Wingnut
09-24-2012, 06:11 PM
I've been trying to put together a road trip to Lake San Antonio for the last couple of months with my homeboys. We finally got everybody on the same page this past weekend and off we went. I wish we could have put it all together a couple of weeks earlier… when the Striper bite apparently, was off the hook. :Envious:
No worries, this road trip was more about a long overdue get together with my Brothers from different Mothers than about catching fish. So we left our wives and girlfriends at home and hit the road. :Razz:
I want to thank couple of Lake San Antonio locals for the up-to-date intel, you know who you are… :Wink:
Thanks for trying to get me up there a couple of weeks ago when the bite was hot. Really wish that I could… next time!
Also, extending my appreciation to a couple of FNN members who also gave me some vital information. :Cool:
I’ve fished this place many times with Bob (TroutOnly) and learned quite a bit about this quiet jewel of a Striper lake. It’s all about the timing at this lake and the anglers who hit it up at the right time will be nicely rewarded.
We wanted to leave early Saturday morning, but I had an unexpected fire to put out at the office so we didn’t end up hitting the road until around 2:00pm. I told the boys to go ahead and tow the boat up there and I will drive up by myself to meet them later. They refused to leave without me… thanks guys. :Group Hug:
We got to the lake about 7:00pm and went through the Quagga Mussel inspection. Man, these guys were quite thorough, even with my Pyramid Lake tag, they were very careful checking to make sure everything was dry. Talking to one of the guys at the gate, he told us that a couple of weeks ago, they were pulling out 8 to 15 lbs Stripers like they were going out of style and there were massive boils everywhere. :Envious:
Went to the launch ramp and spoke to a fisherman who was putting his boat on the trailer. He got one Lineside all day on topwater, looks to me about a 8-10 lbs fish. Same story, he also told us that the bite was hot a few weeks ago… :Rolls Eyes:
We put the boat in the water around 7:30pm. We wanted to troll for a little bit, but was losing daylight fast, so we opted to head straight to one of the coves to anchor down for the night and try our luck at Catfishing. Something new for me as I was just recently trained in the fine art of Whiskerfish hunting by the “Legendary” Team TrollToon… Terry and Chris. :UDaMan:
We had a blast catching Catfish all night. I don’t think there was 15 minutes that went by that somebody didn’t reel up a fish. Sometimes we even had multiple hook-ups. :Shocked: I’m pretty sure we caught between 30-40 fish in total. Most of them were smaller 1-2 lbs, which we let go, but we also caught 15 or so in the 4-8 lbs range. Ended up keeping the bigger fish for the upcoming fish fry! :Big Grin:
Here are some pics and I’ll narrate the rest of the way…
Putting the S.W.A.T. Assault Vessel in the water…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1002_zps8442d255.jpg
I love fishing with da boys… I don’t have to do any work, I just supervise, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1005_zps46b4d8e4.jpg
Enjoying the leisurely sunset cruise to our spot.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1007_zps1c16b85e.jpg
Simply beautiful… there is a God! :Big Grin:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1008_zpse88a4530.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1009_zpsc9893185.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1012_zps06b2b118.jpg
As soon as we anchored down, the action started…
Catfish porn!
My first catch of the night.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1015_zpsf764a9fe.jpg
John and one of his many Kitties…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1014_zps3841e492.jpg
Sokha (Troublehook) gets into the action.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1016_zps821e8c00.jpg
Another nice one for me…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1017_zpsfab3aa95.jpg
Binh (Badbeat) did some damage too… when he wasn’t sleeping, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1019_zps2ae0ee04.jpg
A quality fish for John.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1026_zpsdffc6887.jpg
Sokha got himself a nice one.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1020_zps960ec534.jpg
Another keeper for me!
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1025_zps0b9811c3.jpg
Casualties…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1027_zpsf133d99a.jpg
I didn’t get a single minute of sleep all night… as soon as you close your eyes a bell or a clicker would go off, lol :Smile:
The boys took turn passing out on the boat. We were all bundled up… it gets quite chilly on this lake at night.
Binh and his green good luck blanket. :Wink: Check this out, even when he is sleeping, he had his rod in his hand with the line wrapped around his finger. He would get a bite, wakes up and reel in the fish, too funny. :LOL:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1022_zpsf2e4ac24.jpg
Sohka was dead to the world… I slapped him with a Catfish and he didn’t even wake up, Hahahahaha
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1021_zps77e3a803.jpg
Lights out for John…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1024_zps678da5e0.jpg
The next morning I told the boys to pull anchor and we set off on the troll looking for boils.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1028_zps1ff2c20e.jpg
We trolled and trolled and trolled… pretty much did a lap around the lake. Trolling all the hot spots that Bob and I discovered in the past. Shock’s Alley, the Meat Bucket, Kewly’s Corner, now renamed Judas Corner, lol, jk. :LOL: Metered a few concentration of fish but couldn’t get them to play. Trolled a variety of bucktails and swim baits at different depth… still no love from the Linesides.
