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View Full Version : Perris Lake 10/7 Sail Cove Pier with Onemore



Natural Lefty
10-08-2011, 08:14 PM
I took a late afternoon/early evening trip to the little pier at Sail Cove, Perris Lake yesterday which turned out to be a very fun trip in which history sort of repeated itself, as I met a fairly new fellow FNN member. (In April, I met SirBluegill there when he recognized me.)

I got there pretty late, around 4:45 p.m. and noticed a couple of guys leaving with a basket that appeared to have about 20 fish in it. They were sort of far away, but it looked like a mix of Bluegills and Redears to me, some pretty large. One of the men came over and talked to me, and said they were biting on crickets cast out from the end of the pier. That was something different for me, since I usually catch fish straight down from the pier or casting out to the sides of the pier. I did notice that the water is a couple of feet lower than usual though, so the pier is shallower.

I heeded the men's advice and went to the end of the pier. I casted out with one pole, and worked around the pier with the other. Since I only had splitshot on for weight, I wasn't casting very far at first and nothing bit. Thus, I put a 1/2 ounce weight on my 6 pound line and two small hooks dropshot style, and heaved it out about 100 feet or so. Still, nothing bit. Eventually, after a few casts, my bait was missing although I saw no bites. I brought homegrown redworms and some of my compost pile grubs. I was seriously considering heading for the marina at this point as it had been probably 45 fishless and nearly biteless minutes where the previous occupants had said "they were biting."

Around that time, a family showed up with mom, dad, older daughter and younger son. A little after that, my pole with the dropshot line which I had heaved out to the left at an angle from the end of the pier, bent way over, and I proceded to pull in a nice, fat, 8inch male Bluegill. The father said "nice," etc. and really liked my catch, so we started talking. He mentioned checking "the fishing website," so a little light went on in my head, and I asked him if he was checking FNN. When he said yes, I introduced myself as "Natural Lefty" from FNN and said I was pretty sure he had seen some of my posts. I also introduced myself as Robert. He said he was "Juanmore" on FNN, but as you can see below, I kept remembering him incorrectly as "Onemore" as in one more fish before I leave. He told me he had started fishing regularly about a month before and was learning and teaching his kids how to fish. He had just recently joined the site and said he was having trouble posting so far from his cell phone.

Anyway, we had a nice chat as we fished, and the fishing got better and better, only the size of the fish went down. His wife and son went back to the car, and "Onemore" stayed with his 9 year old daughter, Evie. All they had brought was crappie jigs to use, which weren't working, so I let them use my worms and grubs. They put on small hooks and my bait, and soon they started getting bites, but missing them. Meanwhile, Bluegills started biting all around the end of the pier, mostly small ones but a few decent size ones. Eventually, "Onemore" caught a Bluegill almost as large as my first one, on the right side of the dock. I was catching quite a few small ones right at the end of the dock almost as soon as the bait hit the bottom. Evie asked if I had walked to the end of the rainbow and found a pot of gold. What a charming little lady she is. I told her no, but Bluegills like me, plus practice helps. Finally, Evie managed to haul in a couple of small Bluegills at the end of the pier. At one point, things got really funny, when "Onemore" asked me if I had seen the post about Lasselle Lake. It obviously hadn't registered with him yet that I was the person who wrote that, definitely a sort of quietly hilarious moment for me. Actually, I was quite flattered. I reminded him that it was indeed me who had written that report, and he said he had checked out where the place I went fishing was just the day before, but hadn't gone fishing there yet. I recommended he try it.

It was getting dark by that time, my new friends had to go somewhere, and I was concerned that they were probably closing the gate at 8 p.m. now instead of 10. I caught one more decent size Bluegill by simply dropping my dropshot line straight down, around 7:20, and figured that was a great way to end the trip, so we all left together. For the record, I only caught 3 fish by casting out 100 feet or so, and the first one was the biggest. The third one was about 3 inches. Anyway, the action appeared to move toward shore with the coming of dusk.

