Fishing-N-Code

Return of the Bass

2011-01-10T11:43:00.000-08:00

I have started Bass fishing again and haven't had much luck. Of course I start my bass fishing off in the middle of Winter. Not too smart. Lots of trips to DVL and Skinner all result in a skunk.

Shoot even a few trips to local park lakes for trout have been goose-eggs. But...

I did take 40 minutes to fish a local lake during lunch and came up with a decent bass! Who would have thought that would happen!? Certainly not me. It was pretty much by luck. Even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while.

So here he is. It looks as though he has had a tough life. Looks to have scars from a bird of prey on each side of him. But he was a sight for sore eyes. Caught on my new Sage Bass fly rod and a "near-nuff" crayfish pattern.

Mega Blog Post

2010-12-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

So I have been neglecting my blog a bit. Lots of stuff to cover but I don't have the time to do it justice. So the highlights it is.

Babies are invading my dreams, its about that time.
Lots of local, cheap, fishing
Went to Guasti with the wife to throw her new switch rod. Place was a dump and ghetto. Lots of dead fish along the shore and even a dead rat.
Prado was peaceful but hard on the fishing inclined.
Glen Helen was a strike out though some of the spin fisherman caught on power worms, no love for the baiters. The wind was so strong there were white-caps.
Pond by my friend's house has been a ton of fun. At least 6-10 fat little bluegil everytime. Shoot even two fish on one line. And one gil with had both flies in his mouth! Makes a fly fisherman feel like a champ.
Deep Creek: Water was low and clear. Had to work super hard to get any fish to take. Wandered into areas I have never been.
Santa Ana River: Good old reliable has not failed. Water is very clear and slower but still a good flow. The browns have taken over their rightful place, but are weary and super spooky. I crouched by a bank mere feet away for 10 minutes before even thinking of making a cast. The lower area is holding small wild rainbows that are so fun to admire, glad the water is finally open cause of the cold. Have to look hard to find them though. Not too many fish around really.
Diamond Valley: Went with my friend Gene and his son Jacob. They caught a nice fish or two, but it was a strike-out for my wife and I. Went back with Gene and we rented a "premium" boat. We got a little preoccupied with the electronics.
Fly Tying and Bob Marriott's Fly Fishing store: Well I think I have a replacement for bass pro. Bob Marriott's is awesome. Just got into fly typing and these guys are super helpful. I fish my own stuff now (mostly) and have been pleased with the results. Absolutely love that place. Even have a new pair of SIMMs waders.
Amy went to Oregon/Washington for work and caught an 8lb Wild Female Steel-head! What a story, but that one I'll save for her to tell.
Sponsored a Brownie troop to go to the Mt. Baldy Trout Pools for their first fishing experience.What a absolute blast. Highly recommend it for kids.

Ok here are some notable photos:

And lastly a little video of Diamond Valley Lake w/ Gene and son.

More soon, I promise!

Jenks and Mammoth

2010-10-10T18:53:00.000-07:00

Went up to Big Bear for the weekend and stayed in town. Amy and I wanted to get away.

First day was great, Gene joined us and we fooled around at the Jenks lake and the stream. Amy even caught a nice rainbow on a dry fly!

I managed a handsome warmouth.

And Gene pulled in the big bass of the day.

At the stream it was a riot of personalities, from drive by fisherman to panners. Though Amy, Gene and I were able to get into some decent bows.

We bid Gene farewell and headed back to Big Bear. And the view on the way back was stunning.

The next day we set off for the Animal Park and sponsored another resident. A three legged black bear named Huckleberry.

Afterwards we fished the stream for a few frustrating hours and headed back down the mountain. All in all a great trip.

Don't take my word for it, Gene has his own version of the days events.

Yellowstone

2010-10-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

Well the family went to Yellowstone. We did things together as well as went our separate ways. I loved the trip, but it was too short.

Some of the things not caught in the photos or video that I want to remember. And maybe expound upon later...

Lost luggage for a day
Wagon for a night
Birthday at "The Chuck House"
Bob, our awesome fly guide and he great steaks in the cold!
Wolves on the hillside and the howls
The buffalo encroachment
Amy spotting a big black bear
Our super-sweet wilderness guide and her last group tour was us!
20 degree weather from Livingston to Yellowstone.
The fire at tower junction
The double Tetons
The double Brookies
Malard's rest and my first Cut-throat
The secret brookie spot
Cabins with a wonderful back-eddy
Amy's pig whitefish
Lamar Valley
Mammoth Hot Springs and the elk
Amy's Stetson

Well you get the idea. Here is a like to the photos and videos....
Yellostone Photos
Yellowstone Video part 1
Yellowstone Video part 2
Yellowstone Video part 3

More info to come later.

Mammoth - 2010

2010-09-07T22:18:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago my wife's boss came back from a vacation in Mammoth. The pictures she showed Amy got her all fired up to get lost in the wilderness. Within 24 hours, wanderlust for Mammoth had set in so bad for my wife, that the next thing you know, we were planning a spontaneous trip for the weekend.

I was certainly in no mood to disagree. The weeks at work had been rougher than ussual with Dennis leaving and our website melting faster than the polar ice caps. I was ready for a break.

All in all Mammoth was a fishing/scouting trip. We tried to hit up a bunch of different places in a couple days so we would know where to come back to.

Hot Creek started our trip and boy did it test our mettle. These fish have seen it all. These are wild trout with very large eyes and full fins that are superbly conditioned. Getting one of the larger units on the end of a line is pure fun.

We caught a couple at hot creek in about 4 hours. Lots of fish looking at our flies. But holy cow they are picky!

After that we packed up and headed to the mosquito flats area. We didn't actually get onto the flats as it was packed and we didn't want to hike. So we fished the streams leading up to the flats with some success similar to fishing the Santa Ana River. Though one noticeable exception. MY FIRST BROOK!

Ok, so maybe he wasn't the biggest fish around. But wow! He had little tiger patterns on his top and pink dots on his sides. With little red fins with white tips.

We headed back down a bit from the flats and found a campground still nestled in the ravine leading up to the flats. There we found prime fly fishing water with tons of trout jumping clear out of the water chasing bugs. We spend a few hours trying to catch them with dry flies, only managing one fish! We walked away scratching our heads.

On our way back to the cabin for the evening, we saw a fly fishing outfitter still had his doors open as the sun set. We walked in and explained all the crazy activity with the jumping trout and asked what we did wrong. He let us in on the secret. These fish weren't feeding on the surface. They were chasing emergers wiggling up from the bottom trying to reach the surface. Had the trout been feeding on the surface, they would be more delicate and slurp the flies, not breach full-body into the air doing cartwheels.

Here is a shot of the trusty VUE getting us to that campground with the emergers hatching. I have video of the fish that is linked below.

The next day we decided to check out the Mammoth Lakes region (Twin Lakes, Lake Mary etc.) And there I was able to catch another wonderful brookie at a dam. No real good pic of him because I wanted to make sure I released him without stressing him too much.

Amy also drew a crowd around her as she fly fished a tiny run of water before it went over the falls. Amy caught a couple there. And the crowd would audibly ooh and ahh as strikes on her fly were either missed or landed.

In the afternoon we checked out a couple more creeks and decided not to fish them. They were too overgrown of fast moving.

With all the streams checked, we decided to go back from more punishment at hot creek. Even though Amy scarred a poor racer snake bonkers, she was a trooper and ready to go back.

And Amy's ingenuity never ceases to amaze me. At the very end of the day she tried on a special secret artificial and managed 4 beauties in just an hour and a half versus 2 in four hours the previous day!

And these were not small fish! Another fly fisherman even walked over to congratulate her. She and I were the only people for two days at Hot Creek to catch anything (at least in the public zone).

So with our final day we started to head back. We visited a DFG hatchery and fed the fish several times. Even saw a massive 10 pound trout that has eluded the truck pickups for quite some time.

Feel free to take a look at the video of our trip.

Float tubbin - FAIL

2010-09-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

Ok: I am shame (as the Japanese girls say). I have always despised float tubbers. They get too close to your fishing spot and foul your lines and catch right right on top of you. Among other various things I find them difficult fishermen to enjoy being around. Did I mention that I think they are terrible people and morally bereft? Well maybe they aren't that bad.

Yet I have decided to try and join their ranks. As the fishing gets more crowded at the streams and I feel like a change might be in order. I decided to purchase my first float tube. Hopefully, I will remember all the things I hate about tubbers and keep my dignity when I see boats catching left and right.

To get used to the idea of floating around and the process of setting everything up by myself; I took my new tube, fins, and waders over to my parent's house to try it in their pool.

Of course, my Dad snapped a picture of me as I floundered around trying to get the hang of it.

Anyway, the next day I went up to Jenks Lake. At Jenks I got all suited, fly rod assembled, float tube pumped and I forgot the retaining bar!!! I had never been so deflated. Hah.

Back to the stream with me. But I think an Angel was watching out for me. It seems that everywhere I turned, with all those crazy people running around the banks of the stream, I found pool after pool stocked with bows. :)

BUGG!!!! KILLER BUGGS!!!

2010-09-07T21:28:00.000-07:00

Ok so maybe they aren't "killer" but man there are MILLIONS and they get all over you!!

For the past several weeks Amy and I have been fishing down off of Glass rd. Things have been hit and miss with all the crowds and noise. Also, the stocks have been getting steadily better pushing the browns out of their habitat.

Even so, Amy and I have had success catching both species. Rah... behold... Excalibur!

This dark brown had been hiding out under a log. He bolted out quick to down a little dry fly. I shall name him, Tall dark and handsome!

Ok now on to the bugs. The recent warm weather seems to have unleashed a storm of insects! What these little guys are, I have no clue. But they have absolutely taken over. It has also affected the fishing as I am guessing that the wild fish are completely stuffed with these little bugs.

They crawl up your boots and pants. Drop on your head, brushed off your shoulders. Even crawl on your face and in your mouth. Plewy, Amy and I had enough. Luckily the further upstream the less they get!

And it is back to some classic creek fishing! I nabbed 3 browns out of this solid pool. This guy was the biggest.

All in all, I sure hope to do some alternative fishing. Going up to the stream is starting to feel like a rut! Time to mix it up a bit.

The mountain stream has had its moments

2010-07-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

For the past couple of weeks I have been fishing the local mountain stream with either my wife or my parents, or a mix of both.

The fishing has been good to great. But the mosquitoes have been thick! Lots of little browns smashing dry flies were a constant for all of our trips.

Amy has been a champ through it all, and has really started to get the hang of catching these spooky fish! Though her talent for catching the big rainbows still outmatches mine.

Amy pulled this beauty out of her favorite pool down from the turn-out. It put up quite a fight as it raced frantically from one hiding hole to the next. I thought for sure Amy's line wouldn't hold under that much abuse!

As a special treat, I caught the largest brown so far while up there. He matched the area so well that I missed him several times. It was tough to judge his size until we got this old guy in the net.

Another picture of this fish from the side; he sure was yellow!

Over the couple of weeks, the stockings have increased and so have the people. Lots of families and wadders up there for the day. We are starting to see clumps of stocked bows in the runs now. Before, we wouldn't see that at all. Hopefully, the stockings will continue to get better though Aug-Sept.

Amy and I found a riffle that deepened out into a pool. The pool was exposed to the sun but still contained about 15 stocked rainbow. We took turns casting to the run and the other person would stand down stream in the slow current awaiting the fish. We caught several and released them back to their friends with great success! Though I wish I could say that the kids that followed us were as nice.

The bows were so violent in the fast current we had some difficulty keeping them from straightening our lite-wire hooks. But all in all it worked out fine!

I had a neat moment with Amy. One of those Babe Ruth call out moments. Amy was fishing a bend that broke into two riffles. She was working the near riffle when I came up behind her to observe. While she had some luck in the nearby riffle, I noticed the far riffle had a deepening in the middle, a nice bowl. I suggested she cast to the head of the riffle and left it drift over that deepening. Sure enough, first cast was all it took to fetch a nice little brown!

I will say, that as much fun as the stocked fish are, I prefer the beauty of the wild browns and bows. I am starting to form the opinion that these large stockers don't belong in these tiny creeks. They force out the wilds from habitat and eat any fish roe they find. However, they don't stay in the stream long enough to do too much damage (if the put and take fisherman have anything to say about it).

