Natural Lefty
07-25-2009, 04:09 PM
Sometimes I have to remind myself of all the reasons why I go fishing aside from catching fish: fun, exercise, a date with my wife (if she comes along), the scenery, an escape from the everyday concerns of life. Then there is looking at the pretty little fishies, especially when you can't catch anything bigger. That pretty much sums up yesterday.
Since the day before was my wife's birthday, and she seemed anxious to go fishing, I let her decide where to go. She chose Hemet Lake. We had a couple of really good trips there 3 years ago when the lake was full, so it has been one of her favorite fishing spots since then. We always have gone to the 5 dollar Adventure Pass area before and fished the more rocky shoreline toward the dam, but when we got to the lake around 3:30 p.m., I suggested we try the campground area, and Eunice agreed. That was a bad idea, but at least I know better now, so I am warning all viewers on FNN, don't go to the campground area if you are shorefishing. First of all, the fee had gone up to 12 dollars. (I think it was 8 dollars last year.) To make things worse, I couldn't find my camera when I got out of the car. I was planning to take pictures of any picture worthy fish, but I left the camera at the station where you pay the $12. As soon as I realized what had happened, I went back there. Fortunately, they had it there for me when I returned. We didn't catch any picture worthy fish yesterday, anyway.
Once we started fishing, we quickly started catching fish. I caught a small Green Sunfish on a jig on my first cast. Eunice lost a few, then caught a little bass. That is pretty much how the afternoon went, small Greenies and Bass, all put back in the lake. They bit on jigs (which I am running low on) :Crying:, flies (a Prince Nymph about 5 feet behind a bobber, but I don't think the fish were picky about the pattern), and worms. We were fishing by the fence which went out into the lake, at the end of the campground road. The whole east end of Hemet was basically shallow and sandy, with very little structure to attract fish. The weather was cooler than expected, cloudy with intermittent sprinkles of big raindrops, which was nice. The ground was actually wet in places, with little water puddles from the rain.
Eventually, I found a deeper cove by a seasonal inlet a ways east of the fence, where there were more people. We decided to go over there. By then it was 6 p.m., and unlike the Adventure Pass area, they make you leave the campground area at 7. During the last hour, I caught 3 Pumpkinseed Sunfish about 5 inches each, on worms, since they didn't want flies. I put them back, but I did see a man nearby catch one and keep it. They may not have been big, but the Green Sunfish and the Pumpkinseeds ("Pumpkinfish" my wife calls them), certainly are in the running in the fish beauty contest. My wife kept saying we should let them "grow up" then eventually catch some bigger ones, but the sunnies we caught already appeared to be adults. Many of them looked as though they had eggs. I guess they are stunted there, and the ironic thing is, as long as people keep putting them back, they will remain stunted, or become even more stunted.
Anyway, we probably caught about 20 fish in all, all returned to the lake, and we had a good time. Strangely, we never saw a Bluegill yesterday. There seem to be more Bluegills, which are better size at Hemet Lake, as well as trout, in the deeper, rocky areas where we usually fish.
Here are a couple other anecdotes from yesterday. While on the road to Hemet, I red vehicle with siren blaring and lights flashing approached us, going in the opposite direction. Everybody moved over to the right and stopped, assuming it was a firetruck or ambulance. But when I saw it, I could see that it actually was just a red vehicle of the sort which hauls heavy moving equipment. It was carrying an earth moving vehicle. I guess the earth mover had a bad accident, was leaking oil, and needed to get to the vehicle hospital before it bled to death, either that, or someone was in urgent need of an earthmover. :Confused:
While at Hemet Lake, at one point, the strap of my backpack which I carry fishing equipment in knocked the wristband off my watch. I guess it just wasn't my day. I spent several minutes putting the little metal pins in their little tiny holes, and finally got Humpty Dumpty together again.
Anyway, to reiterate, if you are thinking of going shorefishing at Hemet Lake, I suggest you buy the 5 dollar Adventure Pass and head for the rocky areas to the west of the campgrounds. I know we will next time.
Since the day before was my wife's birthday, and she seemed anxious to go fishing, I let her decide where to go. She chose Hemet Lake. We had a couple of really good trips there 3 years ago when the lake was full, so it has been one of her favorite fishing spots since then. We always have gone to the 5 dollar Adventure Pass area before and fished the more rocky shoreline toward the dam, but when we got to the lake around 3:30 p.m., I suggested we try the campground area, and Eunice agreed. That was a bad idea, but at least I know better now, so I am warning all viewers on FNN, don't go to the campground area if you are shorefishing. First of all, the fee had gone up to 12 dollars. (I think it was 8 dollars last year.) To make things worse, I couldn't find my camera when I got out of the car. I was planning to take pictures of any picture worthy fish, but I left the camera at the station where you pay the $12. As soon as I realized what had happened, I went back there. Fortunately, they had it there for me when I returned. We didn't catch any picture worthy fish yesterday, anyway.
Once we started fishing, we quickly started catching fish. I caught a small Green Sunfish on a jig on my first cast. Eunice lost a few, then caught a little bass. That is pretty much how the afternoon went, small Greenies and Bass, all put back in the lake. They bit on jigs (which I am running low on) :Crying:, flies (a Prince Nymph about 5 feet behind a bobber, but I don't think the fish were picky about the pattern), and worms. We were fishing by the fence which went out into the lake, at the end of the campground road. The whole east end of Hemet was basically shallow and sandy, with very little structure to attract fish. The weather was cooler than expected, cloudy with intermittent sprinkles of big raindrops, which was nice. The ground was actually wet in places, with little water puddles from the rain.
Eventually, I found a deeper cove by a seasonal inlet a ways east of the fence, where there were more people. We decided to go over there. By then it was 6 p.m., and unlike the Adventure Pass area, they make you leave the campground area at 7. During the last hour, I caught 3 Pumpkinseed Sunfish about 5 inches each, on worms, since they didn't want flies. I put them back, but I did see a man nearby catch one and keep it. They may not have been big, but the Green Sunfish and the Pumpkinseeds ("Pumpkinfish" my wife calls them), certainly are in the running in the fish beauty contest. My wife kept saying we should let them "grow up" then eventually catch some bigger ones, but the sunnies we caught already appeared to be adults. Many of them looked as though they had eggs. I guess they are stunted there, and the ironic thing is, as long as people keep putting them back, they will remain stunted, or become even more stunted.
Anyway, we probably caught about 20 fish in all, all returned to the lake, and we had a good time. Strangely, we never saw a Bluegill yesterday. There seem to be more Bluegills, which are better size at Hemet Lake, as well as trout, in the deeper, rocky areas where we usually fish.
Here are a couple other anecdotes from yesterday. While on the road to Hemet, I red vehicle with siren blaring and lights flashing approached us, going in the opposite direction. Everybody moved over to the right and stopped, assuming it was a firetruck or ambulance. But when I saw it, I could see that it actually was just a red vehicle of the sort which hauls heavy moving equipment. It was carrying an earth moving vehicle. I guess the earth mover had a bad accident, was leaking oil, and needed to get to the vehicle hospital before it bled to death, either that, or someone was in urgent need of an earthmover. :Confused:
While at Hemet Lake, at one point, the strap of my backpack which I carry fishing equipment in knocked the wristband off my watch. I guess it just wasn't my day. I spent several minutes putting the little metal pins in their little tiny holes, and finally got Humpty Dumpty together again.
Anyway, to reiterate, if you are thinking of going shorefishing at Hemet Lake, I suggest you buy the 5 dollar Adventure Pass and head for the rocky areas to the west of the campgrounds. I know we will next time.