The Wonders of Ellis Lake

Ellis Lake is a strange fishery. It is a small man made pond in which water enters, but never exits.  This might explain why the water has a permanent visibility of only a few inches. The water is so opaque that it has hidden a few dead bodies in its past. 

It is no mystery now that Ellis has become a breeding ground for many exotic pets that have outgrown their tanks, which gives fisherman the opportunity to catch the occasional South American Pacu or arapaima (guy in FB group posted pictures)  in Northern, California. The water that comes into this lake never exits which keeps the exotic species from entering and possibly destroying other ecosystems. The interesting part is that this ecosystem houses these strange fish and they seem to coexist with the catfish, bass, crappie and bluegill that call this lake home. You know what that means… bring on the Peacock bass!

Russell and I hit the lake at around 2:00 armed with some crayfish, nightcrawlers and bone crusher (my 8 Wt. RLS+).  I was also armed with positive thoughts which I am convinced makes the difference between a bad day fishing and a great day fishing.

We had lines in the water with live craws within minutes. I also rigged up a second rod with a worm and bobber. I started by picking off some of the green sunfish from the cracks on the side of the lake rock. I was able to get into two of them. A bit later I tossed my bobber in deeper in hopes for one of the mammoth carp that roam these waters. There are big boys up to 20 lbs in there and I was aiming for one. at one point my bobber started moving to the side only it wasn’t a fish…

That was the first time I ever caught a turtle, which is definitely a milestone. The turtle was safely released and good thing it was because we later saw it hanging out with a couple of baby turtles.

We sat and waited for our catfish to come but they didn’t. A bit later I broke out bone crusher in hopes of a bass or piranha or something.  I took a black wooley bugger and went around the pond. I ended up catching a green sunfish in a shaded area and got a bass to chase my WB in the shallow, but no strikes. A bit later I changed it up to a Sarge’s Crappie fly and cast out to the deeper ends. An older gentleman came up and was watching me cast then asked if I had caught any. I told him a couple of green sunfish along the edge. He asked if it was hard and I told him, “No it’s easy, you just drag it close to the sides like this…” and when I said that I caught my last green sunfish of the day. He was pretty impressed. 

The old guy was fishing and ended up giving me some hot dogs he had which are the “go to” bait for Ellis lake. Unfortunately it didn’t do much for us. That was pretty much it for the day. The catfish weren’t having anything to do with our baits so we wrapped it up. 

** and I just realized that as I write this, we are officially in the last day of spring! That means a spring wrap- up is coming. Summer will be filled with Largemouth, catfish, striper, and hopefully some high country trout fishing.  Oh and come mid July I will continue my quest for my first King Salmon.

Total Fish: 3 green sunfish… oh and  + 1 turtle!

2013 Fishing Goals Report!

2013 was a decent year of fishing. It was the first year that I actually counted my fish so that’s a definite highlight. In 2013 I caught a grand total of 80 fish and I’m proud of that total! I worked hard for that total. I fished as much as I possibly could for that total. Part of me wants to say it’s not a lot of fish but it’s about more than just the fish, it’s about learning HOW to catch the fish! Its about always being a student of angling as opposed to being an un-teachable know it all.

My Personal best crappie - 12 in.

I am not an expert by any means but I now have 3 solid seasons under my belt. I would say that this third season has been the biggest learning year so far. That’s a huge milestone. In 2013 I learned how to fly fish, I learned how to fish for salmon, I learned how to set up a punch rig, I revisited and really learned how to use the slip-bobber rig to catch more panfish than I ever have. 

Fly fishing for the very first time

Out of all of these skills, my favorite by far is learning to fly fish. Ever since the moment I found out Mark would be teaching me to fly fish, I knew I would be hooked. So when I first held a fly rod in my hand, the moment I first tried to cast, the first fish I caught, the first trout I caught on my own rod;  all of those moments really confirmed that I would not forget about fly fishing and would eventually begin a lifelong pursuit of fly fishing. I will always remember 2013 as the year I became a fly fisherman. 

Below are the goals I had for 2013. Some I completed, others I will complete this year.

1.       Catch my first Salmon 

Incomplete. I didn’t catch my first salmon this year. However, my head is not down about this one. I learned exactly how to catch a salmon and the only thing missing this year was actually hooking into one. 2014 will definitely be my year for the king! 

2.       Catch my first Sturgeon 

Incomplete. Honestly, the weather has thrown my fishing schedule off. Usually around this time I would be trying for Sturgeon but the end of December and early January has felt like summer in Northern California. I usually wait for some rain to start salmon fishing but it hasn’t happened yet. All that to say I didn’t catch any salmon last year. Haha I will give it another go this year. 

3.       Catch my first steelhead

Incomplete. I didn’t really do anything toward this goal. I will however be going out for steelhead with they fly rod soon so hopefully 2014 will be the year for chrome!!

4.       Discover new fishing holes

Great spot on Dry Creek

Complete. I definitely accomplished this one! This year I found the bee hive, a salmon spot in Knights landing, A spot on dry creek for trout, and a great spot for catfishing at Ellis Lake. This year I will be on the hunt for more spots!

