Testing the RLS + and other fishing adventures.

Some of you asked for a report about how the RLS+ does on the water so here it is. As I said before this thing casts very smooth.  I took it on two of the three fishing spots I will tell you about on this post. 

1. Last Thursday I took it for a spin at Willow Hill reservoir in Roseville, CA.  It’s a fishing hole that I had never been to but I decided all I was going to take was my fly rod.  Either I caught a fish on my new fly rod or I didn’t catch anything.

I was looking for some bass but also wasn’t opposed to catching some trout (stocked pond) or blue gills. When I arrived, I was surprised to find out the pond was RIGHT BEHIND the high school.  Perhaps if I had a pond behind my high school I would have chosen fishing instead of getting into trouble! Lol anyway I tossed out a bass popper and some tiny panfish and baby bass quickly went to check it out. I got a few strikes but they were too small to swallow my popper.  In the distance I could see a dock and quite a few fishermen on it fishing. A couple of high school kids were screaming about having caught fish so I figured I would inch closer to it. I saw a tree hanging over the pond and since it was a hot day I figured there might be some bass and panfish underneath. Sure enough, there were bass, but they were spawning so I left them alone.  

Finally I made my way to the dock and after a few casts, I hooked into my first bluegill on a Royal humpy. Royal humpy is getting closer to becoming my go to fly for blue gills, they seem to love it! Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture of this fish because as soon as I caught it an old man asked me if he could use it for bait. I handed it right over. Soon after that my wife called and I made my way to pick her up. One quick observation, 8 wts are not for catching bluegills! (some of you are saying,” well, duh!”) I knew this but I was able to feel that this rod was designed for bigger fish and I just man handled this little bluegill with no problem at all.

Total = 1 blue gill

2. Went fishing by myself out at the bee hive.  I did not bring my fly rod on this trip even though I probably should have.  I was looking for crappie and bluegills but they don’t seem to be around yet. There were a few bass hanging around. I through a few lures and only a heddon torpedo got a few strikes from some smaller guys. I tossed out one with a nightcrawler on a classic rig but couldn’t get a single bite. The other was a nightcrawler on a simple bobber rig. The catfish pole didn’t get a single bite. The other attracted some small bass. In all I was able to catch three bass which didn’t have much size to them but I certainly cannot complain about getting into some bass action.

Total = 3 Largemouth bass

 

 3.  I took the RLS+ and a regular rod out to Boss Pond. The big difference that we all noticed was that the water was stained this time around. Last time our confidence was higher because the fish were visible. This time around you could hardly see the fish but as the day progressed, we had strikes without solid bites. My spot under the tree produced 2 small bluegills on nightcrawlers that I gave to Ol Pops to use for catfish bait. As for the bass, they were sucking up our baits, including a brown wooley bugger on the RLS but it quickly spit it out. That was the story the rest of the day at Boss Pond. Once again, I at the very least didn’t get skunked.

Total: 2 bluegills

Total Fish 3 bluegills + 3 Largemouth bass = 6 fish

Spring Has Sprung and the Spawn is On!

I headed into Williams after work last week  and I decided to check out boss pond with my buddies Rigo and Jaime.  What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen to you when you are excited about  going fishing? You forget something! And sure enough I forgot something important: my tackle box!  Now my dad is primarily a striper and catfish fisherman.  This means that his tackle box is full of heavy weights and large hooks.  Luckily a long time ago we shared a tackle box and I left a few things in his box. It wasn’t much but it was enough to catch fish. 

 We hit Boss Pond at around 4 PM. The water was crystal clear and the fish were plentiful. The spawn is clearly on right now.  You could see many bass, bluegills, catfish and even some humongous carp swimming around. My main goal was to catch some bass so I took my spinning Rod out and went to work. 

 First thing I did was toss in the old worm and bobber. Within seconds It was under water and shot in a different direction.  5 minutes into the trip I had my first bass on and it was a fighter! He shot out in many directions including under the weeds which made him tougher to catch but I managed to get him in.  The skunk was gone, the first bass of the season was in the bag and the season was underway! 

A bit later buddy Jaime hooked into a fatty bluegill. This was his first fish of the year and he was pretty excited about it. Now, one thing I managed to find in Pops’ tackle box was a “crappie thunder.” I didn’t even realize I had one of these in there, but I sure did. After a cast along the edge, I noticed a bass begin to follow it. I slowed down a bit and sure enough, CHOMP!  Fish was on and a few minutes later brought him in, my second fish of the day. A bit later we went to the same spot where I caught all of the bluegill last time I was at Boss Pond. 