Evie thanked me and said "Goodbye Sir," so I said "Goodbye Evelyn" and waved to her since she was being so formal. "Onemore" shook my hand and we said goodbye but were thinking of possibilities of meeting in the future and fishing together.

Totals were for me: Sixteen Bluegills (I think) of which 5 were kept, mostly caught on redworms, with only 1 or two on the grubs.

"Onemore" caught the second largest Bluegill, which he gave to me since he said he didn't have anyplace to put it, although he was interested in learning how to cook the Bluegills.

Evelyn ("Evie") caught two small Bluegills, which she released, although earlier she had asked me why I was putting so many of them back. (I said they were too small and not grown up yet.)

I didn't take any pictures of the fish, as today I was called away from home on a sort of medical emergency (sick daughter) but "Onemore" took a few photos, so I am hoping he can post them. Anyway, I think everybody here knows what 6-8 inch Florida strain Bluegills look like.

Sublime-Steve
10-08-2011, 08:25 PM
Great post as usual man, good time's with good ppl make's time seem to vanish. how big are these red worms you use? the ones from walmart wouldn't fit on a needle..

Natural Lefty
10-08-2011, 08:34 PM
Wow, that was fast Steve. I was adding a couple of details when you posted. It was a real blast even though we weren't hauling in many big ones, except for a couple of good size Bluegills. First thing we knew, it was getting dark and it was pretty chilly for this time of year. Good thing I wore a jacket. The weather didn't seem to bother the fish though.

I would say my redworms vary in size but are mostly pretty average size, like 2-3 inches long and are pretty easy to put on a small hook. They are larger than the little redworms they sell at some places, but smaller than the "Trout Worms" which some places sell (which I think are actually "Euro Worms"). Fish really like them. My wife says they taste better to the fish because they eat natural yummy food such as fruit peels.

juanmore951
10-08-2011, 09:14 PM
yeah we had a nice time we didn't want to leave. Ev can't stop talking about her first fish. Thanks lefty.

Let me know when you want hit canyon lake, or perris...
Thanks again.

old pudd fisher
10-08-2011, 09:54 PM
Thanks Natural Lefty, I like reading your posts.

SirBluegill
10-08-2011, 10:39 PM
Nice report Robert, funny that you met another FNNer on the pier. I fished today for gills and did pretty good off the dam. The water was a little colder today compared to last week. Always enjoy reading you're reports.

TheAsianGuy
10-08-2011, 11:43 PM
Great post as usual Lefty. Always fun to see other FNNers at the waters as we all bond over a good session of fishing. Hope your daughter feeling better. I'll keep a prayer for her.

Natural Lefty
10-09-2011, 10:52 AM
Juanmore, that's it. I know you told me that, but sometimes I have a lousy memory. I kept thinking "Onemore," as in catching one more fish before leaving. Sorry about getting your user name wrong. My name didn't register with you about the Lasselle Lake report until I told you so, on the other hand. Now, I think we have got it straight who each of us is here on FNN. I am glad to see you managed to post on here.

SirBluegill, were you in a float tube? There are a lot of fish in the west end of the lake this time of year, so I am not surprised you did well, especially considering your growing fishing skills.

OldPuddFisher, it is a pleasure doing them. Maybe we will run into each other as well.

Asianguy, daughter Isabella has a painful throat infection, but it wasn't as serious as her mother made it sound. I think she mostly wanted me to do heavy work like moving her piano, plus take her shopping for a music keyboard among other things which I bought for her. She teaches piano and keyboard playing to children.

SirBluegill
10-09-2011, 02:24 PM
Yes I was tubing near the dam, I could see steam coming off the water early morning. I got a few bites deep 20 ft plus but a vast majority of the action was in shallow water 12 ft. I caught a couple 9 inch plus gills and several 7- 8's. I released the large gills and gave the smaller ones to an asain couple on the shore. They had some nice sized redears, using redworms. heres some pics

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/albums/lake-perris-oct-08

old pudd fisher
10-09-2011, 02:44 PM
Very nice photos Anthony.

