Metro

Not sure if this should be in the southwest forum or here.. but anyway, here we go!

I got to the lake at the prime fishing time of 2:30 in the afternoon. The lake is still nearly full, it might have dropped 5 feet from when I last fished there in May. I put in at Harttish park and started trolling with the wind. I didn't see any fish on the depth finder, which is actually a good thing. I've read suspended fish usually aren't biting anyway. But it would help to see some so I would know where to put the downrigger. Since the water was 70 degrees, I figured 40 feet would be a good place to start. I trolled for about 30 minutes for nada. So I switched to a chrome/chrome 00 dodger and a chartreuse hoochie tipped with a power worm.

I had made my way to the bay with the swim area and just as I was about to change lures, I had a fish on. But as I expected, it was a recent plant. Last time I was on the lake, I caught around 15 hatchery dinks in this area. Looks like they have been feeding well because this guy was at least 11" now, so that's a good sign for next fall. I wanted to toss it back, but he had a face full of hooks and was bleeding pretty bad. I went back through this area again and managed to hook a fish before I even had the downrigger all the way down. While it's fun to catch dinks, I wanted something with a little more size.

I pulled up my gear and motored on up to the area with the other boat ramp. Last January this area was a river with wide mud flats. Today, I was in 90 feet of water I snapped on a chrome/green dodger with a green/blue/white hoochie and set it at 40 feet. To pass the time, I got to work untangling a mass of lures from my tacklebox, bad idea! I look up to see the rod going nuts. As I scramble, I manage to hook the mess of lures to my shorts in two places. By the time I got the the pole, the fish was gone. I was pissed because I knew it was a good fish. The dinks have a hard time getting it off the clip and this fish had no problem with that. So, I unhook myself and set the mess aside and continued heading towards California.

About 15 minutes later, I get another violent take down and this time, I'm not carrying 4lbs of hooks as I jump up to grab the rod. When I have to tighten down my drag to reel the fish in, that's a good sign. When I feel the fish shake it's head as I pump, that's a good sign. After about 2 minutes, I get the fish the boat and it's a biggun (for me). About 17" and 2lbs, but looks like another hatchery plant. Not nearly as pretty as the one I caught last week, but it'll do. I wanted to let it go because I don't really like to eat fish I catch, but he swallowed the hoochie too deep for my pliers.

I continued upstream hoping to find cooler water where the river entered. Unfortunately, the water temp was in fact getting warmer. By the time I reached the river, I started seeing fish around 20-25 feet down near the bottom. Not sure what they were, but they didn't want what I was offering. I was also technically in california water, so I'm sure how that works.. so I started heading back to where I caught the nice 'bow. I trolled for about an hour for nothing. It was getting dark so I started reeling in my line only to find out I had been dragging a 12" rainbow for god knows how long It's always nice to end the day with a fish, so I pulled up my gear and started the slow trek back to the ramp.

So all in all, a good day. Maybe the fishing gods are smiling on me for putting in all those miserable rainy, snowy, fishless trips last winter. I've caught my two best fish ever, back to back at completely different lakes with completely different tactics.

As I was cleaning my fish, I talked to a family that caught some fish too. They had a beautiful wild 16" rainbow hen (she had some eggs in her) and a dink. I would have loved to catch a big wild rainbow. There's suppose to be chinook and cutthroats in there, both of which are on my "to-catch" list. Next time I go, I'm bringing my bow mount trolling motor. This lake is also known for its smallies and to a lesser extent, crappies.

Well, I think I've ran out of things to say, which leaves the best part.

Pictures!


Thank god I have a net now


My attempt to take a picture of myself with the 17 incher

Details:
Temp: 70 degrees
Depth: 40 feet
Setback: 75 feet
Attractor: chrome/green tape luhr jensen 00 dodger
Lure: green/blue/white hoochie, chartreuse hoochie all tipped with power worms
Area: campground bay, south boat ramp in the river channel


Applegate is becoming my favorite local lake, shh don't tell anyone