Around 10:00am we worked our way back to the cove where we started and wouldn’t you know it… spotted a few sporadic boils in the distance. :EyePop: We jammed over there and cut the engine, slid up to the action and started casting like madmen… the boils were over so quickly, each only lasted for maybe 10-30 seconds max and they were gone. We saw about a half dozen quick boils and could only reach a couple. As soon as we got on top of the boil, it vanished. :Angry: The Shad they are chasing is quite small, maybe 2 inches.
In hindsight, we should have stayed put in that cove and waited for the boils to materialize. :Idea:
On one of the quick boils, I made a cast and hooked up… thought I was on a nice Striper because it fought like champ… and this Bronzeback hit the deck, nice fish, but not what I was expecting, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1031_zps33b87972.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1030_zps3d0f4d64.jpg
We hung around trying to chase phantom boils for another couple of hours and decided to head home. Off the lake by 1:00pm. I wasn’t looking forward to the 5 hour long drive… :mad:
It was a beautiful day to be on the water.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/JohnPhan1_zps393e1904.jpg
A couple of the keepers.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1035_zpse2764468.jpg
My supermodel pose, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1033_zpsf364463f.jpg
Binh (Badbeat)
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1036_zpsab1e63ee.jpg
Sokha (Troublehook)
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1037_zpsf57ae80f.jpg
Our buddy John.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1038_zps8717423c.jpg
Even though the trophy Linesides eluded us this time around, I still consider this a successful trip. Nobody got skunked and there was plenty of laughs and good times with good friends. Thank you Binh, Sokha and John for joining me on this long road trip. I know you guys will enjoy your bounty and I hope we can do this again soon… until then, peace my brothers. :Big Grin:
Have a great week everybody!
Arthur (Wingnut)
“Happiness in life is the elimination of the unnecessary.”
Parting Shots.
My Catfish dinner Sunday night, compliments of the “Iron Chef.” :Big Grin:
Cajun Style Spicy Catfish with steamed rice and Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Ca).
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1003_zps20227e09.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1004_zps4d6df118.jpg
I asked Wingnut Pug what she thinks about Catfishing… :LOL:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1010-8.jpg
No worries, this road trip was more about a long overdue get together with my Brothers from different Mothers than about catching fish. So we left our wives and girlfriends at home and hit the road. :Razz:
I want to thank couple of Lake San Antonio locals for the up-to-date intel, you know who you are… :Wink:
Thanks for trying to get me up there a couple of weeks ago when the bite was hot. Really wish that I could… next time!
Also, extending my appreciation to a couple of FNN members who also gave me some vital information. :Cool:
I’ve fished this place many times with Bob (TroutOnly) and learned quite a bit about this quiet jewel of a Striper lake. It’s all about the timing at this lake and the anglers who hit it up at the right time will be nicely rewarded.
We wanted to leave early Saturday morning, but I had an unexpected fire to put out at the office so we didn’t end up hitting the road until around 2:00pm. I told the boys to go ahead and tow the boat up there and I will drive up by myself to meet them later. They refused to leave without me… thanks guys. :Group Hug:
We got to the lake about 7:00pm and went through the Quagga Mussel inspection. Man, these guys were quite thorough, even with my Pyramid Lake tag, they were very careful checking to make sure everything was dry. Talking to one of the guys at the gate, he told us that a couple of weeks ago, they were pulling out 8 to 15 lbs Stripers like they were going out of style and there were massive boils everywhere. :Envious:
Went to the launch ramp and spoke to a fisherman who was putting his boat on the trailer. He got one Lineside all day on topwater, looks to me about a 8-10 lbs fish. Same story, he also told us that the bite was hot a few weeks ago… :Rolls Eyes:
We put the boat in the water around 7:30pm. We wanted to troll for a little bit, but was losing daylight fast, so we opted to head straight to one of the coves to anchor down for the night and try our luck at Catfishing. Something new for me as I was just recently trained in the fine art of Whiskerfish hunting by the “Legendary” Team TrollToon… Terry and Chris. :UDaMan:
We had a blast catching Catfish all night. I don’t think there was 15 minutes that went by that somebody didn’t reel up a fish. Sometimes we even had multiple hook-ups. :Shocked: I’m pretty sure we caught between 30-40 fish in total. Most of them were smaller 1-2 lbs, which we let go, but we also caught 15 or so in the 4-8 lbs range. Ended up keeping the bigger fish for the upcoming fish fry! :Big Grin:
Here are some pics and I’ll narrate the rest of the way…
Putting the S.W.A.T. Assault Vessel in the water…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1002_zps8442d255.jpg
I love fishing with da boys… I don’t have to do any work, I just supervise, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1005_zps46b4d8e4.jpg
Enjoying the leisurely sunset cruise to our spot.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1007_zps1c16b85e.jpg
Simply beautiful… there is a God! :Big Grin:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1008_zpse88a4530.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1009_zpsc9893185.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1012_zps06b2b118.jpg
As soon as we anchored down, the action started…
Catfish porn!
