etucker1959
04-27-2014, 05:34 PM
Got a call from a buddy of mine who wanted to entertain an old friend to some fishing. They had an open mind to anything that was biting. It was more of a process of elimination of what wasn't biting. The Vine gives you many options, trout, catfish, bass and crappie. My friend Frank who works in a tackle store has been killing the bass at Irvine. So we got all prepared to do a little bass fishing. We heard some unfounded rumors that the trout season was coming to an end. A quick check found out that was far from the truth, so we were all prepared for both. My friend Jared likes to anchor up and bait and wait for trout. However, I've been telling him for 2 years now how Irvine lake is a trollers dream.
Well we started off fishing in between the two white buoys at the end of trout island. Mice tails were our bait of choice, we got hit almost immediately after the anchors went down. The problem was the WIND!!!!!!! We were in a pontoon boat, but it would drift pretty fast even with 4 anchors down. The fish weren't very far past those buoys, so when the fish stop biting it was a matter of picking up the anchors and move back to the spot. That gets old really quick, so now I had my excuse to do some trolling. I have what I think is the number 1 trolling lure for that lake, Tormentors by Abu Garcia. Sorry folks but you can't buy them any more, but Diawa makes a pretty good knock off. Jared's friend wanted to use one of his lures so I recommend a Kastmaster. Trolling to me is find the fish and keep going over them. That wasn't too hard today, I knew they weren't much past those white buoys and they stocked them at the launch ramp. So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the fresh planter's were between the launch ramp and the white buoys, so that was our trolling pattern. Long story short we only had 1 pass we didn't hook a fish. In a short period of time, it was full limits of trout in a Gale storm of wind. We could have tried for the bass, but that seemed like more work then it was worth. As the old saying goes, "the fat lady has not yet sung at Irvine Lake for trout." In reality, she hasn't even tried to clear her throat yet!!!!!!!!
Well we started off fishing in between the two white buoys at the end of trout island. Mice tails were our bait of choice, we got hit almost immediately after the anchors went down. The problem was the WIND!!!!!!! We were in a pontoon boat, but it would drift pretty fast even with 4 anchors down. The fish weren't very far past those buoys, so when the fish stop biting it was a matter of picking up the anchors and move back to the spot. That gets old really quick, so now I had my excuse to do some trolling. I have what I think is the number 1 trolling lure for that lake, Tormentors by Abu Garcia. Sorry folks but you can't buy them any more, but Diawa makes a pretty good knock off. Jared's friend wanted to use one of his lures so I recommend a Kastmaster. Trolling to me is find the fish and keep going over them. That wasn't too hard today, I knew they weren't much past those white buoys and they stocked them at the launch ramp. So it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the fresh planter's were between the launch ramp and the white buoys, so that was our trolling pattern. Long story short we only had 1 pass we didn't hook a fish. In a short period of time, it was full limits of trout in a Gale storm of wind. We could have tried for the bass, but that seemed like more work then it was worth. As the old saying goes, "the fat lady has not yet sung at Irvine Lake for trout." In reality, she hasn't even tried to clear her throat yet!!!!!!!!