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CHASING TROUT &
SALMON ALL OVER THE VALLEY
By RON WILSON
For the last few weeks,
guide Bruce Hamby of Ripon and I have fished several lakes looking for
good-size trout and salmon. We've tried New Melones, Don Pedro, McClure,
Pine Flat and Camanche. Shasta will be our next adventure, at the end of
May.
I am looking forward to
this one because last year, if it wasn't 2 pounds or better, you
released it, and on one trip I set my goals at 4 pounds or better and
ended up with a great five-fish limit!
Our last two lakes were
Pine Flat and Don Pedro on April 20-21 with Larry Alton of Modesto.
Larry had not been fishing for three years because of medical problems.
Bruce took us to Pine Flat where Larry had a ball reeling in fish after
fish. The majority of fish were planters, maybe in the 1-pound class.
Larry didn't care as you could see how happy he was just being out on
the water with a fishing pole in his hand and it was even better when
there was something pulling back on the other end!
The biggest fish was a
31/2-pound rainbow trout that fell for a slow rolled shad. The fish gave
Larry a good fight and made his day. The rest of the fish were caught on
a variety of Ex-Cel lures. The lake is very pretty, but the driving
time, (2 1/2-3 hours), does not make it worthwhile as far as I am concerned.
On the long drive back,
Bruce said he was going to prefish the next day at Don Pedro and asked
if we wanted to go. Larry and I jumped at the chance. Bruce had a couple
of clients from Sonora that he was taking out the following
weekend.
The fishing the next day was
good as far as catching small planter fish. Larry had a ball again.
Bruce even found a school of kokanee for Larry to play with. Larry took
a couple home for the dinner table along with three trout to finish off
his limit. The hottest lure was a small pink and white Ex-Cel lure for
both trout and kokanee.
Bruce took the Sonora couple
the next Saturday and said they caught easy limits by 10 a.m. and lost a
bunch including a couple in the 2-pound class.
The following Sunday morning
Bruce and I went back to Lake Camanche looking for some decent-size
trout to catch. We found a bite near the dam, but it quickly died. The
only lure I could get them to hit was the blue/silver Ex-Cel, We
scratched all morning long, but no hot bite. The water was clear and the
fish were very boat-shy. The lure had to be back behind the boat a
hundred feet or more.
The next thing we found out
was the normal one- to two-feet of line behind the dodger was not
working. We went to six feet of fluorocarbon line behind the dodger in
order to get the fish to hit the blue/silver Ex-Cel Lures we were using.
We tried the other colors and different-type lures, but the fish wanted
the blue/silver Ex-Cels and that's what we fed them. Bruce and I had
another great day on the water and got to know one another a little
better.
I
finally got to see Bruce land a fish. He did a great job of playing the
fish, especially the largest fish he caught, a rainbow trout that
weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces. Bruce had another big one on that threw the
lure -- the fish looked to be in the 6-pound class. It's hard to guess
their weight when they are four feet in the air and 150 feet behind the boat. These
fish all seemed to have a lot of heart. We released a couple that fought
so well for their 11/2- to 2-pound weight that Bruce and I reached over
and unhooked the fish. We felt they deserved to live to fight another day. We
put in a full day's fishing and put our last fish in the box to finish
our limits at 5 p.m. To book a guided fishing trip, call Sierra
Sportfishing at 599-2023.
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