MichelleBedore
10-15-2010, 12:23 AM
On the spur of the moment, I decided to go fishing last night at the Lagoon. Although I was there from 9:30pm until about 2 AM, the only action on the pier was the racoons squabbling and being hand-fed by a friendly semi-drunk guy on the pier, lol. There was one other couple there fishing on the pier, full timer-motorhome residents passing through town on their way back from June Lake.
I didn't see anyone else fishing along the shore. When I arrived, several people were loading up their cars with fishing gear. I asked if they'd had any luck, and no one had caught anything at all.
Undaunted, I loaded up my rolling granny cart and headed for the pier. I greeted the 3 ppl still there and enquired how the night had been. No one caught anything, and had been doing the "bait and wait" type of fishing. I asked what they were fishing for and they said "anything that would bite".
I like to be more active when fishing, so I decided to see if there might be any topwater action. On the way to the Lagoon, I had stopped at Walmart and bought a small black "jitterbug" buzzbait for night fishing. As soon as I cast it out, "Kerplunk!" the older couple exclaimed "Was that you?" and I said "yeah, I have a night fishing lure for bass and striper". They murmured I might scare away the fish. I told 'em "Scare 'em?? I'ma gonna WAKE 'em UP! hehe" I cast out several more times, then shortly tons of big-sounding fish were biting at the surface, but unfortunately about 15+ ft farther than anyone could cast. Of course, tghen they all started casting out lures trying to get some of those feeding fish, lol.
Although I didn't get anything, I got a lot of practice in. The older couple and "Antonio" (the racoon feeder) amicably chit-chatted about all sorts of things (such as jail, alcoholism, disabilities, motorhome living, divorce, service dogs, fishing and catfish preparation) and had a nice time socializing. Despite the nice people, (really!) I'm beginning to think that fishing solely off the pier is kinda hackneyed--I think the fish are smart and seem to avoid the pier---as evidenced by fish feeding on the topwater away from the pier. But it was still fun though. I tried a bunch of different lures, and after awhile, I put on a neon-lighted bobber with a stinkie sardine hanging about 4 ft below it. The blue gill nibbled away at it, but that's all I got, some nibbles.
Oh, and I ended up giving away that confounded cheap reel without a drag to the racoon-feeding guy who in turn gave me his number and said to hit him up if I ever go out towards bakersfield to fish. LOL...I didn't tell hubby about that part.
I packed up at 2 AM and went home, resolving to go get a new reel. Which I did tonight--I went to Sport Chalet and bought an entry-level Daiwa that came with an extra spool and a reversible handle (I'm a lefty) that folds down and felt much better and smoother than the old one. The salesman was an older gent who used to fish quite a bit. He gave me a bunch of tips and was wonderfully helpful.
BTW, Gary, I got 8 lb and 12 lb moss green p-line in the spools. I told Ted at Sport Chalet how you said to dump the 20 lb test, and he wholeheartedly agreed, saying you could catch a huge fish with light line with the drag set correctly. So I had Ted load up my new reel spools with line for my medium action 7 ft rod. The light rod I have has 6 lb, but should probably have lighter, as the rod is super bendy, and doesn't like casting most of the lures I have. It's an old daiwa 200 series. Nick has an ultra light rod that is only 5 ft long that I am scheming on re-spooling with like 4 lb test now...has 6 lb on it now. I have florocarbon leader material for all tests, too, so things are shaping up as I begin to understand ore about fishing and tackle.
We're going to Buena Vista camping/boating/fishing with friends this weekend--friday night to sun morning. Has anyone fished there before? I haven't seen any threads on lake Webb or Evans. I've heard good and bad things about Buena Vista Aquatic Center, but I'm hoping I can write a report that includes the species and sizes of multiple fishies!!:Envious:
I didn't see anyone else fishing along the shore. When I arrived, several people were loading up their cars with fishing gear. I asked if they'd had any luck, and no one had caught anything at all.
Undaunted, I loaded up my rolling granny cart and headed for the pier. I greeted the 3 ppl still there and enquired how the night had been. No one caught anything, and had been doing the "bait and wait" type of fishing. I asked what they were fishing for and they said "anything that would bite".
I like to be more active when fishing, so I decided to see if there might be any topwater action. On the way to the Lagoon, I had stopped at Walmart and bought a small black "jitterbug" buzzbait for night fishing. As soon as I cast it out, "Kerplunk!" the older couple exclaimed "Was that you?" and I said "yeah, I have a night fishing lure for bass and striper". They murmured I might scare away the fish. I told 'em "Scare 'em?? I'ma gonna WAKE 'em UP! hehe" I cast out several more times, then shortly tons of big-sounding fish were biting at the surface, but unfortunately about 15+ ft farther than anyone could cast. Of course, tghen they all started casting out lures trying to get some of those feeding fish, lol.
Although I didn't get anything, I got a lot of practice in. The older couple and "Antonio" (the racoon feeder) amicably chit-chatted about all sorts of things (such as jail, alcoholism, disabilities, motorhome living, divorce, service dogs, fishing and catfish preparation) and had a nice time socializing. Despite the nice people, (really!) I'm beginning to think that fishing solely off the pier is kinda hackneyed--I think the fish are smart and seem to avoid the pier---as evidenced by fish feeding on the topwater away from the pier. But it was still fun though. I tried a bunch of different lures, and after awhile, I put on a neon-lighted bobber with a stinkie sardine hanging about 4 ft below it. The blue gill nibbled away at it, but that's all I got, some nibbles.
Oh, and I ended up giving away that confounded cheap reel without a drag to the racoon-feeding guy who in turn gave me his number and said to hit him up if I ever go out towards bakersfield to fish. LOL...I didn't tell hubby about that part.
I packed up at 2 AM and went home, resolving to go get a new reel. Which I did tonight--I went to Sport Chalet and bought an entry-level Daiwa that came with an extra spool and a reversible handle (I'm a lefty) that folds down and felt much better and smoother than the old one. The salesman was an older gent who used to fish quite a bit. He gave me a bunch of tips and was wonderfully helpful.
BTW, Gary, I got 8 lb and 12 lb moss green p-line in the spools. I told Ted at Sport Chalet how you said to dump the 20 lb test, and he wholeheartedly agreed, saying you could catch a huge fish with light line with the drag set correctly. So I had Ted load up my new reel spools with line for my medium action 7 ft rod. The light rod I have has 6 lb, but should probably have lighter, as the rod is super bendy, and doesn't like casting most of the lures I have. It's an old daiwa 200 series. Nick has an ultra light rod that is only 5 ft long that I am scheming on re-spooling with like 4 lb test now...has 6 lb on it now. I have florocarbon leader material for all tests, too, so things are shaping up as I begin to understand ore about fishing and tackle.
We're going to Buena Vista camping/boating/fishing with friends this weekend--friday night to sun morning. Has anyone fished there before? I haven't seen any threads on lake Webb or Evans. I've heard good and bad things about Buena Vista Aquatic Center, but I'm hoping I can write a report that includes the species and sizes of multiple fishies!!:Envious: