Marley
12-13-2015, 08:46 PM
It was good to get out today. Plan was to get up at oh-dark-thirty and wait in line, be first on Marley's Secret Spot, but Saturday night's trip to take Mom and Pop to watch Christmas lights kept us out really late. They will both turn 80 on their next birthdays and they don't get out very much so spending an evening out with them was very much worth the late Sunday morning reveille.
Didn't get to the lake until almost 9:00 and was pleasantly surprised to find absolutely no one on (or near, for that matter) Marley's Secret Spot 1.1. That down-canyon morning breeze was going pretty good making anchoring a bit frustrating but I ultimately tamed the aluminum beast and settled in with my two favorite baits waiting to be dined upon. Half a nightcrawler, pinched in half, blown up, all sauced up with Pro-Cure garlic oil and rigged Carolina style went out to one side, the designer, blown mealworm went out on the other. Same rigging, though the 'crawler sports a size 10 Owner Mosquito hook, while the mealworm wears a sexy size 14.
It was game on almost instantly as first the 'crawler goes off, then the mealworm eight or ten minutes minutes later. The quickly rebaited 'crawler is nailed only three minutes after setting down the rod and I suddenly have three thick-bodied Mt. Lassen rainbows in the basket. Less than 20 minutes into the morning and I'm well on the way to a limit and either buying a second pass or going home.
But things change quickly, as we all know. Three of my best buddies showed up in their float tubes (well, they thought they were my buddies today), I guess figuring if they couldn't find their own bite they would just nose in on mine. On most days this makes little difference and all of us share the fish but today, it flipped the switch. I would be over an hour and a half before my next bite.
Bites were tricky to see today, just a goofy little breeze kicking around all day, so when the fish hit I didn't see it until it had taken the bait way outside the boat. I set the hook into something heavy with big, heavy headshakes but an odd bulldoggish pull. It realized it was hooked and jumped out of the water and straight at the boat. It was a big bass of seven, maybe eight pounds and it wanted nothing to do with me. I gained back most of the line and as I worked it to the net, it came unbuttoned. No pigtail, it just came off.
Took thirty more minutes to catch another trout, and the limit came at about 1:00. Off the water by 1:30 with fresh trout for dinner.
My limit of five saw four caught on the inflated half 'crawler and one on the inflated meal worm. Weights were from about a pound up to about 2 1/2 pounds. Nothing huge, but they were colorful, full-finned and pink-meated beauties. Thanks to the good folks at SARL for never disappointing.
It was good to get out today!
Didn't get to the lake until almost 9:00 and was pleasantly surprised to find absolutely no one on (or near, for that matter) Marley's Secret Spot 1.1. That down-canyon morning breeze was going pretty good making anchoring a bit frustrating but I ultimately tamed the aluminum beast and settled in with my two favorite baits waiting to be dined upon. Half a nightcrawler, pinched in half, blown up, all sauced up with Pro-Cure garlic oil and rigged Carolina style went out to one side, the designer, blown mealworm went out on the other. Same rigging, though the 'crawler sports a size 10 Owner Mosquito hook, while the mealworm wears a sexy size 14.
It was game on almost instantly as first the 'crawler goes off, then the mealworm eight or ten minutes minutes later. The quickly rebaited 'crawler is nailed only three minutes after setting down the rod and I suddenly have three thick-bodied Mt. Lassen rainbows in the basket. Less than 20 minutes into the morning and I'm well on the way to a limit and either buying a second pass or going home.
But things change quickly, as we all know. Three of my best buddies showed up in their float tubes (well, they thought they were my buddies today), I guess figuring if they couldn't find their own bite they would just nose in on mine. On most days this makes little difference and all of us share the fish but today, it flipped the switch. I would be over an hour and a half before my next bite.
Bites were tricky to see today, just a goofy little breeze kicking around all day, so when the fish hit I didn't see it until it had taken the bait way outside the boat. I set the hook into something heavy with big, heavy headshakes but an odd bulldoggish pull. It realized it was hooked and jumped out of the water and straight at the boat. It was a big bass of seven, maybe eight pounds and it wanted nothing to do with me. I gained back most of the line and as I worked it to the net, it came unbuttoned. No pigtail, it just came off.
Took thirty more minutes to catch another trout, and the limit came at about 1:00. Off the water by 1:30 with fresh trout for dinner.
My limit of five saw four caught on the inflated half 'crawler and one on the inflated meal worm. Weights were from about a pound up to about 2 1/2 pounds. Nothing huge, but they were colorful, full-finned and pink-meated beauties. Thanks to the good folks at SARL for never disappointing.
It was good to get out today!