sapdawg11
12-17-2010, 01:33 PM
If the title to this thread brought the sooth sounds of James Taylor to mind...mission accomplished.
I received an early Christmas gift from Dallas Raines Wednesday evening. I hadn't been expecting anything from the overly tanned captain of the channel 7 weather team, but boy oh boy did he come through.
One of the fundamental qualities of a good fisherman is being able to read the weather. This implies something far beyond checking to see if you're "gonna get wet". The weather can tell you your safest options, what equipment and tackle you should you bring, and in this case, whether or not you should expect to find cars at the gate. Good ol' Dallas tells us Wednesday evening, "Today's rain to continue through the weekend..." Behind the orange skin and pinstriped suit of the prodigal weatherman, the seven day forecast predicts nearly a week of continuous, rain-spewing cartoon clouds. After receiving the email stating that fish had been planted on Wednesday, I log onto a few of the "much-better-than-channel-7-weather" websites and see a more detailed picture. In not so many words, there was a discrete contradiction between channel 7's prediction and reality that immediately translated to, "Few people on the water, a tiny bit of rain in the morning and a fresh plant of strong fish eager to eat" and that's exactly what I got...Early rain that cleared by about 9 am to partly cloudy skies with not a drop of wind for the entire remainder of the day.
So much for "storm watch 2010"...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2276.jpg
I hardly ever think of rain as an issue that should prevent me from fishing and it should hardly ever be an issue for you as well. I've caught some of my best fish during shifts in the weather. It is the reason we have closets full of jackets and ponchos despite living in one of mildest climates found anywhere in the world. If you don't have a poncho, for the price of a trash bag you can solve most any problem that you would have on 9 out of 10 "rainy" days here in So Cal. But what most of us could never afford is what I found at the gate yesterday morning...a line of only 10 cars with about 30 minutes to go before the gates should officially open. THANK YOU DALLAS! And after about ten minutes, twenty minutes before they were supposed to, the gates they did open! THANK YOU CORONA!!
The first fish came aboard before the sun came up and the action continued on from there. Epic day of fishing. Once again, they chewed on everything. A few guys were even knocking them dead on fly rods. For me, lip ripperz, power worms, and power bait all produced fish. The color of preference seemed to be chartreuse but white, orange, and yellow also worked. I seemed to find the groove along the East side of the lake though I marked a ton of fish on the meter all along the west shore as well. Sometimes its not the fish that make a good spot, it's you. You find the right approach relative to the shoreline, work out where you need be in terms of lake bathymetry, and figure out how best to work the drift and its game on. Game on for me was working along an 8.5 foot contour down by the trees, casting with my drift direction, working my bait as I gently drifted towards it. I caught fish with variations in that theme, but that was the most consistent producer. My five fish limit went around 14 pounds with a 4.5 pound fish taking top slot. Once again, unbelievably strong fish. Lost 2 that I was unable to turn around before being wrapped on submerged stumps. Have no idea how big they were as even the standard stockers at this lake have proven to be more than capable of getting my drag to sing. "Standard" being about as big of an understatement you can make regarding these fish!
Really, if you want to go fish, just go fish! I know that I'm singling Dallas out when in reality there are a ton of scantily clad, surgically enhanced, and/or inexperienced "meteorologists" out there that could be equally blamed for keeping people off of the water. But ultimately, it's your fault if you allow yourself to fall victim to the trap! Take advantage of living in Southern California. Do some additional research and recognize that "rain" in the forecast commonly is the equivalent of being misted sporadically with one of those spray bottles you bring to sporting events in July. Grab your gear, tear holes in a hefty bag for your head and two arms, and take advantage of the light crowds. I did just that and managed to catch myself a ton of top quality fish. And let me tell you a secret that may ruin the isolation for me next time...YOU CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WEATHER TOO!!
A few of the day's pics...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2272.jpg
"I think we're gonna need a bigger net..."
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2275.jpg
Can't keep a fly fisherman down with a little early drizzle...HOOKUP!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2260.jpg
Hard for me to notice that I'm getting bit with a backdrop like this...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2269.jpg
Until next time...