TheAsianGuy
10-09-2011, 05:00 PM
Yes I was tubing near the dam, I could see steam coming off the water early morning. I got a few bites deep 20 ft plus but a vast majority of the action was in shallow water 12 ft. I caught a couple 9 inch plus gills and several 7- 8's. I released the large gills and gave the smaller ones to an asain couple on the shore. They had some nice sized redears, using redworms. heres some pics

http://bigbluegill.com/photo/albums/lake-perris-oct-08

Did you tag team with Jeff during your day out or another fellow tuber? Two photos look really early in the morning (6:30?).

SirBluegill
10-09-2011, 05:47 PM
We hit the water by 7:45 and got home around 1 ish, only live 8 miles away from the lake. Didn't get any gills till we fished shallow (around 11:30) and it was one every five mins. Had to leave by then so I ended up with 7 gills with many stolen crickets as well :). I tag team with my Dad.

Hey Robert did you see anyone catching any trout? I read they stocked the lake this week don't know where. I caught a few on snap beans this past spring from that pier.

fishmounter
10-09-2011, 10:30 PM
Are people still driving down to the water's edge in Sail Cove to unload their gear, then driving back up to park in the parking lot? I may float tube here this week if the Bluegill are still biting and I don't want to carry all my stuff all the way down to the lake and back up. I have not 'tubed in this spot in a couple years.

XMrxSEAUx
10-09-2011, 11:25 PM
I didn't know lake Perris opened at 6 lol! And btw nice fishing out there at lkeast mr. Skunk ran away

Konacrush
10-10-2011, 05:12 AM
I think it's awesome that I found this web site everyone here is really nice people and fun to fish with . sublimesteve ,head case,Eric,everyone I've met really cool peeps aloha all my fellow fnners nice story lefty I love it

Konacrush
10-10-2011, 05:14 AM
Bra you can drive down to the water and drop off all your da kind den drop of da car in da parking lot no worries

TheAsianGuy
10-10-2011, 11:41 AM
Are people still driving down to the water's edge in Sail Cove to unload their gear, then driving back up to park in the parking lot? I may float tube here this week if the Bluegill are still biting and I don't want to carry all my stuff all the way down to the lake and back up. I have not 'tubed in this spot in a couple years.

Hey Jeff, just watch out for shoreliners overloaded with testosterone. Tubing too close to shore will get them all antsy, and they will surely spill out some major waves of profanity for roaming their claimed territory. But yeah, you can practically drive to the water's edge, unload, drive to parking lot, and get into the water. I did it once for the heavy toon, but I rather roll it off the ramp. A bit of work, but worth the saving of strength from rowing like crazy.

fishmounter
10-10-2011, 12:24 PM
Yeah Leo, I hear you about the guys with 3 oz weights. If I go here, it will be out near the canyon drop off and along the face of the dam. Just thought I'd try the jig/cricket combo that has been so deadly at other areas of the lake here at my old spot where I first started float tubing. Might be a bunch of big sunfish just waiting to be caught!

TheAsianGuy
10-10-2011, 12:39 PM
You know what, red head jigs with yellow skirts have always been a meal ticket there for me too. I can't seem to attract them with yellow head jig and worm combo for some reason. Not sure if it still work but #8 or #10 baithooks with crickets still work in the past, but my tuber-boys can't seem hook them for the past 3 weeks. Not sure what they did wrong, but you can surely proof them wrong. Thanks to Anthony, the YoZuri beans with my Rapala X floaters nailed those gills quite fast when I hover those schools. But, gills are evading me, while basses are striking me faster while hunting for crappies and gills. Weird. Let us know how you do. Team up with Anthony, you guys will probably slay them. I'll be hunting for cats and carps in deeper water later this weekends. Found the spots for the cats, and the carps are hanging around them to forage. Got my stinkbaits ready for them both, and loading the heavy mono to compensate. I'm going to be seriously in trouble if they decide to take on both lines at the same time again.

