I'm Back!

I have been away for a long time now. My last post was back in July and back then my fish count was at about 200.... Since then I have caught a LOT of fish, which would probably put me at over 300 for the year. And perhaps one of these days I will count them... but not today. I'm finished counting fish now. That in no way means I'm finished fishing though! In fact, it''s like Doc Holiday said in Tombstone, "I'm in my prime!"

Instead of trying to catch up with my posts, I figured I would post some of the highlights of the past few months.

Minden Success

Back in late July I got together with Russell and we went cat/ carp fishing. he happened to get into a great looking cat and I got into some very hefty carp! ended up having a blast with the buddy russ!

Burney Falls Camping

Back in August my family and I went Camping up at Burney Falls. The Falls themselves were breath-taking and that is an understatement! It it the type of thing you have to experience yourself. It was a 2.5 hour trip but it was WELL worth it. I of course went fishing with ol pops. Didn't get anything on the fly but did end up getting what I believe is my first brook trout on a kastmaster!

Brook trout?

My First King Salmon! 

It finally happened! After a few years chasing the king, I caught her when I least expected! I will dedicate an entire post with full size pictures to this but just thought I would post the update and the teaser pic below!

The First Annual End of the summer fish fry!

 Last year I began collecting fish for an end of summer fish fry but most of it ended up getting frost bite.

This year I collected some catfish, bass and crappie and at the end of the summer I threw a fish fry. I invited some of my best friends over, busted out some delicious craft beer including my last case of Sierra Nevadas summerfest of the season, and had a great time. I was worried that I wouldn't have enough fish for the fry and the only thing that took away that worry was catching the Salmon a few days before. And wouldn't you know it, we not only had enough, but waay too much fish! Everyone ate until they were full and still took fried fish and grilled salmon home! Nothing quite like spending a summer fishing hard and bringing it home to feed the tribe! Looking forward to The 2nd Annual End of Summer Fish Fry which promises to be bigger and better!

Aside from those events I continued to fish! I have been practicing a lot on the fly rod and the bait caster as well. Most of my trips I only take those two rods. Its finally beginning to feel like fall down in the valley and the fishing is about to peak before it slows down and head to the hills for some trout action. Get ready Mark, I'm coming soon! 

Well that's it for me now. Hope all of you are doing well and it is good to be back. 

Christmas Tradition

high and muddy water

I am not a Christmas guy. I am not a Christmas music/spirit/presents person. I’m more of a thanksgiving type of guy.  My wife LOVES Christmas and she loves decorating the house as what she calls a “Christmas village.” I didn’t want decorations, she wanted decorations so we compromised and had decorations! The things we do for the women we love.

Anyway, one Christmas tradition that I love is Christmas fishing with Ol Pops. For the past few years we have been hitting the fishing hole after Christmas Breakfast and this year was no different. However, there was one difference. Nor Cal had some rain around that time so our rivers and sloughs are VERY high and flowing quickly. 

Deer is to the left of the gate

We hit Lisbon slough for a few quick hours of fishing. We brought chicken livers and nightcrawlers hoping for some big cats. I was hoping to hit a specific spot I have on Lisbon but that spot was flooded so we just hit a new spot. 

Just a great view

I tossed two lines in and my dad tossed in one. We waited and waited but no bites. Meanwhile it was a cold but beautiful day in Woodland. In fact there were three does that decided to make an appearace on the other side of the slough. We watched them as they ate grass and hung out and even though we weren’t getting bites, it was cool to see these woodland creatures hanging out.

We ended the day with no fish but it was a great time out with my dad enjoying our fantastic tradition! 

Total fish: 0

To Catch or Not to Catch?

That is the Question! 

Howard from "Windknots and Tangled Lines" made an interesting statement on my blog the other day that I thought I would dissect a little bit in order to examine my own motives.

The statement was, “numbers and size just really don't mean much. Enjoy the experience.”

 Am I really only after big fish and numbers? I would have to take apart the question a bit and I start with the word, “Only.”

Am I “only” after the big fish? The answer is no. This year most of the fish I have caught have been smaller. In fact I caught a lot of panfish and I’m one of the only guys in my fishing circles that still has a blast with a bobber, worm and good a panfish hole. I’m not only interested in big fish, but with that said, I definitely DO want to catch some big “trophy fish.” And the idea is that I want to excel at catching fish. It’s like getting a promotion at a job or increasing your max at the gym. I want to constantly improve and attempt to master anything that I do. I am a fisherman, I catch fish. 

Am I after numbers? This year, I would have to say the answer is yes. Just being honest. I was out to prove to myself that my research thus far has paid off. Last year I learned a lot and this year I was testing my research. I feel my research paid off. Now am I only after numbers, no. However at the very least I am after one! If I don’t beat the skunk I sometimes feel like I failed. A man once said, “There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.” While Salmon fishing I remembered this quote… but then I realized I was on a boat and that made me feel better.

