Glenn
09-20-2014, 06:28 PM
On the water 7-1PM - couldn't make it happen, left skunked again.
I left Palm Desert just before 5, with a sliver of the moon hanging on the Eastern horizon, headed up the 74. This drive always makes me imagine an earlier era when stagecoaches and horseback were the mode of transportation. That is to say it was another wonderful, scenic, sage-and-pine-scented, mini road-trip away from the desert heat! Even before dawn this time of year, turning on your AC is just like turning on your headlights - automatic in the desert. Once I hit the Santa Rosa mountains, plus five thousand elevation, I let the cool mountain air take over and it was so amazingly refreshing. I drove on and hit Lake Hemet considering that I could just stop here and give it a shot. Saw a thick layer of fog over the lake and surrounding valley and thought to myself, "what if the lakes were side by side, which one would I chose". Onward to DVL - there's just so much more water to explore!
Waiting in line at the rental counter is a test of patience, I just want to hit the water! After a thorough preparation of documents, I head down the football field length launch-ramp with my gear. In a couple of minutes I'm off to my first spot. I was optimistic, the weather seemed to be ideal, cool, overcast, a little wind... water was warm to the touch. I motored off to various spots that I could see were obvious structure: the rocky shoreline cove just to the east of the launch ramp/marina, the island just before the east dam, many others that I could see as an only second-timer to the lake... drop shot, Texas, swimmies, football craws, even rooster tails, and shad crankbaits thrown for no love (sigh). I tried to check 20-40 range but couldn't find them. That was my pattern for much of the day. Sweep the structure that I could make, rely on the rental depth finder, and try to work around 30 as Matt_M had offered as a great suggestion. Course who knows the thremocline could be somewhere else for all I know today!
Got discouraged more than once, but had a blast OTW. Did see a couple of very small bait-boils, I would say of the shad variety, in the cove where the big oak is sticking up. Threw some bass-assassin like plastics but never saw a bass boil. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the lake and the boat. Can't wait to get dialed in on the target species.
Good luck out there!
I left Palm Desert just before 5, with a sliver of the moon hanging on the Eastern horizon, headed up the 74. This drive always makes me imagine an earlier era when stagecoaches and horseback were the mode of transportation. That is to say it was another wonderful, scenic, sage-and-pine-scented, mini road-trip away from the desert heat! Even before dawn this time of year, turning on your AC is just like turning on your headlights - automatic in the desert. Once I hit the Santa Rosa mountains, plus five thousand elevation, I let the cool mountain air take over and it was so amazingly refreshing. I drove on and hit Lake Hemet considering that I could just stop here and give it a shot. Saw a thick layer of fog over the lake and surrounding valley and thought to myself, "what if the lakes were side by side, which one would I chose". Onward to DVL - there's just so much more water to explore!
Waiting in line at the rental counter is a test of patience, I just want to hit the water! After a thorough preparation of documents, I head down the football field length launch-ramp with my gear. In a couple of minutes I'm off to my first spot. I was optimistic, the weather seemed to be ideal, cool, overcast, a little wind... water was warm to the touch. I motored off to various spots that I could see were obvious structure: the rocky shoreline cove just to the east of the launch ramp/marina, the island just before the east dam, many others that I could see as an only second-timer to the lake... drop shot, Texas, swimmies, football craws, even rooster tails, and shad crankbaits thrown for no love (sigh). I tried to check 20-40 range but couldn't find them. That was my pattern for much of the day. Sweep the structure that I could make, rely on the rental depth finder, and try to work around 30 as Matt_M had offered as a great suggestion. Course who knows the thremocline could be somewhere else for all I know today!
Got discouraged more than once, but had a blast OTW. Did see a couple of very small bait-boils, I would say of the shad variety, in the cove where the big oak is sticking up. Threw some bass-assassin like plastics but never saw a bass boil. At the end of the day, I really enjoyed the lake and the boat. Can't wait to get dialed in on the target species.
Good luck out there!