Fishing was slow at Green Valley Lake this morning, but…
Last Friday morning, I was going to go up to Green Valley Lake for their summer opening, but I decided to not go. Later that day, I was regretting not having gone and could only think about all the fish I would have caught. That was until I read about the guys who did go up on Friday, only to find out the lake wouldn’t be stocked until later that afternoon. So, last night I decided I would go up there this morning, bright and early.
I checked the weather report for the Running Springs area, and saw that it would be in the high 50s during the day, so I dressed for the cooler weather. Leaving the house at 6:30 A.M., I figured I’d get to the lake before eight, even with the Highway 18 detour. What I didn’t plan on was the pea soup clouds I’d have to drive through on the way to the top of the mountain. After what seemed like hours, travelling through drizzly, dense clouds with only fifty feet or less of visibility, I finally emerged through the cloud cover to see a warm sunny day at the top of the world.
The rest of the trip to the lake was uneventful, and I couldn’t wait to get my line in the water. To my surprise, there were only three other fishermen on the lake – one local guy in his rowboat and two other locals on the shore.
Parking by the dam, I grabbed my gear and headed to the water. I tied on a Thomas Buoyant, since this is a lure I usually catch trout on. I was positive the fish were out there just waiting for my lure to pass within striking distance. First cast – way out there.
Second cast – again, way out there. So it went for fifteen minutes with not even a sniff.
Switching gears, I moved across the dam and changed to my secret weapon - the one that just slays the trout on the Owens River. Yeah, this one will get those bad boys to bite. Several casts later, I’m still just exercising my arms with nothing to show for it. Then I switched to a power worm under a small bobber. On my third cast, I was admiring the scenery while working the worm, and there goes the bobber, disappearing from sight. By the time I got my attention back on fishing, the fish was long gone – drat!
Moving back across the dam, I stop to chat with the guy in the rowboat. He must have a few already, since he lives here. Well, he hadn’t gotten even a bite. Now I didn’t feel so bad, but I was still determined to get at least one fish. This was too long of a drive to get rejected by these trout.
Okay, time to move to another spot and switch lures again. Tying my Buoyant back on, I moved back to where I parked the truck. There have to be some trout out there that are looking for an easy meal, and it’s right on the end of my line. First cast – FISH ON! He’s not a monster, but he’s putting up a good fight. Fortunately, the shoreline here makes it easy to land, unhook and release a fish. Go home little trout to fight another day.
Well, I’m feeling much better now. Casting back into the same area, I thought I’d be able to pick up another fish or two. But that wasn’t to happen. Maybe I just caught the only fish in the lake. Time to move again, so I moved back to the edge of the dam. Still using the Thomas Buoyant, I make a couple casts into the deep water. Then it happened – I snagged the cork in the bottom of the lake, so it seemed. This was a BIG fish. After a couple minutes, he is about twenty feet from me. A spectacular leap out of the water lets me see his full size. It reminded me of a marlin jumping. Several more runs, and he’s ready to shake hands with me. He was as fat as a zeppelin. Gently pulling him into shallow water, I’m able to get the hook out of his mouth. He’s definitely a little winded after that superb fight, so I nudge him back into deeper water, where he swims away. You fought very well, big guy. A few casts later I was ready to call it a day – and what a day it was! And for those of you who are wondering how big he was – 24” long and very fat. I was using an 8’ Iron Feather and Sustain 1000 reel spooled with 2 lb. Izorline.
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