And this last little guy was another highlight for me. I had found a very slow running pool about 3 feet deep, caused by branches from an overhanging tree drooping into the water. I saw this lone fish tucked into the very bottom center of the pool and not budging. All I had tied on was a tiny dry fly. I got right up behind him. Nearly on top of him. I casted 2-3 times and let the fly sit on the slow moving surface. Nothing, he didn't budge. The fourth cast, and he rose kicking out with his tiny tail to cover the vertical distance to the surface and took the fly. As soon as he turned to head back down to the bottom, I lifted my tip and had him!

The poor guy looked pretty beat-up. But he had plenty of strength left when we released him back into he pool.

Check out all the photos for the month here.

Local Stream with the folks

2010-07-12T21:29:00.000-07:00

My Mom and Pop joined Amy and I for a morning at the stream. After much indecision we figured out were along the stream we were going to stop. We stopped at a car park right next to the stream and counted our blessings no one was there already.

My parents wasted no time and were fishing w/ velveeta before I could bat an eye. Amy and I suited up and put together the fly rods. My Mom takes top honors for the first fish and my Dad for the biggest. Amy and I hit up a couple shallow runs and were rewarded with several browns on dry flies. Then my parents would follow cleaning up all the stocked bows we left in our wake! Though my parents were a healthy reminder of why I don't bait fish anymore. Nearly all their fish were gut hooked and bleeding. Luckily, they love trout and were glad to keep their catch. And thank goodness all they caught were stocked bows.

Even with all the great fishing, it only lasted about an hour. While I proceeded to film everyone and loose my still camera, we were all torn apart by massive hordes of mosquitoes. I am still recovering from all the bites! At the end of the hour, Amy and I found my parents in the car waiting. They had already called it quits due to the mosquitoes (I can't hardly blame them).

So we decided to pack it up and have a morning food break at another part of the stream. No mosquitoes there thankfully, just a bunch of baby flies.

So it was the shortest trip yet, but the fish gods made up for it with an action packed session. On the way home, we caught the tail-end of the local car club gathering at Johnny Rockets. Even found a nice dark blue challenger!

Video of the trip here.

Amy brings in the clinch!

2010-07-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Amy and I went to an old favorite creek early Saturday. We were at the stream and rigged just before 6:00 AM. Even then, we were not the first fishermen there. A dad with his two-year old was out ahead. Funny though, once they were rigged, they headed upstream. I almost stopped them, figuring they were new to the area and didn't know where they planted the bows. I thought better of it and figured I would join them later in the day to see how they faired.

Amy and I fished from the turnout down through the cabins. It was hopeful right from the get go, I managed on my second cast to catch a tiny brown. Unfortunately, I wasn't seeing the stocked bows and I started to wonder if that dad had the right idea.

Since it was a holiday weekend and supposedly the DFG had stocked the previous week as well. We thought it best to head to our favorite pools right off. That turned out to be a good idea. Amy and I both worked two sizable pools about 10 feet from each other. I had a big stocked bow hook up, but being barbless and a 2 wt rod, I didn't set the hook very well and he shook off. I did manage a nice sized brown out of the same pool. He had no problem setting the hook by himself.

I will say that the real star of the day was Amy. After I landed the brown, she hooked up with a monster bow that we landed. And wouldn't you know it, I tried to record the epic fight, only to double tap the record button and wind up with nothing! That'll learn me!

We made our way down to a small wooden bridge and I halted Amy so we could observe the little brown trout leaping out of the water, feeding on the surface. After a couple of minutes, I laid down my rod and snuk in behind Amy so we could practice her back casting together. We picked the line up and laid it down several times; until she felt confident enough to give it a go solo. Next thing you know, she has a fish on! A tiny brown broke the surface and smashed her fly right when Amy was pulling the fly out for another cast.

I had continued to hook up on fish but loose them due to favoring the line. I did manage one nice stocked bow of my own before the day was done.

We only worked the runs downstream for about another half hour before we decided to start making our way back up to the car. Another shining moment came right at the turnout. Amy decided to dangle her fly right inside the mouth of a tunnel running through a concrete bridge. And wouldn't you know it! Another little stocker bow grabbed it! I haven't seen that happen in quite a while. I thought for sure that it was a snag not a fish.

She handed the pole over to me so I could be the one to blame when it broke off in the swift current, and film me do it. But alas we got it out of the tunnel several times as it would race back in for safety. Landed and released.

What was priceless was the fisherman/biker behind us and watching us rehab this bow came up afterward and asked, "Did you just catch a fish in there?" So with snarky remarks running through my brain for Captain Obvious; all I could manage was to say "Uhu".

It was just after 10 and Amy had both caught several fish. Deciding to end on a high note and note push through the hordes of fisherman now pressing in, we walked the hundred feet back to the car and kicked off our waders.

We have some video from the day for you here.

D Creek: Best wild trout session w/slitherin scare!

2010-06-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I dropped off my wife at the airport on Sunday around noon. She will be gone for the better part of two weeks. Sucks to loose my weekend fishing buddy :)

So I decided that right after I drop her off, I would go up to the creek and try the afternoon for wild rainbows. As soon as I got to the dead-end, I saw about 10 cars there. The place was packed. Thankfully, most were waders that let me do my own thing. And most don't stay right at the dead end.

So I found my favorite spot open and quickly walked over and tied on a fly. The day was great! I caught around 15-20 rainbows of various sizes. Some of the best, I didn't manage a picture of.

I had one scare though nearly stepping on a giant rattle snake. No warning or anything! Just lay stretched out across the path through the long grass. His head swung around as my foot nearly came down on top of him. I jumped back and ran straight into the water. Whew, no more later afternoon fishing runs for me up there!

As usual, all fish were handled in a wet mesh net and released. Nearly all were taken on a dry fly! They were found in water as shallow as a couple inches and deep runs.

See more fish porn here...

Havin fun with the Baby Blues

2010-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

My friends and I have had a good time playing with the young of the year bluegill. I will say that on a light fly rod, they still don't offer the fight of a wild trout of equal size. But I ain't complaining! The numbers we catch and the visual thrill more than makes up for it.

We even wind up with a few baby bass as well! Shoot, I could get used to this! I am sure it won't last but, I intend to take full advantage while it does.

See more pictures of the tiny fishies here!

Perris Lake: 06-05-2010 Pan fish and heat stroke

2010-06-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

It was the first time for my wife and I to explore Perris Lake. We got there pretty early on Saturday. Got our boat rental and headed out to the backside of the island.

As we made our way out, there were tons of huge carp breaching all over! What a site, one of these days I will try for carp again.

Amy set up two ultra-lite rods with trout magnets, while I set up a 5 weight fly rod and a sink tip line tossing a white bead-head woolly bugger.

We moved around to several spots near and far, looking for a bite and it really didn't come. I finally hooked into one and brought him in. Not much of a fight but a welcome boost to my confidence.

We moved one last time and found a boat that was catching them on every cast. We got as close as good decency would permit and tried our hand. No luck. I should have switched line and baits but I got too stubborn for my own good.

Finally, the wife was getting sick from the oppressive sun and we called it a day around 11:00. If I go back, I certainly know were to go and what to bring.

The car ride from hell

2010-05-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

So right on the Friday before the big Memorial day weekend. A oil tanker truck crashes, explodes, and burns into the road! It shut downs the 91 and destroys my chances of getting home. Long story short. I left work around 2:00 PM. I got home around 9:30 PM. Sigh. I am still recovering.

Now why the blog post? Well, when I got nearer to Carbon Canyon, it got so bad it became unbearable. 50 yards covered in over a half hour!? I decided if I could not go further east or north. I will need a break somewhere to regain some sanity. So I headed to laguna lake.

I had spin fished laguna before and been skunked each time. I wanted to fly fish, but of all days my fly fishing vest was sitting at home. So... spin fishing it would be.

The first hour and a half rolled by with no bites. Then I got one! A solid 1 pounder and there was no mistaking the hit. As far as I had seen around the lake, no one else had brought anything up.

As I rounded the far side of the lake. I noticed massive amounts of hydrilla had been floating on the surface forming huge grass mats. I tossed my wacky rigged bait onto one of the mats and popped it off the edge. As it sank I got a very violent series of hits. I set the hook and brought in a nice 2 pounder. A korean father and son got off they bikes and came over to see the fish.

The kid was young and too shy to touch the fish, but he really wanted to a good look. We released the big guy and they father and son stayed to talk with me and teach the son how to fish. He held the pole and reeled in, but we had no more takers along the grass mats. They said their goodbyes and I made my way around the lake again.

A nice break, and great to catch some fish. But I was blown out from the drive home. I didn't fight either fish. Just brought them in quick and released them. Maybe next time I will be more in the mood. Still, nice to break the skunk on that lake.

D Creek: One heck of a second go!

2010-05-29T13:24:00.000-07:00

So we learned from our fishing mistakes last time and went with a different rig and different tactics. Even with the craziness that ensued, we still managed 7 fish for me and 2 for Amy. Here is how it started....

Got there early and we were one of the first there. The first fisherman thank goodness. So we proceeded to try our luck right at the trail head as a warm up. I managed three nice wild bows out of the same run. Even Amy challenged me to catch them on her red worm and I did!

After that run we started to notice quite a few cars arriving, so we hit the trail to get some distance and fish the larger pools. We took the trail for about a quarter mile. Then saw our turn-out to the falls. It is sure steep in places, things need to be handed down from one person to the next to get past some of this terrain.

Once down, you have some really nice pocket water downstream and upstream!

We loved the spot and would see some very splashy strikes in the foam! After about a half hour working the pools and no hits sub-surface. I switched to a dry fly and second cast I hooked up with a nice bow but he dumped the hook as I fumbled with keeping the slack out of my fly line.

It was about this time that a guy and dog yelled/barked hello at us and broke the peace Amy and I had enjoyed for a mere half-hour. He came down to pass us up to get to the other side of falls and lay out on the rocks. Did I mention that there were six in his party?! And the dog swam through our fishing pool?!

So we decided to let them have the pools they had ruined, and we would scout upstream. As it turns out they couldn't get across were we were (save for the dog). So they dogged our heels upstream until they came across a log bridge in prime fishing waters and spooked those areas as well.

So, we went further up and found a couple of so-so runs to try out. We spend an hour fishing it and catching nothing. We then took a rest for lunch.

After lunch more people started to arrive, so we decided to make the climb back out of the ravine and start heading back to the trail head. Maybe if it wasn't too crowded we would fish the head again and catch a few more.

Back at the trail head there were folks dotted all over, but no one fishing. We made for under the bridge were we saw wild bows actively feeding on the surface. I managed to catch 4 here while Amy got shut out by unruly kids that would wade and splash around her.

I managed to top over my waders trying to rescue one of Amy's errant flies. So after a good drying out and change of clothes I stopped fishing but encouraged Amy to try it for a bit more with me acting as guide.

We found a shady run back were I caught a few in the morning. They were feeding on the surface which gave us great hope! Amy would lob her fly upstream and nearly all her takes were at the end on the drift. Sometimes she would lift up to lob it upstream only to realize she had a fish on! We didn't have any camera or camcorder at the time. But I will say that was the best part of the trip. She really grew as a fly fisher that afternoon!

We stayed at a lovely little cottage/room at the Saddleback Inn at downtown.

Had an early dinner at the packed mexican restaurant. But we were in no rush and the food was acceptable. We walked the wharf area and called it a day. We saw a Lamborghini and they had a free rock concert!

We went back to our little room for some shut eye. But it was difficult to get any with the 7-11 several feet away. All the junkies and kids were out in force being a Saturday night.

The next morning was quite impressive blanketed in a thick layer of snow and hail! We grew quite concerned about our chances of getting off the mountain without chains. The weather reports said nothing about this storm!

While we waited for the snow to be plowed, Amy and I took a stroll of downtown. But nothing was really open. So we went back to the room to wait it out. Thankfully, the manager granted everyone a late checkout and a discount on the room if we needed to stay. She also had cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate! Mmmm what a sweetie!

Getting down the mountain was a bit treacherous in one particular spot that had quite the car pile-up. Outside of that, we got down without incident. It was a great trip even with all the set-backs. We still had a smile on our face in the end!

You can check out the gallery here. And a small video here.

Big Bear: 05-13-2010

2010-05-27T17:41:00.000-07:00

We started our walk of the stream early and found a live stone fly to match. Amy also found some nice dry flies tangled in the brush! It was starting out to be a good day.

