gokuguy
03-28-2013, 08:13 PM
Headed out to Irvine Lake with a buddy and arrived at about 5:40. 20+ cars waiting at the gate so I turn off my engine and dozed off for a minute. Got into the lake around 6:15 and set up at Boat Dock Cove. I had an extra pole already carolina rigged so I put some green Gulp dough bait dipped in B.O. crimson and tossed it out while I started rigged up my jigging/spoon pole and my dropshot pole. Just a few minutes later I heard a loud splash and I saw a large trout jumping out of the water. Looked at my pole and saw no movement so I started hurrying up so I could toss out a lure....... but the wind picked up and I ended up messing up my knot.
I finally got my main rods ready to go and when I go to reel in my powerbait rod, I see the line is really slack and over to the left instead of the right where I threw it. I slowly reel in the slack and sure enough it's FISH ON! Started reeling her in and boy was I in for a fight. My buddy was on his way back from the port a pottie so I started scrambling for my net which was still in my car. I yelled out to my buddy that I had a fish on and I needed him to find the net so he runs over. I tried dragging her onto shore a few times but every time she got close she would just shake and PEEL my drag and take off, so I just waited till my buddy was able to net the fish for me. It was big, and boy was it a gorgeous fish. It was my first time seeing one of these 'Reds and the colors on it were just amazing! Weighed it with my digi scale and it came out to 4.18 lbs...a new PB!! I was stoked since it had been a while since I had gotten off to an early start with a fish. :D I had never caught a trout over 3 pounds before so it was pretty exciting. =)
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/9.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/4.jpg
Tossed out a mice tail on my other rod and ate some breakfast and listened to some tunes for a few hours. At about 9:15 am, it was still pretty slow. Buddy had no action all morning and the groups around us had only a couple trout early in the morning. I reeled in my mice tail rod and rigged up another powerbait on the same pole I had caught the first fish on. This time it was just a brown yellow garlic scented powerbait rolled up into a worm shape. Dipped it in B.O. and tossed it out. After a few minutes, I saw a BIG fish jump out of the water about 40 feet out and land with a HUGE *splasshhh*. My eyes darted towards my two rods and sure enough, my backup rod was pulling hard as my line peeled off the reel. I quickly grabbed my rod, set the hook.....and had an even better fight than the first! This guy was going on huge runs so I played with him for a bit to tire him out. Got him about 6 feet out a few times but every time he got near, he would just take off furiously. I tightened my drag slightly and after about a 10 minute fight, I was able to bring him in close enough for my buddy to net.
Once it was out of the water.....I realized it was FAT!! Unhooked it, cleaned it off, and took my fish to the Front to have it weighed and maybe get myself my first lunker pin! :D My first one was 4.18 and this was a hell of a lot fatter so I was feeling pretty good about it. Official weigh-in....5.2 pounds. Two PBS in one day!! :)
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/5.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/10.jpg
THey snapped my photo up front, gave me a lunker pin, and I headed back in a helluva great mood.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/8.jpg
Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only action we had for the rest of the day. I had a bite on an dropshot orange powerworm but wasn't able to set the hook. Saw a few Reds cruising by the shoreline but they were uninterested in anything that was thrown their way. Saw one cool dude I met that works at the docks at irvine lake pull one in on a mini jig but it got unbuttoned at his feet and took off =(
I threw some lip ripperz Z spoons, some buoyants, panther martins all colors, kastmasters all colors, mini jigs all colors, and power worms different colors but not even a nibble for the rest of the day. We took a drive around 1 to Trout Island / Flats and scouted out the area. A few people said there was no action all day up and down that entire shoreline, so we drove back to our original spot to finish out our day. Saw a Float tuber come back after about 5 hours that said he didn't even have a nibble. Most of the shoreline anglers seemed to have an extremely slow bite...not sure how the boaters did. The quantity of fish caught wasn't there today, but the quality MORE than made up for it.