View from above (slip bobber at center of picture, close to top)

To be honest, it’s not always about catching fish but sometimes it is. If I went on 5 fishing trips and didn’t catch one, I would be concerned. Then again, It depends on the trip. Like there is a fishing trip that I forgot to mention a couple of Fridays ago. It was an impromptu Friday night trip to Lake Minden, the lake where my buddy Russell works. It had been a while since I had fished with him so I was looking forward to hanging with him and drinking some beers together with lines in the water. 

Two rods out in the darkness

I had a slip- bobber rig in and a bottom fishing rig in the other. I got nibbles on the slip bobber rig and nothing on the bottom feeding rig. That is until I got a big take down. I set my hook and must have pulled the hook out with the big set but that’s not the point. It would have been nice to catch a fatty catfish but I didn’t see that trip as a failure by any means. I drank beers and ate brats with my good buddy and we caught up on life. Whenever I have a trip like this one, the last thing on my mind is catching fish but catching fish is a nice little bonus! Same goes when I’m fishing with Mark or getting to know a new buddy like Jeremy or if I’m night fishing with the buddies or fishing while camping. 

Thoreau once said, “Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” I know what I’m after, only sometimes is it big fish.
 

Total Fish: 0

Summer 2014 Totals

Time to take an informal tone while I review the summer of 2014. So welcome to my post fishing buddies, pull up a chair, have a cold one or a hot coffee or whatever makes you happy and let’s rap a bit.


Summer is gone and I want to get this seasonal report out into the “blogosphere,” before I end up sitting on it for the next month and releasing it late. Summer is my favorite season for a reason: I am able to get more fishing done and get er’ done nearby. My spots within a 10 mile radius hit most during the summer. That means a short trip after work while the sun is still out at 5pm, can still be very productive. With fall comes an earlier sundown, colder temperatures and the fish in my area begin to shut down. This is why you often hear me talking about “heading to the hills.” The hills and their lakes are at least 45 minutes away so that means longer fishing trips that I can’t take after work.

Another reason that I love spring and summer is that my favorite fish are a’ feedin’! That will be apparent with my summer numbers which are exciting to me! So, without further adieu,  here is the breakdown:

Carp/ PM = 04

Pan Fish = 25

Catfish = 14

LMB = 41

SMB = 01

Trout = 07

Striper = 28

*Steelhead= 00

*Salmon = 00

*Sturgeon = 00

________________________

Total: 120 Fish

So let me give you some perspective as to why this excites me:

•   Spring time brought me 60 fish and to me that was productive, but summer brought me 120 fish.
•  This summer I caught 120 fish out of the 211 I have caught all year! 
•   Last year I caught a TOTAL of 80 fish! One summer brought me more fish than the entire year of 2013! 

And aside from that here are some observations:

• Only 25 panfish which is a decent number but I also didn’t just pad my numbers with easy catches.
•  41 Largemouth Bass! I had some decent bass days.
• 28 stripers after having so few last year! It felt good to get out there and catch some tuxedo bass again!  

So those are the numbers and that was my season! Now fall will bring trips out to Collins, hopefully some trips to fish with Mark and some trips to Putah creek to catch some fatty trout.

I will continue to search for some Bass this fall and go after some salmon. AND I will post some pictures of my first annual “End of the Summer fish Fry,” after we figure out a date. Well folks, thanks for swinging by and I look forward to sharing my fishing adventures with you this fall!

Cheers!

Another Crappie Day

With nobody agreeing to fish Last Wednesday, I set off on the journey to the beehive alone. I figured this left me more space to cast and that was okay with me. 

 

I arrived at around 5 and went to work with a worm and bobber for gills. I quickly caught a small bass just to kill the skunk. Plus I love how hard the small bass hit the worms out there. The next fish was a bluegill which I quickly hooked up on my heavier rod with a bottom feeding rig hoping for some large cats or big bass. The last time I was here the bass were hungry and feeding nearby. 

I tossed out a few lures including a popper, a torpedo, and a crawdad ratl trap with no takers at all. After a while I tied my bobber back on with a tiny treble and got a few more gills. Soon thereafter I tied on a larger hook because I was after some bigger bass or bigger crappie. 

Even though we were supposed to have a full moon, the fish didn’t seem to be biting on the main slough. I knew that come “Crunch time,” (the hour-hour and a ½ while the sun sets) the fish would start hitting. 

When crunch time came I set my rod up with a slip-bobber rig and a couple of nightcrawlers. If the night was as it was a couple of weeks ago I would be able to get into some largemouth and I wanted to be ready for them. I also put a fresh bluegill on my other rod and hoped for the best. It started getting darker and the bite wasn’t really picking up. I switched depths with the slip bobber rig but the bite was slow. I eventually picked up a couple of nice size crappies that I ended up keeping for the fish fry. 

I usually know when its getting too late because the panfish and bass bite turns off and the catfish start biting. And that’s usually smaller cats, nothing worth mentioning. After the second cat I decided to pack it up and head home. 

Total Fish: 2 Catfish + 3 Crappie + 2 Largemouth bass + 6 Bluegill = 13 fish 

** These 9 panfish put me OVER my goal of 70 Panfish for the year! Time to shoot for 100!