No luck though at the first spot, so we moved on. I got a nice rainbow to dart out and smack my nymph several times but failed to set the hook. We went up stream then back down. I came back and this time I got him.

We ended the day at B's Backyard BBQ. Right on the water of Big Bear Lake. I must say, this is my favorite place to eat. The best food in town, and you can watch fish jump out in the water from your seat!

After dinner we packed it in and did a little shopping. We found out that Big Bear was stocked heavy for a trout tournament to happen on Saturday. We decided to sign ourselves up for a private fishing charter for Friday evening and see if we could get some action.

Friday morning, Amy and I fished off of Juniper point wading into the water to toss flies at the leaping carp and trout. No takes, but it was fun getting to wade fish a lake for a change. Though the hole in my waders was a little uncomfortable.

We took a break for lunch over at a Thai place. It says Chinese food on the sign, but everything is really Thai! We met up with our private fishing charter and trolled for trout. Our guide and first mate were awesome company, but alas we had some bites but no hookups!! That was one pricey double skunk.

After that, we walked around Big Bear main street to find a place for dinner and grabbed some consolation fudge and chocolate.

Sad to see that the good old arcade has closed down, as well as Amy's favorite trading company. Hopefully, they will re-open. Dang economy.

The next morning we met up with my parents to do more stream fishing. We all seemed to arrive at the same time. My parents wasted no time and got right to work :) Amy and I left the stocking pools to my folks and headed downstream a bit.

Dad caught the first and was sooo happy! I don't blame him! It was a nice brown that we promptly released.

I wound up with a stocked rainbow that I caught right at my feet.

The day progressed and no luck for Amy yet. While my parents were cleaning our clock. Those original pools we left to them held several stocked rainbow that they were able to land. Amy made a game of trying to snap her picture with me in the background. She hadn't caught anything for the day, I was hoping she would break her vacation-long skunk.

The next couple of stops yielded no fish for anyone. We did break for lunch at that point and my folks made their way back down the mountain to cook the few stockers we landed.

Amy and I fished the afternoon together progressing up the stream. As the afternoon settled in, the stream was crawling with people! At one point I counted 5 cars at a turnout fishing with families. I did manage a small brown. I don't know how I did with all the pressure and commotion.

Amy still was skunked the whole trip so we decided for one Hail-Mary play. We went to a rather big pool and prayed that some of the previous week stockers had made it that far. It was a pretty desperate move with all the pressure.

We made it there and thankfully no one was around and Amy went for the pool. It took a while and probably by accident Amy got the biggest stocker of the day!

We headed back to the cabin happy with the little success we were able to scrape out of the trip. We went back to town to walk the long pier at sunset and watch all the giant carp leap about.

The next day we hit up the Moonridge Animal Park. What a great place! Still love it, and I am glad they are still around. Lots to see, and Amy adopted a blind Bald Eagle there.

From there we did some shopping and headed out to Jenks before returning home. Once we arrived at Jenks we decided to just enjoy the scenery as there were too many fisherman to bother.

There were some fly fisherman out float-tubbing. I might have to try that, at least they can get away from the crowds.

All in all, a wonderful trip. And the cabin was cozy! Jenks will have to wait until the crowds die down. And for that matter, might as well add the stream to that list as well.

You can check out a slideshow of the trip here.

D Creek: First Time

2010-05-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

We took off to a new place for fishing. Hoping that the remoteness and the strict regulations would keep the fishing hoards at bay.

We got there and it seemed we were the only fisherman around. The water is nothing like my usual creek. This was a full blown stream/river! First thing I thought was "I will need a different rod", and that wasn't off the mark. Amy and I were using 5' poles and while good for tight quarters, they did nothing for us here. So our leaders were pretty short to match as well, thus depth was an issue. Then I pulled the rookie move of not using indicators for nymphing. All in all I was stacking the deck heavily against us.

Most of our fish of the day came out of a tiny pool not even in the stream proper, but off of a little feeder creek.

Most were small in size just like this one, at least that made the 3 wt poles more fun. Though I got quite a start while wadding. I didn't plan on nearly stepping on a dead racer snake in the water!

We hiked past the bridge and into the steep gorge. Much of the water was inaccessible as the path ran high above.

We decided to keep going until the we could find an easy way down to the water. That opportunity never came after a couple miles. So we made our way down a not-so-easy way to the water. After the decent, we took a break on the river floor which was littered by mammoth sized boulders.

We finally got our feet wet and tried some fishing in front of a beautiful rock face. We had a rescue helicopter fly the canyon and circle us a couple times just checking in on us.

I caught the brown trout for the day, afterward we headed back up to the trail. And back to the car for a food break.

We hiked back to the car taking several breaks. It was a really long walk I would not repeat. There was a steeper path, closer to the car that we should take next time. It led to better water and I am sure more snakes.

At the turnout inside the old cabin we took lunch. I fished a little bit more catching one more rainbow out of the small pool mentioned at the beginning. But by noon the place was getting packed with people. Red necks throwing boulders into the river from on top the bridge etc.

After we had reset a little, we decided to head over to the Lake Arrowhead shopping center and waterfront. We saw the giant carp in the shallows and really fat rainbows gobbling up fish food and bread as if they were koi!

After all that walking and scouting in the sun, it was time to head home. Another nice trip, but few fish. I hope some of the other pools will be better producers.

See the full album of the day. And a video of the day as well.

DaLake: Multi Species Day

2010-05-17T17:31:00.000-07:00

Another day on the lake with rod in hand! It was a sunny day and the temp has been heating up!

The turtles were out in force and seemed to be less skittish than before.

Purely by luck I was off of a point stripping in a woolly bugger and I thought I had gotten snagged 3 feet from shore. As it turns out, it was a feisty carp! I fought him for a good 7 minutes. Even called Gene on my cell to help me grab a picture. He shown in the water like a hundred pennies.

That was the only catch during lunch. I wasn't that eager to come back after work since I wasn't skunked and thought I had had my fish of the day. But it turned out to be a good distraction and a chance to try out my new mouse patterns.

I snagged a photo of a bunny having dinner right at my car. Very cool to see the activity.

My mouse patterns didn't get a bite and I switched to a couple other patterns before going back to a woolly bugger. I threw on a larger bugger and it paid off. A nice sized large mouth with an excellent fight. This older Indian couple were kind enough to take my photo after watching me fight it. They said it was good Karma to release him like I did.

SF: The double lost

2010-05-06T14:37:00.000-07:00

The new fly rods had come! So Amy and I were off to the streams to chase trout and snag branches. I really wanted to show her the waters I had found on the last outing. I had hoped to put her on fish. I knew we were in for a lot of company at the streams given that this weeks stocking was ONLY at the stream for the entire county.

We pulled up a little later than usual and that meant we were into the prime-time crowds. I took her to the spot and I was able to land a nice sized rainbow, a monster for the size of water. And I had a few brown take my nymph. No luck for Amy as of yet.

We fished down as far as I cared to go while Amy practiced casting in some of the easier runs. On our way back upstream I had her stop off at the big pool I caught the last fish. I had two or three good takes there and figured this would be her chance to catch her first fish on a fly rod.

She drifted her flies past the submerged boulder and had a few flashes! It took about 20 drifts before the fish set the hook for himself :) She did it! Her first fly rod fish! We moved on and found 5 other cars parked next to ours. We talked to some folks who had mentioned Bear Creek. My ears perked up, they told us about the chance for bigger wild browns and less folks. We got directions and we soon packed up and headed for the dirt roads to beer creek.

Alas those rough dirt roads took their toll on our nerves. We were well up on the side of the mountain looking down several hundred feet on a steep and narrow boulder infested road. We had had enough and turned back. We found a wide turnout to stop and take a picture to remember the place for it sure had some beauty. But we were eager to fish, not break the car.

We came back down and fished further upstream to try and get away from the crowds and wound up going from bad to worse. When we stopped, I realized I was missing my best fly box!! The best patterns all in there, and no idea where they were. Even though my heart wasn't in it Amy and I fished the stretch before we would turn back and go searching for the box.

To make things even more enjoyable, the stretch we fished is right next to a group-only camp ground and it was filled with teenagers on some sort of Christian retreat. And as we were fishing, they were let loose on the stream. The girls would pull up next to the stream to read, but the boys would hurl large rocks and boulders into the stream, near us and sometimes at us and the girls! With no supervisor in sight I gave up and stalked back to the car to await going back after the fly box.

When we arrived for the search, Amy asked around the crowds while I re-traced my steps. Nothing.... So yeah, that was an expensive lesson. I am very sure it would have been in the open in one of two places and it was nowhere.

After all the time chasing fabled streams and avoiding the crowds we might have had an hour worth of fishing before we turned back around. It was still a heck of a time and a glorious moment watching Amy catch that fish! Which by the way turned out to be the same I had caught earlier! See C&R does work!

So that's why I dub this post as "double lost." Amy and I got lost chasing streams and my fly box has a new home.

See the rest of the photos here.

DaLake: Carp rising, second fly bass and a fallen giant

2010-05-06T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well I wish I had a picture of it. In the wee hours of the morning the carp were rising. Not just one or two, more like five or six! I did toss a dry fly to one, but just wasn't getting close enough to take it. It was the most exciting casting practice I have had!

I kept running from one rock outcropping to the other trying to get a better vantage at those carp. After that excitement died down I decided it was time to try for bass.

I tied on a black beadhead woolly bugger with green flash. I moved about until I was at one of the points and my line went tight! A really good fight for an average fish, that made my week for sure.

A great morning to be sure. No one really around, I can calm down and use my head to cast, fly activity and a fish landed! I wish I could say the return at lunch with friends was just as successful.

I arrived back with Chris and Gene. There were several fisherman scattered across the lake. The wind had kicked up but that made it easier for me to drift a nymph under an indicator. Unfortunately, no takers so I packed up and decided to visit Chris and Gene.

When I got over to them I found out someone had a 4 pound large mouth on a stringer! I couldn't believe it! Well, I could but I thought surely someone wouldn't be fool enough to kill that size of a fish. Sure enough I found it dead on a stringer and talked to the guys who had done it. I played the coy while inwardly incensed that they would kill it. I asked if they would mind if I could take a picture with it just because, and they were more than happy to oblige.

I couldn't even manage a good fake smile. All I did was open my mouth a bit. But I wanted to figure out the particulars of what the heck they thought they were doing. I found out they were fishing with hotdogs and planned on keeping anything that bit. Fortunately, this was the only fish they'd caught so far. I hope it gave them indigestion.

So lunch ended with three skunks and a fallen giant. I know it is probably pretty absurd that I draw arbitrary lines in the sand when it comes to fishing. I'll have to compile a list of them in a future post. See if my attitudes change over time.

See all the pictures of the day here.

DaLake: My new underwater cell phone

2010-04-29T11:27:00.000-07:00

It was another pretty Tuesday at work and a low pressure system was moving in, so I had high hopes for a good bite. Though I think the weather has been to erratic to do anything more than shut the bass bite down completely.

I started out the lunch session tossing a streamer on the fly rod but no bites. At least I got to try out a new rod. I started with a bigger green and white deceiver then switched over to a smaller olive whooly bugger to match the bass fry a bit better, but still no takers.

I saw quite a few big bass partnered up in the shallows as if they were getting ready to spawn! I haven't seen so much nuzzling in a while! Almost enough to make me blush. So no bites and a big skunk streak for Gene, Chris and I. Though a not-so-shy turtle did hang out next to me for quite a while just chillin.

Chris and I went back for a evening session and no luck yet again for most of the evening. I did switch over to spinning tackle and try a soft plastic swim bait on a drop shot. After about 2 hours I get a VERY tentative bite and set the hook. I figured it was going to be weeds but it turned out different! I still say a good pattern right now would be to imitate the fry and go around the lake watching/listening for activity in the shallows.

It was a good fight, not so many jumps but lots of drag peeling action.

Last but certainly not least. Amy gave me a call while I was fishing during the night. While I was trying to juggle phone and rod I dropped the phone mid-call right into the drink! I watched stunned for several seconds as the phone went through various flashing screens in its death throws. I finally got my backpack off and my big jacket so I could plunge my hand into the water to grab it before it stopped emitting light and it was gone for good. I did manage to grab it just as it went dark. But, I think this phone is a goner, but I am glad it didn't wind up trashing the lake.

