Leviathan

Several tough outings have been endured since my last report from Newport Bay.  Saltwater and freshwater Bass have been a love hate relationship for me the past few weeks.  With the exception of Prado Lake giving me a semi great day with about seven LMB in the boat within a few hours.  A juggernaut Prado largemouth muscled my 6wt into a maze of criss crossing braches where I lost it.  This trout fisherman has strayed too far from the creeks and rivers where he belongs...

The original plan was to fly fish for LMB at Irvine Lake.  I was looking forward to topwater explosions with my 8wt early in the AM.  Since most of my local  bass fisheries have just gone into post spawn, the bass have been tight lipped and wary.  Usually I am gung ho when fishing is involved, however this time I felt skeptical since my success rate has been devastatingly low this season.  With great reports coming out of San Diego and tide showing a good swing, the decision was made.

We met up with Tuck and Joseph on Coronado Island around 7:30am.  It was lowtide but the tide movement was decent.  Charles and I were in the Pram while Tuck and Joseph fished out of a tandem Kayak.  Erika contributed a birthday gift for the Pram.  A humminbird Piranhamax 175PT.  Depth finding is no longer a mystery and bottom structure can now be easily identified.  This old pram is slowly but surely getting it's upgrades.

I tied on a size 6 ghost shrimp pattern and stripped about 30' of fly line out until I noticed knots and tangles within the spool.  The fly line was beginning to look like a giant rubber band ball and I stubbornly tried fixing it without having to cut the fly off and strip all the line back in.  Instead, I cast the fly out and let it sink while I untangled the mess.  Within five minutes the fly was hit and I hand lined the bay bass in with half a reel and a pile of tangled fly line at my feet.

After getting the line straightened out and back on the spool the tide movement slowed and the bite was off for the next few hours.  We moved location and followed the depth finder to appropriate holding grounds.  Charles managed a few spotties and I had nothing until the big pull.

 The fishing was incredibly slow in the AM and Tuck and Joseph paddled over to our boat to get an update.  I was stripping my ghost shrimp pattern with short controlled strips.  The line went tight, I set the hook and it felt like a pit bull was thrashing on the other end.  I hand lined it thinking it was a large saltwater bass species.  It wasn't long until the leviathan ripped line out of my hand, off the reel and into the backing.  My Sage One 590-4 and Lamson LS-2 engaged in a David vs. Goliath duel with this creature from the salt.  A fine tuned trout rod at heart,  It was lacking muscle that my Sage XP 890 would have had.  It was up to me to orchestrate a precision fight with the overpowered fish.


The drag was set loose since I wasn't expected a fight on my reel.  I waited for an opportunity for the fish to stop so I could adjust my drag.  Every pull on the rod translated to vicious head shakes  and another long hard run.  The lactic acid was beginning to put the burn in my forearm and this rod has no fighting butt.  I impatiently switched hands to tune the drag.  It gave a sudden hard run and the line went limp.  Devastating.

I sat quiet for the next thirty minutes in contemplation.  Next time I'm letting it run and I will pursue with my trolling motor.  Lesson's learned...

The rest of the day was lukewarm fishing.  Several bay bass came to hand and a rather heavy one was lost.  We all rallied at some local mexican food joint and I left San Diego with both heart break and heart burn.  I can only speculate what I lost.  Some exotics such as the cortez bonefish have been known to come up from the Baja Peninsula.  A large croaker species, and white sea bass are other guesses.  I'll never know.

 

Return to the Salt

The original plan to fish in San Diego was sabotaged.  I was really looking forward to freshwater bass fishing, however the trip would not have been the same without the other fish bums.  With the weather making another cold change, Charles and I went budget fly fishing at Newport bay.  Supposedly the tide swing was small but decent. The morning was cool and misty, the water smooth as glass. 

Charles knows this water.  Who needs maps and depth finders when you have experience.  Despite the weak tide swing he managed two halibut and a spotted bay bass.  I worked hard as usual, but after a fly change and relentless casting I finally hooked up with my first spottie on a fly.  It pulled my pram like a little tugboat during the fight.  I can only imagine what a 5lber would do!

Overall, it was a good morning with a new species added to my list.  I just hope our catch rate increases sometime soon.  Local bass fishing shouldn't be as hard as Deschutes river steelheading.

Chasing Ghosts

It's been a tough bass season due to weekly pressure changes.  It feels like summer one day and   winter the next.  While I have been able to catch a few fine bass specimens in the past few weeks, the onslaught of abuse has caught up to me.  I set the 6wt down in exchange for short 3wt and chest pack.  It's time to return to the mountains.

