Jess Ranch - pretty 'epic' right now.

[Ultralight]

Quick note - not photos yet but will post later. However a heads up on Jess Ranch.

My friend, first time fishing in the US, went home with a 20 lbs stringer around noon. Easy limit for those who are veteran fisherman. I saw a number of full stringers, though not all. They literally hit metal spoons, jigs, powerworms, earth worm, and powerbait. Everything we tried produced. The unusual thing is that at 11:30 am, we had back to back hits on metal spoon with the guy next to us. Could have limited much earlier but we decided to take it easy and stretch it out since I'm hosting my friend after he's waited a while. Second unusual thing is that when you pulled in a fish, a bunch of other fish (including a number of 2 pounders and up) would follow - almost as if they were starving. Never seen anything like it. I saw a number of 3-6 pounder cruising around.

Also had 3 bass on the side including what looked like a couple of 3+ pounders. A couple of fish took between 15 and 20 minutes to bring in due to a bit of weed and line tangle since we had only 2 lb test.

I'm not sure if this has anything to do with it but the water is incredibly clear - you can really see a good distance and just see all that fish cruising around.

Not sure if tomorrow will be the same but figure some of you may want a quick report. I'm back at work but thought I'd pop in a quick update here.

I also saw a number of good fat blue gills landed that I estimate to be about 9 inches long? Not sure but they were fat. Need to try for those some day.

UL

[jayman]

Sounds like your friend had a good trip! Can't wait for the pics!

[TheAsianGuy]

Hm..epic is slightly too strong..Good Haul! is best?

[Ultralight]

OK, pics posted.

I'm grateful that my friend's first experience in the USA was quite a memorable one. Of course, I had to remind him a few times that the fishing in the Southland is not always going to be quite like this although Jess Ranch clearly was stocking larger fish than when I visited the last time.

The larger of the two trout was 7 lbs 11 oz. And other was 7 lbs 8 oz. The third was about 3 lbs though we did not weigh it. The stringer was easily 20 lbs.

We had a 15 minutes fight with a 3 lbs bass as it got into the weeds. However, the really huge battle of the day for us was with the second 7+ pounder. I have never seen a trout fight even remotely like that, though I've seen a number of larger full tailed trout caught. The whole story is way too long to share here but at the end, the rod arm was was literally shaking at the end of the fight - probably from adrenalin. Over 20 minutes of sustained pressure. Part of the 20 minutes was due to it being snagged on someone else's line. I believe that this trout was in the pond for quite a bit due to the marking on its snout. Its strength was unusual. During the initial run of probably 60-80 yards like a freight train, it jumped three times - every one of them vertical like a flag pole. It was very explosive. I remember thinking during the first jump that the vertical orientation and height was very unusual. The first time cleared about 36 inches (1.5 times its own length). The second time about 12 inches (half its length) and elicited a very audible exclamation from some the fishermen from across the shore. The third was about half out of the water. That's when I though we may had him. Really quite a fight. Fun stuff. The stringer in the photo is over 20 lbs - even the 3rd largest is probably close to 3 lbs. Equipment also makes a difference. Good 2 lb line is way stronger than I thought and a great rod/reel makes a difference too when the fish seem to peel line off with impunity.

Anyways, Jess definitely had larger fish. Yes, there were the regular smallish fish but often when we reel a fish in, a small school of three or four two pounders would follow that fish in. I've never seen this before but it did let me see that there were plenty of nice sized trout in there for the taking. I was also surprised by how active they were - willing to chase almost anything we tried.

UL

ps: The Asian Guy, sorry but I tried to fix the title and change the 'epic' word but apparently I can't. I'd say though it was better than a 'good haul'. You are undoubtedly way better fisherman than I but for most, two 7+ pounders probably qualifies as a fantastic outing....:)


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http://i1136.photobucket.com/albums/n491/learningcycle/DSC06115_crcorrectedhandlemanipulatedsmall.jpg

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[Bass-N-Fever]

nice looking trouts, good job bro!!!!

[M@M]

WOW!! Those are some nice size trout! GOOD TIMES!! Thanks for the report and NICE pics!

[Ultralight]

Thanks Bass-N-Fever & M@M. Yes, good day indeed.

UL

[JAG107]

TWO 7+ pounders in one day from ANY lake qualifies as epic in my book. Way to go!!! I need to fish JR again, that place is awesome!

[Ultralight]

Thanks JAG107. Yes, was pretty remarkable day. It was quite a rush. Of course, the difficulty is to lower expectation for this buddy the next time he goes back to JR....:) But to their credit, the large fish was there. Supposedly someone caught a 12 lb trout a few weeks ago, and another caught two more 7+ lb also in one outing. Let us know if you go and how it turns out.

UL

[troutdog]

Congrats on a great day at the Ranch!


TWO 7+ pounders in one day from ANY lake qualifies as epic in my book. Way to go!!! I need to fish JR again, that place is awesome!

Agreed


TD

[phishin phool]

yep thats an epic day!! Congrats to you ultralight!!!!

[Ultralight]

Thanks Phishin Phool.

UL

[TheMightyGerbil]

is this place worth a 1 hr 45 min drive? and what are the hours? can't find hours on the website.

[teejay]

Wow. Time to get a bigger ice chest.

[Ultralight]

TheMightyGerbil (LOL, memorable name.) They open 7am-4pm Fri, Sat, Sun only. Obviously you will have the least crowds on Friday. That's about an hour drive for me. Whether it is worth 1 hours 45 minutes - not sure what to say. That's a lot of driving - 3 1/2 hours round trip. Also, it does take a while for me to figure out a lake normally so not sure how your first trip will work out. My guess is that most will average about 1 lb per trout currently? Unsure. They do have bluegills and catfish too. Bass is catch and release. They are a hatchery so whether they stock large or small trout is up to whoever stocks it.

http://www.jessranchlakesnews.com/index.html

Teejay, indeed. They do have bags and ice that they pack for you. Nice people. We used that as our ice chest was indeed too small....LOL. They also clean the trout for you if you wish for a small fee.

UL

[phishin phool]

Just a note to add to your info UL, they stock on fri and it could be in the afternoon so fri might be not as good as sat. or sun. But they do have alot of fish in there.