Time for a Hail Mary!

I planned to release 3 blog posts the other day and didn’t even realize that I only posted two! Lol here is the third.  

The ultimate panoramic shot: a 360!

First Spot

With a little under 300 fish, I hoped to reach that number with a few trout out at Collins Lake this past Monday. I got together with Jeremy and made the hour and 20 minute drive up the hill into the Browns valley area. The lake was a little higher than it was last year around  this time but not by much.

Good to the last drop

It was after 12 by the time we had lines in the water. We had some lunch and a couple of Sierra Nevada Celebration ales. Both of us are fairly outgoing so we talked to the people next to us for a bit. They said that nobody had gotten a bite all morning. Not a good sign but I stayed positive.  

Rock stack

The lake was calm and there were very few boats out. We talked to the people next to us about the Niners, Raiders and Jim Harbaugh.  We sat, we waited, we remained positive. After an hour and a half of no bites, we moved down a bit, past our fellow fisherman to an area that seemed deeper. We continued to drink and hang out. Jeremy completed a pretty impressive rock stack. 

Second Spot

We sat and discussed “the pits,” and what it might be like to fish them during this time of the year. We speculated that spring was going to be great there as we hoped for bites. Unfortunately there were not even bites to be had that day. 

Unfortunately I was unable to reach 300 fish this year, but the trip, as every other fishing trip, is never in vain. As we packed up our stuff, we both remembered the good old saying, “a bad day fishing is better than a great day working.”  And it sure was true. I had a great time with my buddy, ate some food, drank some beer and had lines in the water. I gotta say it was a good day!

Last "Selfie" of the year

That wraps up 2014 for me. I still have a fall wrap up,  and then a review for my 2014 goals and I can move on to 2015.

Total Fish: 0 

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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

The One that Got Away… At Last!

You know how fishermen always have a story about “the one that got away?” Well up until Yesterday I didn’t. You see, I haven’t caught huge fish but I have caught decent size fish. I had one such encounter while carp fishing but it was a carp so it didn’t count (in my opinion).  I haven’t however caught a fish that put up a huge fight and that I ultimately lost. That is until Yesterday. 

So I fished Collins Lake this tuesday. I had the day off so I figured I would make the hour and twenty minute drive and try my hand at catching some planter rainbows. Word on the street (okay, not the street, just my buddy Russell) was that folks were KILLING the trout out there. He told me you could see hundreds of trout swimming past one specific area. So we made a trip of it and headed out to Collins. When we got there we saw people pulling out trout and imagined an epic day. And it was pretty epic, just not in the way that I had imagined. 

We got out on the water at about 10:30. My set up was a basic slip sinker rig with a ½ oz egg weight, a 2 foot fluorocarbon leader, a size 16 treble hook and some rainbow power bait. Russell Got his rod in the water using power eggs. Within a few minutes he had a fish on! I missed my chance at first fish but it was okay because in my mind we were just getting started. A few minutes later he got into another fish. A bit later another guy came, stood next to me and started fishing and he started getting into fish as well! Picture it: Ten feet to my left there is a guy catching fish, ten feet to my right is another guy catching fish and I am getting skunked!

I was so frustrated that I had to take a break. We had some lunch and a couple beers which helped me get into a better mood. I was ready to fish again and I was also ready to catch; only it didn’t happen. I switched bait, leader length, tactics and I continued being fishless as Russell caught more fish. I finally asked Russell what his set up was and it was a ridiculous sounding set up. The guy didn’t even have a leader; he just sort of rigged up his own monofilament line as the leader and didn’t have an egg weight, but simply used a small tear drop weight held in place by the barrel swivel. Well, I figured I tried my way, why not try his way even though mine seemed better, what with the fluorocarbon leader and egg weight. So I tied up his poor man’s rig and wouldn’t you know it, at 3:05 pm, five minutes after tying this set up, I got my first bite! I missed that one, put on another power egg and tossed it back in and again, I got a bite! I was beside myself! For whatever reason when I used a fluorocarbon leader the fish wanted nothing to do with it and when I used the mono they couldn’t resist! And this sure proved true at about 3:25 when I caught my first trout! 

I got a few more bites and probably could have caught more planters on a regular rod but at around 3:45 I decided I wanted to head down to dry creek and try for some wild trout at dry creek down below the dam. This is where things changed. I tied on a size?? (Mark?)  paralyzer that Mark at Northern California Trout gave me the last time we fished together. On my first dead drift on a riffle, boom! Just a strike but I didn’t land him. Then after about my 10^th cast and a few fruitless strikes, the bite died. So I switched to a black wooley bugger and then a Royal humpy I decided to go back to the paralyzer. I cast twice and on my third cast, I caught a nice little baby trout!

 I had very little time to fish since the sun was going down but I continued to cast and wouldn’t you know it, the bite picked up! A bit later I had another little trout and another and another totaling four small wild rainbows in a matter of about 20 minutes. That would include time to catch the trout, land him, net him, take a picture and toss him back in. Did I mention that I caught each trout, used a net to get them in, didn’t let them touch the ground, wet my hand to handle them and released them all safe and sound?  Yes, I have to pat myself on the back for that ;)

The sun set at around 4:50 but it started getting dark at around 5:20. It was getting harder to see my fly but I continued throwing it. At this point I noticed more trout seemed to be snacking at the riffle. Bites were plenty and I noticed the fish were getting bigger as it got darker.

This is when it happened. At first I thought it was a snag because my line just stayed completely stiff. I pulled line in with my hand and all of a sudden I felt it move! I reeled in and at this point I felt it struggle. When I reached down for my net I felt him take one last forceful charge and SNAP! He broke my 5x 5 lb tippet and swam away with my paralyzer. Now partially it was my fault that this happened, since I was only catching smaller trout, I didn’t think to loosen my drag and it was on all the way tight. 