Tucked away in a small tributary in my local mountain range lies a small gem.  This tributary used to hold brown trout that would rival many specimens caught in the lower Owens river.  It wasn't unusual to catch brown's pushing 14-16" on a dry fly.  Those days were years ago and drought with added fishing pressure hasn't help this fishery.  Most of the pools seemed vacant, while the smartest and largest trout were holding under boulders in shallow riffle water.

Presentation and stealth had to be on par.  I've never had to change my fly more than once, whereas today I must have changed it out on every other cast.  These fish were like chasing ghosts.  Shadows would move and undulate playing tricks on my mind.  I managed to get the river king to rise in a log jammed run.  It's head was large and body looked heavy, my guess is that it was in the 15" range.  I returned to it after a 30minute cool down and would rise only to reject me again.

Hours of crouch casting went by and only the dinks would fall for our efforts.  They were all small and beautiful, and hopefully more water will fill the creeks before summer arrives.  Even the deepest pools were shallow enough to see the bottom.  It's going to be a rough year.

Stubborn as a Bass

Largemouth Bass have been pretty stubborn to me lately.  Being stubborn myself, I set out on another bass hunt with Charles after work.  This time I decided to fish a lake that is just down the road from my house.  Launching the pram here is a breeze.  We were on the water in record time and the wind was surprisingly calm despite the ominous clouds above us. 

I decided to fish my Sage Flight 6wt with rio grand floating line.  The lake is relatively shallow and I felt that sinking line was unnecessary as I was hoping to fish a popper as well.  We made several drifts in a cove with only a mere short strike.  I changed the color of my fly from black - rust - finally olive and black.  The fly is a woolly bugger mutation that I tied specifically for swampy looking water.  It did the trick.. I was on a solid 2lb LMB and possibly among the strongest bass I've fought on a fly rod. 

Charles contributed a fly patch for the pram

It was another rough day despite catching and releasing a nice local bass.  Hopefully with more stable weather this bass fishery will be more consistent.  The wind really began to pick up as we were getting ready to leave.  Dark clouds were moving in and socking in around our local mountain range.  Hopefully those dark clouds bring more water to our watershed.  The trout really need it for a good spawn this year.

6,759'

I was anticipating a epic day of fly fishing after talking with local guide Mike Tuttle.  The trout were staging up in the coves getting ready for the spawn up the creeks. However, the water clarity was only visible to about 1' deep.  The recent rain and wind must have stirred up the water since I had last spoke with Mike.  Without sight casting  or using a depth finder, I was reduced to making blind shots into the dark. 

Erika and I explored and fished most of the cove without a single take.   Trout were only sighted in the creek where we had launched my pram.  The creek was extremely low and spawning habitat for the trout is going to be really limited this year.  Signs are posted to protect the spawning trout and Wardens were out enforcing the regulations.

The bare soil is typically underwater by this time of year.

 
Hopefully the water clarity has improved when I return when the smallmouth bass season begins.  This day trip was actually a scout mission to figure out launch sites and smallmouth habitat for my next trip up.  While I love fly fishing for trout, I prefer their river and creek environment versus stillwater. Since most rivers and creeks in my area are running high and dark, my target has shifted towards bass during the downtime.

The highlight of our day was sighting a mating pair of Bald Eagles.  We actually saw them mate.  It was incredible...

My first sighting of Bald Eagles in southern California.

A New World

My first Yellowfin Croaker on a fly

My last attempt to fly fish the salt was a fail.  The tide was all wrong and nothing seemed to be in my favor.  Now that I have my own boat and a fishing buddy that knows the bays, a new world has now been opened up.  While nothing will ever replace the soft spot I have for trout streams, the bay is a cheap alternative for some hard fighting fish.  My first salt water fish on a fly rod was caught on a size 6 orange clouser minnow.  The rod of choice was the Sage One 590-4 with a rio 30' 200gr sink tip line. 

The wind was howling all afternoon and pushed the boat around like a rag doll.  Charles caught a mackeral and a fish that we were unfamiliar with.  It was another tough day... which seems to be the theme lately.  I can't wait to get back on a trout stream.

Dropped Shot

I took my long time friend Brett out to LMV with Charles.  Jesse gave me some of his drop shot bait and tackle to experiment with and I taught Brett some of the fundamentals of drop shot fishing.  I spent most of the afternoon guiding him in the most productive cove in the lake.  While many donkey's were sighted, it was a different story trying to get the drift and cast just right. 

Charles quickly tied into some juvenile sized bass and upon his release one of the lake giant's pursued the dink bass and quickly inhaled it.  It was an intense sight and I wish Charles had recorded it on his contour camera.  I didn't get to fish much myself but sometimes it is more fun when you see friends catch and have fun, even if they are just dinks.