Lake Gregory Trout Derby Report

[The Fishing Queen]

4/28, woke up at 1:30 am and just couldn't sleep any more. Maybe I was excited about the trout derby today. So I read some news online and tried not to wake everyone up in the morning. At 3:30, my dear husband got up, and as he does every time, made me a delicious breakfast and coffee. Then he packed some snacks, lunch and fishing gear for both of us. Now we were all set and ready to go fishing!

We arrived at the lake around 4:30, pitch dark with lovely twinkly stars in the sky. I was disappointed to see my favorite fishing spot had been taken and it looked like we were late by just a minute or two. So I picked a spot I prayed would have better luck and set up my rods one by one under a flash light. I was using garlic rainbow power bait with a 2 foot leader, and cast out as far as I could into the lake. I was going to sit down and take a little rest, as I went back to check on my first rod and tighten the line up and I suddenly felt a gentle tug on my pole. I picked up my rod and slowly tightened my line and felt the tug again. I quickly set the hook and reeled in a big, feisty brown trout. Everyone around us cheered and praised me for that...... From 5 to 6 o'clock, a lot of people came to fish, but no one else at the shore caught anything. The sky got lighter as time passed by and we were happy to be able to see better around us.

I walked around the grounds and took a few pictures

View 1

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/DerbyView1.png

View 2

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/DerbyView2.png

View 3

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/DerbyView3.png

I changed all of my bait and waited patiently for the real action to start. By 6:15, I saw the line on my left rod was getting lose, I know I had fish and it was swimming towards the shore. I gently tightened my line and raised up my pole and landed my second brown trout. The people around me were excited that the trout were starting to bite now. About 15 - 20 mins later my right pole had a hit, and this time I got a rainbow trout. One of the guys on my right caught a rainbow also at the same time. I reloaded my bait, cast out my line and just went back to sit down then I saw the rod on the right was bending. I ran to it, picked up the pole, set the hook and reeled in my fouth trout. From 6:30 the fishing was really good, my husband and a couple of other fishermen started to catch too. Around 8 o'clock we felt a little earthquake at the lake and right after that it got windy, the fishing got really slow. We did not see anybody catch any fish for a long time. Quite a few people got skunked and left early. At 8:30, the two of us together already got our limits, we had 10 mixed trout with browns and rainbows - I caught 7, my husband had 3 ( four were given away to someone who got skunked, and we brought 6 fish home) .........When we left the lake, we saw a group of three people that had 6 trout and 2 baby bullhead catfish. Another group of four fishermen got 7 trout, a family with three only caught two, and two men on our left each had one. Although I was not happy to be fishing at this spot at first, it turned out much better than what I expected. We two out fished everyone out there at the shore........

The small rainbow trout was a normal sized, DFG stock

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/DerbyCatch.png

This large brown trout was the best of the day

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/DerbyBest.png

It was a pleasant day with nice weather at the water. Although I didn't catch the tagged trout or the biggest fish of the derby (we all know that the county stocked the big trout for the derby, but it might be because of the earthquake today, nobody caught a monster, the biggest of the day weighed 1.74lbs, the second was 1.52lbs, and I was third with 1.43lbs, there was only one prize per age group and so I didn't win anything) it still was a fun day to hang out with my family and meet with new and old friends, and to chat, laugh and joke and share stories with each other and have a good time by the lake. Even those who didn't catch anything, or only had one or two fish the entire day, still enjoyed spending their time out there with their beloved friends and families. And what's so special for us all to remember???!!! - As the days and times fly by quickly, a day filled with great joy is priceless, and precious moments with happy memories will always last for a lifetime.....

http://i1156.photobucket.com/albums/p561/TheFishingQueen/mini5.png

[mjc89]

Good job! Thats a lot of people. I fish the same area and usually do ok. Did you try any lures? What was the biggest fish that you saw landed?

[The Fishing Queen]

Hi mjc89, I did use a lure for half an hour, but the area I was fishing in had too many broken branches in the water. Almost every time I used my lure it would snagg on something. It was shoulder to shoulder packed with people, there really wasn't any room to cast a lure, so I just gave up on it. And thanks for mentioning about the weight issue, I edited and added it to my post. The biggest trout of the day was 1.74lb, any mine was 1.43lb. You know that they stock much bigger fish for the derby since you and I have caught some last year.

[SierraPeaks]

There has to be some correlation between earthquakes and fish not biting. I've had several occasions in the Eastern Sierras, primarily the Mammoth area, and in extreme Northern California, Oregon, and Washington where the fishing has been incredible...then an earthquake hits and it comes to a screeching halt. I've never seen any scientific proof or study on it...but having it happen to me 6 or 7 times (and everyone else fishing the same waters at the time) I don't think it is just a coincedence.
Anyway...good job and thanks for the report. I was thinking about entering this weekend...but just have too much to do around the house. Good thing it's a season long derby this year.

[The Fishing Queen]

Thanks sierrapeaks, that's a great point you made about the earthquake, I guess we did well then considering your experiences of fishing right after earthquakes. Thanks for sharing your point!

[CraigH]

Thanks for the report. I was up there early in the week and only caught (and released) one rainbow. If you were up there you will know the day I'm talking about. Got there around 10 Am and it was sunny. Fished a couple different spots and ended up at the ball field around 12:30. It was still sunny, but within about 30 minutes a fog bank and wind came in and I couldn't even see the parking lot from the sandy point by the ball field. Caught the rainbow late in the day on a minijig and didn't feel like cleaning one fish. Drove home at around 10 MPH because the fog was really thick.

[seal]

Fantastic report! Really nice brown.

[dkinla]

Nice report. That big brown looks like it could eat that small rainbow stocker!

