Marley
04-26-2009, 10:24 PM
A quick report, just got home. My 25th opener, every one from the same rock at Crowley. We always catch fish, usually filling limits. The fish out of Crowley are second to none for the quality of the meat, and the fight is superior to most. I just love the way the lake fishes.
Team Marley was small this year, as only Mom went with (it was her 15th year). One brother is expecting his first child and it's been a difficult time for mom, so they didn;t want to chance the oxygen level at the condo (we alwys stay in Mammoth), and the other brother just couldn't make it. Bummer for them. Or, maybe not...
Much to the dismay of our skiing neighbors, we left Mammoth Estates at 3:30 Saturday morning. It was 18 degrees and dead calm, which made last night's blanket of new snow freeze into a sheet of ice along with the cinders put down sometime in the wee hours. Good thing for cinders, as it would have been the proverbial e-ticket ride all the way down to 395.
Got to Crowley to find a sparse crowd. No line at all at the gate, and clsoe to 200 yards of open shoreline at Marley's Secret Spot #5.1. Claimed our space and sat in the warmth of a heated cab.
Got a bait in the water at the flare, but didn't get the first fish until just after grey light. Nice bite in the 1 1/2-pound fish between dawn and 6:30, when I dropped the biggest of the trip, a sleek 2 1/2-pounder into the basket.
We managed five nice fish before the wind really howled. The fish were still biting, but we couldn't see the bite and it was just too darned uncomfortable standing and holding the rod. The 2-foot waves coming ashore in front of what had to be 40-mph winds put up a wash of icy water that actually froze the line on my reels. It was just too much, especially for this city boy.
We called it at 8:45 and went to Convict to finish our limits with stockers.
All of our Crowley fish came on my beloved half-crawler, blown and fished 16" off the bottom. The water was really roiled up and actually looked dirty. There was a lot of foam that washed ashore and just laid there. Looked like shaving cream.
The Convict fish came mostly on M&M's, but caught some on blown half-dillies. Two new rods to break in, so I released the first fish on each.
Sunday morning to Convict for half limits, and then to Baker Creek ponds in Big Pine to finish. Those little fish came on the blown meal worm, jigged across the bottom.
Awesome trip. Not the best quality fish we've ever caught, but probably the best time overall since I've been going. Mom has arthritis that's getting worse, and just found out that she has a degenerating spine. It's scary. Not sure how many more trips she'll be able to make, but we're already looking for snowmobile suits that fit 74-year-old grandmothers. We'll find a way to keep her warm somehow.
Team Marley was small this year, as only Mom went with (it was her 15th year). One brother is expecting his first child and it's been a difficult time for mom, so they didn;t want to chance the oxygen level at the condo (we alwys stay in Mammoth), and the other brother just couldn't make it. Bummer for them. Or, maybe not...
Much to the dismay of our skiing neighbors, we left Mammoth Estates at 3:30 Saturday morning. It was 18 degrees and dead calm, which made last night's blanket of new snow freeze into a sheet of ice along with the cinders put down sometime in the wee hours. Good thing for cinders, as it would have been the proverbial e-ticket ride all the way down to 395.
Got to Crowley to find a sparse crowd. No line at all at the gate, and clsoe to 200 yards of open shoreline at Marley's Secret Spot #5.1. Claimed our space and sat in the warmth of a heated cab.
Got a bait in the water at the flare, but didn't get the first fish until just after grey light. Nice bite in the 1 1/2-pound fish between dawn and 6:30, when I dropped the biggest of the trip, a sleek 2 1/2-pounder into the basket.
We managed five nice fish before the wind really howled. The fish were still biting, but we couldn't see the bite and it was just too darned uncomfortable standing and holding the rod. The 2-foot waves coming ashore in front of what had to be 40-mph winds put up a wash of icy water that actually froze the line on my reels. It was just too much, especially for this city boy.
We called it at 8:45 and went to Convict to finish our limits with stockers.
All of our Crowley fish came on my beloved half-crawler, blown and fished 16" off the bottom. The water was really roiled up and actually looked dirty. There was a lot of foam that washed ashore and just laid there. Looked like shaving cream.
The Convict fish came mostly on M&M's, but caught some on blown half-dillies. Two new rods to break in, so I released the first fish on each.
Sunday morning to Convict for half limits, and then to Baker Creek ponds in Big Pine to finish. Those little fish came on the blown meal worm, jigged across the bottom.
Awesome trip. Not the best quality fish we've ever caught, but probably the best time overall since I've been going. Mom has arthritis that's getting worse, and just found out that she has a degenerating spine. It's scary. Not sure how many more trips she'll be able to make, but we're already looking for snowmobile suits that fit 74-year-old grandmothers. We'll find a way to keep her warm somehow.