Hey all,
Just wanted to report on an awesome trip up to Convict. Wife and I headed up the 395 on Thursday for our annual trip to fish the Fall Derby. For those who haven't done it before, the prizes are great and it's fairly easy to place (even the 60th place gets a prize). It is also one of the best times of the year to fish there...quiet, uncrowded, fall colors. After an nice drive with the usual stops in Bishop, we checked into our condo in Mammoth. This time we stayed at Snowbird condos which was offering a buy 2 nights, get 1 free deal. It was a great condo for $250 for three nights.
Friday morning hit the Convict lake store and signed up for the Derby. We then drove to the lake and set up at our favorite spot. The wife rigged up a Super Duper and started casting. Not three casts later, she hooks up and says "its just a little one." As she's winding it in, a large knotted mess had developed in the line and jammed the reel (I hate new line in cold weather.) It was then that we saw the fish roll on the surface...#%#$! It was huge! I ran and grabbed the net while the wife walked backwards. The fish shook its head violently, but never made a run. Closer..closer..got it! Jeez, I hadn't even rigged up my rod yet and she's already got a toad.
A few minutes later, I cast in a nightcrawler and got nailed instantly. Set the hook and it's peeling line. Oh yeah! After a few nice runs, the fish finally comes to the net. Sweet! Two nice fish and we've only been here an hour. We caught a few smaller ones and then decided to weigh the fish in. The wife's weighed 7.1 and mine was 6.3. Not bad.
That afternoon, we went back to the other side of the lake and set up with powerbait and nightcrawlers. Nice easy fishing with mostly stockers until the wife and I both get bit at the same time and bring in a 5-10 and 2-15. Pretty nice quality for the Sierras.
The next day we took it easy and did some hiking around the lake to see the scenery. I took a rod and cast out every so often. Mostly stockers again, with an occasional small brown. I did get a 3 pounder to cap off a great trip. Just another beautiful fall day in Mammoth!
Ming