I received an early Christmas gift from Dallas Raines Wednesday evening. I hadn't been expecting anything from the overly tanned captain of the channel 7 weather team, but boy oh boy did he come through.
One of the fundamental qualities of a good fisherman is being able to read the weather. This implies something far beyond checking to see if you're "gonna get wet". The weather can tell you your safest options, what equipment and tackle you should you bring, and in this case, whether or not you should expect to find cars at the gate. Good ol' Dallas tells us Wednesday evening, "Today's rain to continue through the weekend..." Behind the orange skin and pinstriped suit of the prodigal weatherman, the seven day forecast predicts nearly a week of continuous, rain-spewing cartoon clouds. After receiving the email stating that fish had been planted on Wednesday, I log onto a few of the "much-better-than-channel-7-weather" websites and see a more detailed picture. In not so many words, there was a discrete contradiction between channel 7's prediction and reality that immediately translated to, "Few people on the water, a tiny bit of rain in the morning and a fresh plant of strong fish eager to eat" and that's exactly what I got...Early rain that cleared by about 9 am to partly cloudy skies with not a drop of wind for the entire remainder of the day.
So much for "storm watch 2010"...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2276.jpg
I hardly ever think of rain as an issue that should prevent me from fishing and it should hardly ever be an issue for you as well. I've caught some of my best fish during shifts in the weather. It is the reason we have closets full of jackets and ponchos despite living in one of mildest climates found anywhere in the world. If you don't have a poncho, for the price of a trash bag you can solve most any problem that you would have on 9 out of 10 "rainy" days here in So Cal. But what most of us could never afford is what I found at the gate yesterday morning...a line of only 10 cars with about 30 minutes to go before the gates should officially open. THANK YOU DALLAS! And after about ten minutes, twenty minutes before they were supposed to, the gates they did open! THANK YOU CORONA!!
The first fish came aboard before the sun came up and the action continued on from there. Epic day of fishing. Once again, they chewed on everything. A few guys were even knocking them dead on fly rods. For me, lip ripperz, power worms, and power bait all produced fish. The color of preference seemed to be chartreuse but white, orange, and yellow also worked. I seemed to find the groove along the East side of the lake though I marked a ton of fish on the meter all along the west shore as well. Sometimes its not the fish that make a good spot, it's you. You find the right approach relative to the shoreline, work out where you need be in terms of lake bathymetry, and figure out how best to work the drift and its game on. Game on for me was working along an 8.5 foot contour down by the trees, casting with my drift direction, working my bait as I gently drifted towards it. I caught fish with variations in that theme, but that was the most consistent producer. My five fish limit went around 14 pounds with a 4.5 pound fish taking top slot. Once again, unbelievably strong fish. Lost 2 that I was unable to turn around before being wrapped on submerged stumps. Have no idea how big they were as even the standard stockers at this lake have proven to be more than capable of getting my drag to sing. "Standard" being about as big of an understatement you can make regarding these fish!
Really, if you want to go fish, just go fish! I know that I'm singling Dallas out when in reality there are a ton of scantily clad, surgically enhanced, and/or inexperienced "meteorologists" out there that could be equally blamed for keeping people off of the water. But ultimately, it's your fault if you allow yourself to fall victim to the trap! Take advantage of living in Southern California. Do some additional research and recognize that "rain" in the forecast commonly is the equivalent of being misted sporadically with one of those spray bottles you bring to sporting events in July. Grab your gear, tear holes in a hefty bag for your head and two arms, and take advantage of the light crowds. I did just that and managed to catch myself a ton of top quality fish. And let me tell you a secret that may ruin the isolation for me next time...YOU CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WEATHER TOO!!
A few of the day's pics...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2272.jpg
"I think we're gonna need a bigger net..."
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2275.jpg
Can't keep a fly fisherman down with a little early drizzle...HOOKUP!
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2260.jpg
Hard for me to notice that I'm getting bit with a backdrop like this...
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u15/sapdawg11/IMG_2269.jpg
Until next time...