Baseball Season Begins

This should get you ready.

If you like Creedence Clearwater Revival

CCR

You'll like this:

Centerfield

John Fogerty

The  Boys Of Spring are back.

Go Giants. It's an even numbered year.

It Was A Nice Day

I drove out to Lake Camanche to renew my yearly pass.

North Shore launch ramp 1-7-2016.

Remember this?

Today, same place. Can't even get out to where we've fished earlier this year.

3-29-2016

The cove where we fish often. 

3-10-2016

Today.

3-29-2016

 Drove over to the Trout Pond. 

Sunshine and blue skies

The clouds indicate snow in the mountains

Yes, I did wet a line and yes I got skunked again, BUT I did get a drive-by from one about 2 pounds. I was using a gray speckled Crappie jig. Maybe next time.

This was more about getting my pass renewed since it expires on Thursday.

Yuki And I Figured Out The Problem

We hit the road at 9:00 this morning with the Middle Bar Bridge in the cross hairs. As a refresher, Middle Bar Bridge is an arm of Lake Pardee and part of the Mokelumne River basin. You can fish off the bridge, but can't touch the ground around it so if you catch a fish, a pier net is a must.

It's a short 5 mile drive from the house so we were there in a flash after a coffee and donut stop, set up in the middle of the bridge which has been good in the past, and since the water level was up, the prospects were good.  

Middle of the bridge

One way

The other way

Downstream toward Lake Pardee

 After an hour or so without a bite, I noticed this.

X marks the spot?

Moved over to this spot. There must be some omen here with the bright orange X and it was the only one on the bridge. Was it telling me something?

Upstream

 

 

 

Fished another hour with out a bite and said "screw it" let's go to the Trout Pond. Apparently not an omen.

Got through check-in with a "stocked today". Forgot this was a holiday weekend, this being Good Friday and all. Can you say "Combat Fishing"?

I think the entire population of Sacramento, Stockton, and Modesto was there. The only good thing was one of the best fishing places (a dock) was empty just waiting for us. So I set up one rod with rainbow Power Bait and Yuki set one up with a meal worm. On the other rods we started throwing lure after lure after lure with no success while people around us caught fish after fish.

I finally went to one of the guys I saw pull a couple in and asked him what he was using. It was a gray colored Crappie jig. Of course, all my Crappie jigs were at home in the garage. I did have a gray colored Power Worm and a jig head, but they wouldn't touch it.

So, back to the title "Yuki And I Figured Out The Problem". Since I haven't caught a fish since January 28th, I must be cursed. I blame my lack of concentration on the contractor that destroyed the kitchen. That has to be the answer.

Skunk #7

Maybe next time I should take my Crappie jigs.    

Hey, I'm Still Here

How about a little update.

Haven't been fishing since March 11th.

The tile floor (installed by real tile people) is in and they did a great job.

Just a peek

A closer peek

The kitchen cabinets are in, but they did them all wrong. Should have been 3/4 adjustable shelves and they put in full, not adjustable shelves. We took them anyway because waiting for them to be redone would probably be another 6 months.

Discovered last Friday that the color they painted the walls (and the master bedroom) was a couple shades darker than the rest of the house. We released them from any more painting and we will repaint the kitchen.

Because of the cabinet screw-up the counter installation has been put off a month. Now scheduled for April 25th. Once the counters are in, the appliances can be installed. We have a new oven, dishwasher, new garbage disposal, and new range top.

When it's done, it'll be a new kitchen.

Nothing being done yesterday, I could have gone fishing, but it was pouring. Today and tomorrow they'll be back so no fishing until maybe Thursday.

Stay tuned.    

California Drought Update

The "gauge" of whether we are in a drought is usually water levels in the lakes. The main lake that every body looks at is Folsom Lake.

Currently there is so much water in Folsom Lake that there are 5 gates open releasing 18,040 cfs (as of yesterday) into the American River. While everyone locally is in a tizzy because all this water (remember we are in a drought) is running, eventually, into the ocean, one has to remember that Folsom Lake is a flood control lake. Much as we would like to see the lake full to the brim there must be some space for all that (and there is a bunch) snow when it melts in the spring and summer. 

Folsom Dam with 5 gates open.

So lets look at some of the lakes I fish.

Lake Amador - Full.
Lake Pardee - Full. Open for fishing as of last Friday.
Lake Camanche - Getting there.
New Melones Reservoir - Still a puddle, but rising. There is only one river that feeds New Melones so it takes some time to fill. Also keep in mind that New Melones is a really big (2,400,000 acre feet of water) lake.
Of course all the upcountry lakes are, for the most part, frozen for the winter. They will fill when all that snow I mentioned above melts.

So, is the drought over in California? Here's the kicker, we may have a lot of water, a lot of snow, and continued storms raging across the state, but until Jerry Brown (Our illustrious Governor. Some of you know him as Governor Moonbeam) says its over, its not over.

That's it for now.

Scored, But Not A Fish

On the spur of the moment I headed out to Lake Camanche North Shore to try my luck once again. I thought about Bill Trussell's suggestion of using meal worms and I had my rod with the slip bobber rig, but the local pet shop didn't open until way past when I went by (must have bankers hours) so I shelved that for another day.

I stopped over at the usual area by the house boats, but there were some guys driving a tractor around and with the water level higher than last time, our usual fishing spot was GONE, yeh.

So, back over to the North Shore Day Use area where we've fished many time (you'll recognize the white pipe in the photo's below) and out with one rod and rainbow Power Bait, the other with Kastmasters.

After I gave up on the Kastmasters and went back to PB

I might note, at this time, that the wind was blowing straight across the lake and right into my face at about 15 mph. Half ounce sinkers were needed on both PB rods.

Where we've fished since, forever.

Across the lake toward South Shore ramp.

Note the white pipe

After an hour of wind in my face and waves splashing on my sneakers, I had an epiphany. Why not go to the other side of the lake and the wind will be at my back? What a concept. OK, thoughts like that are hard when you're a Geezer.

Did I mention they hadn't planted North Shore since February 19th, almost a month?

Instead of going to the South Shore Ramp I went to the Pond. They did plant the Pond on February 4th just a short week before. A better outlook than North Shore.

Combat fishing area of the Trout Pond

The wind was MUCH calmer at the pond and I set up at a spot I hadn't fished before just to try something new.

Opposite end of the Pond

One rod out with PB and the other with Kastmasters.

See, nice and calm.

I did see a couple of fish taken over at the Combat Fishing area, but didn't wander over to see on what. Fished on for a while and then a couple Pelicans came cruising by right where my rod was. I thought I'd sling a Kastmaster at it and try to scare it off.

Well, my aim was a little off and I hit it dead center. It took off like a bat out of Hell, but my lure was still attached to it's feathers. Honest, I wasn't trying to hit it, it just happened. It was an accident.  Really.

I do have to say it was the most exciting "run" I've had in many a month. Drag was screaming, line was pealing off the reel, heart was pumping, not because I hooked a pelican, but I felt bad that I had. I finally broke the line. It was all I could do.

A little later I went the other side of the pond and fished off the dock with a Kastmaster to see if I could rustle up something over there. Guess who was there? A white pelican with a pink Kastmaster hanging off one of it's feathers. Ah, it'll be OK when that feather falls off.

No fish, skunk number six. Maybe next time.

Cool Stuff In The Mail

Back on February 14th, Howard at Windknots & Tangled Lines did a post of the winner of his t-shirt giveaway. He informed me that I won.

I was shocked, I never win anything. Well, almost never. I did win a cool painting from Joel over at
 A Year On The Fly

Monday I got a box in the mail from Howard and man, did it have some cool stuff in it. Besides the Windknots long sleeve t-shirt (in my size by the way and I'm not a little guy) there were lures, a lot of decals from all over the place, a beer holder (I'll have to settle for a water bottle holder as I rarely drink), Hook covers and more. Be assured, it will all be used. 


Thank you, thank you, thank you Howard my friend and fellow Geezer.

Now, if all of you could help me with the ONE thing my wife asked me to do 19 years ago when we married and she reminds me every so often that I've not fulfilled her request. WIN THE LOTTERY. I'm still trying. 

Maybe some day I'll post a picture of yours truly in the t-shirt or maybe I'll just put it in a picture frame and hang it on the wall.

Stay tuned.

Not Even Close To A Record

On the drive home from New Melones on Thursday I was commenting that I can't believe that I've been skunked five times (February 7th through March 3rd) in a row. I didn't think I'd ever been skunked that many times in a row. Apparently as an aging Geezer, my memory is not as good as it used to be.

I went back to my journal and checked and to my disbelief, Not once, but twice I've been skunked five or more times in a row. January 16th through February 4th 2013 I got skunked five times in a row. Note the time span similarity.

But the really BIG dry spell came from January 15th through April 10th 2009. Skunked eleven times in a row. I might also note that it was at nine different lakes too.

Of course that year I only caught 246 trout so I guess this current slump isn't so bad after all. On a side note, that was also the year they stocked Caples Lake several times a week for the entire summer and an eleven to twenty-five fish day was not unusual.

OK, I'm better now. 

Yesterday

Where we went to get the:

Yuki and I thought maybe changing lakes might change our luck. So after a coffee stop at Starbucks in Angels Camp, we headed to the New Melones Puddle.

Still Low

 See the line right under the bridge? That's the high water mark.

Another Direction

To the left of where we were

I figure that if I don't post when we actually go fishing, you won't come back. They are stocking next week. Maybe we can give it another try and like Bill's suggestion, with meal worms.

Stay tuned.

Five In A Row

Need I say more?