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CAMANCHE FOR MORE ACTION!
By: Ron Wilson
February 19, 2004....
Blaine reeled in another small trout but tossed it back. The fish were on
the bite in the first
hour and a half of fishing but they were on the small side. We boated 14
trout, but only three went in the box.
It was back to
Camanche with by cousin, Blaine Wilson, for another go at those huge
trout. The weather this past Saturday was panning out to be much nicer
then last weekend.
The sun was out and we
started peeling off cloths as it was really starting to warm up. It had
all the makings of a great spring day.
There was a slight
breeze putting a light ripple on the water. The wind is critical to
catching trout, as a ripple on the water tends to keep the fish shallow
longer.
Our bite was shallow
on the long lines trolled behind the boat. But as soon as the wind died
and the lake became glassy calm, our bite suddenly ended.
It was time to put out
the down riggers and see if we could get them going again. That was if I
could find those damn balls! Oops left them in the back of the truck.
So it was back to the
dock to pick up the balls. Guess I was just too excited knowing what a
beautiful day we had in front of us.
Back at the ramp I
talked with Chris Cantwell, Marina Services Manager, about what we had
found. I told Chris, “The fish are north of the marina schooled over the
channel near the white buoy.”
Chris said, “You need
to go upriver to give it a try.” I wasn’t sure if he was sending me on a
fish-finding mission or he knew where some of the big boys were hanging
out but we decided to give it a try.
We set up the
downriggers at 20 and 25 feet. We trolled a blue and silver Ex-Cel with a
gold flake tail on one side and a ladybug on the other about 100 feet
behind the boat!
We also had two lead
core rods out 4 colors with 75 feet of monofilament line leader in front
of the lure.
We picked up another
keeper for the box out in front of the north shore boat ramp and then
shook a couple off and headed upstream.
The fishing got real
slow. I told Blaine, “When we get on a school, we can catch ’em but we
have to cover lots of dead water to find ‘em.”
Past the 20-mile per
hour buoy and through the narrows, just as we headed toward the red can
past the narrows a rod bowed as the clicker sounded off. Blaine reeled in
the fish and it was a nice one!
As we got to the red
can heading upstream we had a double hookup and I put one in the box in
the 2-pound class.
We continued on for a
ways without a bite, so I told Blaine, “We need to go back to the school
of fish we were on.”
The slow bite gave
Blaine and I time to talk. He asked, “Do you ever catch black bass while
trolling.” I said, “I don’t target them but I catch the odd one every now
and then by accident.” We would find out shortly just how foretelling
Blaine’s question would be!
 We
made a slow turn over the river channel and as we started back towards the
red can, Blaine’s rod bent double.
I said, “Blaine,
you’ve got a nice bass.” Blaine said, “How do you know it’s a bass.”
“Because you get a
couple good pole shakes and a little action and then the fish opens its
mouth and you reel it into the boat like an old wet sock”, I said.
As soon as Blaine got
the fish to the boat he found out I knew what I was talking about!
We continued the
trolling pattern in the area and finished our limit of fish and called it
a day.
Talk about a beautiful
day, it was great weather and some pretty good fishing also.
Sunday I stayed home
and did some chores and worked on a California Central Valley Chapter
newsletter for the local Safari Club I belong to.
We are having our 8th
Annual Banquet and Fundraiser on Saturday, April 3, at the F.E.S. Hall in
Oakdale. If you would like to attend this event, call President Laura
Vejar, (209) 569-7363, Kurt Huhn 847-6572 or Thomas D. Brennan 577-4303.
Jerry Fountain will be
preparing another great meal of steak, chicken and salad and while we’re
looking at all the raffle prizes and auction items he will be putting out
samples of assorted sausages, quail, cheese and other garnishes.
Hope to see you there!
Monday I was suppose to be celebrating Presidents Day fishing for Black
Bass on a private pond! The rain put a damper on that plan so I guess it
can wait for another day! |
