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THE BITE IS ON AT
CAMANCHE!
THE SPOTTED BASS AT McCLURE ARE READY ALSO!
By Ron Wilson
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Fish Sniffer outdoor columnist, Dan Bacher
with two nice Camanche trout |
March 11, 2004…. Dan
Bacher, outdoor political reporter, writer and jack-of-all-trades for the
Fish Sniffer News staff, reeled in a trout with a big grin on his face. He
then tossed it back into
Camanche Lake to be caught again another day.
Dan said, “That was my
first trout of the year, in fact with all the sport shows and stuff that’s
been going on this year, this is my first trout outing of the year. I
needed this!”
Guide Bruce Hamby, owner of
Sierra Sportfishing was relieved; at least the ice was broken. With
the moon shining bright all night long, he figured we would be lucky to
catch a couple fish before noon. But, the first one to the boat took less
than 15 minutes.
Bruce had done his homework during the previous week. He had done a little
pre-fishing when he took out his 21-foot jet boat to make sure everything
was in ship shape and his equipment was good to go before he started
taking clients out on the water.
Bruce said he had found a fish catching pattern by using Ex-Cel lures with
gold bodies and a red head.
The first fish came on this lure followed quickly by the second. Before
long Bruce had 3 rods with gold lures on them.
The fourth rod had a Rapala tied to it. This one was looking for one of
the big boys that live in the lake.
Bruce said, “I caught 3 fish last week, all in the 4 to 5 pound class.
“Today is disappointing with only 14 to 15-inch fish being caught.”
While Bruce may have been looking for that big fish, Dan didn’t seem to
care; he was just having a ball fighting fish. “Look at him jump,” Dan
would say with glee. “These fish sure are hard fighters,” continued Dan.
The only big fish strike was a short strike on the long lined Rapala. The
rod bowed almost in two straight behind the boat. It looked like it was
trying to stretch back towards the fish that was on the other end.
Suddenly it came back up to the normal position. “Darn, that’s the fish we
wanted,” said Bruce.
Dan could have cared less; he was getting his fishing fix with the fast
action catching and releasing going on.
Dan was also putting a few of the 15-inch fish in the ice chest for
dinner. He loves trout on the dinner table and also in sandwiches the next
day.
By noon Dan had caught and released 25 fish and had a few long line
releases also. Dan needed to leave for an afternoon appointment, so Bruce
had him back at the dock by noon.
It was lunchtime so we headed in to the coffee shop for a hamburger. Boy,
it sure hit the spot. I thanked the cook and told him it was one of the
better ones I have had in quite a while.
We also give Marina Services Manager Chris Cantwell a heads up on the
fishing for his weekly reservoir report. You just can’t have enough
information when it comes to catching fish!
After lunch Bruce and I headed back out to see if we could find a “bigger”
fish catching pattern. We were still after one of the big boys that live
in the lake. A bass fisherman the day before had caught a 10-pound monster
trout on a plastic worm.
We never found the big fish pattern and proved to ourselves that if we
weren’t using a gold lure we just as well not be fishing! The bite was
just starting to turn on again when we decided to call it a day at 4:00
pm.
I
talked with several anglers throughout the day. Some had been successful
catching their limits off the bank while others were trolling and ending
up with limits.
There were a lot of happy fishermen there last Saturday. Not only was the
fishing good but also the weather was fantastic!
For more information on a guided trip, contact Bruce Hamby at
Sierra Sportfishing or call (209) 599-2023. Visit
Camanche Lake’s website for more information or call North Shore
Marina (209)
763-5166 or South Shore Marina (209) 763-5915.
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Blaine with a couple of nice McClure Spots. |
On Sunday I headed to
Lake McClure with my Cousin Blaine Wilson. We left at 6:30 am through
the morning fog. We should have left a little bit earlier so we wouldn’t
have had to face the sun on the drive up!
We arrived around 7:30 am just as a herd of deer crossed behind the
check-in booth. I couldn’t help but joke with the gate attendant. I asked
him if he was feeding the deer bananas. He chuckled and said, “Nope, they
are just passing by, feeding on the fresh grass at the edge of the road.”
I
counted a half dozen on one side and a couple more waiting to cross the
road as I drove by within 10 feet of them. Never did see the buck, but I
knew he must have been close by.
We launched and headed up toward Horseshoe Bend, I figured there should be
some trout waiting for us.
I
put out two rods on downriggers and two with lead core lines. We trolled
back past the outhouse and picked up a small trout and then headed back
out to the river channel with no further action.
We followed the river channel down a ways and then turned around heading
back toward the bend when a downrigger rod went off. I told Blaine to reel
in the spotted bass that was on it! He couldn’t figure out how I knew it
was a spot. After years of looking at fish fight, you can look at that rod
tip and just tell what you hooked.
We continued down the channel to the point across from the bend. As we
went by Blaine hooked and reeled in a 12-inch trout.
We made another circle over the point and scored again followed by a third
circle that was also successful.
By this time I had three Ex-Cel fire tiger lures on plus a ladybug. The
fish weren’t schooled up good but we managed one on every pass until they
quite biting. But by that time we had a limit in the boat.
Blaine said, “I think we caught them all.” I said, “I think maybe they
just quite biting.”
We decided that a spotted bass dinner was in order so we headed back
toward Piney Creek to try our luck.
I
tossed a red dart head rigged with a Keeper 082 red and green flake 6-inch
worm and was rewarded with a 17-inch fish.
The next big rocky point produced an 18-inch fat spot. For the next 3
hours Blaine and I caught and released several spotted bass. They would
hammer it at times and at other times they just swam off with the bait.
The Spots sure are a lot more fun to catch then the little trout we were
catching. I guess the bigger Lake Camanche trout have me spoiled. The
smaller trout at McClure were disappointing to say the least.
The hot weather should put the bass on the bite big time as the water
temperature rises toward spawning temps! |