After it happened I was crushed but at the same time I smiled. I was there to fish and what a way to end the day but by losing what must have been at least a 6 or 7 lb trout! Then I had a second thought, when is the next time I will be out here again, especially since stream fishing is coming to a close? So I put my head lamp on, squinted to see as I tied on another paralyze and threw a few more casts before the bite died and it got to dark for me to see what was going on. 

Perhaps I should have been sad. Perhaps I should have dwelled on my lack of preparation on setting the drag. Perhaps I could have cursed the fact that I didn’t get down there earlier or anything else but instead I dwelled on the positive. I now know that there are BIG fish in that creek, I know how and where to try to catch them and I now have a “one that got away” story to share until next season when I go back there and catch him and his bigger siblings!

Total count: 5 trout. That and an awesome “One that got away” story.

Goodbye Spinning Reel!

Collins in the morning Rain

In what will perhaps be my last camping trip of the summer of 2013 (and the start of the fall camping season), I had two successes that really made the trip. My main goal was to catch a trout on the fly rod. Another sort of ongoing goal was to help my nephew catch his first fish. This was my families last camping trip of the summer and I was ready to have a good time with them. 

We arrived at Collins lake at around 1:30 PM. We set up camp and by 3 we were on the water. Dry Creek is a tributary of the Yuba River that flows into and out of Collins Lake. Underneath the spill way is a pond where lake water spills in, a small water riffle (the spot that I really wanted to fish) and then another pond where the water eventually funnels back into the actual creek. All of this water is cold, even during the summer. 

the second pond

I know for a fact there are trout in there because we have caught fish there before. In fact, the first trout I ever caught was out of that pond. The problem with that pond is that there are bushes growing all around it which make it difficult and impossible for me to fly cast. I know this because I tried it out since there were two guys fishing at the water riffle that I originally wanted to fish. 

So I started the day at the second pond which is a deeper pond surrounded by rocks and a hill side. I started off with a black wooley bugger #6 and since I seemed to have lost my floatant, I would dry the fly off with my shirt and then toss it again. Sometimes I would just jig it around a little bit under the surface since the water is fairly clear. That’s when I spotted small panfish following my lure around. They bit at it a few times but apparently they were only biting the feathers. Next I tried a frog pattern bass popper and after a few casts, ad a few times hitting a rock, I noticed it wasn’t popping correctly. I looked at the popper and it was cracked right down the middle. Next I tied on a foam grasshopper and tossed it around but no takers. 

Then I went over to the first pond. I tied on a Para adams #10 but I ended up getting caught up in the bushes after a few tries so I gave up. I walked back to the second pond and walked by the water riffle hoping the two guys fishing there would leave.  Luckily after a few minutes they finally decided to leave. I quickly pounced on their spot. 

Just past the riffle

At this point I still had the Para adams #10 tied on. I threw it into the riffle and then let it drift into the pool below. I kept throwing it for a few but as it got wet it would sink. And then it happened, my first strike!  I was so excited but when I set my hook the line was slack. I tried a few more casts but nothing. I decided to tie on a black wooley bugger #6 and while I was tying, my nephew walked up and asked me to tie on a simple bobber rig for him. I tied it on and told him where to cast and I continued my mission. 

Fat Little Green Sunfish

I continued to cast but I wasn’t getting any bites and my WB kept getting wet and sinking. Next I tried a white bead head wooley bugger #6. When I bought this, I wasn’t aware that some wooley buggers sank. I later realized it was because of the bead. Well even though it sank, I figured the white color might attract fish as it floated down the riffle. I was getting frustrated with the sinking and the fact that if I got a bite, I might not know what it felt like. Just then my nephew says, “I caught a fish!” I dropped what I was doing and ran over to discover a fat dark little green sunfish on his hook! I was extremely happy and proud! I have been trying to get him into some fish for a while now and for whatever reason he had not caught one until that day! I shook his hand and congratulated him on his first fish ever! He was very happy!

Nephew's First Catch!

After a couple of pictures I was back at it. I kept tossing in the white WB and I was getting anxious. Just then I felt another strike, this one a bit lighter than the last but still a bite. I knew I was on the right track and after a few more casts, I tied on a black and olive #6 Wooley Bugger. I tossed it in, it floated but eventually got so wet that it sank. I just kept casting into the riffle and let it sink when it hit the pond. It was then that I got another bite but this time, I felt the fish take off to my left! It didn’t matter that I didn’t see the strike because what I felt was unmistakable!  I was trying to pull line in with my hand but the fish took all my excess line and was running so I used my reel (for the first time) and brought him into shore! This is how I caught my first trout on my own fly rod (I have caught trout before with Mark’s fly rod). I was nervous and excited and surprised that I had landed it so I didn’t try to grab it with my hand but instead put him on the ground (hence the dirt and rocks on him. my apologies folks! ) But I did try my best to measure him, take a picture and toss him back in as soon as possible. 

Beautiful 10.5" Rainbow!

After measuring him, I wet my hand, picked him up, took pictures and then moved him back and forth in the water. He was a strong one and darted into the water after I released him. He was a beautiful fish; a nice thick 10 1/2 wild trout. The pink stripe on his side was so dark it was almost purple. I’m glad I was able to catch him and release him safely. 

1st trout on my own Fly rod

With my nephew’s sunfish and my trout, we were ready to go. This took the pressure that I put on myself to catch my first trout on my own fly rod. I must admit, catching that trout was bad for my spinning reel fishing. It makes me want to fly fish more than ever! 

 With that said, I hope you guys have a fantastic week and weekend. I will be at a work conference this whole week so I might not be able to post. Hope you guys have a great weekend and as always, break that bank!

Collins Lake