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TRYING TO FIND THAT KICKER!
By: Ron Wilson
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Bill & I had a nice limit, but not enough
to finish in the money! |
April 1, 2004…. Last
Saturday Bill Clayton of Modesto and I fished the
Nor-Cal Team Tournament held at Lake
Don Pedro.
At check-in I knew I
had made a bad mistake. The night before I re-spooled my reels with new
fishing line. I had gone up to 10-pound test line from my usual 8-pound.
While that may not
sound like much, it was major for my style of fishing. I throw a light
1/16-ounce darthead and the wind was blowing harder then I like.
The wind along with the
heavier line makes for a slower fall than I like. Plus it makes it harder
to target the depth I wanted my bait to be at.
Bill and I were the 17th
boat to blast off. We arrived at our spot in Ramos and I was surprised
that nobody else was there.
The wind was light and
Bill and I soon had a limit of nice fish in the boat. No tournament
winners but solid fish. What we needed now was a kicker!
I moved Bills Skeeter
bass boat to a rocky point and tossed out into 20 feet of water. The bait
didn’t even hit bottom when a fish sucked it up.
I set the hook and it
was a good one! The darn thing headed right to the boat at warp speed. I
reeled as fast as I could and Bill was scrambling for the net. Just as the
fish got close to the boat it suddenly leaped into the air and tossed the
bait over my head. Bill said, “I needed a longer net handle and I would
have had that one!”
The fish that would
have separated us from the rest of the pack had just escaped. No monster
but a solid 4-pound fish that we desperately needed.
It was time to get
back to work; we knew we needed that kicker fish, one in the 6 to 10 pound
class in order to make money.
We decided to work our
way upriver. First stop was in middle bay near the outhouse. We used the
mountains to protect ourselves from the 20-mile an hour wind. Caught
another nice one, but not enough to help much.
I suddenly remembered
a spawning area that was close by. I had luck there in a tournament a
couple years ago.
It had wood, small
gravel and large rock, perfect for holding fish. But if they were there
they didn’t want to cooperate for us.
We decided to head
into Moccasin Creek to finish out the day. We fought the wind and caught a
few bass, but we just couldn’t get lucky enough to drop our bait in front
of a big hungry female that wanted to eat!
It was getting late so
we decided it was time to head back to weigh-in. We arrived with 15
minutes of fishing time left so we stopped at a favorite point. We caught
three more bass but they were no help. Just as quickly as it started the
day was done.
Bill and I had a great
day on the water and we caught lots of fish. We would have picked up a
check if I had executed a little better!
How come when you’re fun fishing you never
lose a fish no matter what you do. But on tournament day one slip and your
finishing out of the money!
I hadn’t fished a
tournament since last year and it was nice to see a lot of familiar faces.
But I am not sure it was worth the $160 dollar entry fee just to say hi!
Sunday I headed back
at Lake Don Pedro with
Guide Bruce Hamby. Bruce had some clients who wanted to fish for King
Salmon.
Everyone has been
talking about the 8-pound monster that came out of there and several fish
in the 3 to 4 pond class have also been caught.
Bruce headed up to the
flume where we started trolling. We were watching the depth finder for
signs of life down below. We saw some small marks and Bruce scratched a
couple small salmon. We worked our way into 6-bit and Poor Mans Gulch
without another hit or even a mark on the graph.
We came back out to
the river channel and I nailed a small trout. Bruce then caught a small
salmon and then one that was in the 2-pound class, which he released to be
caught again another day. Bruce said, “They’re getting better but not what
my clients are looking for.
Bruce then headed back
to middle bay and we trolled and trolled without so much as marking a
fish, let alone getting a strike.
Guides have to do the
same thing as tournament bass fishermen. They have to do their homework.
They have to find fish for their clients so they can leave the water with
a smile on their face and a box full of fish!
We worked our way back
to Fleming and found some fish. I caught trout while Bruce caught salmon.
We trolled Ex-Cel gold
with silver spoons and then switched to slow rolling shad. Bruce said,
“You need to practice rigging up the shad baits if you’re fishing Shasta
with me in May!”
We changed bait but it
was the same old story I would catch trout while Bruce caught salmon.
We never did find
anything bigger than 2 pounds, they should be there but I just wonder if
they survived long enough to grow up with all the coco-pods I saw in the
fish’s gills. Time will tell in the coming weeks as the fish move up and
get on the bite. |
