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!

Just Another Bee at the Hive...

I was off of work a bit early so Luis and I decided to hit the bee hive. The weather in Cali right now is perfect. It was in the high 70's today (Friday) in Woodland; perfect for fishing.

We got to the bee hive at around 3:00. We had night crawlers and mini crawlers and were after some crappie! I figured we had so much success on wednesday that maybe they would be popping at the hive. Well, the crappie were not biting, nor were the bluegill nor the green sunfish.

The water was very high and the banks were muddy. both of us slipped and fell at least a couple times each. There were tons of minnows all over in the water being very active. we were able to catch a few and hoped the crappie would gobble them up, but they weren't into them either.

At one point we saw the game warden walking around on the other side of the slough. In all the years going there I had NEVER seen a game warden but there is a first time for everything. I waved at him and he waved back but kept walking. within a few minutes He decided to walk back and sure enough he paid us a visit. Seemed like a nice guy which is cool because sometimes they can be total punks!

It was around 7pm and it was getting a bit dark when i began thinking it was time to go. Luis was still fishing a worm on a bobber and got a bite but missed the fish. I asked Luis if he wanted to leave and wouldn't you know it, he said he wanted to try to catch the fish he missed so lets stay a few more minutes! I've created an angler, folks! I decided to throw one last line so I rigged up with the "classic rig" to see if anything would bite. I did get some soft bites but nothing too serious. I checked my bait and cast out again and I saw a few soft nibbles on my line. Then the butt of my rod left the ground so I quickly grabbed it and this is what happened next:

As you can hear, this cat peeled some line! I had my drag set kind of tight but when I saw my rod double over, I released the drag a bit. When I first hooked into it I thought it was a carp for sure. This thing didn't just peel line, it made my rod sing! It ran from one end to another and headed for a tree clear on the other side of where I was fishing. I was able to play it until it got tired. Since it was muddy and the water was high, I decided it would be best to net my own fish. This 4 lber is the biggest catfish I have caught to date and it was definitely a blast to catch! This is why I love this spot. Just another bee at the hive, my friends!

Total Fish: 1 Catfish

The Mighty Green!

A Great day of fishing but a bad day of catching! I enjoyed every minute of the trip but we didnt see many fish, especially not at the end of our lines. Either way, I had a blast!

I scouted Putah two weekends with the hopes of fishing it soon. I asked Mark (from Northern California Trout) a few days ago if he was willing to fish it with me and he agreed. We met up in Woodland and were on the road by 830. We arrived at our first fishing spot in Putah at around 915. After we waded up we headed out to Spot #1 (spots are actually labeled this way). The first thing we noticed was how deceiving the bank was. What appeared to be sand was a soft yet thick mud that you quickly sank into as soon as you stepped on it.

At the riffle

As you can see in the video, Spot #1 seemed very promising and yet let us down. We were nymphing under indicators with barbless (pinched down) hooks on our flies. Even though It was a great riffle and a nice swift current, there were no fish to be found. At one point i was so caught up in just casting, drifting and waiting that I completely lost track of time. Honestly, I was just having a great time standing in knee high water, listening to the water run, hoping for a bite. 

Meanwhile Rob, a nice guy who we had met earlier, got into one fish at about 16". That's when we knew it was time to move to the next fishing hole and give that one a try. 

Great Scenery at Putah

The second hole (hole #3)  also had a nice riffle and looked very promising. The issue with it, and most other spots at Putah, is that casting area is tight. One bad cast and you end up picking your line out of the bushes (which happened to me twice). However, this was a good problem to have because it forced me to adapt. Prior to this trip I had only done a regular back cast but Putah forced me to practice my roll casts and also casting over my left shoulder. By the end of the trip I was so much better at casting. 

Mark wrapping up for the day

Well, even though we didnt get into any fish, I was able to bust out my brand new, unused waders, boots and vest that I got in December. That plus I was able to hang out with Mark who is always a good time to hang out with. 

Well, even though we left putah skunked, I felt I learned a lot. I don't ever want to leave a fishing hole  where I didn't at least learn. As for Putah, I have a feeling I will be returning quite often to figure this creek out. Every waterway has a combination and I WILL figure this one out! And when I do, Mark will have to make his way back so we can get our revenge on this creek.