Good luck to everyone who's planning on fishing the tourney on Saturday!! There's sure to be some Lunkers caught...=)
Oh, they stocked the lake Wednesday from the Trout Island side, not up front, in case that info helps anyone out. =) Also I believe the pumps in the back were on and the water level was rising slowly.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/3.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/6.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/2.jpg
Almost too big to fit in my cooler.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/photo3-1.jpg
Now time to chow down on some fish! :D
Thanks again Irvine Lake for a wonderful day out on the water! :D
I finally got my main rods ready to go and when I go to reel in my powerbait rod, I see the line is really slack and over to the left instead of the right where I threw it. I slowly reel in the slack and sure enough it's FISH ON! Started reeling her in and boy was I in for a fight. My buddy was on his way back from the port a pottie so I started scrambling for my net which was still in my car. I yelled out to my buddy that I had a fish on and I needed him to find the net so he runs over. I tried dragging her onto shore a few times but every time she got close she would just shake and PEEL my drag and take off, so I just waited till my buddy was able to net the fish for me. It was big, and boy was it a gorgeous fish. It was my first time seeing one of these 'Reds and the colors on it were just amazing! Weighed it with my digi scale and it came out to 4.18 lbs...a new PB!! I was stoked since it had been a while since I had gotten off to an early start with a fish. :D I had never caught a trout over 3 pounds before so it was pretty exciting. =)
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/9.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/4.jpg
Tossed out a mice tail on my other rod and ate some breakfast and listened to some tunes for a few hours. At about 9:15 am, it was still pretty slow. Buddy had no action all morning and the groups around us had only a couple trout early in the morning. I reeled in my mice tail rod and rigged up another powerbait on the same pole I had caught the first fish on. This time it was just a brown yellow garlic scented powerbait rolled up into a worm shape. Dipped it in B.O. and tossed it out. After a few minutes, I saw a BIG fish jump out of the water about 40 feet out and land with a HUGE *splasshhh*. My eyes darted towards my two rods and sure enough, my backup rod was pulling hard as my line peeled off the reel. I quickly grabbed my rod, set the hook.....and had an even better fight than the first! This guy was going on huge runs so I played with him for a bit to tire him out. Got him about 6 feet out a few times but every time he got near, he would just take off furiously. I tightened my drag slightly and after about a 10 minute fight, I was able to bring him in close enough for my buddy to net.
Once it was out of the water.....I realized it was FAT!! Unhooked it, cleaned it off, and took my fish to the Front to have it weighed and maybe get myself my first lunker pin! :D My first one was 4.18 and this was a hell of a lot fatter so I was feeling pretty good about it. Official weigh-in....5.2 pounds. Two PBS in one day!! :)
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/5.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/10.jpg
THey snapped my photo up front, gave me a lunker pin, and I headed back in a helluva great mood.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/8.jpg
Unfortunately, that's pretty much the only action we had for the rest of the day. I had a bite on an dropshot orange powerworm but wasn't able to set the hook. Saw a few Reds cruising by the shoreline but they were uninterested in anything that was thrown their way. Saw one cool dude I met that works at the docks at irvine lake pull one in on a mini jig but it got unbuttoned at his feet and took off =(
I threw some lip ripperz Z spoons, some buoyants, panther martins all colors, kastmasters all colors, mini jigs all colors, and power worms different colors but not even a nibble for the rest of the day. We took a drive around 1 to Trout Island / Flats and scouted out the area. A few people said there was no action all day up and down that entire shoreline, so we drove back to our original spot to finish out our day. Saw a Float tuber come back after about 5 hours that said he didn't even have a nibble. Most of the shoreline anglers seemed to have an extremely slow bite...not sure how the boaters did. The quantity of fish caught wasn't there today, but the quality MORE than made up for it.
Good luck to everyone who's planning on fishing the tourney on Saturday!! There's sure to be some Lunkers caught...=)
Oh, they stocked the lake Wednesday from the Trout Island side, not up front, in case that info helps anyone out. =) Also I believe the pumps in the back were on and the water level was rising slowly.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/3.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/6.jpg
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/2.jpg
Almost too big to fit in my cooler.
http://i622.photobucket.com/albums/tt309/FOBFATHER/photo3-1.jpg
Now time to chow down on some fish! :D
Thanks again Irvine Lake for a wonderful day out on the water! :D