Come Hell Or High Prado
So here I am last night sold that I'm fishin The Pudd this morning. But there was that nagging pit in my stomache that said "NO, It's all Bass n' Carp food they plant there !"
That was it, I needed a change of pace. I noted the surrounding area and decided Prado. Never been there, why not.
Entrance is Mon - Wed / $5.00 for the car / $5.00 to fish
Thursdays ( every Thur ) Stocked with 1000 lbs sizable Trout and Fishing is Prohibited.
Fri - Sun / $7.00 for the car / $7.00 to fish
They allow 5 fish limit on EACH species / exception / Unlimited Catfish, Carp & Bluegil
So it's 6:30 am and I venture into the first dam and spoke with a Brian. He comes out to Catch & Release only. He says he never walks out of the park without having fished his limit.
I carry on to the Snack Bar area. Yikes, there was a daunting crew of fishers there, things were not looking good.
I cast in a spot nearby there with Green Powerbait and a Bouyant lure on the other rod. The first cast of the lure and there comes a nibble, then next cast a trout follows it to shore.!! Ok whats the potential here? Mysteriously there was nothing after for the better part of an hour.
I moved to the back of the lake. Slung the backpack on, the chair, the rods. I walked back behind the spillway and into the narrows a bit, outside the park area. Looks good but nada for 30min plus.
Hiked back and found the nearest parking lot to the lake and sat my Dairy-Air ( like the smell in the wind there ) down to a comfortable shoreline.
Met two fishermen Darryl & Donnie. Darryl boasted a 16in 2.5 lb Rainbow. Donnie had skunk and I quickly realized that he was wingin it and needed some assistance. Darryl was giving him tips and I cast into open water.
After some time I changed the lure out for a bait setup. Had Green on for a bit on both then went Capt America on one. Darryl had some sauce and I decided to dip and try it. I'm casting and Darryl pulls in another Rainbow even larger.Next to me on the opposite side are another couple guys 30 yards away with a 3 lb Catfish on the stringer. Then they holler "Fish please Net". Yes english was a second language but Darryl knew what to do, he had the only net.
Those gentlemen landed two more after. One Cat and Two Rainbow at their days end.
* After that hiking around I left the camera in the car / sorry no pics of the fish *
I thought, "you know if I don't catch anything today, It's worth the trip out here knowing there are fish and .... people catching nice sized ones at that."
Then my line was dippin ! I reeled in a nice 2.5 lb Catfish. Well, well this is fishy, why haven't I been here sooner?
The day ended and Donnie was rigged wrong / had the wrong Lbs Line on / Had both his rods with the line starting through the hook holder at the bottom. Enough, theres more, I just gave him the Catfish I had and he was very pleased. I helped Darryl fix his rods then we all packed up and went our separate ways.
My thought leaving.... Come Hell or High Prado, I'm going back !!
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Originally Posted by troutdog
