook was empty. Re-baited with "secret" bait I put it back and tried the pink Kastmaster for a dozen or so casts.

Then Yuki landed one almost 2 pounds on rainbow Power Bait (I think he's a believer). His other rod had a crawler. A little later he got his second of the day, again on rainbow Power Bait. This one about a pound and a half.

We sat for almost two hours without a bite so decided to call it at 1:30. I was going to take part of my gear to the truck and as I got up, my rod started bouncing. I picked it up and waited for the bite, set the hook, had a split second fight and it was gone. Must have been barely lip hooked.

So with that excitement we decided to give it another half hour or so and finally left at 2:00.

Yuki decided it was my day for a picture with the fish, so here you are. I think there is a smile there somewhere.   

Me plus three

Yuki took them home and is going to smoke them. Should be yummy. He promised to drop some off his next trip to town.

By the way, I reeled in the "secret" bait again and it was gone. I think it melted because it was marshmallows. Mike's Atlas Glitter Glo Mallows to be exact, in pink of course, and I didn't have bite one, but they were gone. I'll give them another shot next time. 

Last thing on the agenda is Yuki's Daughter Marisa's 2016 calendar. I've never steered you wrong and this years is just as awesome as the last ones. So go here: Marisa's 2016 Calendar and check it out. This young lady is a Biologist and one hell of a photographer. Invest some of your hard earned bucks and buy one. I'm going to.

Remember 6 Degrees of Separation?

Here is another 3 degrees. Yuki & Muhammad Ali.

Yuki never ceases to amaze me. Still wonder who else he knows.

Halloween, The Next Day

Last night was the first "Trick or Treaters" we've had in over 14 years. Let me explain. Before we moved up the hill, we lived in a gated community for three years. Mostly retired people and what few kids were there, went to the community safe T or T spot. When we moved up the hill, we were so far out and at the end of a mile of dirt road, nobody came for the 11 years we were there.

So, let me tell you how many we had. We got 2 at 6:30 and one at 8:00. In between we got the:
    


This is my description of the group of pre-schoolers that came in mass from our neighbors house two doors down. I have to tell you, they were all just as cute as Minions. The similarity was that they were about knee high and jabbered in an indistinguishable language, at least indistinguishable to a Geezer such as myself.

So I filled their bags, pumpkins, or buckets and off they went.

Total T or T'ers? Maybe 15. Happy Halloween.

Saw a post on a local forum about fishing at Lake Amador. According to his fish finder, the fish were 35 to 50 feet down. No wonder we didn't catch anything. On the other hand, he didn't either. Now I don't feel so bad.