decided to drive in today and see if I could get a whooper or a limit. The line to get in is still brutal after the stocking.
(https://i.imgur.com/ocIzvLP.jpeg)
I played with the idea of trying a new spot, but decided on hitting the recent success spot. I grab my rod with the tiny spoon that I caught the trout on yesterday and my first cast and I'm on! What a beauty!
(https://i.imgur.com/5YadaO4.jpeg)
It had a huge mouth and then I noticed the cuts! A Friggin Cut-Bow! (Rainbow/Cutthroat Hybrid)
(https://i.imgur.com/NsbAQkF.jpeg)
I made a few more casts before setting up the worm rods and a small gust of wind caught the spoon on one particular long bomb. f@cking right into a tree! Ugh... 2# test snapped and I could see the spoon in the branch for the rest of the morning. There's no way to get it unless I bring down my 15' shark rod and cast to the branch!
Oh well, I set two inflated crawlers out and started to look around. I saw plenty of bass, but no trout or lightning trout in particular. It was quite breezy in the morning and leveled out as the morning went on.
I retied a new penny colored tube jig on to be like one of the trout rats and waited. Then I saw a beautiful trout slowly swim in front of me. I stayed up on the walkway and pitched out the tube jig and it gulped it down! What a stunner!
(https://i.imgur.com/TcEGa5X.jpeg)
The fins are just amazing on these last two fish and almost looked wild! The jaw on this thing was crazy!
(https://i.imgur.com/gE8q6OG.jpeg)
If I didn't get another bite today, it would have still been a success.
About 15 minutes goes by and I'm trying to see what is around the shore. I then look back and only see one strike indicator dangling from the two rods. I get back to the rods and my line is slack. I keep reeling and feel nothing until it was there! This one was more of the big ugly trout truck type of rainbows!
(https://i.imgur.com/6JaCUaW.jpeg)
I kept fishing and had 3 more hits. I was totally hooked up with and screaming drag on TWO fish... and all of a sudden they both spit the hook... These J-Hooks are starting to annoy me, but I don't have any trebles on me. I apparently ran out of them and never restocked. Then I had a big bendo on one of my bait rods, but it never stuck and my worm was MIA.
Just then I saw a Lightning trout swimming back and forth in front of me. Every time I casted the tube jig, it bolted like lightning out of there. It was really skittish from the birds and fishermen I would assume. As I casted to it the 12th time, i saw something shoot from the left and grab the tube! f@ck, not the lightning trout, but a smaller Cut-Bow! Another one with red "cuts" on the gills!
(https://i.imgur.com/N3kjNMW.jpeg)
I was pretty sure I was going to end up with these 4 since things got awfully quiet. the only fish I saw were big bass and I started casting my bass gear trying to get one to go. I was ready to call it after texting Dave and Squatch when I noticed a "tick" in my line as the strike indicator slowly dropped. Just as I was grabbing the rod, the line was tight and fish on!
Now there were a bunch of people around, so stealth was key (even though I'm sure everyone on the lake saw me and I wasn't as stealthy as I liked to believe)
#5
(https://i.imgur.com/AdbUx7a.jpeg)
It was the perfect time to leave as I dropped my stringer on the tailgate for one final parting shot.
(https://i.imgur.com/wXO35Qv.jpeg)
I stopped at my good bass spot on the way out, but no one was home or they didn't want to cooperate.
I got home and cleaned/Vacuum Sealed all of the fillets. I need about 4 more to get a full smoker run going!
(https://i.imgur.com/Z8uGvsA.jpeg)
Thanks for reading! I was going to go ocean fishing, but those king tides scared me off. It's also nice only having to travel a 1/2 miles "to and fro" from a fishing trip. I might even be back tomorrow!
I called it..........You will catch all of the recently planted fish ;D
Those fillets look really good, that smoked batch is going to be great !