Kimochou
01-15-2009, 10:21 PM
Finally got the wife to go fishing with me for the first time since we moved back from Hawaii. It took me showing her a bunch of the Irvine Lake posts, but I got her excited about trout fishing again. (We fished Irvine or Big Bear every week for two trout seasons back in 1997-1998. She was in WON and OC Register for the biggest trout of the week once - almost 8lbs. That was big back then.) Since Parkway was close and the only pay lake in the area where I knew we would have have the best chance to catch something (and keep her enthusiastic about going again), it was an easy decision.
We got a late start and did not arrive until after 8am. On first glance it looked like a combination of Irvine Lake and SARL. Like SARL in size as well as freeway traffic noise with a couple of rock quarry type shorelines, but a nice penninsula in the middle and other more natural Irvine looking shores.
We were advised by the concessionaire (very friendly) that both the freeway facing side of the penninsula or the back cove were good spots and chose the penninsula. We chose a spot about 2/3 of the way down and baited up. I used corn pb with natural scent Nitro attractant and she used her old favorite, chartreuse glitter pb with no attractant. Started her off with a 30" leader and me with about 18". Two pound Maxima ultragreen and #18 trebels. This is what worked for us 11 years ago (except no corn pb back then and no attractant either) and had to start with what used to work right? Got no bites for about 3 hours which was the same for everybody on that shoreline. Progressively shortened leaders until both were down to 10" for nothing. One person on the opposite shore caught one fish. At least it was a beautiful morning.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0187.jpg
Made the move to the back cove about in the middle of the penninsula facing away from the freeway. With all the trees in the middle, no more freeway noise. We met a very nice regular named Larry who had caught three fish up to about 2lbs. We also saw these pelicans which we assumed was a good sign that there were trout around - unless they already feasted on them!?
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0192.jpg
Based on Larry's advice, we switched over to a inflated nightcrawler/power egg combo. (He had caught his on nc/white power egg). Retied with about 15" leaders and a #6 baitholder and used a orange/yellow power egg. 15 Minutes later, I see the wife's pole dancing, ran over and set the hook. She had just sat down and didn't notice the bite, but after getting admonished by Larry, I handed the rod to her. We had noticed earlier that Larry's fish had nicely formed tails with only a small clipping so we were expecting decent fighting fish and that is exactly what she got. The fish made several screaming runs and even jumped twice but after about 3 minutes, she landed her first trout in ten years!
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0189.jpg
We ended up with two more smaller grade trout, missed a couple of bites and lost two at the net that were in the 2 pound range. It seems we are a bit rusty. Once again, I got outcatched (I'll never admit to outfished) by the wife. My excuse like always is that this is my strategy to keep her excited about going again but I'm not sure anyone believes it anymore. In any case, we had a great time, enjoyed the warm weather and caught fish.
If anyone wants to join us on a Thursday at Parkway, send me a PM and let's meet up. We are open to other bay area lakes also.
We got a late start and did not arrive until after 8am. On first glance it looked like a combination of Irvine Lake and SARL. Like SARL in size as well as freeway traffic noise with a couple of rock quarry type shorelines, but a nice penninsula in the middle and other more natural Irvine looking shores.
We were advised by the concessionaire (very friendly) that both the freeway facing side of the penninsula or the back cove were good spots and chose the penninsula. We chose a spot about 2/3 of the way down and baited up. I used corn pb with natural scent Nitro attractant and she used her old favorite, chartreuse glitter pb with no attractant. Started her off with a 30" leader and me with about 18". Two pound Maxima ultragreen and #18 trebels. This is what worked for us 11 years ago (except no corn pb back then and no attractant either) and had to start with what used to work right? Got no bites for about 3 hours which was the same for everybody on that shoreline. Progressively shortened leaders until both were down to 10" for nothing. One person on the opposite shore caught one fish. At least it was a beautiful morning.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0187.jpg
Made the move to the back cove about in the middle of the penninsula facing away from the freeway. With all the trees in the middle, no more freeway noise. We met a very nice regular named Larry who had caught three fish up to about 2lbs. We also saw these pelicans which we assumed was a good sign that there were trout around - unless they already feasted on them!?
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0192.jpg
Based on Larry's advice, we switched over to a inflated nightcrawler/power egg combo. (He had caught his on nc/white power egg). Retied with about 15" leaders and a #6 baitholder and used a orange/yellow power egg. 15 Minutes later, I see the wife's pole dancing, ran over and set the hook. She had just sat down and didn't notice the bite, but after getting admonished by Larry, I handed the rod to her. We had noticed earlier that Larry's fish had nicely formed tails with only a small clipping so we were expecting decent fighting fish and that is exactly what she got. The fish made several screaming runs and even jumped twice but after about 3 minutes, she landed her first trout in ten years!
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0189.jpg
We ended up with two more smaller grade trout, missed a couple of bites and lost two at the net that were in the 2 pound range. It seems we are a bit rusty. Once again, I got outcatched (I'll never admit to outfished) by the wife. My excuse like always is that this is my strategy to keep her excited about going again but I'm not sure anyone believes it anymore. In any case, we had a great time, enjoyed the warm weather and caught fish.
If anyone wants to join us on a Thursday at Parkway, send me a PM and let's meet up. We are open to other bay area lakes also.