Amy told me last night that on her end she had pretty much guessed at what had happened, though at the time, the plunging in the water sounded like a sneeze.

The Fork: Solo run no de-evolution

2010-04-26T11:55:00.000-07:00

Amy has a conference to speak at this week that took her out of town to Jersey! At least I get her back around midnight on Wednesday. The cool thing was, her mom flew out from Texas so they could spend some time sight-seeing. Amy's flight was at 6:30 on Sunday morning, so I planned a fishing trip that day to take advantage of the required early call.

I decided to explore more of my favorite stream and drive further downstream than I had gone in the past to see if I could find those stocked bows. Even though this week the stream was not stocked, I figured I could still find some willing browns or just head up to Jenks if the stream fell short.

With that in mind I packed the car for a fishing bonanza, Amy and I headed out at 5:00. Dropped her off at the airport and made my way up the mountain. I wanted to try my hardest not to de-evolve into spinning tackle this time. Thankfully, I was able to keep my word. I will say though, I can't wait for my 5 foot fly rods to come in! They are shipping today. A great little family run custom fly rod shop with ultra low prices. http://lacrossecustomrods.com/

So I started my stream fishing as far down as I could get. I found a nice car park next to a bridge and figured that was a great location for a stocking spot. Alas no big bows, but it was such a nice area that I decided to explore a third of a mile upstream and down.

Even though there were no big bows, I found the big brown for the day on my third cast right at the car park! BTW, I found a shimano volteous (however you spell it) and reel all lined and rigged. Someone must had left it. So I placed it high up on a parking stone so it could be found.

Now that decent sized brown got me excited! That was when I decided to explore a bit to see how plentiful the browns were.

I got downstream as far as that big tree fallen across the stream before I turned around and came back up. I managed to pick up a few more browns on a bead head red worm. But the bite wasn't that great on that fly for how much water I covered.

Upstream thinned out pretty quick and was full of underwater branches. I started to spend more time untangling than fishing but managed one more.

After that stop I decided to re-fish the entire stream up to the south fork turn out, hoping in the car and running the major spots. I stopped off at the bridge from last weekend hoping to see some of those small bows again and entice them with a fly this time. This spot led to 3-4 fish, and a 9 inch bow. Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures because they wiggled out of my grip. These small fish use all their force and I am afraid of holding on too tightly. Though I did manage a few pictures. Though this picture of scenery I took below was just before I fell off the log. Thankfully I didn't "top over" my waders.

I moved on from this spot and drove up another mile and took a break for lunch. I will say there were quite a few people at the stream fishing even though it wasn't stocked this week. As more than the last stocking week. I might need to find a more remote stream. I had people pulling up on top of me while I ate lunch. They were certainly friendly and I was as well. But solitude it was not.

Feeling a bit renewed, I decided that I would fish about a mile and a quarter by foot and then fish it back downstream to my car. And at least I would fish the "between areas" were I wouldn't run into other fishermen. With the promise of spending the afternoon at the stream, I was off! Typically Amy and I only fish a half day. No de-evolution yet!

The fishing was a little hit and miss but I managed a few brown trout no mater where I went. I saw only one 8 inch bow that more than likely was a stocker (who knows from when). I managed to picture only one of the native rainbows I caught that day and wouldn't you know it, I focused on the water!

At about 5:00 when the sun was no longer so high in the sky and several stretches of water turned into shadowy runs, I tied on a dry fly to try for top water bite. I didn't get anything for about 20 minutes. But a certain stretch had some very aggressive browns that would strike it! Now it may be on a miniature scale compared to bass but it sure was entertaining! (Again, sorry for the focus)

With that, I took a break to finish off some odds and ends from lunch and trek back to the car. Even in the evening there were people, dogs, children, yes children are different from people when stealth fishing is involved :)

My car was parked right by the stream. And before I packed up and headed down the mountain I decided to give my dry fly one more try. I caught another nice brown and of course fumbles here managed to loose it while the shutter went off! I spazzed so badly that the camera flipped around and grabbed a picture of me instead! Oh well, still a great day! And if you want to catch 15+ fish in a day it was a lot of free fun. Well free is relative I guess.

Check out the full gallery of the day as well.

Happy Earth Day! We luv ya!

2010-04-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

In celebration of Earth Day we should all do our part. Here is a motivational video for your viewing pleasure. (Please note this contains adult language not suitable for children or work until after 5 PM)

FOCK THE EARTH!

Skinner Lake: 02-27-2010 Video part 1

2010-04-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

I have been sitting on all this footage from my trip to Skinner with my wife. We had caught our limit and had so much video, it was just more than I wanted to bite off and sequence.

Finally, here is part 1. I should wrap up part two this weekend.

Girls and Fishing

2010-04-21T13:28:00.000-07:00

Sometimes these two just don't mix :)

Nitro boat vs whiney girlfriend

DaLake: Shaking off weeks of bass skunk

2010-04-21T13:10:00.000-07:00

It seems to start this way when a new fisherman wants to hit up DaLake. We get skunked for several outings until she finally yields to our persistence. Today was a multi-goal day. I wanted to test out a new camera Amy bought me that had the ability to take underwater pictures.

I started the day taking a couple test shots at the office as a baseline. Nice shots, but I think the camera saturates the color too much. That to me is a sign of a cheap camera overcompensating. I also had a problem adjust to the delay between button pressing and the camera deciding to snap a picture. Way to long of a delay for me. Lastly, I dislike how it automatically finds things to autofocus on, I will need to change that.

So Chris and I head out during lunch and put our time in. The weather was partly cloudy and a real nice day with only two carp fisherman on the water. Blessedly the spring breakers are gone!

The lunch day drones on with Chris throwing a creature and I am fly fishing along the bank stripping in a minnow/small bass pattern. Neither of us get any bites. At the end I pack up and decide to take some underwater photos. At first I had the camera zoomed in by accident so everything was a blur. Then I figured it out!

I decided to see if the flash would work underwater by heading over to one of the undercut dens and pointing the camera inside the cave.

Now I took another shot of this cave further in and from the side and I think I spot a fish back there upon review! I see a reflecting eye with a dark circle around the eye and a white outline of a mouth with a gray body. You be the judge, can you find waldo?

After that we headed in for some Carls before returning to work.

We returned at dusk for more punishment. And I decided I wasn't brave enough to fly fish at night. So once again I de-evolved into a spinning combo with a wacky rigged stick bait.

While we rigged up under the shade of two trees, the sky opened up and began to poor!

Thankfully it lasted for about a half hour and we were able to emerge from under the trees and fish the rest of the bank. It wasn't until another half hour had past that Chris hooked into a nice couple pound + fish from off the point in the picture. Alas the fish broke off right at shore and no picture.

It seems that the significant cold front had chilled the shore and the bass were sulking in deeper water. Still, to the touch the water was significantly warmer than the air.

As it started to get dark we had 3 young geese follow after us for about 20 minutes. They latched on to Chris and followed him for some time, hoping for hand outs. Eventually they found someone else to follow clear around the lake.

About an hour later I was able to pick up two sizable bass. Both Chris and I feel that scent played into the equation. The first was a soft bite the second was a freight train!

This last beasty was a heck of a fight. Talk about strength! I would wager she is over 3 pounds.

We eventually worked our way back to the car, cold and ready to eat and warm up we headed to Taco Bell for a road snack before parting ways. See all the photos of the day here.

South Fork: The missing stockers

2010-04-21T12:40:00.000-07:00

A Saturday arrives and Amy and I head up early to South Fork. The DFG supposedly planted this week and I was curious to see if that really occurred. Last time we went, the roads were in such bad shape at the fork the DFG didn't stock, but we managed a couple small fish all the same.

This time was different, we off of glass road and drove to the second bridge upstream. The first being fished as we drove past.

When I got out of the car I definitely noticed a hatch! I believe there we small stone flies or termites. I wish at the time I had thought to re-tie a better imitator. But I was so eager to try out the little hopper-dropper rig I tied the night before.

It was a nice piece of stream near a campground. We got our waders on and selected our rods. I went with a fly rod and Amy took a spinning ultra-lite using a trout magnet. There were some really nice runs near the bridge and we figured, if they stocked this would be a really great spot to sight them.

After 10 minutes and no sighting and no bites we realized they hadn't stocked here, or they had been fished out already. With the camp site across the river, I thought that might have been a possibility. We fished upstream and downstream from the bridge. You could only go about 200 feet either way before it became an impassible briar patch. Given the tight quarters I gave up trying to fly fish with a 7 ft rod. I de-evolved into a 5ft spinning rig with a trout magnet.

Though we didn't roam as far as we would have liked, Amy hooked up with one rainbow that shook off right at the bank. I went back to that pool once she had left and caught two small spring rainbows.

The first was a beautiful little male who seems ready to spawn with the hunched back and bright colors. He was even orange on the gill plate! But for such a small fish I wondered if he was a native rainbow.

The next was Amy's original catch. A pretty female from the same pool. Now I know why that male was putting on such a show!

Downstream I had one very nice sized rainbow chase my trout magnet as I had swung the lure under a overhanging pine. At the last moment he veered off though. After that we took a break and had brunch. We decided to pack up and head up stream and see if we could follow the road all the way through to some of our favorite holes.

Luck was with us and the roads had been recently cleared. Trees cleared and the snow had melted save for small patches here and there. Nothing like it was 3 weeks ago.

Eagerly, Amy and I parked and headed to a deep pool to fish. I got one hookup with a 15 inch rainbow that shook so violently he spit the lure. I went back to that spot several time throughout the day and he never showed himself again. Amy and I didn't fare well here and we took a rest and moved on. Still no stockers in sight and we started scratching our heads about the DFG planting schedule.

Outside of this spot being slim pickings, Amy found a very cool bone fragment of some rather large herbivore.

So after a break to rest our feet and have some cold pizza, we pressed on to the very head of the stream.

At the head, we found the road clear and we parked to give it one more go. We saw one small rainbow in the bridge water and new it was a stocker. He was in shock and didn't acknowledge anything around him. We decided to walk down the stream and try the deeper pools. I spotted a couple more tiny stockers on the way but we didn't bother with them.

We hadn't intended to stop here, so were were out of our waders and managed to navigate to the opposite side of the stream via a tree trunk. I must applaud Amy for facing her fears and crossing it twice!

We found no more stockers here but Amy did catch the same rainbow three times before landing him. At least she got this one to shore and didn't feel as bad.

I managed one of my own here, but these are certainly not the stocks I am used to and I doubt the DFG has really geared up. Either that or they are dumping the fish further down stream.

You can view the full gallery of the day here. While the stream was fun a beautiful, there were still some frustrating fishing moments. I must have broke off on branches and rocks a half dozen times and countless times getting snagged by branches. I am definitely out of practice with tight quarters fishing. I didn't take any shots of the real tight places we fished, but I will next time.

Also, we saw quite a few fisherman hoping from one bridge to the next looking for a pool of stockers that were non-existent.

DaLake: First Fly Bass

2010-04-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

I decided to do a fly fishing run and this time I had no chance of fishing off the rocks due to the amount of kids crawling all over them.

I hit up one of the points as it was deserted and proceeded to practice cast. This lasted quite a while and by the end I had made over 100 casts to the water. I stopped caring about catching anything and was just retrieving my line as fast as I could so I could make another cast. I was already 20 casts past what I told myself mentally would be my "last cast".

And then it struck, or more accurately I thought I was snagged again on the bottom. But this time it had just a little teeny bit of give and I thought. Hey, I caught a stick at least! But no, next I saw flashes of large mouth belly about 30 feet out.

I was in no shape to bring in the fish, my hand had already knotted up from holding the rod too tightly while casting. So I had to dig the butt of the rod into my belly and cup the handle because my fingers weren't up to the task. My right hand held the fly line and so began the 5 minute tug of war with the bass.

It feels a lot different when you are holding the line attached to a fighting bass. Feeling for increasing tension to indicate that you need to slack off let line slip through your fingers.

When I got him closer I noticed that I had a nasty casting knot in my leader and was very thankful it hadn't snapped from the fight.

The fish had to be only a pound and a half but tired as I was and the first fish on a fly, he felt a whole lot bigger than that.

Prado: All out WAR!

