ghetto dad
12-30-2009, 07:57 PM
Good evening everyone!
Last week, our Uncle Bob invited us to camp/fish with himself, Britney’s cousin Jeremy, and Jeremy’s Grandpa Mike at Irvine Lake. Britney and I excitedly replied with a “yes,” this was her last week of Christmas Vacation, and this would be a perfect way to spend a couple of days with my baby girl. Bob was not going to get to the lake until 3:45 pm on Tuesday, so I decided to take Britney to the lagoon, one of her favorite places to fish, early on Tuesday so we can make a “weekend” out of it. Tuesday could not come soon enough, as we were both really looking forward to this trip.
Tuesday finally arrived, and after a couple days of packing fishing gear and clothing, we left HB at 10:00 am, and arrived at the lake at 10:30. We entered the office, said hello to Daniella, purchased our Day Passes, and found a spot to fish at the lagoon a short time later.
Day 1: The Lagoon
There were quite a few more people fishing the lagoon today compared to last week’s trip, which wasn’t a problem, the lagoon water level is very high, which is great. Today’s starting weapons of choice:
2 lb test #14 Treble Hook, Carolina rigged with a ¼ oz slider, inflated night crawler sprayed with GULP! Garlic Scent.
2 lb test #14 Treble Hook, Carolina rigged with a ¼ oz slider, Power Bait.
2 lb test #16 Mosquito Hook, Drop Shot with 1/8 d/s sinker, white power worm.
2 lb test, 1/12 Gold Kastmaster.
It took awhile to get our first hit, but it came on the inflated night crawler, and Britney landed her first trout of the day. Bites were few and far between today, as compared to last week, but at least we were getting bit. Brit started throwing the d/s, and missed a couple fish, before she finally got one to stick, and landed her 2nd trout. I re-rigged one of the rods for Dead Sticking, and those fish were ALL OVER that rig, just could not get them to stick. She eventually stuck one on the Dead Stick, and brought her 3rd trout to the net. The short bites continued until about 3:30, and this is when we saw Uncle Bob’s RV parked in front of the office, and decided to call it a day, I had fish to clean. Britney ended up with 6 fish from the lagoon today, and again, Irvine Lagoon did not disappoint her. I headed over to the fish cleaning station, while she ran to the office to greet Uncle Bob.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10733.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10734.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10735.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10736.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10737.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10738.jpg
Day 1: Camping
Once if finished cleaning Britney’s fish, I drove my truck on over to the site that he had picked out for our evening of camping, and he chose the one nearest to the boat launch ramp, which would make it easier to bring the Pontoon over in the morning, and load our gear from our Camping Site. We got settled in, and prepared for our evening of camping.
Side note: We were the ONLY ones camping! It was SO nice!! J
Once the sun went down, it really started to get chilly, but luckily, we already had a nice warm fire to sit around. We enjoyed a great pasta dinner, and sat around the camp fire drinking nice cold Coronas and telling fish stories. At around 11:00 pm, we decided to hit the racks, and get some rest for our next days fishing adventure.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10739.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10740.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10741.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10742.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10743.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10744.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10745.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10746.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10748.jpg
Day 2: The Big Lake
Mike and I decided to get up at 5:00 am so that we could be one of the first customers in the office when they opened the doors at 5:30, and have no problem renting a pontoon. We were told that on Tuesday, they sold out of Pontoons, and we could NOT let that happen. Office opened on time, we rented our toon, and paid for our Day Passes. We got back to the campsite, and decided we were going to let the kids sleep in, which was fine with me, Britney is NOT a morning person anyways, lol.
Bob went over to get the pontoon at around 7:00 am, drove it back to the launch ramp dock, where we tied up and loaded our gear.
Today’s starting weapons of choice (Brit and I):
1. 2 Daiwa Rods and reels, loaded with fresh 6 lb XXX, CD5 Rapalas in Fire Tiger.
We untied, and make our first round around the lake. We were in front of the dam, when Britney’s rod went bendo, and she was on her first ever TROLLED trout! I could tell it was a nicer fish, and told her to take her time. She worked the fish like a pro, and got it to the boat a short time later.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10754.jpg
BRIT’S PERSONAL BEST TROUT! 6 LBS ON THE DIGI SCALE! NICE JOB BABY GIRL! <3
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10755.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10756.jpg
Took our pics, hooked the trout on the stringer, and started the troll again. Unfortunalely, this would be our only troll fish of the day, and I am sure the weather did not help. It was cold and/or rainy most of the day. We decided to drop the anchor in Boat Dock Cove and try our luck with bait fishing, unfortunately, we only nailed one trout here, and that was on a Dead Sticked orange power worm. We then decided to head back to camp, eat some lunch, and get some warm dry clothes on.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10757.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10758.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10759.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10761.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10762.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10765.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10766.jpg
Captain Britney!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10767.jpg
LOL!! Brit’s trout next to Uncle Bob’s!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10764.jpg
After a little break from the weather, and our stomaches full, we decided to make one more round around the entire lake to see if we could at least get one more fish, which did not happen. At around 2 pm, mainly because of the cold and wet weather, we decided that we would call it a day, and head back to the campsite, pack our gear, and head on home.
Before leaving the lake, I cleaned our 2 trout for today, said our goodbyes, and headed home.
Great job baby girl!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10771.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10772.jpg
All in all, this was a MUCH needed trip, and we REALLY enjoyed ourselves. Britney double limits on Day 1, and gets a very nice, personal best, and FIRST troll fish on day 2. The smiles that I have seen on my daughters face the last couple days have been priceless.
Once again, I would like to thank the Irvine Lake staff for another successful and relaxing couple days.
Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year everyone!!!
