Dr. G
12-19-2010, 12:19 PM
I recently moved out to Southern California from Indiana. I had never trolled for trout or even fished for them much, but after reading all the posts on this site I was eager to get out to Irvine to see what all the fuss was about. Armed with nothing but the knowledge learned from all of your posts and a handful of Rapalas (CD03's 05's and 07's) I got in line with the one hundred or so other soon to be drenched anglers Saturday morning. The dirt roads around the lake were closed so the rental boats were 1/2 off...lucky me. I started trolling around with a firetiger CD03 and black/silver minnow CD05. I trolled around back towards the dam for a while with no hits. Wondering if I was doing something wrong I decided to change baits and this time when I let out my line I did exactly as someone posted and turned off my anti-reverse so I could count out how much line i put out. As I was letting line out, Wham I got a hit on my brown trout color CD05. The fish jumped a ways back and threw the lure. Oh, well I was pumped...I must be doing something right. After that I lost two more fish, one nice size trout all the way up to the boat when he got off as I grabbed the net. Finally, I boated a nice 19" 3.5 lber using a CD05 Brook Trout Rapala. That was the only fish for me for the day, but it was a ton of fun in the rain. I can assure you it won't be my last trip to the "Vine." Thanks to all that contribute to this forum. You made it possible for me to enjoy some grilled trout for dinner tonight!