2010-04-12T20:10:00.000-07:00

I went solo on Sunday to fish the morning at Prado. Not to be outdone by Saturday, Sunday wound up to be just as strange!

I roll up and there is a full-blown civil war re-enactment going on! Muskets, horses, canon, horns, tents etc. The sound was amazing!

I stayed well clear of them as I was after little fish. Fly rod in hand I had good hopes for the day. I got out to a favorite point, but the day was decided in a matter of feet rather than yards. And I was just barely off from the honey hole!

It was somewhat crowded and not much room to set up and even less for a fly fisherman. Even so, I did find a spot near were I like to fish.

So the folks directly to my right had 5 poles in the water and proceeded to bring in fish after fish while I was there. One fish about ever 20 minutes. I noticed that their three poles next to me were NOT the ones catching fish. I was on the wrong side of an acute point. The guy on my left and myself went bite-less for the day.

Sad thing was that when they had their limit they just started culling out of their basket. I watched one of their dead culls float by me :(

And to add insult to injury a nicely sized rainbow freaked out a foot in front of me. It started racing in tight circles on the top of the water then jumped fully out of the water and hit my shoe! Before I could really register what was happening, he slid back into the water and dove. My only guess was that he was being chased from beneath.

Lastly, there was a duck?! That would go around from group to group looking for petting and handouts. He was not the cutest thing ever but man was he affectionate!

See more photos of the day at Prado.

Silverwood Lake: 04-10-2010

2010-04-12T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well, I had high hopes for Silverwood and it delivered a strange but entertaining day. Amy and I got to the lake a little after 7:00 the road up to the lake was very cool and a great drive. The sunrise coming up over the hills and clouds was awesome!

Silverwood itself wasn't as pretty as I hoped. It looks pretty sparse in terms of trees and I would rank Big Bear higher in aesthetics. I was hoping for shaded coves of Douglas firs but it just wasn't that way.

So at least the fishing would be good right? Well, we didn't bother. It was so cold and gusts up to 35 mph that we didn't want to fish the lake. It was actually me who called it off. We walked around a bit just to take in the lake. Outside of that, we hopped back into the car, had our PB&J sandwiches and headed out of the marina.

Once we left the marina, we passed a stream that I couldn't resist stopping at. We took one look at the large pools and figured to toss out the trout magnet just in case.

It was shaded from the wind and worth a try, even though we saw nothing rise. 10 minutes later I brought up a tiny guy! What a cool way to not get skunked!

We soon packed up and headed for home. Back in chino hills I took a short-cut past the new open air mall. Out front they had a classic car club showing off their cars and hosted by Johnny Rockets. We decided to stop and take a look.

We found an old challenger! With the RT stripes and everything.

But Amy had eyes only for the Super Bee! I smell a new car addition to the family!

Not much fishing for sho! But a cool way to spend the morning. Check out the rest of the photos from the day, lots more cars and pictures of Silverwood shrubs.

Rob's Lake: Hungry Bass and Sonar

2010-04-08T12:40:00.000-07:00

It is always fun to get to run around on Rob's lake! The dog was with us and stories were swapped.

Fishing started before we were even in the boat. I saw a good sized large mouth just casually duck under a paddle boat. While we were getting organized. I dropped in my stick bait between the boat and the bank (right in front of my feet). He grabbed it but I didn't get a good hook set and threw the hook and headed for deeper water.

I landed the first Bass on the boat for the night. And then Chris. We took turns hoisting Bass up, keeping count with one another.

And of course Primo (the dog) gets to lick the tail! He is a sneaky dog and just loves to lick those fish!

Rob was a great skipper and helped us with several lure rescues! His casts were right on target when he did get to fish from his chair. He had several bites and got one of the biggest of the night on the boat!

One of the funniest things that night was a baby goose that adopted out pontoon and wanted on sooo bad he tired himself out by chasing us around the lake for a good 40 minutes! He would constantly beep and charge underneath the pontoon were we thought for sure we would run into the prop. Due to his constant beeping and telegraphing our location to the fish, we named him Sonar!

As if that wasn't enough. Chris brought in the trophy fish of the night; he caught another monster catfish. What a great fight, running around the boat several times and racing out into the deep. I pulled the lure out, but the barb had grazed his gill so he did bleed a little. I would say a solid 12 pound fish as I hoisted him in and released him.

We finally headed in for the night and it was a great night to be sure. I think in total we landed 12 fish. You can see all the pictures of the night here.

DaLake: Sunk hats for the eager fishermen

2010-04-08T12:18:00.000-07:00

Chris joined me for some fishing at the community lake. It was just after a big rain and things were starting to heat back up. Not a bite to be had for nearly all around the lake. Then as we were leaving a bait soaker manager a nice 4lb largie.

We went back to try at night and again wore that hat. And a couple of kids pulled in a 2-4 lb carp on bread!

Skinner Lake: 04-03-2010 Skunk Hats for all

2010-04-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

Just for my own record keeping...

The day started out later but we were fishing by 9:00. We fished until about 1:30 and no bites to report. Though Amy and I were flailing about with the fly rods. She did manage to hook her hat :). We moved to several spots with no luck. Then as we went to return the boat. The staffer was fishing off the dock and caught really nice blue gill using a cricket.

Outside of that, it was a nice day on the water.

Tri-City: Wearing the skunk hat

2010-03-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

I will try to make a post even when I don't catch anything if there was something memorable. I got to really fly fish for a change! At least, lake style.

The new 5 weight fly line really helps with distance. I was able to successfully roll cast as well as the standard back and front cast to about 40 feet. I nymphed a black whooly bugger under an indicator and had one strike. Sorry to say that was better than all the bait fisherman while I was there.

There was one family fishing who thought they had a whale on the line but it turned out to just be a snag. I will say though, the carp were out in force! The water was as clear as I have ever seen Tri-City. Around 10 AM the carp were literally racing just under the surface, 3 abreast. They left such a violent wake as they raced around it reminded me of Sea World. Most of the visitors to the lake that day stopped to check out the flamboyant display.

Well, even with the skunk hat it felt good to actually get the fly were I wanted it. And have it wet for a good amount of time. Hopefully better luck at DaLake tomorrow morning.

DaLake: Slow Day turns good.

2010-03-29T14:03:00.000-07:00

I fished the lunch break on Friday and pulled in 2 nice fish on a drop-shot. Lots of other anglers there throwing cranks and spinners with no luck.

(first bass to break the skunk)

(second bass before I quit the lunch run)

Went back in the evening and caught 4 more and 3 of those were all in the same general area. One on a drop-shot and 3 on a wacky rigged stick bait.

(tiny guy to start the night off)

(slightly bigger caught in a corner)

(a bigger beasty gave away a solid tick on the line)

(And the last and biggest of the night)

Although that was 6 fish most were just luck and the methodical search for a bite was really off.

DaLake: The big guys bite!

2010-03-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a fun day for fishing. Fairly casual, Gene and I out again at lunch. I try my trusty wacky rigged Lunkerville stick bait and Gene had some new tantalizing worms to try on a jig head.

Within the first 10 minutes or so I landed an nice pounder and a halfer. He was a scrappy guy and pulled my drag a few times! I had to let the bait hit bottom and sit there for a while before he would pick it up.

After that, my friend Phil arrived with a design patterns book in hand. Though for most of the time we talked together as we took turns casting out the stick bait. After some time, (I can't recall how much time passed because I was enjoying the company). I got a tick on my line and I set the hook. This beast came to the surface to shake his head and show his displeasure but cried no joy as the hook stayed in place.

At this point, I swapped the rod to Phil to fight, land and release this big guy. I wanted to get some video of him. Phil was a great sport and did an awesome job of playing him delicately so the line wouldn't snap.

What a nice way to end the lunch run. Unfortunately Gene had a lot of trouble with the jig head rig and the rough bottom of the lake.

But wait there is more! I went back for an hour during the evening to let traffic die down. I didn't stay long, but it was well worth it!

When I was heading to the lake for the evening, a middle aged guy stopped me and asked if I had any luck. I shrugged trying to be modest and he must have felt some pity for me because he gave me some awesome tips on where to fish, the best drop-shot technique to catch them, and what time of day. I thanked him profusely for the help and went to try out his advice. And below is the payoff.

All in all, a wonderful day on the water. I doubt Friday will come close to this!

South Fork: Snow bunnies go fishing

2010-03-22T11:41:00.000-07:00

So I have a friend (Phil) who texted me saying there was no snow save for higher up in the mountains. I know it is tough to be more specific in a text, but yeah. There was snow drifts pretty much everywhere. Thanks Phil :)

We got up and started fishing around 8 AM which is really late for my taste. But we wanted to avoid some of the chilly temps this area is sporting. Even so we had soo many layers of clothing that we were actually too warm most of the day!

We had intended to drive down the dirt road to our favorite spot to see if they had stocked. It immediately became apparent that the road was in such poor shape (downed pines across the road etc.) that the DFG did not stock the head of the stream and most likely stocked well below where we could walk to. We didn't feel like packing up so we decided to give it a try anyway, knowing we might be skunked, but at least we knew were all the pools are.

Since this was our first fly fishing trip, it was definitely a novel experience being in waders, fly rods in hand and just a bunch of flies to try and tempt a fish. I will say though, that these winter fish are pretty starved and as long as you don't spook them they will eagerly take a fly. The problem is not spooking them while trying to fiddle with a 7ft fly rod among a bunch of trees.

I hooked up with 2 brown trout fingerlings but both shook so violently that they dumped the hook. Later I found a nice boulder with some standing foam right behind it. Unknown to me, lurking under the surface was a nice sized rainbow. I thought I was snagged at first, but as I started to pull up I had head shakes! I fought him and the fast water and got him in the net. I raced over to Amy and she took a little video of me releasing the fish. Sorry no pics of the rainbow.

Stoked after landing my first fish on the fly, I caught and landed two more small browns! They fight hard for their size and a fly rod being as sensitive as it is, made these fights rather entertaining!

Given the depth of the snow in places and the gear it, was tough going, and after about 4 hours we were tuckered out. While stowing our gear at the car, a van pulled to the side of the road with a flat. Some rocks had fallen down the hillside and punctured one of the tires. None of us had cell phone service in that area, but thankfully, Amy's on-star worked and we were able to get AAA out for them. And wouldn't you know it, by the time we give AAA all the info they needed. The husband had fitted the spare tire and they were ready to head out.

Here is a link you are interested in seeing the rest of the pictures from this trip. I should have a video pulled together shortly.

DaLake: Morning KOs Evening

2010-03-22T11:06:00.000-07:00

On Friday a co-worker of mine had his last day and he will be missed! I certainly wanted to attend his going away party during lunch; So that meant an adjustment to the fishing schedule.

I finally got out to DaLake in the morning and tried my hand at a fly rod again. No luck, and when I broke off my whooly bugger I figured it was time to a change. I tromped back to my care and switched out for my spinning tackle.

I was able to sight-fish this guy hanging about 3 feet from shore. His take felt like ticks, but one hooked he was very scrappy. Again this was off my wacky stick bait.

Later on during the morning I cast out about 35 feet off of a point and the bait hadn't been in the water for less than 10 seconds when a sharp strike hit it.

A good morning, for me at least. Now the evening wasn't as good. Since I had caught two nice sized guys for this community lake I was only half-hearted about my fishing. No bites save for the bats striking my line.

Also there are LOTS of turtles out of the water to take advantage of the warm weather. This particular turtle wouldn't budge no mater how close I got.

DaLake: Day Vs Night

2010-03-17T11:18:00.000-07:00

Went with Gene yesterday to fish the lake during the lunch hour and the bite was still terrible with no bites and nothing but the bedding fish in the shallows. Saw lots and lots of turtles!! Due to the warm weather, the clarity has dropped a bit. So with two big skunks I didn't plan on staying long for a bit of evening fishing.

I got to say though, doesn't matter what time of day now, there are always several fisherman at that lake. I think I will switch back to my AM schedule and see if anything comes of it. Ok, back to how the night fishing went.

I met up pretty early with the two kids I saw on Sunday. They have switched over to plastics completely and are learning how to fish them rather than live bait. One is about 18 years old and the other has to be about 13. Both are eager to listen and adapt to new advice and they are respectful and a pleasure to be around.

