Perris Lake 10/14 Jetski Ramp Redear Expedition

[Natural Lefty]

This message board already has a boat fishing report and a float tube fishing report from Perris yesterday, so here is a shorefishing one.

Yesterday I realized I wouldn't have another chance to go fishing until next Friday, so all those tests waiting to be scored would just have to keep waiting.

I decided to try fishing toward the east end around the jetski ramp, where I hardly ever fish, but I wanted to try because I had the impression that more of the good size Redears and other panfish are around there. I also sprung for a box of "Trout Worms" and a box of baby nightcrawlers at Wal-Mart on the way there.

I got there before 4 p.m., but when I tried to start fishing, noticed a big tangle in the reel of my "lucky" 6 pound test pole. It took me awhile to cut the line and make everything ready for fishing, so I cast my line into the water at about 4 p.m. I chose a spot just to the left of the jetski ramp. I put a rattle bobber and a microjig on my other pole with lighter line. At first nothing bit, so I put a worm on the microjig, and started getting light bites which I kept missing. They would only bite if I cast out far, like 70 feet, straight out from the ramp. The fish might be farther out there because the slope is pretty gradual there so the water is rather shallow. I noticed that the water was all the way below the ramp, and people had set up various rocks on the ramp, so apparently it was non-operational. Meanwhile, I saw a bass fisherman on the other side of the ramp catch a small bass dropshotting with a plastic. At one point, a ranger did drive down the ramp and watch us for a couple of minutes, which made me sort of nervous, but then he left. I figured it was okay to fish from the ramp then, so I moved my stuff over to the left side of the ramp where more fish seemed to be biting.

After awhile, I made a sort of poor cast with my paternoster rig with worms on 2 hooks, and it only went about as far as my rattle bobber went, but I thought since I was getting nibbles around there, I might as well leave it. When I went to try fishing with my other pole over by the reeds to the left, my "lucky" pole with the paternoster rig suddenly hit the ground with a loud thud, and headed toward the water. I did the 50 foot pole dash and picked up the pole as the reel was lying on the rocks. If that had been in the marina, the pole probably would have fallen into the water. The line looked limp so I was afraid the fish had gotten off, but lo and behold, it must have just been taking a break, since there was a pretty good puller on the line once I tightened it up. It turned out to be a good size Redear, making my trip already a success.

A while later, I caught another Redear by casting out farther toward the middle of the jetski ramp. It was strange because there was no visible bite. I just picked up the rod to creep the bait toward shore a bit, hoping to attact a fish, but when I tried to move the bait, it felt way too heavy to be just bait, so I set the hook. It was a bit smaller than the first Redear, but still nice size. Almost every fish I caught yesterday was a strange one in one way or another. The third fish was a decent size Bluegill that bit no more than a second or so after my bait hit the water, even with the 1/2 ounce weight on. The one after that was another decent Bluegill on the paternoster rig, which crossed my other line and created such a bad tangle that both lines wound up being cut in order to straighten out the mess. While I was working on that mess, my rattle bobber, which was now only about 10 feet from shore, started moving around in a very animated manner, so I pulled it in by hand, and sure enough, there was a little 5 inch basslet on my hook. That was the only thing that bit any closer than 70-100 feet out. After that, I stopped trying to even use that pole and just stuck with my "lucky" pole. The sixth and final fish was the only one that was a normal catch. It turned out to about a 10 inch bass -- unfortunately the "wrong" type of fish as far as I was concerned, but I knew that as soon as it jumped.

When I caught the bass, it was strarting to get dark. After that, I only had a couple of light bites from fish, but hordes of bites from mosquitoes. For some reason, there are more mosquitos than ever at Perris this year. There were midges around too, but strangely, zero surface activity. In the last 15 minutes or so, I must have swatted about 15 mosquitoes. I think there must be more marshy areas over by the east end of the lake, so more mosquitoes. Strangely, every single mosquito that tried to bite me was on my left hand or arm. They must have known that I was "Natural Lefty." My theory is that my left arm was sweating more or more warm with blood circulation, which attracts the mosquitoes. I might have stayed longer, but the mosquitoes were trying to make a meal out of me, and the fish weren't biting that much at the time. Thus, I left right at 7 p.m. There were a couple of guys at that time fishing on the other side of the ramp, who were actually spraying each other with mosquito repellant. The place reminded me of walking through a wet Sierra meadow in the early summer.

