One_Leg trolls South Lake 10-2-08
I headed up to the High Sierras with Troutman65, Troutaholic, and Wayne the Iron Worker for a couple days of trouting above the town of Bishop. First day was covered pretty well by TM65 in his report so I will not go into too much depth about particulars regarding the first day of fishing at the Owens. Wayne showed us how to fish for trout in the heat of the day. I learned a lot.
After breakfast at Jacks (Huge Chicken Fried Steak) on Wednesday morning, we headed up to Lake Sabrina and I introduced Patrick to Rick Apted and let him get a look at the lake from the Chalet. A 7.25 rainbow had been caught earlier in the week. After talking TM65 into fishing the creek which contained a school of nice sized trout he managed to land a nice one on his first cast and I got one but lost it after goofing off and attempting to get him to place my fish on the stringer for me. They got a lil spooked after that and we only had a few more fish taking any interest in our presentations. We then headed back down to the Intake 2 and spent some time watching the schools follow our offerings. We had some bites after Patricks initial hook up and LDR on a nice sized trout. It was very mossy over most of the reservoir but the water was very clear. A large school of trout averaging about 1 to 1.5 lbs. was cruising around but not biting anything else we tossed at them. They didn't even want the crawlers.We saw a couple large fish jumping occasionally way out in the middle.
I was finally able to use the Parchers Resort Free Half Day Boat rental I had won in the 1st Annual Pay Lakes Extravagnza at Irvine in January 2006. Jared Smith (Sierra Smitty) told me where he thought the fish might be at and off I went. It was great getting to see Jared again. The last time I had been up to South Lake was in Sept. of 2007. Thanks Smitty.
Jared's bro Evan set me up with a nice new rental, it was lucky # 1.They are in the process of transitioning to an all walkthrough fleet of aluminum rental motorboats. Very nice not having to clamber over the center seat to get to the bow or stern when you are fishing alone.
I trolled near the dam first then headed up towards the inlet near the far end of the lake. I caught 2 rainbows dragging crawlers behind a set of lake trolls.
On my 7' rod/Okuma Coronado 30 baitrunner w 8 lb. Seaguar Flouro I had a Dave Davis Silver 5 blade #'s 5 and 3 Willowleaf lake troll with a 1 oz. sinker on the rudder. I used an 18" 8 lb. Seaguar flouro leader to a size 4 Mustad crimped barb bait hook with a threaded crawler.
On my 6'6" rod/Okuma AL10 w/6 lb. Izor XXX I had a Sep's Pro Flashers/Willow Leaf-Silver w/red beads with a 3/4 oz. sinker on the rudder and a 18" 4 lb. Berkley flouro leader to a size 4 Mustad crimped barb bait hook with a threaded crawler.
I know that some of you will say that using a 3/4 or 1 oz. weight on a lake troll takes away a lot of the thrill of the fight, especially on the smaller sized fish, but if that is what it takes to get down to the fish without having to let out 100+ feet of line I will do it. I didn't bring the downriggers or fish finder with me because I knew that I wouldn't have the time to set them up.
Always keep tension on the line and their heads in the water when using crimped barbs. I get careless sometimes when the fishing is so good. At least I don't usually have to lean over the side to release them when I crimp the barbs.
I then I headed back as I had promised I would to see if anyone was willing to spend a couple hours in a boat with me. No takers. Imagine that!!! It was cool though because I was pretty sure that they'd still be biting when I got back to the south end of the lake. I really enjoy trolling alone. It is very relaxing, even when the action heats up and you have to do four or more things at the same time.
I decided to take a shot at the inlets since Jared had mentioned that some larger fish had been caught back there. The water level is low but not so low as to make the inlets inaccessible. Just be careful and stay in the center of the channel and it's a good idea to have someone keep an eye out for obstructions. GO SLOW!!!
I saw some nice sized fish cruising through the channel and witnessed one angler catching a pretty good sized fish. I then decided to head back to the main body of the lake and resume trolling since the schools were not in the areas I checked and I didn't want to impose upon the other boaters already set up on the western inlet where the action seemed to be centered.
As soon as I had let the first line out I was busy, busy, busy. The fish were coming one after the other, and I didn't have much time to enjoy the beautiful scenery all around me. No matter, I got some pretty nice videos of the surroundings but unfortunately I am having a little bit of trouble getting the ol' 'Puter to recognize the MiniDV at the present time.
So I continued to catch some pretty decent fish, and I let about half a dozen go in order to keep fishing for a real big fish to cap off the string before having to head back before 2:00 pm. Our plan was to get on the road by 3:00 pm. That fish never materialized and I had to settle for a limit of nice recently stocked fish. One of them might have been from last season though. I lost a couple fish that I would have prefered to keep but that is all right with me. I was looking for a big brown but that will have to wait for another trip.
When I got back to the launch ramp I was glad to hear that the guys had caught a bunch of nice fish including some browns and a brook or two.
There was a couple fishing on the south shore that were watching me and they commented later that they had seen every fish I caught and lost. I asked how they did and their reply was that they had been frustrated by large schools of fish breezing by them but not biting anything they tossed their way.
We headed down the moutain and stopped off at Bishop Creek Lodge to get something to eat and drink before the ride home.
Thanks to FNN and Team57 for the opportunity to enter that derby and win 1st place. The prizes were really cool and getting to troll South Lake during such a perfect time of year was extra special.
Thanks to Jared, Evan, and Dylan at Parchers. It was great seeing you
guys and fishing the Sierras again. If I am lucky I just might get to see you guys again before they close the roads.
Thanks to Rick at Lake Sabrina, a real pleasure getting to see you again!
Culvers Sporting goods. The best, most well stocked sporting goods store with the most knowledgable staff in Bishop. Thanks a million.
And thanks a lot Patrick, Russel, and Wayne for letting me put up with you guys the whole time! It was a lot of fun fishing with you guys.
One_Leg
These pics were shot off of the TV. My antique MiniDV camera is acting like a lil' Beyotch now.
I guess I might need to get a new one soon?
Deer one the way to Sabrina.
What can I say, this pic reminds me of some of the parties I attended while in High School.
"Oh, look at the colors!!!" Lake Sabrina.
Troutman's first creek fish from below Lake Sabrina.
TM65 in front of the resturant at Parchers Resort.
The Aspens look pretty cool at this time of the year.
These lil guys put up a real nice fight.
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Originally Posted by GdHkSet1
