Lions and Tigers and Bears oh my!
Well I know the world has been turned upside down! (so what people need is some safe fishing!) What better place then Irvine Lake! Why do I say that? Because it's big enough to accommodate a decent amount of people and still be able to practice social distancing! With so many lakes closed, I wonder if the order to keep it open came from the God father of Irvine lake? (supervisor Wagner) I don't know for sure, but it's a fair bet he had something to do with it! By the way in practicing safe fishing, please do the following. The only 2 items you will be touching that other people will too, is the parking machine and the handle of the porta pottys. Please don't touch them with your bare hands, but with some kind of an shield! (rubber gloves are probably best) We need to keep this lake open!
As for the fishing, I've got top notch information as to what happened last weekend! (both first hand information and second hand of both shores!) The place is big enough to accommodate quite a few people and still be safe! (so I'm not worried about starting a stampede!)
After the Thursday night massacre on TV of the politicians shutting down all non essential business! Irvine lake was closed to fishing on Friday! It was however, open on both Sat and Sunday normal hours! (I think cooler heads prevailed!) I wasn't there on Sat, but me crew was and I got good information about what was happening on both shores. I was there on Sunday and I fished half the day by the boat docks and the other half down the East shore! Yes I walked both way's! I might be 60 and a Big fellow, but that doesn't mean I'm too out of shape to walk the 4 miles, carrying 5 fishing poles, my chair on my back and a bucket of stuff! Lol
Here's what happened on both shores Saturday.
The West shore by the Boat docks had a decent trout bite going! One group of guy's caught 18 trout! (including an #6 pounder) Mostly on Night crawlers and Power bait! They also caught 2 Crappies next to boat docks and one was huge! (2-3 pounds!) I've got a picture of it on my phone! Their also was some LMB caught on the West shore to boot! As for the East shore on Saturday, a couple of catfish, 1 nice Crappie and all the Carp you wanted! My buddy caught 5 DD Carp on Saturday!
So now on Sunday I've got to deiced what I want to fish for?
My buddy said, come to the East shore with me! We could try for Crappie first, then fish for the Carp and Catfish! He said, we will catch something for sure! (not knowing what but something!) Lol I have caught everything since they reopened, except a Crappie. (I don't count Sturgeon) A Crappie is by far the rarest fish to have been caught this year, so I wanted one! Lol So I came up with a plan. I was first thing in the morning to high tail down the West shore and try to get either side of the boat docks and fish for Crappie. If both sides were taken, I would fish for trout at the 2nd bench hot spot. Then after awhile hike it back to the East shore and fish for what was biting best or just work on my Crappie fixation!
They open the gate at 6:30 am and it's off to the races! The gentlemen who caught the massive Crappie and 4 trout on Saturday had a custom fixed Bike, so he was going to get there first! I just kept a steady fast walk, keeping in mind Social distancing! Lol As people started to drop off short, I noticed I was in 3rd place headed towards the Boat Docks. Of course the guy with the Bike took the Left side of the Boat dock! Whatever this group does in front of me decides where I fish! They stopped at the 2nd bench, which means I got the right side of the Boat dock! Now it's on for me to try to catch my Crappie!
While I'm fishing for Crappie, I am watching what everyone else is doing! The gentlemen who was fishing on the left side of the boat dock is not fishing for Crappie but for trout! (he's getting no bites) 2 Bass fishermen after awhile work their way up to the docks. I see one of them catch a decent male LMB on an dropshot. Then all of a sudden crash Bom Ba, his buddy hooks up a Big girl on an swim bait! Wow that's a nice Bass! After a while they head on down the road and another Bass fishermen shows up! He immediately hooks up and lands a nice Male LMB! In the next hour he hooks up 3 more times and lands 2! (not bad on the Bass scene!) About 2 hours later, our bench buddy's start to get some action! Their funny, their starting to get some action, I think in spite of themselves! They first get an hook up on a lure saying it's a Bass and it turns out to be a trout. They then lose a fish and are muttering about it for awhile. They then land another trout and all is peaceful again! In the mean time, I'm getting no love on the Crappies! The other gentlemen can't get a bite either and say's how much better it was yesterday! (that's fishing) When our bench buddy's hook up again and say's it's a Bass, no it's a trout, it's a Bass, no it's a big ole Crappie! That's it, I'm outa here and head for the East shore!
Once I make it to the East shore to find my buddy, I find it kinda crowded! He's caught 5 DD Carp and someone else landed a decent catfish and lost maybe another one! So I'm going to stick to my guns and try for that elusive Crappie! I'm fishing a standard bobber rig with an mini jig. I'm working this one little section, when my bobber moves a little and then goes under! I set the hook and it's a fish! I don't know what kind yet, but I keep fighting her like a stud! Lol I get a look at her and it's a big a-- Crappie! I don't want to lose her popping her up the shoreline, so I call for a net! My buddy comes running and does a good job netting her! I got my first Crappie and it's a nice first one! Not as Black as the Hodges ones we caught 2 weeks ago. But she had some Black spots on her and nice and silvery. My buddy wanted to take her home and eat her and I said, "no way Jose!" She was safely released to do her spawning! No telling how many Crappie are in there, so I don't want to be responsible for screwing things up! (I did get a nice picture of her as proof, I did catch one!) Lol So next week, I've got to decide what to fish for? Everything is biting a little bit, except for the Carp! My buddy ended up with 7 on Sunday! Their kinda wide open!
Sorry for the long story! Like so many other people, my office is closed until further notice! (so I've got a lot of time on my hand) I'm a Real Estate agent, but with the Pandemic I can't even Market myself until this is over! Like so many other people, we all are going to have to do things a little different! In my business, (like so many others) I'm going to have to reassure people, we can conduct business in a safe fashion! So everyone be safe out there! As I was walking to the East shore, I did see another Bass angler hook up in the shallows at the front of the West shore! So I might do a little Bass fishing myself next week, (if the lake is still open, which looks doubtful now) since I caught that elusive Crappie! Lol