The only person who spoke with me while I was there was the bass fisherman, but there weren't many people around. One guy to the right of the ramp had a couple of lines in the water, and he seemed like he fished there a lot. I overheard him say that he had caught "only 10 small Bluegills" that day and had been fishing there all day. I never actually saw his fish though, and he caught absolutely nothing while I was there. He finally left a while before I did. I saw the two guys with the mosquito repellant catch 2-3 smallish Bluegills using bobbers and I think crickets for bait. I seemed to be catching better than the other people I saw there. Nonetheless, I have found myself making strategizing about how to improve my success there next time or maybe catch fish on artificials there. I may try my sinking bobber technique there next time with one pole.

My total catch was 2 Redears, 2 Bluegills, and 2 LMB, in that order, all on "Trout Worms" and baby nightcrawlers. The type of worm didn't seem to matter. I kept the Redears and Bluegills and released the two little bass.

Since I was in no hurry this morning, I did some measurements and photos. The largest Redear was 8 ounces and 9 3/8 inches, the other one, 8 inches and 6 ounces, so they weren't the really big ones, but nice size ones in the 1/2 pound range. Both surprisingly were females that were already starting to grow eggs, I found out when I cleaned them. Both Bluegills were a little over 7 inches long and 4 ounces each. Thus, the panfish over there are indeed larger on the average than the ones farther west in Perris. At places like the marina and Sail Cove, most Bluegills are only 5-6 inches long, and the few Redears are mostly 7 inchers. On the other hand, I didn't catch as many as I have been, but I will take that given that I caught the nice size Redears that I was hoping for.

Here are a couple of photos of my 4 pretty fishies and my pretty kitty Gorjilina. She was talking to her daddy kitty when I took the first photo, so I asked her to talk again, and she complied for the second photo. I think she wanted her "Go Fish" kitty treats that I keep near there. The water in the container is all rain water that flowed off the roof last week. Gorjilina has been drinking that. If you can see some footprints in the container, those are Raccoon footprints. Apparently, some Raccoon was hoping to find some Crayfish or Bluegills in there.

[fishmounter]

Robert nice report, but I don't see any pics...?

[SirBluegill]

Cool report Robert, I tried the east end on a tube a couple months back but didn't have much luck myself. But that's how some days are.

[Natural Lefty]

Jeff, I have been trying to add the pictures for about the last half-hour. Sorry fellows, but technically, this site really sucks. I select the photos, click a button to upload them, and it says I am already logged out, less than 5 minutes after logging in, and it doesn't upload the photos. I will try in this reply. The pictures are better for their aesthetic appeal than any impressive fish, but I must say they turned out really well.

Finally! I wrote the description of the photos before actually trying to add them, Jeff. I didn't think it would be so difficult.

[Natural Lefty]

Thanks Anthony! Years ago when the water was higher, I used to catch good size Redear over by the easternmost jetty in the fall from shore, usually like 2-3 per trip but the larger ones were 3/4 -1 pound or so. I caught them usually on worms and sometimes on jigs, under a bobber. Things have changed since the water was lowered, but I think the larger Redears still favor that area. I read the weekly fishing report and saw that several people caught a bunch of large Redears from boats or float tubes east of the island last week. It claimed that some of them caught their fish on "jigs" although I have to wonder if they were putting bait on the jigs. The fish mentioned in the report were averaging slightly over a pound per fish in each case, but none of them was from shore.

[keepemlo]

Man what a day!!you went through a lot to get those four fish ...thanks for the report haven't heard much this year from perris about crappie you see any around?

[Natural Lefty]

keepemlo, weird things kept happening yesterday. I didn't even mention yet how the weight was mysteriously missing when I brought in the first, larger Redear, or how another time one of the hooks on my paternoster rig was mysteriously missing although the line wasn't broken. I guess I didn't tie it on correctly, but still...how could it seem to be securely tied onto the main line, then disappear?

The mosquitoes were the most atrocious I have ever seen at Perris.

I was thinking about Crappies too, especially when I was trying the jig, but no sign of them. I hear about a few here and there from people in float tubes or boats, especially those targetting them, and a few from the marina docks, but they seem fairly sparse this year.

It was fun. I think I am learning how to fish that area better. None of the strange things that happened really bothered me.

[fishmounter]

Robert- As much as you like to fish LP for panfish and eat them, you really should get yourself a float tube. It's so much fun and so much more productive than shore fishing. Not really too expensive, and it's great exercise and a nice way to enjoy the scenery and nature. Here's just one of several I caught yesterday morning. Released them all.

[TheAsianGuy]

Robert, I'm totally in agreement with Jeff about getting a cheap tube to play. Trust me, it's FUN!! Excellent haul.

[SirBluegill]

Hey Robert, I got an extra tube, PFD, and fins if you wanna try tubing out. Come out with me and Jeff sometime, to see if tubing is your thing.