7-11 SARL Report

[Trout Doctor]

I'll preface by saying this report should be taken for what it's worth: absolutely nothing, haha! I'm just trying to get back into fishing, having not done it since I was a kid. So this is my first official catfish season. This was my first time at SARL too, and I hit up an evening Sunday session. I talked to the guy at the bait shop and ended up buying some cut mackerel in some crazy gravy and some nightcrawlers. I used 1/0 gamakatsu octopus hooks with a sliding sinker rig (I think it's called a Carolina rig). I don't know the lake at all, so I'll just say I started at "X" and moved to "Y" just as it was getting dark:

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/7808/sarln.jpg

While I was at "X" some guys over by the boat docks (at the asterisk) were absolutely slaying them. Literally a fish every 10-15 minutes. I was about 200 feet away with no bites whatsoever. So I moved down the lake, and continued my streak of no bites whatsoever. About 10:15 I got a hit on my nightcrawler, and was hooked up for a few seconds, but he came off. It felt like a pretty small fish, so I'm guessing it was a tilapia or something that couldn't quite fit that 1/0 hook in it's mouth. Some sort of fish was jumping in front of me pretty much all night.

All in all a slow start to the season, but I'll be back. I need an excuse to drink beer.

[TaperSteve]

You should flyline the mackeral and if you inflate the nightcrawler you might have more sucess. Good luck next time!

TS

[deepbluediver]

Nice report and better luck next time. SARL is a hard lake to figure out, but if you put in the time you will also be catching the cats every 10-15.

[smokehound]

It could be that you were casting too far out. that last time i went here, the cats were less than 20 feet from the shoreline.

[Trout Doctor]

You should flyline the mackeral and if you inflate the nightcrawler you might have more sucess. Good luck next time!

TS

Yeah, I started out not inflating the crawler because I thought I remember reading something about cats being bottom feeders, but after I moved I figured I had to try something new so I puffed 'em up. That's when I got the hit, so I'll probably continue doing that. As for flylining, no clue what that means, so... off to Google! I don't even really know how to properly worm a hook that size. I tried to avoid just balling him up on the thing, but often ended up with a worm that was no longer in one piece.


It could be that you were casting too far out. that last time i went here, the cats were less than 20 feet from the shoreline.

I tried having one bait in close and one a fair distance out, keeping in mind that my casting skills are on par with an orangutan with cerebral palsy and it was dark, so who knows where the heck it actually was.

Thanks for the tips guys!

[smokehound]

there's this stuff called "hogwild" it actually works pretty well.. inflate a nightcrawler with a worm-blower, and smear a little hogwild on it-- It should help. Im wondering how many people even use this stuff, it really works.

or like bluehunter suggested-- M&M combo-- mealworm and marshmallow -- the mallow makes it float.

[Angler Dan]

I was there Sunday afternoon also with my six year old son. We had planned to go to Irvine, but realized (when we got to the gate) that they close at 4PM on Sunday. So we hit our alternate. Started at about 3:45 in the afternoon and left around 7:30. We started in about the same spot as you (probably talked to the same guy at the gate) before we moved around the lake the opposite way you did. Hit three different places, but not a bite. We were using mackrel and chicken livers, #2 hook and 10 pound test. First time I have fished for cats in a long time. Wish we could have caught something, but my son and I had fun in the sun. Hell of an ant population they have there, both regular and red. Made me wish I had worn shoes instead of flipflops.

[smokehound]

I was there Sunday afternoon also with my six year old son. We had planned to go to Irvine, but realized (when we got to the gate) that they close at 4PM on Sunday. So we hit our alternate. Started at about 3:45 in the afternoon and left around 7:30. We started in about the same spot as you (probably talked to the same guy at the gate) before we moved around the lake the opposite way you did. Hit three different places, but not a bite. We were using mackrel and chicken livers, #2 hook and 10 pound test. First time I have fished for cats in a long time. Wish we could have caught something, but my son and I had fun in the sun. Hell of an ant population they have there, both regular and red. Made me wish I had worn shoes instead of flipflops.those big all-red ants are california harvester ants. They are actually quite peaceful. They do pack a powerful sting though. Fire-ants (red with black butt) are wayyy more aggressive.