I gave them a bunch of stick baits and 2/0 wide gap hooks so that they could try wacky rigging. At about the end of hour 1, I got a nice 2 pounder that splashed on the surface as if it were a show at Sea World. A half hour later I caught a little dink 10 feet off of shore. He put up a nice fight for a lil guy. About a half hour after that, I got snagged and called it a night.

That seems to be my average right now, a fish per hour. Man I hope things pick up. Or I just need to try a different tactic. Sorry no pics, I only had my video camera and it doesn't have a flash.

Amy's First Bass!!

2010-03-15T13:45:00.000-07:00

Amy and I decided to go cheap this past Sunday and do a little fishing at DaLake. Man was it packed with every form of person and animal!! Lots of fisherman young and old, families, dogs, cats, birds, joggers, walkers, strollers, cats in strollers, remote controlled vehicles, you name it!

So I was already out of sorts from all this and fishing was slow, but wouldn't you know it, Amy pulls in a lil bass and gets a resident lunker to follow him in! Amy did her very best to lip him and remove the hook and release him. I got to give her credit for doing it! I spliced together some video from the week to make a video tribute to Amy's first!

Bass Pro: Kids Trout Pool

2010-03-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

It was the the "official" last day of the kids trout pool at Bass Pro. It was a cool event but I got to say, depending on what staff person you had hooking you up with a fish, you have 5seconds to half a minute fighting a fish!

My good friend Gene brought his two little ones up to catch a fish, as well as pick up some odds and ends for his tackle box. I wound up filling out my assortment of flies. Hopefully soon I will work up the confidence to catch my first fish on a fly!

Here is a short video of the trout pool adventure as well as some pictures! Gene you have been blessed with the cutest kids on the planet!

Corona Lake: That's not a trout!!!

2010-03-08T14:35:00.000-08:00

So I went fishing solo on Sunday but didn't have enough time to go anywhere special since half the day was gone. Without looking at the pictures of catches, I decided just to head to Corona. Man that was a mistake (at least for trout). No pictures posted since Thursday and here I am on a Sunday. So I got there and checked out the boat rental situation and to my surprise boats are half off for "half-day" fishing. That and they had row boats aplenty!

So I get out on the water in my row boat with dozens, and I mean dozens of Tecate beer cans all cumpled in the back of the boat. (Geez guys clean the things out ya know?!). I tried a few spots shallow near the two large clumps of water craft are. No bites, and I didn't see anyone else bring up anything either.

So after 2 hours of nada I decided to just row my gimp boat into the very middle of the lake and toss my lines out. I was using nightcrawlers so I figured "What the heck, ya never know". I must have looked ridiculous, being the only boat well out in the middle of the water. After about 30 minutes of more nada. I decided I would pull out the fly rod and give that some practice casts. I reeled one of the bait soakers in and let the other one stay in the water, just in case. I gave the fly rod several casts and decided I really liked the idea of pulling anchor and drifting, just working fly rod. So I set the fly rod down and turned around to reel in my last bait soaker.

As soon as I touched it, the rod bent in half! I absolutely got depressed thinking I had just managed to snag bottom in the middle of the lake. But no! I started to reel in and I felt very definite head shakes! The next thing I knew, a sturgeon jumped out of the water 4 feet into the air about 30 feet from my boat. Wow!!! Then about a minute later it did it again!! I was sweating bullets because I knew my leader was only 2lb test. After about a 10 minute fight, and the fish just digging hard and shaking his head, my leader broke.

Hoping against hope that I could salvage the situation, I looked towards my other pole with worm still intact and I tossed into the area I lost that sturgeon. And wouldn't you know it, not even a minute had past when my pole was bent over in half again!! This time, the fish seemed to gas himself out in about 2 minutes and I barely got him in my small net.

I know this sounds hypocritical, but I really felt sorry for this adolescent sturgeon, he had the prettiest blue eyes too! So I revived him and released him. FYI: the protruding bones on the side and top of the fish are like teeth, Ouch!

It was getting close to 3:30 so I figured I would go ahead and head in. There was a huge front of clouds approaching and I wanted to be in the car before they hit. It was my first two sturgeon, and I loved it! And I hope my last, they are cute like a bat ray and just as painful in some respects. I'd rather let them be. You can seem more photos of the trip here.

DaLake: Lightning Strikes Twice

2010-03-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

Another Friday calls for some more bass fishing and this were pretty good during lunch. Gene caught 2 solid little guys and I made a big guy mad enough to snap at my bait. 3 solid fish for a lunchtime run! Check out the video of the trip here.

We decided to head back for some night time fishing just in case and it did indeed pay off.

I started of by hooking the lunker for a couple weeks back and then Gene pulls out a nice one that spat his lure the first time round. I managed one dink after the two.

We had rounded the lake with no additional bites, so Gene packed up for home with about 100 yards left to fish. And wouldn't you know it, I hooked another 2+ pounder! Here are the pics from the night fishing session.

Epic Skinner Run

2010-03-02T14:47:00.000-08:00

Saturday it poored rain. So Sunday Amy and I debated were we would go fish. We decided on Skinner and I was happy to go. I love the clear water and the low level of fishing pressure for trout.

We got there early and started out on a point near a cove. Working the point we hit up 2 nice sized rainbows in under 10 minutes. Things did die out a little until we started casting into the cove. Then we started hooking up again. Several trout even followed Amy's bait all the way to the boat.

After catching ~10 and releasing 4 we moved out to a new spot as we seemed to exhaust the bite in the area. We moved across the channel to a point and found more willing to take our bait. We caught another 3 and lost 2.

All in all it was a rockin day, we were off the water around 1ish and caught several very nice sized trout with several hold-overs. Amy and I took turns bringing them in. There was one point were we had a double hookup!

I should have a video of the day pulled together at the end of the week.

Prado: Flight of the Cormorants

2010-03-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

So I finally had a moment to compiled the video of my last trip to Prado on 02-20-10. It was a nice lazy day and I am glad to we opted for that versus Corona. It had rained the whole day before, but we lucked out and caught a break.

Here is the video.

Da Lake: Nite-Bite

2010-03-01T12:34:00.000-08:00

So for the first time I tried a bit of night fishing after work. The carp were swirling and I didn't have much hope. But I was proved wrong. I fished from 6-10 and loved it. I caught 4 bass and ALMOST landed a monster 5th.

Not sure if this was due to the storm activity rolling in, the full moon or the winter Olympics but man it was fun! Most of the bite came from deep out. 20-40 feet from shore.

See some pictures here.

In general the fishing is starting to pick up just a tad when the we had a solid week of warm weather. Now with the cold fronts every week, things have been thrown off. Here are some photos and video from the week.

The week or two in pictures. 02-24-10 | 02-21-10 | 02-19-10

A video of Gene bringing in a bass during the week. And a monster mystery stick-bait I dredged from the deep.

Prado: Substitution FTW

2010-02-22T19:38:00.000-08:00

So Amy and I were planning on going to Corona Lake on Saturday to try and catch some Lightning Trout. Well that evaporated in frustration as the 15 fwy had a nasty accident that left us in traffic not budging for over 40 minutes. At that point, being that it was past midday, I didn't want to pay nearly $100 for the two of us just to quit around 3:30.

So we turned around and we went to Prado and set up near the boat ramp. After an hour and a half we had no bites on all sorts of power bait / trout worm combinations. So Amy actually took the initiative and went to the bait shop for some nightcrawlers. We floated one worm out there and had a hookup in under 2 minutes! I lost the fish, just didn't set the hook.

We eventually moved to a point around were the water opened up, and a guy with a little tike set up right next to us. We managed to bring up 2 more quality bows and the tiniest large mouth bass ever! The first Bow I let the little tike next to us reel in. That tiny LMB flew out of the water just on a hook-set! For Prado, that is a good day. They have hundreds of Cormorants!!! I should have a video later of the experience.

Our biggest bow at prado, solid 2 lbs

Nearly all the birds in this picture are Cormorants! And that is only half of them! No stocked trout is safe here.

Fishing into the sunset! A big thank you to Amy for having the common sense to know when to switch it up!

DaLake: Evening Run

2010-02-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

So I just got a new pole and was dying to try it out! I had to hit up DaLake and see if anything was biting. I got there around 2:30 PM on a Sunday. There were about 15 fisherman that came around during the 4 hours I was there.

Some were using live bait, but most were finesse fishing. I got to see my buddy Jason who had an epic day!! I was able to eek out 2 nice sized fish thanks to Jason's tips.

Caught on a stick bait near the restaurants. I was actually helping out a kid who asked what tackle he should use. I was crouched by the ground with my line in the water and my back to the shore. As we went through some of his lures, the next thing I know there were some violent tugs on the end of my line. It barely registered what was happening, then I set the hook.

Caught on a drop-shot bass swim bait. The guys behind me were pulling up decent bass on nightcrawlers. But guys, please please please please catch and release!!!

Friday at DaLake: Lunch hour epic!

2010-02-22T19:17:00.000-08:00

Friday I took it easy and just fished the lunch hour with Gene. Man did that pay off. Gene and I took to fishing opposite sides of the lake today. Though we could still see each others catch! All on wacky rigged stick baits again. Gene got a mammoth, while I caught 3 dinks and 2 decent sized largies.

Dink #1 caught in the corner transition.

Dink #2 caught in the bend past the transition. BTW, that is my blood on his lip, not his!

Dink #3 caught under the dock. First cast. Finally got you!

Decent sized #1 caught by the restaurants. He had a buddies following as I brought him up; guess he was hoping for a hand-out.

And here is his buddy! I caught him 10 minutes later, 20 feet away.

Bassin at DaLake

2010-02-22T19:09:00.000-08:00

I got eager to go out for Bass again and headed out on Thursday. I fished the morning and nabbed 3 then fished the lunch period and hooked another 2. No lunkers here but I could really care less! All of these guys were caught on a wacky rigged stick bait.

These first two were caught on consecutive casts!

Just another nice one.

Before I quit the morning session I got a chance to see a mamma turtle with her two squirts.

Ahh yes the beginning of the lunch session starts out right!

The last for the day but what fun!

DaLake The bite heats up & Lost Virginity

2010-02-22T18:59:00.000-08:00

Woke up at 5:00 AM eager to fish DaLake. I was nicely rewarded with 2 decent fish. This nice old grandma was kind enough to take my picture.

For the lunch session it was Gene, Phil and I out for some action. Phil took my pole to give it a whirl and caught his first fish EVER!

Then Phil and I were able to sight a Bass and fool him into biting! 2 down Phil way to go! The bass almost made off with the bait, then Phil set that hook!

If that wasn't enough action Gene brings up a lunker from the deep! You know, Gene is starting to give me a run for my money!

1 Day and 5 Fish. Can't complain about that during winter!

Lytle Creek: Middle fork in Skunkovision!

2010-02-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

So this was my first trip to Lytle Creek and I was going for two purposes. One, I was curious about a stream that I could fish in winter without freezing. Two, I hoped to catch a couple tiny fish to break the skunk on my fly rod.

I chose to hit up the middle fork and it was hairy from the start. The road is in bad shape from the recent rains and I didn't go far without a 4x4. When I pulled off I was immediately greeted by all the tagging...

The rocks, posts, trash cans, are all tagged. There are tags that have been painted over just for more tags to replace them. The next thing you notice once you are past that is the really rough terrain. Of course the ground is really tough going because it is a granite stream bed. But mixed in with this is a TON of broken glass.

Once you do manage to make it to the water, the fishing begins right? Well, maybe not. The stream is moving real fast right now. So slow moving pools are sparse. Also getting a chance to actually cast a fly is pretty darn tough with all the dead trees, I snagged far more than I fished.

Finally, as I was moving upstream I passed a couple of kids with their dogs. I was respectful and gave them a wide birth as I headed upstream and yet I attracted the attention of a mean old dog of theirs who rushed up on me snarling and growling. No attempt was made to restrain him outside of a feeble whistle. The dog stopped mere feet away as I was on the phone with Amy. Thankfully, the dog stopped as I turned to face him. I moved off, not turning my back.

I did find a couple places that were somewhat pretty in a severe sort of way and the water looked clear and inviting (but devoid of fish).

When I finally packed it in and returned to the car. A couple in a black jeep passed by and in a gruff uninviting tone asked if I was a prospector. I replied "No, just a lost fisherman" as I displayed the fly rod in my hand. They softened a little bit, then proceeded to tell me that I should try the Mountain Lakes private resort at the north fork. They eluded to it being a good "class place for Christian folk" (which is a thinly veiled reference to the place not being filled with Mexicans or other people of color). Being as polite as I could manage, I thanked them for the advice and wished them good luck and packed up.

