Sierra_Smitty
06-08-2013, 02:49 PM
Didn't do so hot last week but with the amazingly warm weather we've had since then, we just had to give it another shot....
Hit the docks about 8:30am, loaded the dogs, the coolers, and the tackle on the boat and we were out of the harbor just before 9am. Word was that the perch bite had picked up but a little but it still wasn't really that great. We did hear that somebody did well at Hilton the day prior so.....first stop Big Hilton Bay. We drifted the weed line from Pelican Point in towards the grassy interior of the bay. I got hit within a few minutes and we had our first fish in the boat. Then I landed another within a few minutes. Three in the boat in 15 minutes. We thought we were really onto something. Then the bite died off. We worked inside the weed line, outside the weed line for no more bites.
So, we moved off to hit a stretch of shoreline between Alligator Point and Christmas Bay that was rumored to be holding some perch. We scoped it out and didn't see much of the right stuff to indicate perch would be there. Made a few casts but then decided to move on to what is usually our go-to spot for the early perch bite, Leighton Springs. It was obvious as soon as we pulled up that the fish were in there in force...the 4 to 8ft depth was loaded. We immediately stopped and drifted the outside weed line and pretty much killed it for the next few hours.....kept around 30 or so and released a bunch more. Most of the fish were around 1.25lbs but we did catch some real chunks in the 2lb class. If anyone is considering a perch trip, the next couple weeks should be ridiculously good - it's super on and just going to get better. All the fish were caught on the Sierra Slammers 2" swimbaits in Rootbeer/Gold Flake, motor oil red flake, cricket or the new 2" triple tail grubs in motor oil gold flake or pumpkin tail.....I think my favorite part of owning a tackle company is mandatory product testing hahahahaha...any excuse to fish I guess.
It was hotter than Hades out there so around 1pm my friends decided to go for a swim in Leighton Springs to cool off....right before they did our friend Adam who manages the marina there showed up and wanted to do a little trolling. I skipped the swim and jumped in his boat for a little lead core action. This ended up being a very good choice. We trolled the north side of sandy point and then down towards the first cliff and then back....this loop was super productive and I caught six browns between 16 and 20" in just about 2 hours trolling....farmed a really good one too that felt bigger. The biggest probably weighed 3lbs or so. All my fish were caught on the Bloody Ripper 13.5 gram Tasmanian Devil out 3 to 4 colors. We made one troll down the bank towards Mcgee but it seemed like all the fish were stacked on the north side of Sandy Point.
My friends met up with us after their swim and we tied the boats together trolled around a little more for a couple rainbows and one more brown. Then we just kicked back in Crooked Creek when the wind came up....ended our day around 5pm or so.
Finished up with a few cocktails and dinner at Tom's Place - twas a fine day!
Nice view from Crowley looking towards Mammoth Mountain and the Minarets...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/CrowleyLake6-5-13_zpsbf952f94.jpg
One of my better Perch of the day...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredcrowleyperch16-5-13_zps62bb03db.jpg
My buddy Tim Carnahan with a solid slab
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/TimCarnahanPerch6-5-13_zps4aec3a56.jpg
Fish Story Lori with a real chunky Sac Perch
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/fishstoryloriperch_zps45ceead4.jpg
Brett with a dang ol' perch
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/brettcrowleyperch6-5-13_zps86adedc0.jpg
Chillin on the boat on a glassy June day...hard to beat it.
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/BrettandKerry6-5-13_zps0847ab74.jpg
Adam posing with one of the smaller Brownies I caught...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/CrowleyBrownie6-5-13_zpse8649661.jpg
Hit the docks about 8:30am, loaded the dogs, the coolers, and the tackle on the boat and we were out of the harbor just before 9am. Word was that the perch bite had picked up but a little but it still wasn't really that great. We did hear that somebody did well at Hilton the day prior so.....first stop Big Hilton Bay. We drifted the weed line from Pelican Point in towards the grassy interior of the bay. I got hit within a few minutes and we had our first fish in the boat. Then I landed another within a few minutes. Three in the boat in 15 minutes. We thought we were really onto something. Then the bite died off. We worked inside the weed line, outside the weed line for no more bites.
So, we moved off to hit a stretch of shoreline between Alligator Point and Christmas Bay that was rumored to be holding some perch. We scoped it out and didn't see much of the right stuff to indicate perch would be there. Made a few casts but then decided to move on to what is usually our go-to spot for the early perch bite, Leighton Springs. It was obvious as soon as we pulled up that the fish were in there in force...the 4 to 8ft depth was loaded. We immediately stopped and drifted the outside weed line and pretty much killed it for the next few hours.....kept around 30 or so and released a bunch more. Most of the fish were around 1.25lbs but we did catch some real chunks in the 2lb class. If anyone is considering a perch trip, the next couple weeks should be ridiculously good - it's super on and just going to get better. All the fish were caught on the Sierra Slammers 2" swimbaits in Rootbeer/Gold Flake, motor oil red flake, cricket or the new 2" triple tail grubs in motor oil gold flake or pumpkin tail.....I think my favorite part of owning a tackle company is mandatory product testing hahahahaha...any excuse to fish I guess.
It was hotter than Hades out there so around 1pm my friends decided to go for a swim in Leighton Springs to cool off....right before they did our friend Adam who manages the marina there showed up and wanted to do a little trolling. I skipped the swim and jumped in his boat for a little lead core action. This ended up being a very good choice. We trolled the north side of sandy point and then down towards the first cliff and then back....this loop was super productive and I caught six browns between 16 and 20" in just about 2 hours trolling....farmed a really good one too that felt bigger. The biggest probably weighed 3lbs or so. All my fish were caught on the Bloody Ripper 13.5 gram Tasmanian Devil out 3 to 4 colors. We made one troll down the bank towards Mcgee but it seemed like all the fish were stacked on the north side of Sandy Point.
My friends met up with us after their swim and we tied the boats together trolled around a little more for a couple rainbows and one more brown. Then we just kicked back in Crooked Creek when the wind came up....ended our day around 5pm or so.
Finished up with a few cocktails and dinner at Tom's Place - twas a fine day!
Nice view from Crowley looking towards Mammoth Mountain and the Minarets...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/CrowleyLake6-5-13_zpsbf952f94.jpg
One of my better Perch of the day...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredcrowleyperch16-5-13_zps62bb03db.jpg
My buddy Tim Carnahan with a solid slab
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/TimCarnahanPerch6-5-13_zps4aec3a56.jpg
Fish Story Lori with a real chunky Sac Perch
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/fishstoryloriperch_zps45ceead4.jpg
Brett with a dang ol' perch
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/brettcrowleyperch6-5-13_zps86adedc0.jpg
Chillin on the boat on a glassy June day...hard to beat it.
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/BrettandKerry6-5-13_zps0847ab74.jpg
Adam posing with one of the smaller Brownies I caught...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/CrowleyBrownie6-5-13_zpse8649661.jpg