5. Catch more trout

PB Rainbow trout - 16 in.

stringer from New Melones

Complete. This goal wasn’t specific by any means but I have never been a trout fisherman. This year, I caught trout. I caught 14 total trout this year which was more than the single trout I caught last year. I also caught the largest trout I have ever caught which was a 16 inch planter. In 2014 I intend to catch many more. Its also important to note that 9 out of these 14 trout were caught on the fly. 

6.       Catch more smallmouth bass

My PB 24 in. Striper

Incomplete. I hardly even tried, but I will!!

7.       Break my striper record

Complete. This year I hooked into a hard fighting tuxedo bass that broke my old record by 2 inches. Even though I didn’t get into many stripers this year, I’m happy to say I got into my biggest so far. 

8.       Catch a double digit Largemouth

Incomplete. I hardly fished for largemouth this year and when I did get into them, they weren’t as large as I thought they would be. 

9.       More overnight fishing trips

Incomplete. I had a few camping trips but no overnight fishing trips. I need to put this goal back up in 2014 because I love al night fishing! 

10.   Do more fishing research than ever before!

Complete. I definitely researched more than ever. I think my tactic is different than in the past. Although I did do a ton of online research and video watching, I also asked a lot of questions to the experts like Mark with trout, Sean with Salmon and Russell with panfish. 

In all I met four out of my 10 goals. This year when I set goals I intend on focusing on those goals to get them done so I will choose wisely. 2014 Fishing goals are coming soon!

Fly Fishing Success!

Now it will only be a short time before i buy a fly rod, learn from experience and research and teach everybody I know or anybody willing to learn about fly fishing, because that’s what I love doing. - Juan Lopez Jr.

Yes, you read correctly, I quoted myself! That is from an older blog post i wrote back in May when I started learning to fly fish.

Well folks, it happened. I bought a fly rod, and on my first trip out with it, i got my buddy into it and now he wants to go out and buy a fly rod! in his own words,

"Dude, i was hooked the moment you put the fly rod in my hand!"

Mission accomplished... at least with one person I know.

Folks, I have pictures galore SO I hope you’re in the mood to see them! Originally I was going to go out to Putah creek and try to catch me a nice large trout but my buddy decided he wanted to go fishing. Russell and I hit the FAMOUS Ellis Lake around 5pm. We were out there for catfish but honestly, I just wanted to try out my fly rod. Since I haven’t cast a fly rod since May when I went out with Mark, I really just wanted to get my flow back. Sure enough, I got it pretty quickly. I remembered why I loved it so much the first time I did it!

Well, I really wanted to catch something on my own fly rod so after heeding some of Russells tips about blue gills in Ellis Lake I went out and caught myself my first bluegill on my own fly rod. (Warning, following picture may cause extreme laughter)

I bought a small package of flies and all the box said is that they were called “prime mouches” but I looked at other patterns and the closest thing I can find is a “muddler minnow.” Anyway, I saw something come up and catch my fly and it was on! Didn’t feel too big but I was hoping I would catch it. Sure enough up comes a fish, takes my fly and swims off. The water is sort of murky so I couldn’t see it how big it actually was but when I pulled it up I realized the whole thing was about the size of a silver dollar, and that is being generous! Nonetheless the tiny fish was a milestone: my first fish on my own fly rod.

A few minutes later I caught a bigger one, which was still small but a little larger than the previous one.

Meanwhile, The bells on my catfish pole started going off and I was too far away so I asked Russell to check it out since he was right next to it. He set the rod and had a fish on. He asked if I wanted to reel it in but I only reel in fish I catch myself, haha! He brought in this nice cat on my rod. 

After a while I decided that I had already caught two fish on my fly rod and it was time to teach Russell the basics of fly fishing. I taught him basic fly casting and although he was lacking a bit on the mechanics of it all, I think he did pretty well. I figured I would teach him what I knew and then leave him to it. That worked for me and I knew it would work for him. Russell has been fishing his entire life so I knew it was only a matter of letting him play with it and correcting anything I saw that was wrong.   

After casting for a while  he also landed a tiny bluegill, similar to mine, but I still think mine was smaller! I asked him if he liked fly fishing and he told me he loved it and wanted to buy a fishing rod as soon as possible. Sounds like we have a new fly fisherman on our hands!

After a while we sat and had a couple of beers and watched our catfish rods and sure enough Russell got a bite on one of his rods. He reeled in another nice cat which turned out to be the last fish of the night. Both catfish were caught using crawdads as bait. 

Well, I didn’t end up catching any catfish but that was because most of the time I was playing with my fly rod. I guess what some of you told me was true; my bait fishing is already suffering because of my fly fishing. Either way I had a great time, caught my first couple of fish on my own fly rod, taught Russell the basics, got him to say he wanted to buy a fly rod and got him into his first fish on the fly.  I am really eager to hit the Yuba River or Putah creek in the near future and catch me some nice size trout.

Well, that is it for me, folks! Until next time, break that bank!