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HANGING UP MY
KOKANEE RODS
By: Ron Wilson
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Here's Mike with
a few fish |
July 20, 2009....
Lake Don Pedro would be my stomping ground for fishing for the
year as it was the closest to where I live. My choice this year was an
excellent one as not only did I get more bang for my buck (fishing time)
but it also had the highest water level around.
I started the year at
the lake in February after waterfowl season when I bought my
yearly pass. At that time I could go all the way down to the island in
front of Fleming Meadows launch ramp to launch and park my vehicle
there. As the months rolled by the lake had risen to where only a couple
trailers could be parked at the side of the ramp before reaching the
paved parking lot at Blue Oaks.
I pounded the
black bass and
trout for the first few months with different fishing friends and when
they got harder to catch I switched to just kokanee in June.
I had several kokanee partners I fished
with, Mike Monschein, Harold Wiley, Everett Beckner, Ex-Pro
Black Bass Fisherman
Mark Seaters, Howard Suzuki and my son Donald went to catch a few. The
fish were not as big as
New Melones but they were closer and just as plentiful for me. We
pooled our fish together and I managed to can a couple cases of these
tasty little salmonoids. Its funny but my friends tell me that all you
have to do is drain the juices off the fish and drop the chunks in a
bowl, add mayonnaise and sweet pickle relish and you have a fish dish
that is real close to tuna. I tried it and I think its close but sweeter
and not as oily tasting.
Anyway we pounded them trip after trip
around Jenkins Hill. A couple weeks ago Mark Seaters and I were there
for an early limit and we discussed the fish and what they were doing. I
told him I have been fishing the area for a couple months and it seemed
that different schools of fish were moving through, I told Mark that one
day I would come up there and the fish would just seem to completely
disappear.
Last week Mike Monschein and I hit the
lake and I had a hard time finding a school of kokanee As we fished our
usual spots near Jenkins Hill. We moved up river about a mile and found
a school and it was game on as we soon put a limit of kokanee in the box
in less than an hour. A few days later I took Howard Suzuki up there to
catch a few and the fish had all but disappeared. A fish here and there
and boy were they scattered. We did not find a
school to fish and what few followers I found interested on the
depth finder were solo fish that were not aggressive. One of those
fishing days, and I like catching not fishing.
I figured that the Fat Lady had sang for
kokanee at Lake Don Pedro and I had missed hearing a single note.
Anyway I hung up my kokanee rods for the year and am now chasing other
species of fish.
If you would like to continue after them
I suggest starting at the flume and working upriver toward the Moccasin
area. A diver friend said some of them are already heading up the river.
Best bet now for kokanee is New Melones
where they are still cooperating and easy to find as the lake is very,
very, low.
What's next, Delta bass probably, then
maybe a cat fishing trip, tuna a possibility, and who knows I might even
miss a little sleep to wet a line at night fishing for trout. |
