Natural Lefty
10-16-2010, 03:36 PM
I returned to Perris once again yesterday afternoon mostly out of convenience and my parking pass. However, I forgot the parking pass until I was well on my way to the lake -- never mind, I live pretty close to the lake, so I returned home to get the pass, then to the lake. By the time I got there, it was 3:15 p.m.
I wanted to do something at least a bit different, so I decided to go to the launch ramp cove, try for Crappies since I caught one there last time I was there (3 weeks ago), and use some artificials, but I also brought my homegrown redworms plus some leftover nightcrawlers.
I headed down to the west side of the cove, and walked along the peninsula, casting a 1/80th ounce microjig under a bobber on my 2 pound line, but nothing bit. A Vietnamese couple passed by me and settled down near the point. When I went to that area, I saw the man catch one small Bluegill, but that was it. They were using the pointed bobber with split shot and cricket setup that seems so popular and successful for Bluegill fishing among southeast Asians at Perris. On my way back from the point, another Vietnamese couple passed me, and later, I could see all 4 of them fishing together and hear them talking loudly at times in Vietnamese. I only noticed them catch one more fish, but I suppose they caught more than that and seemed to be having a good time.
At this time, there is evidence of some sort of construction at the west launch ramp, but no one was working there at the time. There is an enclosed area with a ring of orange floats around it where the reconstructed launch ramp will be, but no docks yet. Since fish often seem to like launch ramps in my experience, I headed there to give it a try. On my first cast with the jig, sure enough, the bobber submerged and I had a fish on the line. I was hoping for a Crappie, of course, but it turned out to be a smallish Bluegill. I thought about keeping it, but had a change of heart and released it. A moment later, I went to the other side of the enclosed area, had a strike, so I casted to the same place again, and hooked a better size fish. It even pulled some drag on my 2 pound line, and it turned out to be a good size Bluegill, about 8 inches and fat, about the same as the bigger ones I have caught on my last couple of fishing trips. This one was definitely a keeper.
After that, I missed some lighter strikes on the jig, so eventually, I concentrated on using my redworms. I found that there was a concentration of Bluegills all in a small area where I hooked the first one, and most of them were decent size (but not as big as the one I caught on the other side of the enclosed area). I caught 11 fish on redworms in all, all in the same small area of about 5' by 5', keeping seven decent size ones. Included in the catch was also a tiny bass, and I caught another baby bass on the jig as well. Eventually, my redworms had run out. I tried nightcrawler pieces here and there, but the fish didn't seem to be going for them, and by the time the redworms ran out, the sun was behind the hill, so I was thinking about using flies. However, I didn't see any fish surfacing. There were tiny white flies, but no midges around.
At that time, I decided to go to the middle launch ramp and fish from the docks, but just as I was about to go and it was starting to get dark, swarms of midges suddenly appeared, and fish began surfacing hungrily all over the area, as if the dinner bell had just been rung. I quickly took off my jig from my 2 pound line, and replaced it with the same Mosquito I had used last time. Over about the next half hour, I caught 11 Bluegills on the fly. They were a bit lacking in size, but it was fun. I wound catching one keeper among the bunch and losing another one that felt good size.
After it got dark the midges went away and the fish stopped surfacing, but since I was still curious about the fishing from the launch ramp docks, I headed over there for a bit. I wasn't really expecting anything, but was hoping for something bigger with nightcrawler pieces on my 6 pound line behind a split shot. At first nothing bit, but after about 15 minutes, I had a steady bite, set the hook, and had a decent bend in the rod. Then the fish went airborne about 3 times which told me it was a bass, not the large panfish or catfish I was hoping for. Anyway, I landed it, found it was not that big, only about 11 inches, so I released it, thought about continuing, but decided that was a good way to end my trip, so I headed home. It was about 7:15 at that time.
The trip totals were:
2 Bluegills on jigs (1 kept which was the largest one caught);
10 Bluegills on redworms (7 kept);
11 Bluegills on Mosquito pattern behind a bobber (1 kept);
3 Bass all released, including a baby on redworms, another baby on the jig, and the 11 incher on a nightcrawler piece.
That's quite a few fish when all totalled up (26) and the weather was great, too.
