You know the Secret Lake (the one that everybody knows about). Yuki and I had visions of Brown Trout, cool mountain air, and floating crickets at the inlet.
We were set. Purchased 30 large. Sounds kind of gangsterist, 30 Large.
We left La Casa Kautz at a little after 0900. Stopped for donuts and coffee in Pine Grove and we were on our way up Highway 88.
The Secret Lake, Fall, Spawning Browns. I was giddy with anticipation.
Turned right on Tiger Creek Road, got in about 2 miles and THE ROAD WAS CLOSED. WHAT???
Who would do such a thing to two fishermen with great expectations?
The local energy company (Pacific Gas & Electric) has been on a campaign to (finally) remove dead trees and anything that could cause a power line failure, which in turn could cause a catastrophic fire like the one last year that erased the town of Paradise, California or any of the many others that burned hundreds of thousands of acres.
So, when will the road be open? The gentleman we talked to said not until the end of the year. By then it'll be butt deep in snow at the Secret Lake. He suggested we could fish Lake Tahoe (funny guy) or San Francisco Bay (he's becoming less funny), possible Pyramid Lake (now I'm ready to hit this guy with something).
And then he casually drops this little tidbit. The area below the Power House on Tiger Creek and the Secret Lake will probably be closed to fishing from now on because of over fishing. They say, "Don't kill the messenger" and it was a good thing I had a seat belt on because I was on my way out of the truck to do just that.
So we sucked it up, made a U-all can turn, and headed back to the highway.
My dreams of 24 inch Browns........Gone.
Our options were Bear River, Silver Lake, or Caples Lake. We decided on Bear.
Found the lake to be a tad low, but it is October.
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The white strip across the top of the dam is the high water mark. |
I drove down the side of the lake and backed up almost to the dam.
Then we crawled down the rocks (in the picture below) until we could find a place to sit and put out 4 rods. Yuki did two with crawlers and immediately brought in a 10/11 inch Rainbow.
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Fishing down there |
I put out one rod with rainbow Power Bait and the other a cricket (remember I had 30 Large) under a bobber.
And there we sat until 1:00 pm when we decided to call it a day.
Took a few shots around the lake for you viewing pleasure.
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Across from us |
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To our left |
As it turned out, Yuki 1 - Mark Zip.
I am saddened that the Secret Lake is no more. I'm saddened that the area below the Power House is no more. But Winter is coming and they should start planting Camanche shortly. Big Mt Lassen Rainbows are on the horizon. Excitement is ramping up.
Stay tuned.