Kimochou
01-22-2009, 08:21 PM
Hit Parkway again with the wife today. Troutslayer05 was planning on joining us but something apparently came up. Stephen, you missed out on some wide open trout fishing! We'll try again next time - It would have been fun. By the way troutdog, they do not stock Browns.
Got a late start again and did not make it to the lake until almost 10am. Met up with Larry again to find out that the early morning was slow for everyone with only one fish landed on the penninsula. Betty says no problem, we're here to change that! Same set up as last time, 15" leaders, white power egg/nightcrawler and sunrise power egg/nightcrawler combos. Bought some #8 Gamakatsu baitholder hooks in hopes of correcting the lost fish problem from last week. No bites for the first hour and it looked like the colder misty weather was not helping. While Betty kicked back with a beer, I headed down the shoreline drop shotting a power worm and later a 1/64 ounce red/white crappie jig under a bobber with no success. Time to get my power egg on.
Got hit on the bait at about 11:30, a really small one - less than 12" but at least we got on the board! This fish mysteriously disappeared off the stringer later but we'll save that for later :Wink:
Next fish was a much nicer hookjaw.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0201.jpg
After this, Larry starts to hook up non-stop including two doubles. I was on some serious net duty and Betty was pouting about her skunk so far.
It doesn't take long for Betty to get on the board as the bite is now wide open. Here's an action shot of Betty without her in the picture!? and one of her nicer fish.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0198.jpg
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0194.jpg
By 1:30pm, we would have had our limit except the smaller fish keep flopping out of the net. :Wink: :Big Grin:
At this point Larry has pinched down the barbs on his hooks and after releasing a few more left for the day. We wrap up our limits at 3pm and leave just before the rain hits. Here is our stringer which weighed out at 22.5 pounds.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0212.jpg
Well, we had a blast and although no huge fish, we are definitely happy about the over all quality of our catch. Made the rounds and dropped off fish (cleaned) for a few friends and kept a couple for dinner tomorrow. A quick note, I do believe that the hooks made a big difference as we lost only one fish today (other than the smaller ones that jumped out of the net of course). Also met someone later who gave me some very interesting information about Stevens Creek Reservoir so my next post might be about a bass trip
there.
One last note. The very nice concessionaire lady is actually the owner. Found out that her fish are stocked by Mt. Lassen. Although they require you to weigh your fish as you leave, she did not bother me about the 22.5 pounds which was very nice of her. (There is a 5 fish/10 pounds per permit sign posted). They also have a buy 10 permits get the 11th free card so make sure to ask for it and get it punched if you go.
Got a late start again and did not make it to the lake until almost 10am. Met up with Larry again to find out that the early morning was slow for everyone with only one fish landed on the penninsula. Betty says no problem, we're here to change that! Same set up as last time, 15" leaders, white power egg/nightcrawler and sunrise power egg/nightcrawler combos. Bought some #8 Gamakatsu baitholder hooks in hopes of correcting the lost fish problem from last week. No bites for the first hour and it looked like the colder misty weather was not helping. While Betty kicked back with a beer, I headed down the shoreline drop shotting a power worm and later a 1/64 ounce red/white crappie jig under a bobber with no success. Time to get my power egg on.
Got hit on the bait at about 11:30, a really small one - less than 12" but at least we got on the board! This fish mysteriously disappeared off the stringer later but we'll save that for later :Wink:
Next fish was a much nicer hookjaw.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0201.jpg
After this, Larry starts to hook up non-stop including two doubles. I was on some serious net duty and Betty was pouting about her skunk so far.
It doesn't take long for Betty to get on the board as the bite is now wide open. Here's an action shot of Betty without her in the picture!? and one of her nicer fish.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0198.jpg
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0194.jpg
By 1:30pm, we would have had our limit except the smaller fish keep flopping out of the net. :Wink: :Big Grin:
At this point Larry has pinched down the barbs on his hooks and after releasing a few more left for the day. We wrap up our limits at 3pm and leave just before the rain hits. Here is our stringer which weighed out at 22.5 pounds.
http://i498.photobucket.com/albums/rr350/kimochou/IMG_0212.jpg
Well, we had a blast and although no huge fish, we are definitely happy about the over all quality of our catch. Made the rounds and dropped off fish (cleaned) for a few friends and kept a couple for dinner tomorrow. A quick note, I do believe that the hooks made a big difference as we lost only one fish today (other than the smaller ones that jumped out of the net of course). Also met someone later who gave me some very interesting information about Stevens Creek Reservoir so my next post might be about a bass trip
there.
One last note. The very nice concessionaire lady is actually the owner. Found out that her fish are stocked by Mt. Lassen. Although they require you to weigh your fish as you leave, she did not bother me about the 22.5 pounds which was very nice of her. (There is a 5 fish/10 pounds per permit sign posted). They also have a buy 10 permits get the 11th free card so make sure to ask for it and get it punched if you go.