Sure enough there were tons of bluegills hanging around but also quite a few spawning bass. Jaime tossed his bobber into the weeds and pulled out a nice 2 lb bass.  All of the bass we caught were female and quickly released.  We continued to catch a bunch of bluegill but after a while Jaime decided to try the creek that runs next to the pond.  Since spring has sprung, the spawn is on! That includes catfish as well.  There were a bunch of catfish hanging on the sides of the creek and at one point Jaime tossed his worm and bobber in and hooked into a nice size catfish. The catfish ran, peeled some drag but finally Jaime got it to the bank.  Jaime is fairly new to fishing so he kind of made a rookie mistake.  The bank was sort of steep but instead of looking for a place to better land the fish or getting down in order to pull the fish in, he depended on the 10 lb test and the rod itself. While slowly pulling it out of the water…. SNAP… the line broke and it was back in the water. He kicked himself for it and I’m sure it left that nasty taste in his mouth that will cause him to want to fish more so I’m good with it! In all we caught 10 fish and my buddy Rigo got skunked.  Hopefully I will be able to make it back out to the pond,  take  my tackle box and bring my fly rod out! 

Total Fish: 2 Largemouth Bass + 4 Bluegills + 1 green sunfish = 7 Fish

Another Good Panfish Day!

I've  been on a bit of a roll lately. It started with a 12 crappie day and continued with a personal best catfish. With an open opportunity to fish this sunday I rounded up Ol' Pops and my buddy Rigo and we headed out to three different fishing holes.

First we went to Hopkins Slough. This was my third time hitting this hole and my third time getting skunked. Why do I keep returning? because of stories about huge catfish living here. I have never caught one or even got a bite there. Sounds like this was my last time at this hole.

Our second stop was a canal everybody calls 20/47. In a county full of dirty ditches, this is the queen mother. 20/47 is a drainage canal for most of the fields in Colusa County. We have hit this canal in other cities and really slaughtered the catfish. This spot doesn't seem to be as good.

Last but not least we went out to Boss Pond. I was hoping for some panfish and bass action. Ol' Pops and Rigo opted for some catfish action at the creek/ canal that runs besides Boss Pond. While fishing, Rigo spotted a large catfish which appeared to be laying on its side. He thought it was dead but I told him it might be spawning and to cast toward it. He did exactly that and a few minutes he had a nice 1 lb catfish!

With the wind fiercely blowing I chose a spot in the direction of the wind. I tossed out a bobber with a worm and quickly had a takedown but it seemed to have spit up the worm. After that there were no bites. At the second spot I had no takedowns. At spot #3 I tossed in my worm and got into my first fish of the day. it was a nice fat little gill. I took out the fly rod and tied on a San Juan worm, but there didn't seem to be anymore bluegills there.

Finally, I went to spot 4. I happen to know spot #4 is pretty productive and I was hoping it was warm enough for the fish to be in the shallows. Not only did I find bluegills but I also found bass! In fact some of them were probably 1.5-2lb bass. I wasn't sure if they were trying to eat bluegill or hanging in the shallows getting ready to spawn. either way, the bass checked out everything I threw at them but rejected it all. The panfish were another story. I caught my second fish of the day within seconds. I wish I had gotten there earlier, perhaps I would have had more of a chance at catching a bass. I did catch bluegill though, one after the other. At one point I ended up getting into a green sunfish. I had no idea that boss pond had green sunfish in it. Spot #4 although productive, is fairly difficult to fish. It is underneath a trees branches which makes it very difficult to cast. I did try out my fly rod and caught two bluegills on the san Juan worm however they were biting more consistently on the mini crawlers so I switched back.

Since I got a late start on spot #4,  it got dark quickly. By the time I got into my ninth fish, everybody else was ready to go. I emptied out my worm carton and as luck would have it, I had exactly one worm left. I threw it in, waited a while and sure enough I hooked into my 10th and final panfish of the day. It turns out boss pond also has red ears in it, which is what I hooked into. 10 panfish in a day is pretty good, especially because I caught them in the last 25 minutes of fishing. I'm pretty glad I got into 10 more panfish. So far this year I have caught 22 panfish, which only leaves 48 panfish to catch to reach my goal of 70. I think I'm gonna get there!

Total Fish: 8 bluegills+1green sunfish+ 1 redear = 10 Panfish

OBN and USAL

I have not had a pleasant experience with what is called the “Outdoor Blogger Network.”  For whatever reason both times I have attempted to promote some of my posts, it hasn’t worked.  I was able to create a profile the first time but that was all. I remember waiting for them to promote my post and nothing.

This time around I updated my profile and added myself to the directory and figured maybe that is what I was doing wrong. I was wrong. I added myself to the directory, checked and realized I was nowhere to be found in the directory. 

I tried once again to promote my posts but this time I posted two of them and for whatever reason it just doesn’t happen! I have checked everyday since and nothing. 

Well, considering that it doesn’t seem to work for me, I removed the badge and am leaving this network that shows no evidence of me ever having been there! 

If you have any ideas about what is going on, let me know. Otherwise, I’m perfectly okay with not being part of this network.  Either way, I have all of you and folks that  find my blog through the Kienes  board and The Fish sniffer. 

As for fishing, I haven’t been in a while. With the recent storms and cloudy weather, I’m a bit hesitant to even go out and risk getting rained out. It is supposed to clear up next week so next Wednesday I might try to make my way out to Putah, Boss pond or Butte Pond. I guess I will let you guys know.

 I also have the (now) yearly  trip to Usal  trip with my Chico buddies coming and I am pretty excited about that! If any of you have any tips on crabbing from the beach or surf fishing, please let me know!