GD
Last week, our Uncle Bob invited us to camp/fish with himself, Britney’s cousin Jeremy, and Jeremy’s Grandpa Mike at Irvine Lake. Britney and I excitedly replied with a “yes,” this was her last week of Christmas Vacation, and this would be a perfect way to spend a couple of days with my baby girl. Bob was not going to get to the lake until 3:45 pm on Tuesday, so I decided to take Britney to the lagoon, one of her favorite places to fish, early on Tuesday so we can make a “weekend” out of it. Tuesday could not come soon enough, as we were both really looking forward to this trip.
Tuesday finally arrived, and after a couple days of packing fishing gear and clothing, we left HB at 10:00 am, and arrived at the lake at 10:30. We entered the office, said hello to Daniella, purchased our Day Passes, and found a spot to fish at the lagoon a short time later.
Day 1: The Lagoon
There were quite a few more people fishing the lagoon today compared to last week’s trip, which wasn’t a problem, the lagoon water level is very high, which is great. Today’s starting weapons of choice:
2 lb test #14 Treble Hook, Carolina rigged with a ¼ oz slider, inflated night crawler sprayed with GULP! Garlic Scent.
2 lb test #14 Treble Hook, Carolina rigged with a ¼ oz slider, Power Bait.
2 lb test #16 Mosquito Hook, Drop Shot with 1/8 d/s sinker, white power worm.
2 lb test, 1/12 Gold Kastmaster.
It took awhile to get our first hit, but it came on the inflated night crawler, and Britney landed her first trout of the day. Bites were few and far between today, as compared to last week, but at least we were getting bit. Brit started throwing the d/s, and missed a couple fish, before she finally got one to stick, and landed her 2nd trout. I re-rigged one of the rods for Dead Sticking, and those fish were ALL OVER that rig, just could not get them to stick. She eventually stuck one on the Dead Stick, and brought her 3rd trout to the net. The short bites continued until about 3:30, and this is when we saw Uncle Bob’s RV parked in front of the office, and decided to call it a day, I had fish to clean. Britney ended up with 6 fish from the lagoon today, and again, Irvine Lagoon did not disappoint her. I headed over to the fish cleaning station, while she ran to the office to greet Uncle Bob.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10733.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10734.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10735.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10736.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10737.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10738.jpg
Day 1: Camping
Once if finished cleaning Britney’s fish, I drove my truck on over to the site that he had picked out for our evening of camping, and he chose the one nearest to the boat launch ramp, which would make it easier to bring the Pontoon over in the morning, and load our gear from our Camping Site. We got settled in, and prepared for our evening of camping.
Side note: We were the ONLY ones camping! It was SO nice!! J
Once the sun went down, it really started to get chilly, but luckily, we already had a nice warm fire to sit around. We enjoyed a great pasta dinner, and sat around the camp fire drinking nice cold Coronas and telling fish stories. At around 11:00 pm, we decided to hit the racks, and get some rest for our next days fishing adventure.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10739.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10740.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10741.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10742.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10743.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10744.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10745.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10746.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10748.jpg
Day 2: The Big Lake
Mike and I decided to get up at 5:00 am so that we could be one of the first customers in the office when they opened the doors at 5:30, and have no problem renting a pontoon. We were told that on Tuesday, they sold out of Pontoons, and we could NOT let that happen. Office opened on time, we rented our toon, and paid for our Day Passes. We got back to the campsite, and decided we were going to let the kids sleep in, which was fine with me, Britney is NOT a morning person anyways, lol.
Bob went over to get the pontoon at around 7:00 am, drove it back to the launch ramp dock, where we tied up and loaded our gear.
Today’s starting weapons of choice (Brit and I):
1. 2 Daiwa Rods and reels, loaded with fresh 6 lb XXX, CD5 Rapalas in Fire Tiger.
We untied, and make our first round around the lake. We were in front of the dam, when Britney’s rod went bendo, and she was on her first ever TROLLED trout! I could tell it was a nicer fish, and told her to take her time. She worked the fish like a pro, and got it to the boat a short time later.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10754.jpg
BRIT’S PERSONAL BEST TROUT! 6 LBS ON THE DIGI SCALE! NICE JOB BABY GIRL! <3
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10755.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10756.jpg
Took our pics, hooked the trout on the stringer, and started the troll again. Unfortunalely, this would be our only troll fish of the day, and I am sure the weather did not help. It was cold and/or rainy most of the day. We decided to drop the anchor in Boat Dock Cove and try our luck with bait fishing, unfortunately, we only nailed one trout here, and that was on a Dead Sticked orange power worm. We then decided to head back to camp, eat some lunch, and get some warm dry clothes on.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10757.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10758.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10759.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10761.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10762.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10765.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10766.jpg
Captain Britney!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10767.jpg
LOL!! Brit’s trout next to Uncle Bob’s!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10764.jpg
After a little break from the weather, and our stomaches full, we decided to make one more round around the entire lake to see if we could at least get one more fish, which did not happen. At around 2 pm, mainly because of the cold and wet weather, we decided that we would call it a day, and head back to the campsite, pack our gear, and head on home.
Before leaving the lake, I cleaned our 2 trout for today, said our goodbyes, and headed home.
Great job baby girl!
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10771.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i292/ghettodad/SDC10772.jpg
All in all, this was a MUCH needed trip, and we REALLY enjoyed ourselves. Britney double limits on Day 1, and gets a very nice, personal best, and FIRST troll fish on day 2. The smiles that I have seen on my daughters face the last couple days have been priceless.
Once again, I would like to thank the Irvine Lake staff for another successful and relaxing couple days.
Thanks for reading, and Happy New Year everyone!!!
GD