JohnnyBoy
03-07-2011, 08:55 PM
Earlier in the season I attended a Marlon Mead seminar at Jimmy’s outdoor. I won a free pass to Irvine Lake. Normally I float tube and as you know, Irvine isn’t the most float tube friendly lake. A good friend was kind enough to allow me to use his boat. Thankfully my truck came with a tow package so it wasn’t an issue.
My buddy Winnie and I ventured out. We paid our fees and launched by about 7am. We trolled first from the launch ramp to along the west shore across the damn, through sierra cove, back across for nothing. So we decided to take a shot a Woody’s Cove. The water level is extremely high and there aren’t very many places for the shore guys to pound. Great, we found 12 ft of water and setup about 20 ft from the shoreline.
Winnie is on a crank bait and minijig kick right now and he was throwing all day. I set up with the mouse and one rig with rolled bait. Within 5 minutes of tossing out my line I was bit. It was a nice fish, and he gave a good fight. I must also say the water clarity was 5 or 6 feet. Winnie was the next to hook up and it was pretty exciting because we could see the fish following the minijig, so Winnie stop the retrieve and we watched the fish slam to jig right at the boat. Very cool indeed to watch. Fast forward another 20 minutes or so the rolled bait rod I wasn’t even watching started to scream. I grab the rod, set the hook and bam it was on. I could tell it was a nice fish as I couldn’t bring him up from the bottom. That fish ran left, ran right, ran at the boat, and ran back out. Very fun and a nice fish. He went 4 lbs. Another 10 minutes later Winnie hooks up again this time on the crank bait. He was throwing the mirror shad in pink. So were even at this point 2 fish each. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Winnie hooked up one more on the mouse on the retrieve.
We then had lunch at the store and back out we went. We tried the west shore for nothing and just went back to the cove, same spot and within minutes Winnie hooks up again on the minijig. Winnies now up 4 to 2. I then get hooked up on the mouse. I’m fighting the fish and he went under the boat, I was able to dig him out, but all of the sudden the line goes limp as I’m thumbing the drag at Winnies suggestion. You now the feeling. Damn. I didn’t get bit again the rest of the day, but Winnie got bit again. Fish number five, but no, the fish jumps and throws the hook. I must admit that I took glee in Winnies lost fish. One lost fish deserves another. So we decided to end the day and went in.
At the cleaning table it seemed like everyone had fish and they were quality fish too. I was very much pleasantly surprised. I’m definitely going back. Still not my first choice because if the wind blows I’m toast in the tube, but what the hell, I’ll give it a whirl.
In conclusion, I was surprised by the quality of the fish, and the water clarity was just great. Maybe my buddy will let me use his boat again. In the meantime keep your rods bent my friends.
My buddy Winnie and I ventured out. We paid our fees and launched by about 7am. We trolled first from the launch ramp to along the west shore across the damn, through sierra cove, back across for nothing. So we decided to take a shot a Woody’s Cove. The water level is extremely high and there aren’t very many places for the shore guys to pound. Great, we found 12 ft of water and setup about 20 ft from the shoreline.
Winnie is on a crank bait and minijig kick right now and he was throwing all day. I set up with the mouse and one rig with rolled bait. Within 5 minutes of tossing out my line I was bit. It was a nice fish, and he gave a good fight. I must also say the water clarity was 5 or 6 feet. Winnie was the next to hook up and it was pretty exciting because we could see the fish following the minijig, so Winnie stop the retrieve and we watched the fish slam to jig right at the boat. Very cool indeed to watch. Fast forward another 20 minutes or so the rolled bait rod I wasn’t even watching started to scream. I grab the rod, set the hook and bam it was on. I could tell it was a nice fish as I couldn’t bring him up from the bottom. That fish ran left, ran right, ran at the boat, and ran back out. Very fun and a nice fish. He went 4 lbs. Another 10 minutes later Winnie hooks up again this time on the crank bait. He was throwing the mirror shad in pink. So were even at this point 2 fish each. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised. Winnie hooked up one more on the mouse on the retrieve.
We then had lunch at the store and back out we went. We tried the west shore for nothing and just went back to the cove, same spot and within minutes Winnie hooks up again on the minijig. Winnies now up 4 to 2. I then get hooked up on the mouse. I’m fighting the fish and he went under the boat, I was able to dig him out, but all of the sudden the line goes limp as I’m thumbing the drag at Winnies suggestion. You now the feeling. Damn. I didn’t get bit again the rest of the day, but Winnie got bit again. Fish number five, but no, the fish jumps and throws the hook. I must admit that I took glee in Winnies lost fish. One lost fish deserves another. So we decided to end the day and went in.
At the cleaning table it seemed like everyone had fish and they were quality fish too. I was very much pleasantly surprised. I’m definitely going back. Still not my first choice because if the wind blows I’m toast in the tube, but what the hell, I’ll give it a whirl.
In conclusion, I was surprised by the quality of the fish, and the water clarity was just great. Maybe my buddy will let me use his boat again. In the meantime keep your rods bent my friends.