That’s it for me. Get your fish on, folks!!

I Have a Feeling...

I have a feeling that this year will be a big one! In fact, I’m going to get cocky for a second like Babe Ruth calling his home run. Or instead some might call it confidence like when zig ziglar said, “when I go fishing, I bring the tartar sauce along with me.” Nothing wrong with some positive thoughts, right? So here I go:

This year, I will catch more fish than I have in any prior year!

There, I said it so now I can’t back down! 

So last year was the first year I actually counted the number of fish I landed but I still have a rough estimate of how many I caught in the past and I plan to surpass all of it.

Enter the new year:

1/15/2014

Left work at 12 and headed to williams to pick up my buddy Rigo and head to one of three spots. Three years ago My buddy Rigo was my main fishing buddy. Then after a slow summer he decided to “take a break from fishing.” That “Break" would last for two years.

Anyway, in the summer of 2011 we headed out to a random field in the middle of nowhere to try our hands at some cat fish. instead we ran into some rather large carp at two different holes. Our intent was to fish both of those carp holes a second time. At the first hole we found bites were scarce so we moved to the second hole. 

One thing we certainly didnt think about was how our current water situation would affect our fishing in the north state. Translation: Our second carp hole was dry!

With Very limited time, we headed to boss pond. I quilkly began fishing for bass and pan fish with a worm floating off of the bottom and a slip-bobber rig, respectively. No interest.

Next i pulled out a jerk bait and worked it slowly in a shallower side of the pond. Sure enough I saw three bass slowly follow it but get spooked as soon as they saw me. That was he extent of the action and yet gave me hopes for spring time at boss pond. I will slay some bass this year... oh yes, I WILL slay some bass!! We ended the night tailgating with our buddy Jaime who showed up later with some beers.

Total fish: 0

1/17/2014

Left work at 12 pm again and the plan was to head to Collins lake as quick as possible.so we can try to get into some trout. 

Something that I am looking into getting is an ultralight combo for trout and pan fish. I also converted one of the rods I used for bass into a trout rod by adding 6 lb mono to it. Not the best set up for trout but it and one of my bass rods definitely got the job done.

We hit the water and we were there to do two things: drink beer and catch fish! Remember when I said my research would pay off in fish this year? Well I was right. As soon as we got there, we had beers popped and rods ready to rock. My left rod had rainbow power bait on the “No leader” set up rig (Or Collins Lake special as I will begin caling it) Russell taught me the last time we were there.The other some power eggs on a foot and a half mono leader. 

While sipping our beers, Russell got the first bite which was about five minutes in. He ended up missing the fish. Five minutes after that I got a bite on the power bait. I ran over and while I reeled in, I had a bite on the power eggs. I was going to try to get them both but instead i focused on the PB rod and ended up missing the second one. Either way, it felt GREAT to shoot the skunk and catch my first fish of the year; a 14 in. Rainbow. A guy and his mom came close and watched me nail my first fish and simply admired my catch. I am a nice guy so I greeted them and asked how their fishing was going. They replied that they had been skunked so far. Man, it feels good not to be the one getting skunked!! lol

We looked like studs on that lake because even though we arrived last, we got into fish quick! Russell started catching fish as well including another nice 13 inch rainbow. My biggest was a fat little 15 incher that had a curved jaw! I should have taken a picture but we had limited time and fish to catch. When it was almost dark, the lake was down to only me, Russell and a guy named Joe. All of a sudden all six poles started bouncing and every man was for himself. I ended up catching one more and Russell caught two. By the end of the day Russell had caught four and I caught three, not bad for 2.5 hours of fishing. It felt good to get the year started with one of two trips being successful!

Total Fish: 3 Rainbow trout

Update: Largemouths at Lisbon

Does the Hedon Torpedo work? Well I caught one fish with it in Washington State. Does it work at Lisbon, doesn’t seem like it. Then again catching bass at Lisbon seems to be different than other places. The only thing that has worked for catching Bass at Lisbon has been good ol nightcrawlers. Other than that, no dice.

I hit Lisbon on Friday and Saturday. I used the Heddon Torpedo in two sizes on two different days.  Long story Short, both were a failure. I am not sure what this means other than Lisbon is kind of a tough place for Largemouth. I still have to try it out at Boss pond and a few other fishing holes before I give an opinion. 

Anyway, I didn’t take any pictures of the fish I caught because I didn’t hook anything too impressive. Friday I hooked into a small largemouth and three decent sized crappie. I didn’t really feel like gutting and scaling so instead I simply caught and released. 

Sunday I took my dad out to the beehive (name for newest fishing hole). I ended up hooking into two small Largemouths  but once again, nothing too impressive. As much as I love hooking into some small fish, I really want a bigger fight so I need to hit the sac soon. Since Boss pond will be out of question for a while (different reasons) I am on the lookout for a new pond to catch some monster bass.

 
Well, three crappie and three largemouths would be it for this weekend! Not a great first fishing trip of the summer but at least i didn't get skunked!