AnglerBob
12-21-2010, 12:49 AM
It’s been said that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing while expecting a different result. This was probably said by someone who’s seen me fish.
If there’s one lesson I should have learned in two decades of fishing Irvine, it’s...how to catch fish. No, wait. Besides that. It’s that Irvine is, at least for me, a unique fishery where the relationship of effort to success is strangely inverted. The harder I work at fishing there, and the more money spent, the worse the result. OTOH, on those days when I get there late, decide against renting a boat, fish the shore in front of the tackle shop and discover I brought the wrong tackle box with the obscure Canadian lures (Gord’s Dynamite Divin’ Dace! Enhanced With Savoury Flavours!), success is in the cards.
But I never learn. To be sure, my Irvine days always start with the best of intentions. I’ll read about some new trick in WON and decide, That’s it, today I’m only going to fish with a #22 Caddis made from the hair of sustainably-farmed elk. By 11:00 am, though, I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t hurt to toss a worm on this other rod, just to see ... by 1:00 pm, I’m wondering how hard it is to legally buy dynamite.
Today’s tactic of choice was going to be trolling, since I’d been reading about all the big fish on the troll lately. Arriving at the lake at 7:00, I rented a boat which the guys had waiting and warmed up by the time I reached the dock. “If you’re going to troll—try back in the corner, near the dam,” the rental boat guy advised. “They killed them there yesterday.”
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1168.jpg
It was a perfect trout morning—temps in the high 40s, water temp 57º, cloudy and drizzling occasionally. I trolled up the lake, dragging a firetiger Rapala and a small pink Cultiva. Down the lake. Up the middle. Down the dam. Nothing. I persisted longer than I should have in the face of failure, believing these lures—which had worked well before—would pay off. FInally, I changed to a Thomas Buoyant spoon and a Kastmaster. In the corner spot the boat guy had suggested, the Kastmaster took a hit, but the fish shrugged off. Lessons re: the value of sharpening hooks played back in my mind like so many tv show reruns. I passed through the area again, but the lures were not hit.
Around 11:30, I took a break from trolling to fish a small cove loaded with flooded trees that just looked too inviting. I tried pitching a minijig on my new Daiwa Spinmatic rod I got at Fred Hall last year. No takers, but I’m betting that area will be a prime Spring crappie/bass lair if the water level holds.
Watching the other boats in the area, I noticed most were continuing to troll, so I went back to it, sticking a little closer to shore this time. Passing the large cove on the West Shore, the Kastmaster got hit again, this time for keeps.
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1167.jpg
That would be the end of the troll action, though. Around 1:00 PM I decided to throw in the troll towel and hit the shore spots with bait. Beaching the boat on a shelf, I threw a glob of PB on a short leader, and it was picked up almost immediately. Fish #2!
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1170.jpg
The action seemed to be picking up as the PB rig was picked up a few more times, but the tentative bites didn’t result in hookups. However, a nightcrawler soaking on the minijig rod began slowly moving away. I set the hook and became engaged in a formidable battle. The fish felt heavy, and the 2lb line and whippy rod were making little headway. After several minutes, I considered that if this were a big trout, I would normally have lost it by now. Could this be one of those “green” trout? Sure enough. Not bad, probably my personal best bass from the Vine.
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1172.jpg
The action at this spot died, and I moved down the West shore to familiar spots where I’ve had good luck . Nada. At 3:30, I packed it in.
So it was a kinda slow day. However, in fairness to the Irvine Lake Corporation, I have to admit that many other fishermen were absolutely slaying them, although I didn’t see much action, which suggests that they were fishing spots I wasn’t. Back at the dock, huge stringers were hoisted by weary anglers, each one with a 4-5lb class fish. There is no doubt, many people had an exceptional fishing day here.
Not me. I tried too hard.
If there’s one lesson I should have learned in two decades of fishing Irvine, it’s...how to catch fish. No, wait. Besides that. It’s that Irvine is, at least for me, a unique fishery where the relationship of effort to success is strangely inverted. The harder I work at fishing there, and the more money spent, the worse the result. OTOH, on those days when I get there late, decide against renting a boat, fish the shore in front of the tackle shop and discover I brought the wrong tackle box with the obscure Canadian lures (Gord’s Dynamite Divin’ Dace! Enhanced With Savoury Flavours!), success is in the cards.
But I never learn. To be sure, my Irvine days always start with the best of intentions. I’ll read about some new trick in WON and decide, That’s it, today I’m only going to fish with a #22 Caddis made from the hair of sustainably-farmed elk. By 11:00 am, though, I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t hurt to toss a worm on this other rod, just to see ... by 1:00 pm, I’m wondering how hard it is to legally buy dynamite.
Today’s tactic of choice was going to be trolling, since I’d been reading about all the big fish on the troll lately. Arriving at the lake at 7:00, I rented a boat which the guys had waiting and warmed up by the time I reached the dock. “If you’re going to troll—try back in the corner, near the dam,” the rental boat guy advised. “They killed them there yesterday.”
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1168.jpg
It was a perfect trout morning—temps in the high 40s, water temp 57º, cloudy and drizzling occasionally. I trolled up the lake, dragging a firetiger Rapala and a small pink Cultiva. Down the lake. Up the middle. Down the dam. Nothing. I persisted longer than I should have in the face of failure, believing these lures—which had worked well before—would pay off. FInally, I changed to a Thomas Buoyant spoon and a Kastmaster. In the corner spot the boat guy had suggested, the Kastmaster took a hit, but the fish shrugged off. Lessons re: the value of sharpening hooks played back in my mind like so many tv show reruns. I passed through the area again, but the lures were not hit.
Around 11:30, I took a break from trolling to fish a small cove loaded with flooded trees that just looked too inviting. I tried pitching a minijig on my new Daiwa Spinmatic rod I got at Fred Hall last year. No takers, but I’m betting that area will be a prime Spring crappie/bass lair if the water level holds.
Watching the other boats in the area, I noticed most were continuing to troll, so I went back to it, sticking a little closer to shore this time. Passing the large cove on the West Shore, the Kastmaster got hit again, this time for keeps.
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1167.jpg
That would be the end of the troll action, though. Around 1:00 PM I decided to throw in the troll towel and hit the shore spots with bait. Beaching the boat on a shelf, I threw a glob of PB on a short leader, and it was picked up almost immediately. Fish #2!
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1170.jpg
The action seemed to be picking up as the PB rig was picked up a few more times, but the tentative bites didn’t result in hookups. However, a nightcrawler soaking on the minijig rod began slowly moving away. I set the hook and became engaged in a formidable battle. The fish felt heavy, and the 2lb line and whippy rod were making little headway. After several minutes, I considered that if this were a big trout, I would normally have lost it by now. Could this be one of those “green” trout? Sure enough. Not bad, probably my personal best bass from the Vine.
http://i629.photobucket.com/albums/uu17/AnglerBob/Fishing%20Photos/IMG_1172.jpg
The action at this spot died, and I moved down the West shore to familiar spots where I’ve had good luck . Nada. At 3:30, I packed it in.
So it was a kinda slow day. However, in fairness to the Irvine Lake Corporation, I have to admit that many other fishermen were absolutely slaying them, although I didn’t see much action, which suggests that they were fishing spots I wasn’t. Back at the dock, huge stringers were hoisted by weary anglers, each one with a 4-5lb class fish. There is no doubt, many people had an exceptional fishing day here.
Not me. I tried too hard.