My first catch of the night.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1015_zpsf764a9fe.jpg
John and one of his many Kitties…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1014_zps3841e492.jpg
Sokha (Troublehook) gets into the action.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1016_zps821e8c00.jpg
Another nice one for me…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1017_zpsfab3aa95.jpg
Binh (Badbeat) did some damage too… when he wasn’t sleeping, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1019_zps2ae0ee04.jpg
A quality fish for John.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1026_zpsdffc6887.jpg
Sokha got himself a nice one.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1020_zps960ec534.jpg
Another keeper for me!
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1025_zps0b9811c3.jpg
Casualties…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1027_zpsf133d99a.jpg
I didn’t get a single minute of sleep all night… as soon as you close your eyes a bell or a clicker would go off, lol :Smile:
The boys took turn passing out on the boat. We were all bundled up… it gets quite chilly on this lake at night.
Binh and his green good luck blanket. :Wink: Check this out, even when he is sleeping, he had his rod in his hand with the line wrapped around his finger. He would get a bite, wakes up and reel in the fish, too funny. :LOL:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1022_zpsf2e4ac24.jpg
Sohka was dead to the world… I slapped him with a Catfish and he didn’t even wake up, Hahahahaha
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1021_zps77e3a803.jpg
Lights out for John…
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1024_zps678da5e0.jpg
The next morning I told the boys to pull anchor and we set off on the troll looking for boils.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1028_zps1ff2c20e.jpg
We trolled and trolled and trolled… pretty much did a lap around the lake. Trolling all the hot spots that Bob and I discovered in the past. Shock’s Alley, the Meat Bucket, Kewly’s Corner, now renamed Judas Corner, lol, jk. :LOL: Metered a few concentration of fish but couldn’t get them to play. Trolled a variety of bucktails and swim baits at different depth… still no love from the Linesides.
Around 10:00am we worked our way back to the cove where we started and wouldn’t you know it… spotted a few sporadic boils in the distance. :EyePop: We jammed over there and cut the engine, slid up to the action and started casting like madmen… the boils were over so quickly, each only lasted for maybe 10-30 seconds max and they were gone. We saw about a half dozen quick boils and could only reach a couple. As soon as we got on top of the boil, it vanished. :Angry: The Shad they are chasing is quite small, maybe 2 inches.
In hindsight, we should have stayed put in that cove and waited for the boils to materialize. :Idea:
On one of the quick boils, I made a cast and hooked up… thought I was on a nice Striper because it fought like champ… and this Bronzeback hit the deck, nice fish, but not what I was expecting, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1031_zps33b87972.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1030_zps3d0f4d64.jpg
We hung around trying to chase phantom boils for another couple of hours and decided to head home. Off the lake by 1:00pm. I wasn’t looking forward to the 5 hour long drive… :mad:
It was a beautiful day to be on the water.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/JohnPhan1_zps393e1904.jpg
A couple of the keepers.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1035_zpse2764468.jpg
My supermodel pose, lol
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1033_zpsf364463f.jpg
Binh (Badbeat)
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1036_zpsab1e63ee.jpg
Sokha (Troublehook)
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1037_zpsf57ae80f.jpg
Our buddy John.
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1038_zps8717423c.jpg
Even though the trophy Linesides eluded us this time around, I still consider this a successful trip. Nobody got skunked and there was plenty of laughs and good times with good friends. Thank you Binh, Sokha and John for joining me on this long road trip. I know you guys will enjoy your bounty and I hope we can do this again soon… until then, peace my brothers. :Big Grin:
Have a great week everybody!
Arthur (Wingnut)
“Happiness in life is the elimination of the unnecessary.”
Parting Shots.
My Catfish dinner Sunday night, compliments of the “Iron Chef.” :Big Grin:
Cajun Style Spicy Catfish with steamed rice and Sour Fish Soup (Canh Chua Ca).
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1003_zps20227e09.jpg
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1004_zps4d6df118.jpg
I asked Wingnut Pug what she thinks about Catfishing… :LOL:
http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r135/Wingnut32566/Wingnut%208/Wingnut%2010/Wingnut%2011/SWAT1010-8.jpg