I wanted to do something at least a bit different, so I decided to go to the launch ramp cove, try for Crappies since I caught one there last time I was there (3 weeks ago), and use some artificials, but I also brought my homegrown redworms plus some leftover nightcrawlers.
I headed down to the west side of the cove, and walked along the peninsula, casting a 1/80th ounce microjig under a bobber on my 2 pound line, but nothing bit. A Vietnamese couple passed by me and settled down near the point. When I went to that area, I saw the man catch one small Bluegill, but that was it. They were using the pointed bobber with split shot and cricket setup that seems so popular and successful for Bluegill fishing among southeast Asians at Perris. On my way back from the point, another Vietnamese couple passed me, and later, I could see all 4 of them fishing together and hear them talking loudly at times in Vietnamese. I only noticed them catch one more fish, but I suppose they caught more than that and seemed to be having a good time.
At this time, there is evidence of some sort of construction at the west launch ramp, but no one was working there at the time. There is an enclosed area with a ring of orange floats around it where the reconstructed launch ramp will be, but no docks yet. Since fish often seem to like launch ramps in my experience, I headed there to give it a try. On my first cast with the jig, sure enough, the bobber submerged and I had a fish on the line. I was hoping for a Crappie, of course, but it turned out to be a smallish Bluegill. I thought about keeping it, but had a change of heart and released it. A moment later, I went to the other side of the enclosed area, had a strike, so I casted to the same place again, and hooked a better size fish. It even pulled some drag on my 2 pound line, and it turned out to be a good size Bluegill, about 8 inches and fat, about the same as the bigger ones I have caught on my last couple of fishing trips. This one was definitely a keeper.
After that, I missed some lighter strikes on the jig, so eventually, I concentrated on using my redworms. I found that there was a concentration of Bluegills all in a small area where I hooked the first one, and most of them were decent size (but not as big as the one I caught on the other side of the enclosed area). I caught 11 fish on redworms in all, all in the same small area of about 5' by 5', keeping seven decent size ones. Included in the catch was also a tiny bass, and I caught another baby bass on the jig as well. Eventually, my redworms had run out. I tried nightcrawler pieces here and there, but the fish didn't seem to be going for them, and by the time the redworms ran out, the sun was behind the hill, so I was thinking about using flies. However, I didn't see any fish surfacing. There were tiny white flies, but no midges around.
At that time, I decided to go to the middle launch ramp and fish from the docks, but just as I was about to go and it was starting to get dark, swarms of midges suddenly appeared, and fish began surfacing hungrily all over the area, as if the dinner bell had just been rung. I quickly took off my jig from my 2 pound line, and replaced it with the same Mosquito I had used last time. Over about the next half hour, I caught 11 Bluegills on the fly. They were a bit lacking in size, but it was fun. I wound catching one keeper among the bunch and losing another one that felt good size.
After it got dark the midges went away and the fish stopped surfacing, but since I was still curious about the fishing from the launch ramp docks, I headed over there for a bit. I wasn't really expecting anything, but was hoping for something bigger with nightcrawler pieces on my 6 pound line behind a split shot. At first nothing bit, but after about 15 minutes, I had a steady bite, set the hook, and had a decent bend in the rod. Then the fish went airborne about 3 times which told me it was a bass, not the large panfish or catfish I was hoping for. Anyway, I landed it, found it was not that big, only about 11 inches, so I released it, thought about continuing, but decided that was a good way to end my trip, so I headed home. It was about 7:15 at that time.
The trip totals were:
2 Bluegills on jigs (1 kept which was the largest one caught);
10 Bluegills on redworms (7 kept);
11 Bluegills on Mosquito pattern behind a bobber (1 kept);
3 Bass all released, including a baby on redworms, another baby on the jig, and the 11 incher on a nightcrawler piece.
That's quite a few fish when all totalled up (26) and the weather was great, too.