Between the dogs, panners, broken glass, tagging and lack of decent fish-able water. I wont be back to middle fork ever. But at least my curiosity has been satisfied.

See more pictures of Lytle Creek Middle Fork.

Skinner & Smash Mouth!

2010-02-15T12:38:00.000-08:00

So it was Amy and my first time to Skinner lake. Rented a boat and Gene joined us for a day of multi-species action. We started out in the weedy coves looking for the large mouth bite. As the boat spun around our anchor, we would all take turns tossing into the real bassy parts. Soft plastics and crank baits were tossed yet no bites.

However, we were able to see several hot air balloons taking off for a day in the skies. What a treat!

After several coves were covered we decided to head over to the other side of the lake to hit up the trout. As we drifted, we cast our dough bait here and there while others threw trout swim baits looking for stripers. There was one solo boater trolling and blaring Smash Mouth across the lake. Man that guy loves Smash Mouth. He must have played the whole CD.

After about an hour of that with no success, it was back over to the other side for bass again. This time we found a point that had some huge boulders. A couple casts and WHAM! Big LMB on the line! I lost him though, he was too big and I didn't get a good enough hook set into him.

Gene had to depart to re-join society (family) so Amy and I decided to give it another hour in the bass coves just for the heck of it. Amy was carefully tending her trout pole when it bent in half and she pulled up a lovely hold-over trout. He was really faded on top and pure silver on the sides. After the bite we decided to head to deeper water just before we were to head out. I started breaking down poles in the meantime Amy fished for trout. When I was ready for her last pole, she just happened to set the hook on another really nice hold-over!

You can watch the video of the day here.

All in all we both loved Skinner, clear water, really quiet (save for a few folks) and great amenities. THANK YOU Gene for taking us around!!! The lake is large enough so you will have amble places to fish for whatever you like; yet small enough so you can try and mix it up without burning a lot of time. We will be back!

Fishing and Fireworks!

2010-02-11T17:48:00.000-08:00

So today I wasn't terribly sick and I had been getting a bit of cabin fever from working from home so much; that I decided to do a little morning fishing.

Well, my plan was to hit up Guasti Park Lake. I packed up my fly gear and drove over to be greeted with a sign that said "Closed to fishing today". I drove up and yes, they were stocking today which meant no fishing. I couldn't convince them to let in one harmless fly fisherman with barbless hooks. So at a loss for were to go next I decided to head to Prado Lake. At least Prado was close to home, so if it closed to fishing as well, I had a short trip home.

Prado was indeed open and the gate greeters chatted me up about the Challenger. There were a few folks fishing but not crowded at all so it was a great chance to practice casting. I think I have the fly casting part down... but I need to work on setting the line on the water.

So I puttered around fishing a brown wholly bugger. After 40 minutes of no bites but an exciting snag, I decided to move by the boat launch. I had never fished over there so at least I could satisfy my curiosity.

I tried along the grass eying the boat launch about 200 yards away. And I had another exciting snag of a black plastic spoon. Eventually, I saw a stocking truck arrive and several park staff were there to witness the delivery.

The craziest part of it was one park attendant started shooting high-power bottle rockets into the air to scare off all the cormorants! He must have launched over 30 fireworks. Eventually, there must have been several hundred cormorants in the sky doing laps around the lake.

In time, the truck left and the park personnel did as well. The fish were breaching all over the place. It was amazing to see them charge the surface and dive down again. I figured maybe I could get them on a dry fly but no luck. I was swarmed by other fisherman that shouldered next to me to toss lures in and none of us got a bite. I stuck with it even after the other folks left back for their other poles. BTW (All time record, I saw a guy who had 5 poles in the water for himself).

About an hour later the state stocking truck arrived! No fireworks this time but there were some nice fish delivered. I had just broken off a nymph in the crab grass and thought I had had enough fishing for one day so I decided to walk over to the stocking area to admire the swimming fish.

I found one with a nasty gash in his side but still alive. I scooped him out and walked the lake seeing if I could find him a home. After that I packed up and headed out. I still haven't caught a fish on the fly yet. Soon I hope!

Stream Fly Fishing: Humble Fisherman

2010-02-05T08:45:00.000-08:00

I dig these guys! I watch their videos to get a sense of how to fly fish the local streams given that a lot of the places they try are cramped and inaccessible. Check out their latest here! Oh and I love the dog!

Fly Fishing New Zealand: #2 on my list of life goals

2010-02-03T21:25:00.000-08:00

Well like a true nerd as soon as movies like Willow and LOTR came out I had an interest in visiting New Zealand.

Well, now that I am a newbie fly fisherman, I discovered a cool video clip of these two things combined and man I REALLY need to save my pennies and go.

Check out this clip from Drake Fly Fishing

DaLake: Two 4 Tuesday!

2010-02-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Gene and I fished our cranks at DaLake and landed one bass each. And poor Phil managed to get stung twice by bees! I caught my bass on the 3rd cast and Gene hooked up around 30 minutes after that.

Alas, Gene and I lost our deep divers and will need to re-stock. But I will gladly sacrifice a couple cranks to bring up those sweet DaLake bass.

Check out a small video of our catches. They both had personality that is for sure!

Fishing with Russell @ Glen Helen

2010-02-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

So the wife and I loaded up for Glen Helen for a nice relaxing day. And that it was... we fished the small lake and yeesh; Those poor DFG fish had been ravaged. The DFG stocked on Tuesday, between the locals hitting it up during the week and the Cormorants, there was little left.

I walked the small lake in the morning and found several rainbows floating upside down. I found one still pumping his gills and within reach; so I gently took his tail and righted him. After a few minutes he developed enough strength and brains to struggle, and I released him. He stayed down the whole day to my knowledge.

We tried out Amy's new foldable chairs; Now for a guy who lis used to standing the whole day, I can tell you these were heaven. At one point I got so lazy that I pulled my chair as close to the water as I could and proceeded to jig a trout worm from the chair! And wouldn't you know it I hooked one! He dumped the barb less hook but we got him on tape :)

Fishing the small lake was real slow, only 4 fish caught and 2 of those catches were ours. In the afternoon, a kid who was ever hopeful that moving around the lake might change his luck started fishing by us. He took up a spot which was a personal favorite of my wife and I and asked us if we had any luck. Shortly, after some talking I suggested he cast out only 15 feet to his left; Within a minute he had a bite but didn't hook it due to the amount of bait on his hook. We slowly worked down the amount of bait on his hook. Meanwhile, Amy and I had packed the car and were ready to head home. I turned around to go fetch the fold-able chairs and I see our new companion with a bent rod squawking! I yelled to him if he needed a net and he replied "YES PLEASE!" My wife and I trotted over to him and we got the fight and netting on tape. It was the biggest brought up in that small lake for the day.

I have fondly named our young companion Russell. If you care to sit through the video of the day I think you will catch the resemblance

Glen Helen Fishing Video 01-30-10

DaLake finally delivers!

2010-01-29T16:36:00.000-08:00

Went with Phil to DaLake for a little lunchtime fishing. I tied on a deep running crank bait just for giggles and cast out while Phil sat down for lunch.We were at my favorite point with the benches.

First cast was a nice 50 feet or so and I could feel the crank start to shake as it began to dive and dig in. After about 20 seconds of reeling... bam! The line got real heavy and some massive flashes and head shakes! It was a really solid fish! I fought it for about 15 seconds and called over Phil to take the reins. As he took over the rod, the bass went for a run and powered out deep taking another 30 feet of line. Finally, he tired himself out and we got him back to shore and lipped him! He was a 3 and a half to 4 pound large mouth! My thumb still has his teeth marks!

I didn't bring my camera, but Phil grabbed his cell phone and did his best to get a picture and some video. It is completely blurred out (we were a little excited) but you can see the size of him.

We didn't get a bite afterward but man it didn't matter. What a fish! Ohh! And I found a good condition wasp imitation for fly fishing! Since I am just starting out with fly fishing; I am happy to add a cool little creature to to my arsenal.

Video of the lunker!

Publish Post

Tri-City Lake: The Duck Pond

2010-01-28T17:06:00.000-08:00

So no luck and no bites, it was a scorcher out there in the sun and I had more geese hiss at me that I care to admit. The stocking truck never arrived and I certainly saw no boils on the water to indicate they came earlier. I also managed to snap off a fly due to all the crab grass. All in all a tough unpleasant time... And I can't wait to do it again!

Prado and Corona Video: Shaky cam old school style!

2010-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:00

So I put together a video of our skunk weekend and figured I'd just speed it up and experiment a little; Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hbV10kSd7M

DaLake - Tuesday (Hooked a Fisherman)

2010-01-27T10:40:00.000-08:00

So Gene and I were out doing our typical Lunch fishing. The water was high due to the rain but at least it wasn't a mud puddle, just a little stained.

We saw several dead Tilapia and Carp either deep in the water or floating upside down on top of the surface. Often we saw Cormorants dive deep and bring up rather large specimens and attempt to swallow them down. Most of the time they were so big that the birds wound up traumatizing the fish and they finally died on the surface. One fish brought to the surface was so big that the Cormorant's neck muscles weren't strong enough to bring the entire fish out of the water.

Outside of watching the birds put us to shame. We encountered a kid age 14 to 20 I would guess; he asked us if we had any luck and we said "No, but things are slow in Winter." We got to talking and the next thing you know he was following us around the lake chatting the whole way. "I got a new reel I am trying out... My sister and I mainly come here for Carp and Bluegill... Man you guys sure know about about Bass". He was a really nice guy and very enthusiastic. It will be a struggle for him to wait through winter to start bringing in Bass consistently, but I hope he sticks it out.

We had a little drizzle at the end of our outing which was nice on the water; Outside of that, no bites and no LMB sighted.

Sunday Corona: Skunkfest 2010

2010-01-25T11:29:00.000-08:00

So it seems that Prado was not the only mud hole after the epic rains. Amy and I went to Corona lake and fished from shore. When I say shore, that in itself was a feat. The amount of shoreline at Corona has dwindled dramatically. The entire lake must be at least 10 feet higher than before the rains. So most of the limited shore that Corona did have is gone. Plus we arrived late that day to fish the "evening bite" so what was there was pretty much taken.

But man the biggest impact that day had to be the color of the water.The color matched Willy Wonka's chocolate lake!

Amy and I set up camp and then I took a walk around the lake to not only see if there was a better spot, but also to get word of how the fishing has been. No one had caught a thing, save for these two boys in a row boat who managed to snag a cat.

After that, I talked to a staff member who was running around the lake, diligently looking for caches to take pictures of. He mentioned that no one had caught anything and that today will likely finish that way. And boy he was right.

I walked back to Amy with this info so we started experimenting with our sandwich bread and garlic scent to try and entice a catfish. After a while with that we tried a bright rooster tail lure with no luck. Noone around use had a bite either.

We had fun talking and experimenting and shooting lame video. But it definitely wasn't a day for catching, just good times enjoying the lake. Oh BTW, the staffer said it will take about 2 weeks for the water to clear up.

I got more fly casting practice in and I really think I am getting the hang of it now.

We had sandwiches, pringles. a small candy bar, and lots of fun, but we might as well have done that at a cheaper lake :) The one goofy thing was that when the staff run around to tell you that the lake is closed, they drive around in a small pickup truck with a recording looped on a loud speaker. The voice sounds like that old announcer for the Matterhorn at Disneyland. Telling you that the park is closed and that we hope you enjoyed your stay.

I will post some video of Prado and Corona later once it is compiled.

Prado on Saturday: The quiet man

2010-01-25T11:13:00.000-08:00

Went to Prado on Saturday with Amy and when we got there it was completely misted over. That eventually burned off and we were able to see that the water was pretty muddy after the rain.

We moved our location once during the day just to see if it was the spot. We hadn't had any bites, but neither had anyone else. We had moved out to a point on the shore under a giant tree with a picnic table underneath it. We cast our poles and still no luck yet. I decided to get a little fly casting practice in. With the water so muddy I knew it was a lost cause, but at that point I wasn't too concerned about catching.

Then while practicing, I heard a noise close behind me and a solo guy had dropped his gear not 5 feet from my stuff. He didn't say a word to me, or even acknowledge I was there. At this point Amy decided to walk the shore a little bit with her pole. So I proceeded to watch this man set up his camp shoulder to shoulder with me as I was practicing fly casting (though I did have another pole in the water). Even though there were so few people around the lake that everyone else had nearly 50-100 yards between them. I stood in awe as he set up one pole after another. When he had 4 poles in the water soaking baits he finally settled back down.

I gave the quiet man some room and adjusted the one rod I had out so he could have some room. I said "hey there, any luck or did you just arrive?" and no answer. At that point he was either pretending not to speak English or just didn't want to talk to me. He did manage to catch one nice trout about 4 minutes after he got all his poles in the water. And after going the whole day without a bite and one good baited rig in the water I was a little put off. So at that point I really wasn't much for doing any more fishing in that area, and too tired to move I started packing up here and there. To add insult to injury, my quiet neighbor moved his poles over into the area in front of me before I had taken my pole out of the water.

I don't mind getting skunked, but I do mind being shouldered out of a spot.

My fishing superstitions

2010-01-25T10:57:00.000-08:00

So I have a few superstitions about fishing that I think make some sense. You can actually total these up to figure out what your fishing handicap will be for the day/week/year.

The scoring is pretty simple. Negative scores are bad, positive scores are good. Lets start shall we?

Fishing Superstitions:
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[-5] The eager fisherman: The more you desire to catch fish the less likely it becomes...

This one is one of the most common, but also something that is easily avoided. Often I see guys out next to me on shore or out on a boat. Once you pull them away for half a second you discover they have been up since eleven the previous night, they have 4 poles in the water for just them, they ran out of poles so they have a line tied to a stick also in the water, and they have a kids pole that they will run around shore and wedge in near the latest caught fish to cast out. I have been guilty of this attitude myself more often than not. But this attitude has a few rather bad side effects.

1. You probably wind up spending more money than you should because you just have to go to the best possible lake to catch fish, you need that boat rental, you 4 poles per person, etc. Next thing you know, you just spend $180 bucks to fish the day at a pay-for-play lake and got skunked (which leads to my next point).

2. All that eagerness sets up a bad psychological state where you have it in your head that success = catching fish. Then enjoyment in the day now hinges on this, if/when you get skunked your day on the water feels pretty misreable.

3. Eagerness + A Type personality = Flailing. Your mental state can deteriorate when you get no bites. The tension starts to mount and clear thinking starts to evaporate. Next thing you know, you start re-tying and re-rigging every 3 casts, rushing in on spots, not taking your time. Then things get bad and you are running to every caught fish throwing right in on top of them. I see this on shore with the teens all the time.

So I fight this a lot! And I am really not a type A, but I do find that if I get skunked 5 times in a row I start to get anxious. Never mind the fact that I am fishing during lunch for just an hour, in winter, for bass. I start doubting my technique. That next fish becomes ultra important. I find that when I start thinking that way, I have to mentally re-align my goals for fishing. My next trip to DaLake at lunch, I won't go alone, I will make sure to take a friend or two and make it a lunch out with poles. It them becomes a teaching trip, a day out with food in the nice weather. And go figure we get more bites.

[-3 to -7] The curse of buying new gear: The more you spend, the less likely you are to catch.

Ok, so this isn't as scientific as the last one but for some reason it holds true. This is akin to the saying "washing your car will make it rain". If you go out and buy new equipment because you want to add fly casting to your arsenal with your bait-soaking methods, you are tempting the fishing clouds. The more you spend on those new shiny bass lures, worms and crank baits. The more you will loose them and flail around.

The curse of buying new gear is of course temporary and is as potent as the relative purchase price of your gear. Eventually it does cap out. here is a good example of this in action: My wife and I just got into fly fish and man did we drop some coin to get outfitted. Now we didn't go crazy (because I didn't want that much bad luck) but you know 4 $50 poles and 2 $90 reels and flies, line, leader, tippet all ad up. So what was our punishment? Well we angered the fishing gods so much that they unleashed a 5 day soak fest on So Cal. The most rain we have seen in the year and turned every fish-able lake into a mud hole.

This is not to say that I am against trying new things, but the mental outlook when you purchase your new shinnies should be carefully monitored so that these do not become purchases of desperation that you hinge your hope on.

[+3] Bring a lady fishing: Even if you don't wind up catching anything, you have a lovely lady at your side so the day already has a great baseline of happiness to it!

While some may contend that bringing a lady will most likely result in you doing more rigging and watching her fish. I find that can be just as enjoyable. Ladies can be beginners, which instantly triggers the beginners luck bonus! Filming my wife fishing and catching fish is always one my favorite treats!

For those who have a tendency to flail fish this is also a nice way to slow down as your attention (one way or another) will drift to your better half.

[+1] Rig other lines for instant fishing karma boost!
I can't tell you how often I have hooked up with a nice rainbow while I was tying leaders. If you need just a little help in your fishing luck I think this is the way to do it. That and a little trout gravy :)

[+2] Beginners luck.
Time and time again I see this one shine through. My wife and Phil are both beginners to fishing and boy do they have the force with them. Either it rubs off on others but mainly, they just get it done! My buddy Phil had little to no instruction on how to cast and fish and hooked into a rainbow at Lake Mission Viejo when Gene and I couldn't get a bite. My wife at Corona Lake was passing her pole off to other family members because of the amount of fish she can catch.

So I have lots more superstitions and I will get a chance to list them all soon enough. Also once I refine the list a bit I will make a handicap score card so you can tally up that info for your outings!

Boat name fail!

2010-01-22T12:25:00.001-08:00

Got to love those birds!!

Saturday at Glen Helen

2010-01-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

Another Saturday morning at Glen Helen. We arrived late and found an open spot. The fishing was great right when we got there and died out around midday. Next time, Amy and I won't sleep in :)

Amy caught 2 nice sized trout and I managed to get a lil guy. Next week we are going to try our hands at a fly rod, at Prado. If we can catch a break in the weather.

Here is a couple of highlights of the trip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYutmZTjlAs

Fly Casting is cool! But tough!

2010-01-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

So Amy and I went to the Bass Pro Shop on Sunday and had private lessons on how to cast a fly rod. Wow it is cool, delicate presentations at a distance! But this type of casting is totally counter-intuitive to traditional rods. The staff member (Vince) who taught us said that the biggest muscle you will need to re-develop is your brain.

I loved the area outside that they have set up to practice at. Right outside the fly shop is a waterfall and stream with a bridge. A great way to gain perspective on your casts is to actually have a stream as your target!

A big thanks to the staff at the Fly shop for tying us up some custom flies and great advice!

DaLake - Fish, fish everywhere and not a bite to be had!

2010-01-15T17:07:00.000-08:00

Went fishing with Gene today during lunch and not a bite but we saw plenty of Bass roaming in the shallows. Gene finally nabbed one just before we left. A little dink, but at least we didn't get skunked. And again we established that there are some lunkers holding up in the drains.

Those sneaky DaLake bass!!

2010-01-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

Was out with my co-workers running around DaLake during lunch. We saw a ton of bass here and there. Then as we were walking back to the restaurants we saw to fat LMB just sitting in the shallows near the walkway. Next thing you know 2 becomes 3, 3 becomes 4 and then we figure it out!

Those sneaky bass were coming out of a storm drain hole below the water line. They have their own private den!! So we walk around and find another hole and I lower my spinner just to see if I could spook one out and voila! A LMB swims right out avoiding my spinner!

Can't wait to go back Friday and see if we can lure some into biting.

Corona Lake: Winter 2009 Highlights

2010-01-14T16:49:00.000-08:00

A compilation video of the winter fun at Corona Lake. Check it out, nice photos at the end!

See all my photos and then some!

2010-01-14T16:36:00.000-08:00

Photos of fishing, cars, holidays and trips can all be found at Flickr's James & Amy photo collection.

Glen Helen: Windy Fishing w/Video

2010-01-14T16:30:00.000-08:00

Amy and I decided to give Corona a break and try Glen Helen. We had been there a couple times before we decent luck. Wow when we go there mid-morning it was howling! Wind so strong it took your breath away. We managed to struggle it out for about 3 hours before calling it a day.

We managed to fool 3 fish into taking our bait. The last Amy caught using a bobber and 4 foot leader to a trout worm (chartreuse). I managed to put together a small video of the day. I set it to music because the mic had picked up nothing but wind.

Watch "Our Day at Glen Helen"

5 POUNDER from Corona

2010-01-14T16:25:00.000-08:00

By far the biggest trout I have caught. Weighing in as a solid 5lbs. It was an epic 15-20 minute fight on 2lb test.

Soaked Day of fishing at Corona Lake

2010-01-14T16:22:00.000-08:00

Well Gene and I must have been crazy to put up with the rain storm of the year and get in a boat and go fishing! But wet and miserable we got but even so at the end of the day we were able to muster up a smile or two. Thanks again Gene!

Corona Lake: Limit Caught in under 2 hours

2010-01-14T16:19:00.000-08:00

Fishing this good is almost too good to be true. But both Amy and I had our limit in under 2 hours and scratched our heads thinking (what else do we do with the rest of the day?). Now that is a sweet problem to have.

DaLake Lake: Bassin!

2010-01-14T16:14:00.000-08:00

This is me holding up my good friend Anton's first Bass. I love being able to take quick breaks from work and go fish here during lunch with my co-workers and friends.

Corona Lake Fishing

2010-01-14T16:07:00.000-08:00

I discovered Corona Lake back in September and really got hooked into going there all November and December.

If you can afford it, it is a great place to fish as long as you avoid the major holidays! I have taken several folks there and typically catching less than 5 trout is unusual for 2 people. I do prefer the boats. Best all around rig is a sliding sinker with a 6'' leader of 2lb test. Use a real small treble hooks around size 18.

For those that don't fish often it is a good place given that you won't need a state fishing license.

I have a couple of youtube videos of my wife and I fishing at Corona. I will link those soon.

My New Challenger!!!

2010-01-14T15:58:00.000-08:00

I got a new car in November and I love like the day I test drove it. Just bought the ingredients for its first oil change!!

Check out the Challenger Gallery! This was at my parents house on Thanks Giving Day.

Duck Feeders are the suck!

2010-01-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

If it is one thing I hate its "Duck Feeders". Outside of all the harmful consequences that arise from feeding them, it ruins the fishing for us anglers!

To add insult to injury, the "Duck Feeders" can't be bothered to even move away from the signs telling them not to do it!!

If I started fishing in an area marked no fishing, all holy hell would break loose.

Cal Poly Pomona Pumpkin Festival

2010-01-14T15:48:00.000-08:00

The Pumpkin festival was great this year and it was fun having my folks along this time! Definitely not too crowded in the morning to get some candid shots!

You can view the rest of the gallery below...
Pumpkin Festival Gallery

Fishing October: Highlights

2010-01-14T14:57:00.000-08:00

Just a recap in pictures of October fishing. Some of the areas shown are Santa Ana River, Jenks Lake, Rancho Santa Margarita Lake, Lake Forrest and Glen Helen Lake.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9087296@N03/sets/72157622591969100/show/

Fishing in October

2010-01-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

Amy and I love driving up to the local mountain streams to fish. We enjoy this far more than any other fishing we have tried so far. Walking among the pines and sneaking up to the creak bends is a joy regardless weather we catch a trout.

One of our last trips up before it got too cold to keep going. We encountered a deep pool with a gigantic boulder in the center. We had passed this pool many times before without so much as a hint of a fish. The pool itself is extremely still (no current or disturbances) and clear. This time was different... I cast out to the tip top of the boulder's head, the head just broke the surface by a few inches. I watch my Velveeta ball tumble it's way down the peek and slip into water. Finally, the little cheese ball rolled it's way down to the base of the boulder were it met a dark void between it and the bottom below.

My poor ball of cheese never made it to the floor, out popper just the tip of a trout nose and sucked it in. I set the hook and wham, line started to spin off my reel as the trout launched out of the hole and upstream. On 2lb test this 19inch hybrid was a monster.

I did manage to get a picture. My guess is that he is a hybrid Brown/Rainbow... Needless after a quick photo op we returned him to his pool.

The following week was our last stream run for the season. My wife and I came by that hole again and I stood back letting Amy have first crack at the pool. And like clockwork the monster showed himself again and the fight was on!!