[white belt]

Wow great job and report! What a nice couple of browns.

[FSHNLIC]

Nice job out there... I was gonna go out there today button didn't make.... that's a nice brownie!!!

[mjc89]

Hi mjc89, I did use a lure for half an hour, but the area I was fishing in had too many broken branches in the water. Almost every time I used my lure it would snagg on something. It was shoulder to shoulder packed with people, there really wasn't any room to cast a lure, so I just gave up on it. And thanks for mentioning about the weight issue, I edited and added it to my post. The biggest trout of the day was 1.74lb, any mine was 1.43lb. You know that they stock much bigger fish for the derby since you and I have caught some last year.

Sucks that it was too crowded to use lures. Yeah i know theres bigger fish in there. Last year i caught a couple 3 lbers. My bro also caught a nice 4 1/2 lber and farmed another one the same day that was bigger. It was probably around 5 lbs.

[The Fishing Queen]

Fantastic report! Really nice brown.



Nice report. That big brown looks like it could eat that small rainbow stocker!

Thanks guys for the replies! I caught that brown trout in the early morning when it was still dark out there. When I reeled it in, it was barely hooked on the lip, I was using a treble hook size 16, and only one hook was stuck into the browns flesh. I would have lost it if I didn't set the hook quickly.

And yes, the brown trout are very aggressive fish, the research says that it would eat other fish half it's size. They have sharp teeth, and their tongues are thorny too.

[The Fishing Queen]

Wow great job and report! What a nice couple of browns.


Nice job out there... I was gonna go out there today button didn't make.... that's a nice brownie!!!

I know you two guys fished in LG before from your earlier reports that I read. So you all know that the browns are fun to catch and fight twice as hard as other fish. I can't wait to go back next week to catch a bigger one.

[Kelster]

Nice job, that is the most people that I have seen on that stretch of the lake, but I never fished the Derbys last year.
Congratulations on the brownies, I was out on Lake Perris and didn't feel the earthquake just the tug of the LMB's.

[white belt]

I know you two guys fished in LG before from your earlier reports that I read. So you all know that the browns are fun to catch and fight twice as hard as other fish. I can't wait to go back next week to catch a bigger one.

Only caught rainbows last time... Havent got a brown yet :'( haha they look mean though I cant wait to land one.

[The Fishing Queen]

Nice job, that is the most people that I have seen on that stretch of the lake, but I never fished the Derbys last year.
Congratulations on the brownies, I was out on Lake Perris and didn't feel the earthquake just the tug of the LMB's.

Thank you 'Kelster'! I took those photos around 6:30am, and more people came after that. Every spot were taken by people on the shoreline. The earthquake was 3.8, and it was in Devore, so it was close to Crestline. Everyone felt it on the lake.

[The Fishing Queen]

Thanks for the report. I was up there early in the week and only caught (and released) one rainbow. If you were up there you will know the day I'm talking about. Got there around 10 Am and it was sunny. Fished a couple different spots and ended up at the ball field around 12:30. It was still sunny, but within about 30 minutes a fog bank and wind came in and I couldn't even see the parking lot from the sandy point by the ball field. Caught the rainbow late in the day on a minijig and didn't feel like cleaning one fish. Drove home at around 10 MPH because the fog was really thick..

It's too bad that you came up all the way and just got a trout. Fishing can be tricky due to the changing weather. It can be really slow or it can be really good. I like to fish in the rain because I have the whole lake to myself. A few times I fished in the cold rain and I caught a lot of trout with a lure in a couple of hours. The weather changes a lot up in the mountains. And that's why I always carry two things that I leave in my car - a jacket and a raincoat. Somedays you might experience three different types of weather in one day, it could be sunny in the morning, rainy in the or hailing in the afternoon, then the fog bank can roll onto the lake in the evening. When we go up there for the weekends, we always try to leave the mountain before 3 or 4pm if the weather gets cold. It can get really foggy and it's a pain to driving. Crestline is like a big bowl, LG is the bottom of the bowl, then top town is the edge of the bowl and the fog gets even thicker there....

[Kelster]

Do you know what time they open the Marina? I want to float tube there again but I have to pay at the Marina and I don't remember what time they open.
Thanks

Never mind, I finally got thru to them. They open at 7:00am and you have to launch from the boat house. They will inspect your tube for mussels. You have to park up on the road but can drive down to boat house and drop off your tube and back down to pick up your tube.

[The Fishing Queen]

You have to park up on the road but can drive down to boat house and drop off your tube and back down to pick up your tube.

I hate to drop off my kayak at the boat house, then drive up and park my car at the different parking area. Then walk down the hill to get back to my kayak. After I done with kayaking, I have to walk all the way up the the hill to get in my car and drive down the boathouse to pick up my stuff. It's too much work.

[teejay]

Sounds like you’ve really got the lake dialed in FQ. I’m curious if you’ve noticed any natural food in the stomachs of those browns when you’re cleaning them?

[Troutcz swimbait]

Nice wright up once again and fishing trip,I bet you would of kicked but in womens division if they had it.

[The Fishing Queen]

Sounds like you’ve really got the lake dialed in FQ. I’m curious if you’ve noticed any natural food in the stomachs of those browns when you’re cleaning them?

Thanks! I am guessing you must do fly fishing when you ask me the question about what food the browns fed on, as I'm still a beginner in fly fishing, I didn't know how to look for that yet. I was told once by a friend that I have to looking for food in their stomach under the microscope, I'm still in the learning stage and hope I can pick up soon.

[The Fishing Queen]

Nice wright up once again and fishing trip,I bet you would of kicked but in womens division if they had it.

How's going John? Thanks for reading! Are you still in town or you are in Utah now? Pudd started charging today (May 1), I got the annual pass.