By the way Steve and Seal, got my waterproof camera setup ready to go, and will be mounting it directly on the toon with a lifeline (just in case it falls into the water). Will give you guys some serious action videos next time around.

Natural Lefty
10-10-2011, 03:28 PM
Anthony, the Bluegill with the light blue stripes is a most unusually colored one. I have never seen one like that. I have been catching some golden hued ones in the past year or so, at DVL and most recently at Lasselle Lake, but nothing like that. It resembles a surfperch more or less in coloration. Good job on the Bluegills with your dad. It's strange that I saw no Redears Friday, and it looks like you caught only Bluegills too, but the couple on the shore caught Redears. I historically have had very good success with Redears at Perris in the fall. Maybe soon they will bite more.

Juanmore told me that he caught a trout on a jig the day before, in fact. He said that they had just stocked small ones. That figures, since the storm cooled the lake down. I think they stock it with subcatchable trout every year just as the lake cools down. To me, the biggest decline in Perris since they lowered the water level is the trout fishing, which figures since they need the deep, cool water to thrive there. I doubt they survive year around like they used to. They do grow fast, so these little ones will be large by the spring, but the water used to be clearer which allowed tasty little crustaceans to grow among the vegetation, giving the trout pink, tasty meat. Now, they don't get pink meat as far as I can see, the water is murkier, they don't taste as good, and they are not as easy to catch. I used to catch large trout by the dam in July sometimes, before they lowered the water, believe it or not. Now, the trout disappear by the end of May pretty much.

Personally, I always park in Lot 1 and walk down to the pier when I fish there, but when I asked Juanmore as we were leaving, he said he was parked along the shore.

I use really small jigs a lot at Perris, without bait if they are working, or with bait if that's what it takes, but I just put bait on small hooks Friday. I am putting Yozuri Beans, Rapala X Floaters, and and Skeeter Lures on my list of lures to buy. My wife isn't here to complain about it at this time. Last time, she nixed the Skeeter idea.

By the way, it was actually a paternoster rig I had on the 6 pound pole, according to another thread. In any case, my wife is an expert with that rig for some reason. She probably would have been pulling them in one after another.

fishmounter
10-10-2011, 03:45 PM
Robert- Here's one I got a while back that had the light bars on it's side:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/fishmounter/My1lbLPBG-1-2.jpg

fishmounter
10-10-2011, 03:48 PM
...And of course the metallic-blue phase of a small male:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/fishmounter/BlueCoppernose.jpg

TheAsianGuy
10-10-2011, 03:59 PM
Robert- Here's one I got a while back that had the light bars on it's side:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/fishmounter/My1lbLPBG-1-2.jpg

Doesn't it look like stumpknocker (spotted sunfish)? Hm..truly unique mix in there.


...And of course the metallic-blue phase of a small male:
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m121/fishmounter/BlueCoppernose.jpg

Wow! Beautiful! You should have mount that puppy Jeff. That may be a hybrid between a flier and a green sunfish for the color scheme, or it could just adopted its color based on the water's conditions? Man..it's standing out like a bull's eye for birds of prey, or predation fishes.

Natural Lefty
10-10-2011, 08:41 PM
Jeff, those are some remarkable looking Bluegills, color-wise. Do you think they change their colors temporarily, or do these ones have mutations which make them always look that way. I have only seen Bluegills with dark stripes before, but I think these are all definitely Bluegills. Anthony's Bluegill with the light blue stripes, though, gets my vote as the most remarkable looking one.

And I said everybody here already knows what Florida strain Bluegills look like. I guess I was wrong. Their colors are far more variable these days in Perris than I ever knew.